For this week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category, read a sapphic book featuring a main character whose sexual orientation or gender identity differs from your own. For example, if you are cis, pick a book about a trans, intersex, or nonbinary character. If you are a lesbian, pick a book about a bisexual, pansexual, or asexual character, etc.
This week’s post is one of the longest I’ve put together for the Sapphic Book Bingo because I wanted to include recommended reading lists for all of the identities within the LGBTQIA+ community. I hope you find it helpful–not just for the reading challenge, but also to read more diversely and to find a few new favorite books!
15 recommended books with a lesbian main character:
- Just for Show by Jae
- The Delicate Things We Make by Milena McKay
- Big London Dreams by Clare Lydon
- No Rings Attached by Rachel Lacey
- If I Don’t Ask by E.J. Noyes
- Misfit Christmas by Anne Hagan
- What the Heart Sees by KC Luck
- Fool For Love by Rachael Sommers
- Good Spin by Monica McCallan
- Maverick by Max Ellendale
- Winter Calling by Lynn Galli
- The Last Days of Autumn by Donna K. Ford
- Thundering Pines by Rita Potter
- Spin My Heart Around by Abby Crofton
- Seashells and Sleigh Bells by Jennie Davids
15 recommended sapphic books with a bisexual main character:
- Paper Love by Jae
- For the Long Run by Cheyenne Blue
- Back to September by Melissa Brayden
- The Awkward Truth by Lee Winter
- Honey in the Marrow by Emily Waters
- Full of Promise by Kate Gavin
- Dark Horse by A.L. Brooks
- Stop and Go by Elizabeth Andre
- The Light of the World by Ellen Simpson
- Love Detour by Allie McDermid
- Broken Beyond Repair by Emily Banting
- Love and Lotus Blossom by Anne Shade
- Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner
- In the Event of Love by Courtney Kae
- Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
15 recommended sapphic books with a pansexual main character:
- Just a Touch Away by Jae
- Out on Good Behavior by Dahlia Adler
- Stability by Emily Alter
- The Loudest Silence by Olivia Janae
- Stone’s Mistake by Adrian J. Smith
- Strange Attractors by Ana K. Wrenn
- The Bodyguard Affair by Anna Stone
- Final Draft by Riley Redgate
- In the Ravenous Dark by A.M. Strickland
- Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
- Who’d Have Thought by G Benson
- If I Were a Weapon by Skye Kilaen
- Swipe Right by Tagan Shepard
- Love, Nature by Jenn Matthews
- Not Guilty by Brit Ryder
15 recommended books with an intersex main character:
- The Queen Has a Cold by Jane Kolven
- An Ordinary Wonder by Buki Papillon
- Arcadia by Emmanuelle Bayamack-Tam, translated by Ruth Diver
- That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston
- Annabel by Kathleen Winter
- An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
- Double Exposure by Bridget Birdsall
- Alex as Well by Alyssa Brugman
- In Between by Jane Hoppen
- Pantomime by Laura Lam
- The Names We Take by Trace Kerr
- Lum by Libby Ware
- A Proper Young Lady by Lianne Simon
- Trans Liberty Riot Brigade by L.M. Pierce
- None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio
15 recommended sapphic books with an asexual main character or a main character on the asexual spectrum:
- Perfect Rhythm by Jae
- The Love Project by TB Markinson and Miranda MacLeod
- Under the Sitka Sky by Violet Morley
- Unexpected Goals by Kelly Farmer
- Rising from Ash by Jax Meyer
- Soft on Soft by Mina Waheed
- The Tell Tale by Clare Ashton
- Moving On by Sage Donnell
- An Unfortunate Incident by KT Brodland
- The Murder Next Door by Sarah Bell
- The Art of Growing by Jacqueline Ramsden
- The Sting of Victory by S D Simper
- Do It for the Glory by Kaya LaSalle
- Posterity by Jess Newton
- It’s Always Been You by Elin Annalise
15 recommended sapphic books with a trans main character:
- Fake It by Lily Seabrooke
- Blackpoint by Kate Hershberger
- The Seep by Chana Porter
- Tengoku by Rae D. Magdon
- Cinder Ella by S.T. Lynn
- Being Emily by Rachel Gold
- Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
- Knowing Her by Raquel De Leon
- Dreadnought by April Daniels
- Nevada by Imogen Binnie
- The Weight of Living by M.A. Hinkle
- A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett
- Grey Dawn by Nyri A. Bakkalian
- Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia & Anna-Marie McLemore
- Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton
15 recommended books with a nonbinary main character:
- The Art of Growing by Jacqueline Ramsden
- Plain English by Rachel Spangler
- The One True Me and You by Remi K. England
- Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly
- In the Silences by Rachel Gold
- Ignis by KJ
- The Queen of Cups by Ren Basel
- Love Bleeds Deep by Rien Gray
- The Holiday Detour by Jane Kolven
- The Perks of Loving a Wallflower by Erica Ridley
- Christmas Inn Maine by Chelsea M. Cameron
- Dithered Hearts by Chace Verity
- She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
- Chef’s Kiss by TJ Alexander
- Simply Connected by Alex Washoe
Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “character with a different sexual orientation or gender identity than your own” category !
7 Responses
Jae this is a fabulous group of lists you have made. Thank you for everything. I imagine you working over a hot computer with steam coming out of your ears! Lol. Don’t forget to eat, sleep and do things purely for fun. If I could I’d send you a lifetime supply of your favorite ice cream, and the Cadillac of fountain pens with your favorite, it looks like you just murdered someone red ink.
This is an amazing list. Thank you for compiling it. Can’t wait to read some more. :)
I hope you find some new favorites!
The lists of recommended books are awesome. I found at least a dozen that I want to read. Thanks for sharing!
You’re very welcome!
You have a wonderful way of guiding me into areas where I didn’t even realize I hadn’t been! There are 2 lists here where I didn’t recognize one author. Definitely time to go there!
I hope you find a few new favorite books & authors in those two lists!