Best LGBTQ+ books, according to Lambda Literary
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The Lambda Literary Foundation has announced the winners of its annual Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys."
The 24 LGBTQ+ award winners were chosen out of 120 finalists across categories like lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender fiction, poetry and nonfiction. Although the event has moved online, interim co-executive directors Cleopatra Acquaye and Maxwell Scales told us they’re as excited as ever about it. They've found moving things online “allows for more accessibility, creating room for people with various needs to be able to attend, but also opening the ceremony up for more people to join us from around the country and the world.” It’s also given them the opportunity to think about hybrid models for future Lammy awards, regardless of quarantine conditions. That way, as many people as possible can join, Acquaye told us, highlighting those who may be “isolated or in rural areas.”
The Lammys are especially significant this year — a recent study from the American Library Association found that half of the 10 most challenged and banned books in the U.S. were chosen for their LGBTQ content.
“At the end of the day, it’s a party,” Acquaye said. “It’s a time to celebrate and get loud about what we’ve accomplished, to grieve the artists that we’ve lost and to look cute while doing it.”
2022 Lambda Literary Award Winners
Below are the 24 winners of the 2022 Lambda Literary awards.
Bisexual fiction
‘We Want What We Want’ by Alix Ohlin
We Want What We Want
We Want What We Want $18.23 at Amazon
We Want What We Want $22.99 at Barnes and Noble
We Want What We Want $18.29 at Target
Bisexual nonfiction
‘Borealis’ by Aisha Sabatini Sloan
Borealis
Borealis $14.95 at Amazon
Borealis $14.95 at Coffee House Press
Borealis $14.99 at Target
Bisexual poetry
‘Gumbo Ya Ya’ by Aurielle Marie
Gumbo Ya Ya
Gumbo Ya Ya $15.30 at Amazon
Gumbo Ya Ya $18.00 at Barnes and Noble
Gumbo Ya Ya $16.74 at Bookshop
Gay fiction
‘100 Boyfriends’ by Brontez Purnell
100 Boyfriends
100 Boyfriends $11.60 at Amazon
100 Boyfriends $15.00 at Barnes and Noble
100 Boyfriends $15.00 at Macmillan
Gay memoir/biography
‘Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir’ by Brian Broome
Punch Me Up To The Gods
Punch Me Up To The Gods $14.33 at Amazon
Punch Me Up To The Gods $17.99 at Barnes and Noble
Punch Me Up To The Gods $16.73 at Bookshop
Gay poetry
‘Punks: New & Selected Poems’ by John Keene
Punks
Punks $20.00 at Amazon
Punks $20.00 at The Song Cave
Punks $20.00 at The Little Gay Shop
Gay romance
‘Excellent Sons: A Love Story in Three Acts’ by Larry Benjamin
Excellent Sons
Lesbian fiction
‘Skye Falling’ by Mia McKenzie
Skye Falling
Skye Falling $14.99 at Amazon
Skye Falling $17.00 at Barnes and Noble
Skye Falling $15.81 at Bookshop
Lesbian memoir/biography
‘The One You Want to Marry (And Other Identities I've Had): A Memoir’ by Sophie Santos
The One You Want to Marry (And Other Identities I've Had)
The One You Want to Marry (And Other Identities I've Had) $14.07 at Amazon
The One You Want to Marry (And Other Identities I've Had) $14.29 at Target
The One You Want to Marry (And Other Identities I've Had) $14.95 at Porchlight Books
Lesbian poetry
‘Last Days’ by Tamiko Beyer
Last Days
Last Days $15.48 at Amazon
Last Days $16.69 at Bookshop
Last Days $17.95 at Barnes and Noble
Lesbian romance
‘The Headmistress’ by Milena McKay
The Headmistress
The Headmistress $14.99 at Amazon
The Headmistress $23.49 at Barnes and Noble
LGBTQ anthology
‘Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought,’ edited by Briona Simone Jones
Mouths of Rain
Mouths of Rain $18.96 at Amazon
Mouths of Rain $22.99 at Barnes and Noble
Mouths of Rain $21.38 at Bookshop
LGBTQ children’s/middle grade
‘Calvin’ by JR and Vanessa Ford
Calvin
Calvin $13.31 at Amazon
Calvin $13.31 at Target
Calvin $14.99 at Barnes and Noble
LGBTQ comics
‘Stone Fruit’ by Lee Lai
Stone Fruit
Stone Fruit $24.99 at Amazon
Stone Fruit $24.99 at Barnes and Noble
Stone Fruit $24.99 at Powell's
LGBTQ drama
‘Mrs. Harrison’ by R. Eric Thomas
Mrs. Harrison
Mrs. Harrison $12.95 at TRW Plays
LGBTQ erotica
‘Big Joe’ by Samuel R. Delany
Big Joe
Big Joe $20.00 at Inpatient Press
LGBTQ mystery
‘The Savage Kind’ by John Copenhaver
The Savage Kind
The Savage Kind $20.49 at Amazon
The Savage Kind $24.13 at Bookshop
The Savage Kind $25.95 at Barnes and Noble
LGBTQ nonfiction
‘Let the Record Show’ by Sarah Schulman
Let the Record Show
Let the Record Show $18.97 at Amazon
Let the Record Show $22.00 at Barnes and Noble
Let the Record Show $37.20 at Bookshop
LGBTQ speculative fiction
‘No Gods, No Monsters’ by Cadwell Turnbull
No Gods, No Monsters
No Gods, No Monsters $17.54 at Blackstone Publishing
No Gods, No Monsters $14.99 at Amazon
No Gods, No Monsters $23.99 at Barnes and Noble
LGBTQ studies
‘Vice Patrol: Cops, Courts, and the Struggle over Urban Gay Life before Stonewall’ by Anna Lvovsky
Vice Patrol
Vice Patrol $35.00 at Amazon
Vice Patrol $42.00 at Bookshop
Vice Patrol $35.00 at The University of Chicago Press
LGBTQ young adult
‘The Heartbreak Bakery’ by A. R. Capetta
The Heartbreak Bakery
The Heartbreak Bakery $16.99 at Amazon
The Heartbreak Bakery $17.66 at Bookshop
The Heartbreak Bakery $18.99 at Powell's
Transgender fiction
‘Summer Fun’ by Jeanne Thornton
Summer Fun
Transgender nonfiction
‘Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness’ by Da'Shaun Harrison
Belly of the Beast
Belly of the Beast $14.69 at Amazon
Belly of the Beast $13.90 at Bookshop
Belly of the Beast $14.95 at Powell's
Transgender poetry
‘Crossbones on My Life’ by Mason J
Crossbones On My Life
Crossbones On My Life $13.00 at Amazon
Crossbones On My Life $13.00 at Barnes and Noble
Crossbones On My Life $13.00 at Nomadic Press
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