The Greatest Books of All Time on Lgbtq+

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
2 In Search of Lost Time Marcel Proust 1913 French French
95 Orlando Virginia Woolf 1928 British English
167 Giovanni's Room James Baldwin 1956 American English
213 The Counterfeiters André Gide 1925 French French
269 Nightwood Djuna Barnes 1936 American English
418 Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides 2002 American English
498 The Immoralist André Gide 1902 French French
583 Against Nature J. K. Huysmans 1884 French French
700 Tales of the City Armistead Maupin 1978 American English
722 Bastard Out of Carolina Dorothy Allison 1992 American English
723 The Line of Beauty Alan Hollinghurst 2004 British English
748 Howl and Other Poems Allen Ginsberg 1956 American English
755 The Well of Loneliness Radclyffe Hall 1928 British English
761 Goodbye to Berlin Christopher Isherwood 1939 British English
840 Confessions of a Mask Yukio Mishima 1949 Japanese Japanese
901 Last Exit to Brooklyn Hubert Selby 1964 American English
929 Our Lady of the Flowers Jean Genet 1943 French French
945 Sexual Behavior in the Human Male Alfred C. Kinsey 1948 American English
1010 Fingersmith Sarah Waters 2002 British English
1022 Lincoln in the Bardo George Saunders 2017 American English
1056 Maurice E. M. Forster 1971 British English
1060 Fun Home Alison Bechdel 2006 American English
1067 A Boy's Own Story Edmund White 1982 American English
1095 The Swimming-Pool Library Alan Hollinghurst 1988 British English
1106 The Passion Jeanette Winterson 1987 British English
1128 The Price Of Salt Patricia Highsmith 1952 American English
1184 Mr Norris Changes Trains Christopher Isherwood 1935 British English
1330 The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller 2011 American English
1335 Kiss of the Spider Woman Manuel Puig 1976 Argentinian Spanish
1374 Earthly Powers Anthony Burgess 1980 British English
1385 The Bell Iris Murdoch 1958 British English
1461 Oranges are not the only Fruit Jeanette Winterson 1985 British English
1530 Myra Breckinridge Gore Vidal 1968 American English
1536 Rubyfruit Jungle Rita Mae Brown 1973 American English
1600 Studies in the Psychology of Sex Havelock Ellis 1897 British English
1610 The Hours Michael Cunningham 1998 American English
1620 Sister Outsider Audre Lorde 1984 American English
1666 Zami Audre Lorde 1982 American English
1703 The Argonauts Maggie Nelson 2015 American English
1771 Stone Butch Blues Leslie Feinberg 1993 American English
1790 The Master Colm Toibin 2004 Irish English
1829 To The Friend Who Did Not Save My Life Hervé Guibert 1990 French French
1983 The Great Believers Rebecca Makkai 2018 American English
2019 The Berlin Stories Christopher Isherwood 1945 British English
2116 Querelle of Brest Jean Genet 1947 French French
2288 Dancer From The Dance Andrew Holleran 1978 American English
2310 Sexing the Cherry Jeanette Winterson 1989 British English
2595 Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Jeanette Winterson 2011 British English
2986 Tipping The Velvet Sarah Waters 1998 British English
3052 Red, White & Royal Blue Casey McQuiston 2019 American English
3073 Lunch Poems Frank O'Hara 1964 American English
3115 Affinity Sarah Waters 1999 British English
3231 This Bridge Called My Back Cherríe Moraga, Gloria Anzaldúa 1981 American English
3280 Before Night Falls Reinaldo Arenas 1992 Cuban Spanish
3324 Confusion Stefan Zweig 1927 Austrian German
3325 Summer Will Show Sylvia Townsend Warner 1936 British English
3391 La Realidad Y El Deseo Luis Cernuda 1936 Spanish Spanish
3490 Seminario Sulla Gioventù Aldo Busi 1984 Italian Italian
3586 A Single Man Christopher Isherwood 1964 British English
3638 Die Homosexualität Des Mannes Und Des Weibes Magnus Hirschfeld 1920 German German
3846 Written on the Body Jeanette Winterson 1992 British English
3945 In The Dream House Carmen Maria Machado 2019 American English
3953 The Poems Of Dinos Christianopoulos Dinos Christianopoulos 1958 Greek Greek
4144 Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe Benjamin Alire Sáenz 2012 American English
4164 The Naked Civil Servant Quentin Crisp 1968 British English
4293 What Belongs to You Garth Greenwell 2016 American English
4298 Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Fannie Flagg 1987 American English
4525 Falconer John Cheever 1977 American English
4889 The Book of Salt Monique Truong 2003 American English
4934 Exile And Pride Eli Clare 1999 American English
5030 The Sluts Dennis Cooper 2004 American English
5339 Days Without End Sebastian Barry 2016 Irish English
5343 White Girls Hilton Als 2013 American English
5625 Olivia Dorothy Bussy 1949 British English
5687 The Friendly Young Ladies Mary Renault 1943 British English
5712 The Gallery John Horne Burns 1947 American English
5743 The Lost Language of Cranes David Leavitt 1986 American English
5755 Concerning The Eccentricities Of Cardinal Pirelli Ronald Firbank 1926 British English
5778 Special Friendships Roger Peyrefitte 1943 French French
5803 Martyr! Kaveh Akbar 2024 American English
5804 The Child Manuela Christa Winsloe 1933 German German
5858 Wasteland Jo Sinclair 1946 American English
6002 The Rehearsal Eleanor Catton 2008 New Zealand English
6147 My Tender Matador Pedro Lemebel 2001 Chilean Spanish
6300 Rejection Tony Tulathimutte 2024 American English
6367 The Safekeep Yael van der Wouden 2024 Unknown Unknown
6437 The Gaudy Image William Talsman 1958 American English
6516 Ghost Image Hervé Guibert 1981 French French
6581 Freshwater Akwaeke Emezi 2018 Nigerian English
6636 The Opoponax Monique Wittig 1983 French French
6765 Odd Girls And Twilight Lovers Lillian Faderman 1991 American English
6817 Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid 2017 American English
6854 Chelsea Girls Eileen Myles 1994 American English
6857 Hell Has No Limits José Donoso 1965 Chilean Spanish
6860 My Guru And His Disciple Christopher Isherwood 1980 British English
6872 Eustace Chisholm And The Works James Purdy 1967 American English
6972 The Exquisite Corpse Alfred Chester 1967 American English
6981 Hawthorn & Child Keith Ridgway 2012 Irish English
6992 Hallucinating Foucault Patricia Duncker 1996 British English
7100 Les Guerilleres Monique Wittig 1969 French French
7120 The Color Of Summer Reinaldo Arenas 1991 Cuban Spanish
7153 Poems Adrienne Rich 1975 American English
7164 Beijing Comrades Bei Tong 1998 Chinese English
7191 Heartstopper Alice Oseman 2018 British English
7215 A Compass Error Sybille Bedford 1968 British English
7615 Don't Get Too Comfortable David Rakoff 2005 Canadian English
7669 Julián Is A Mermaid Jessica Love 2018 American English
7732 The Story Of Harold Terry Andrews 1974 American English
7734 Stag Dance Torrey Peters 2025 American English
7756 Shuggie Bain Douglas Stuart 2020 Scottish English
7780 The Pairing Casey McQuiston 2024 Unknown English
7818 Sister Gin June Arnold 1975 American English
7839 Riverfinger Women Elana Nachman 1974 American English
7899 Spreadeagle Kevin Killian 2012 American English
7902 The House in the Cerulean Sea Tj Klune 2020 American English
7943 Lover Bertha Harris 1976 American English
7988 Sita Kate Millett 1976 American English
8166 Returning To Reims Didier Eribon 2009 French French
8217 Rok Perel Zuzana Brabcová 2000 Czech Czech
8243 The Work Of A Common Woman Judy Grahn 1978 American English