Hours at an average pace
Showing 100 books
About 434 hours for 92 of 100 books with measured lengths. Estimates use 250 words a minute, adjusted for each book's difficulty. At 2 hours a day, about 217 days for those books.
Maurice appears regularly on university syllabi for LGBTQ+ literature, British modernism, and 20th-century fiction courses, though it is taught less widely than A Passage to India or Howards End. The Merchant-Ivory film adaptation (1987) and Forster's posthumous reputation have secured it a firm place in gay literary history. No database syllabus data was returned, but contextual knowledge confirms significant academic presence.
Taught in queer-literature and San Francisco cultural history courses.
The collection is taught in queer studies, Southern literature, and working-class literature courses, and it is a landmark of lesbian fiction. It does not reach the general curriculum of major canonical novels.
Major queer romance success; Alex Award winner; cultural phenomenon.
Lambda Literary Award and Kirkus Prize winner. Widely taught in writing and gender studies programs.
A recent young adult title that won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Printz Award and the Stonewall Book Award. It is increasingly taught in YA and queer literature courses but has not yet built long syllabus history.
Popular success; Alex Award winner; genre fiction with crossover appeal.
Women's Prize longlist. First major trans-authored literary novel in mainstream publishing.
No. 9 on this list. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Benjamin Alire Sáenz · 2012
Very Easy2.8 hours
A landmark in LGBTQ+ YA literature and widely taught in schools. Its place in the canon of queer coming-of-age fiction is secure.
Ranked by literary regard among eligible works in the current catalogue. This position reflects the available catalogue evidence.
No. 11 on this list. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda · Becky Albertalli · 2015
A landmark in LGBTQ+ YA fiction, widely taught and discussed. The first major studio teen rom-com with a gay protagonist.
Very Easy2.7 hours
Start this bookNo. 12 on this list. The Town of Babylon · Alejandro Varela · 2022
Andrés, a gay Latino professor of public health, comes back to the Long Island suburb where he grew up to care for his father, who is recovering from surgery. His marriage is strained by his husband's infidelity, and he still carries the death of his older brother, Henry. He goes to his twentieth high school reunion and meets the people he left behind. Jeremy, his first love, is married with two children after prison and addiction. Paul, whom Andrés has long suspected of a homophobic killing, is an evangelical minister and a father of five. And Simone, his best friend, is in a psychiatric hospital after a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Varela writes about how class, race and health shape a life, and about what it costs to leave a place and what it costs to come back.
Moderate5.1 hours
Start this bookNo. 13 on this list. Mysterious Skin · Scott Heim · 2005
Mysterious Skin is a widely read contemporary novel in LGBTQ+ literature, adapted into Gregg Araki's 2004 film. It has presence in queer studies but is not yet a standard fixture of broad syllabi.
Moderate5.1 hours
Start this bookNo. 14 on this list. John of John · Douglas Stuart · 2026
A 2026 release is too new for syllabi, but a Booker Prize longlisting and shortlisting by a former winner gives it immediate visibility. It stands as a prominent contemporary literary novel and not yet a taught text.
Easy6.3 hours
Start this bookNo. 15 on this list. Palaver · Bryan Washington · 2025
A 2025 novel that appears on 4 university syllabi and was a National Book Award for Fiction finalist. It is too recent to be established in curricula, though its contemporary queer and diaspora subject gives it an academic path.
Easy4.9 hours
Start this bookNo. 16 on this list. Closer · Dennis Cooper · 1989
Closer is Cooper's debut and the first of the five-novel George Miles Cycle. It is known in queer and transgressive literature, yet it has no recorded prizes or syllabus presence, so it remains a niche text.
Moderate2.2 hours
Start this bookNo. 17 on this list. My Loose Thread · Dennis Cooper · 2003
No syllabi, prize or reach data show broad teaching. Cooper is a cult figure taught in queer and transgressive literature contexts, so this title sits in the niche band.
Moderate2.2 hours
Start this bookNo. 18 on this list. Try · Dennis Cooper · 1994
Try is a cult transgressive title with no recorded syllabi or prizes, mainly studied within queer and transgressive fiction. Closer to Gone Girl's niche genre-study status than to the core canon.
Moderate4.3 hours
Start this bookNo. 19 on this list. So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color · Caro De Robertis · 2025
Published in 2025, So Many Stars has no university syllabus presence yet and no recorded academic citations. It fills a real gap in queer and trans oral history — comparable to what Studs Terkel's oral histories did for labor history — but hasn't had time to become a curriculum fixture the way Beloved or To Kill a Mockingbird have.
Easy4.6 hours
Start this bookNo. 20 on this list. Southernmost · Silas House · 2018
Ranked by literary regard among eligible works in the current catalogue. This position reflects the available catalogue evidence.
Moderate5.8 hours
Start this book
No. 21 on this list. Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl · Andrea Lawlor · 2017
Cult classic in queer literary circles. Lambda Literary Award finalist.
Easy4.9 hours
Start this bookNo. 22 on this list. More Happy Than Not · Adam Silvera · 2015
It is a widely read contemporary YA title, popular in school libraries and book clubs, but it is not yet a staple of university syllabi. It sits near Gone Girl in canonical reach, as a genre favorite.
Easy4.5 hours
Start this bookNo. 23 on this list. Gender Queer: A Memoir · Maia Kobabe
Gender Queer has not entered traditional academic curricula in significant numbers, partly due to ongoing censorship campaigns that have made institutional adoption contested. The American Library Association named it the most challenged book in the US in both 2021 and 2022, which reflects cultural salience rather than canonical status. It is widely held in public library collections and LGBTQ+ resource lists.
Easy54 min
Start this bookNo. 24 on this list. The Prince and the Dressmaker · Jen Wang · 2018
A recent graphic novel that is popular with teen readers and libraries, with some classroom use for LGBTQ+ youth literature but not a standard syllabus text.
Very Easy3.4 hours
Start this bookNo. 25 on this list. Felix Ever After · Kacen Callender · 2020
A recent YA novel with a place in LGBTQ+ young adult reading lists and school libraries, but little presence in university syllabi so far.
Easy5 hours
Start this bookNo. 26 on this list. A Seditious Affair · KJ Charles · 2015
Ranked by literary regard among eligible works in the current catalogue. This position reflects the available catalogue evidence.
Easy4.8 hours
Start this bookNo. 27 on this list. Subtle Blood · KJ Charles · 2021
Ranked by literary regard among eligible works in the current catalogue. This position reflects the available catalogue evidence.
Easy4.6 hours
Start this bookNo. 28 on this list. Little Rabbit · Alyssa Songsiridej · 1990
A 2023 debut is too recent for syllabi, though it is attracting attention in contemporary and queer literature discussions. It sits above commercial romance but well below the established contemporary canon.
Moderate29 min
Start this bookNo. 29 on this list. A Room Above a Shop · Anthony Shapland · 2025
Published in 2025, it is too new for syllabi. It won the Waterstones Welsh Book of the Year 2025, which gives it recognition in Welsh and queer literary circles.
Easy2.5 hours
Start this bookNo. 30 on this list. Manhunt · Gretchen Felker-Martin · 2022
A 2022 debut with no syllabus record yet. It is a recent genre novel, in the same position as Beach Read among commercial books, though its Vulture best-of ranking points to some cultural footing.
Easy4.6 hours
Start this book
No. 31 on this list. All Them Dogs
Djamel White · 2026
No. 32 on this list. Camp Damascus
Chuck Tingle · 2023
No. 33 on this list. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
Mackenzi Lee · 2017
No. 34 on this list. The Tulip Poplars
Silas House · 2026
No. 35 on this list. Him
Elle Kennedy · 2015
No. 36 on this list. The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley
No. 37 on this list. The Darkness Outside Us
Eliot Schrefer · 2021
No. 38 on this list. Exciting Times
Naoise Dolan · 2020
No. 39 on this list. We Could Be So Good
Cat Sebastian · 2023
No. 40 on this list. He Who Drowned the World
Shelley Parker-Chan · 2023
No. 41 on this list. It Takes Two to Tumble
Cat Sebastian · 2017
No. 42 on this list. Summer Sons
Lee Mandelo · 2021
No. 43 on this list. Stop Me If You've Heard This One
Kristen Arnett · 2025
No. 44 on this list. Beyond the Gender Binary
Alok Vaid-Menon · 2020
No. 45 on this list. Swordcrossed
Freya Marske · 2024
No. 46 on this list. Bury Your Gays
Chuck Tingle · 2024
No. 47 on this list. Glitterland
Alexis Hall · 2013
No. 48 on this list. The Pairing
Casey McQuiston · 2024
No. 49 on this list. Unmasked by the Marquess
Cat Sebastian · 2018
No. 50 on this list. Chosen Family
Madeleine Gray · 2022
No. 51 on this list. Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime
Alex Espinoza · 2019
No. 52 on this list. A Marvellous Light
Freya Marske · 2021
No. 53 on this list. At Certain Points We Touch
Lauren J. Joseph · 2022
No. 54 on this list. Pageboy
Elliot Page · 2023
No. 55 on this list. Housemates
Emma Copley Eisenberg · 2024
No. 56 on this list. The Magpie Lord
KJ Charles · 2013
No. 57 on this list. The Woods All Black
Lee Mandelo · 2024
No. 58 on this list. The Boy I Love
No. 59 on this list. Heated Rivalry
Rachel Reid · 2019
No. 60 on this list. Femme in Public
Alok Vaid-Menon · 2017
No. 61 on this list. Tramps Like Us
Joe Westmoreland · 2001
No. 62 on this list. A Taste of Gold and Iron
Alexandra Rowland · 2022
No. 63 on this list. Lavender House
Lev AC Rosen · 2022
No. 64 on this list. Awakened
A.E. Osworth · 2025
No. 65 on this list. You Weren't Meant to Be Human
Andrew Joseph White · 2025
No. 66 on this list. Pizza Girl
Jean Kyoung Frazier · 2020
No. 67 on this list. Prince's Gambit
C.S. Pacat · 2015
No. 68 on this list. People Change
Vivek Shraya · 2022
No. 69 on this list. Your Wound / My Garden
Alok Vaid-Menon · 2021
No. 70 on this list. Disappoint Me
Nicola Dinan · 2025
No. 71 on this list. A Power Unbound
Freya Marske · 2023
No. 72 on this list. A Gentleman's Gentleman
TJ Alexander · 1896
No. 73 on this list. History Is All You Left Me
Adam Silvera · 2017
No. 74 on this list. Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones
Torrey Peters · 2016
No. 75 on this list. What If It's Us
Becky Albertalli · 2018
No. 76 on this list. A Strange and Stubborn Endurance
Foz Meadows · 2022
No. 77 on this list. Strange Girls
Sarvat Hasin · 2015
No. 78 on this list. Waiting on a Friend
Natalie Adler · 2011
No. 79 on this list. Greta & Valdin
Rebecca K Reilly · 2025
No. 80 on this list. If This Gets Out
Sophie Gonzales · 2021
No. 81 on this list. Broken People
Sam Lansky · 2020
No. 82 on this list. In Tongues
Thomas Grattan · 2024
No. 83 on this list. These Violent Delights
Micah Nemerever · 2020
No. 84 on this list. Hello Stranger: Musings on Modern Intimacies
Manuel Betancourt · 2025
No. 85 on this list. I Kissed Shara Wheeler
Casey McQuiston · 2022
No. 86 on this list. Thirst Trap
Grainne O'Hare · 2020
No. 87 on this list. No God But Us
Bobuq Sayed · 2026
No. 88 on this list. Kings Rising
C.S. Pacat · 2016
No. 89 on this list. Just by Looking at Him
Ryan O'Connell · 2022
No. 90 on this list. Best Woman
Rose Dommu · 2025
No. 91 on this list. Perverts
Mac Crane · 2026
No. 92 on this list. We Burned So Bright
TJ Klune · 2026
No. 93 on this list. Bath Haus
P.J. Vernon · 2021
No. 94 on this list. Game Changer
Rachel Reid · 2018
No. 95 on this list. Perfume & Pain
Anna Dorn · 2024
No. 96 on this list. Captive Prince
C.S. Pacat · 2013
No. 97 on this list. The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System -- Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong Vol. 4
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu · 2022
No. 98 on this list. Straight
Chuck Tingle · 1997
No. 99 on this list. Uncanny Valley Girls: Essays on Horror, Survival, and Love
Zefyr Lisowski · 2025
No. 100 on this list. Interesting Facts About Space
Emily Austin · 2024
About this list
These 100 books are the highest-scoring eligible easy LGBTQ+ books currently in the catalogue. By literary regard, it opens with Maurice, Tales of the City and Trash. About 434 hours of reading in all, for the 92 with measured lengths. Difficulty runs from 31 to 41 out of 100 for the middle half of the list; the summit is Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime at 45.
This list is ranked by literary regard, with a consistent order for equal scores. Membership follows authors and co-authors, not translators or editors. Catalogue coverage and the historical canon both limit what this list can represent, and genre labels are the catalogue’s own, gathered into broader kinds.
When we matched the Canons dataset to our catalogue in October 2026, our canonical-status scores rose with the number of school curricula, publisher series and lists in it that cite a work: the median score was 72 for books one such source cites, 84 at two, 88 at three, 92 at four and 93 at five or more. Prizes are left out of that count. Outside the state curricula, the dataset’s sources choose mostly from what has been translated into English or French, so it is a weaker check on other literatures. Source: Canons (Andrew Piper), CC BY 4.0
Questions people actually ask
- What are the best easy LGBTQ+ books?
- By literary regard, which weighs canonical status, critical standing and influence, Maurice, Tales of the City, Trash, Red, White & Royal Blue and In the Dream House lead. ReadingRate ranks 100 such books, each with a difficulty score and a reading-time estimate.
- Where should I start with easy LGBTQ+ books?
- Start from difficulty, not from rank. The most approachable books on this list that still carry top literary regard are Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (about 2.7 hours), The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang and Game Changer by Rachel Reid.
- How hard are easy LGBTQ+ books to read?
- Most of this list sits between 31 and 41 on ReadingRate's 100-point difficulty scale, where 40 to 55 is moderate. The summit is Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime at 45. Every entry carries its own score, so a reader can pick a great book at a difficulty they will finish.
- How is this list ranked?
- On literary-regard data: how canonically established a work is, its critical standing, and its influence on later writing. It is not a readers’ poll, which is why recent bestsellers rarely appear. Membership follows authors and co-authors, not translators or editors. A list that is not a genre list keeps to literature (fiction, poetry, drama and philosophy), with philosophy taking no more than one slot in five while there is literature left to rank; every list holds at most three works by one author.