LGBTQ books: 8 novels, histories and more to start on after Sunday’s Chicago Pride Parade

These authors offer celebrations, examinations and contemplations of queer lives via formats that include fiction, historical nonfiction and memoirs.

By USA TODAY

Barbara VanDenburgh

Ocean Vuong, whose “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” marks the celebrated poet’s fiction debut.

June is marked as Pride month, celebrating LGBTQ lives, with Sunday’s Chicago Pride Parade to cap things off. Want to learn more? Here are eight recently published books that offer celebrations, examinations and contemplations of queer lives.

‘We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation’

Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown (Ten Speed Press, nonfiction, $54)

What it’s about: This illustrated history of the Queer Liberation Movement comes from the creators of the Instagram account @lgbt_history. Hundreds of photographs and archival materials are brought together to present a fresh view of queer history.

‘The Stonewall Reader Paperback’

Edited by the New York Public Library (Penguin Classics, nonfiction, $18)

What it’s about: Sunday is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, one of the most significant events in the gay liberation movement. Drawing from New York Public Library archives, this anthology chronicles the fight for LGBTQ rights in the 1960s and celebrates the activists who spearheaded it.

‘Gentleman Jack: The Real Anne Lister’

Anne Choma (Penguin, nonfiction, $16)

What it’s about: The HBO series “Gentleman Jack,” set in 1832 England, was inspired by the real-life journals of Anne Lister, documenting her lesbian relationships in secret code. This tie-in book by the show’s historical adviser details the story of this trailblazing woman.

‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’

Ocean Vuong (Penguin Press, fiction, $26)

What it’s about: The celebrated poet makes his fiction debut with a transcendent and gorgeously written autobiographical novel. Written as a letter from a son to his mother, Ocean Vuong — who’ll be at The Seminary Co-op Bookstore, 5751 S. Woodlawn Ave., at 6 p.m. on July 18 — has produced a coming-of-age story of a queer Vietnamese immigrant growing up and becoming sexually awakened in America.

‘Naturally Tan’

Tan France (St. Martin’s Press, nonfiction, $27.99)

What it’s about: ”Queer Eye” star Tan France’s new memoir gives insight into what it’s like for a queer Pakistani person of color growing up in a small town in England.

‘Mostly Dead Things’

Kristen Arnett (Tin House Books, fiction, $24.95)

What it’s about: Jessa walks in to the family’s Florida taxidermy shop and finds her dad dead by suicide. Now running the business, Jessa has to navigate grief while coming to terms with the crazy family she left behind (including a mother who poses the stuffed animals in ... interesting sexual positions). It’s funny, dark and complex, with a lesbian protagonist who’s in love with her brother’s wife. Author Kristen Arnett will appear at Women & Children First bookstore, 5233 N. Clark St., at 7 p.m. July 19.

‘Out of the Shadows: Reimagining Gay Men’s Lives’

Walt Odets (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, nonfiction, $30)

What it’s about: Walt Odets, a clinical psychologist, has worked with and written about the lives of gay men and the psychological and social challenges they face. Through clinical analysis and moving personal stories, his latest book explores how trauma and stigmatization shape gay men’s lives.

‘Out of the Shadows: Reimagining Gay Men’s Lives’

‘Gender Queer’

Maia Kobabe (Lion Forge, nonfiction, $17.99)

What it’s about: In this heartfelt graphic memoir, comics artist and writer Maia Kobabe offers a personal journey of self-identity and growing up gender nonconforming. “I don’t want to be a girl. I don’t want to be a boy either. I just want to be myself.”