June is Pride Month, Audiobook Month, and the beginning of summer. It’s basically all the best parts of the year in one glorious month!
But why do we celebrate Pride in June anyway? Unfortunately, like most of queer history, it doesn’t have the happiest of beginnings…
From June 28 to July 3rd in the summer of 1969, the Stonewall Uprising took place in response to rising tensions against the queer community. Protests filled the streets from The Stonewall Inn (the gay bar where everything started) into Christopher Park of New York.
These protests called out against years of brutality against the queer community and served as a critical catalyst for the modern Pride movements we see today. To mark the anniversary of this momentous movement, June has become the month during which we celebrate queer culture and the many contributions of LGBTQIA+ people and communities.
Since June is Pride AND Audiobook Month, it’s the perfect time to celebrate queer voices in audiobooks!
Supporting LGBTQIA+ stories gives space to that community’s authentic experiences and perspectives. When you add the extra layer of queer narrator representation, that gives a whole other level of depth to the story being told. After all, it’s no secret that representation matters – in audiobooks as much as every other type of media!
Read more about the importance of media representation with the interactive documentary project Queer Representation Matters!
Audiobook publishers (like yours truly) go to great lengths to match skilled narrators to remarkable stories that complement their personal background and expertise. When the production team matches LGBTQIA+ narratives with narrators who share similar identities or experiences, they create a powerful connection between the story and the finished performance. The “right” narrator will effortlessly capture subtle nuances and cultural references that might otherwise be missed, creating a genuine translation for the listener to enjoy.
Through thoughtful casting like this, audiobooks allow listeners to connect more deeply with stories that reflect their own lives or broaden their understanding of diverse perspectives within the LGBTQIA+ community.
So, put on your finest rainbow attire and explore the rich literary landscape of LGBTQIA+ books at your local bookstore, library, and on your phone. With newly released queer stories in romance, fantasy, horror, historical fiction, and more, you’re bound to uncover deeper insight into this vibrant community and yourself.
Keep reading for audiobook recommendations to help you celebrate both Pride and Audiobook Month this June and beyond!
💗 Romance 💗
Queer romance has been getting a lot of attention for the past few years, and this year is no different. If you’re looking for queer romance audiobooks, you’re in luck—there’s a growing surplus of heartfelt, steamy, and unforgettable queer love stories releasing every day!
Perfect Picks: Both Single Player and Ready to Score feature sapphic romances that tap into gaming culture, from online to on the field.
Single Player
Written by Tara Tai, narrated by Natalie Naudus
Two video game creators go head-to-head in this delightful, queer enemies-to-lovers workplace romance debut, perfect for fans of T.J. Alexander and Helen Hoang.
Cat Li cares about two things: video games and swoony romances. The former has meant there’s not been much of the latter in her (real) life, but when she lands her dream job writing the love storylines for Compass Hollow—the next big thing in games—she knows it’s all been worth it. Then she meets her boss: the infamous Andi Zhang, who’s not only an arrogant hater but also impossibly, annoyingly hot.
Tropes & Themes: sapphic enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance, she’s her boss, they/she rep
Love video games? Check out other titles perfect for gamers at heart! >
Ready to Score
Written by Jodie Slaughter, narrated by Esme Ramos
Cleat Cute meets Friday Night Lights in this funny, spicy, emotional new sapphic romance from Jodie Slaughter.
Jade Dunn has her sights set on the head coach position, but there’s one major obstacle in her way—Francesca. She’s an infuriatingly sexy art teacher who’s in line for the same job with a magnetic pull Jade can’t ignore.
Tropes & Themes: sapphic enemies-to-lovers, small town setting, they work at the same high school
Check out more sapphic recs in last year’s Pride Month blog! >
🦄 Fantasy 🦄
The fantasy genre is a powerful space for queer storytelling, with audiobooks bringing diverse characters to life through skilled narration. Listeners within the queer community can now find themselves reflected in tales of dragons, magic, and heroic quests.
Perfect Picks: Titles from The Warden Series and The Everland Cycle showcase “romantasy” storylines with powerful depth while the Daughters of the Empty Throne series gives a trans witch the spotlight in a coming-of-age YA by a transfeminine author.
The Warden
Book 1 in The Warden series
Written by Daniel M. Ford, narrated by Lindsey Dorcus
She had the money, the connections, even the brains.
It was simple: become one of the only female necromancers, earn as many degrees as possible, get a post in one of the grand cities, then prove shes capable of greatness. The funny thing about plans is that they are seldom under your control.
For fans who have always wanted their Twin Peaks to have some wizards, The Warden is a non-stop action adventure story from author Daniel M. Ford.
Tropes & Themes: non-stop action & adventure, fish-out-of-water meets coming-of-age, cozy with a side of heart-warming
Check out Book 2: Necrobane & Book 3: Advocate >
The Blood-Born Dragon
Book 1 in The Everlands Cycle
Written by J.C. Rycroft, narrated by Katherine Littrell
Winner of Queer Indie Awards 2023 Best Debut Novel. Shortlisted for Aurealis Awards 2023 Best Fantasy Novel.
It was simple: become one of the only female necromancers, earn as many degrees as possible, get a post in one of the grand cities, then prove shes capable of greatness. The funny thing about plans is that they are seldom under your control.
For fans who have always wanted their Twin Peaks to have some wizards, The Warden is a non-stop action adventure story from author Daniel M. Ford.
Tropes & Themes: simmering sapphic romance, epic fantasy, political intrigue with dragons*
Check out Book 2: Timeless Legion & Prequel: A Hired Blade >
The Sapling Cage
Book 1 in the Daughters of the Empty Throne series
Written by Margaret Killjoy, narrated by Jackie Meloche
In the gripping first novel in the Daughters of the Empty Throne trilogy, author Margaret Killjoy spins a tale of earth magic, power struggle, and self-invention in an own-voices story of trans witchcraft.
Lorel has always dreamed of becoming a witch – learning magic, fighting monsters, and exploring the world beyond the small town where she and her mother run the stables. Even though a strange plague is killing the trees in the Kingdom of Cekon and witches are being blamed for it, Lorel wants nothing more than to join them. Theres only one problem: all witches are women, and she was born a boy.
Tropes & Themes: transgender FMC; earth magic; found family; complex characters & world-building; coming-of-age, high fantasy
📜 Historical & Literary Fiction 📜
Queer people and their culture have been around throughout human history, influencing everything from politics to fashion to the food we eat. Learn about just a few of these important people here! So, it makes perfect sense that queer characters would be featured in stories framed around real events in history and those making history today.
Perfect Picks: Sleeping Children and The Lilac People tell fictional stories inspired by real events and previously buried queer history. For stories with themes closer to current LGBTQIA+ struggles and triumphs, we suggest The South.
Sleeping Children
Written by Anthony Passeron (translated by Frank Wynne), narrated by Ben Caplan
An intimate, captivating first novel that tells the story of a family in southern France whose lives are intertwined with the history of the AIDS crisis—and with the forgotten French doctors who are among the first to detect the virus.
It’s 1981. As a wave of mysterious infections sweeps across the United States, a doctor in Paris encounters something unexpected: a case of a disease long thought to have been eradicated. It matches what is happening across the Atlantic—and thus begins a race to make sense of a deadly virus, one that will define a generation.
Tropes & Themes: 1980’s & AIDS crisis history, social justice, family & relationships
The Lilac People
Written by Milo Todd, narrated by
For readers of All the Light We Cannot See and In Memoriam, a moving and deeply humane story about a trans man who must relinquish the freedoms of prewar Berlin to survive first the Nazis then the Allies while protecting the ones he loves
In 1932 Berlin, Bertie, a trans man, and his friends spend carefree nights at the Eldorado Club, the epicenter of Berlins thriving queer community. An employee of the renowned Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld at the Institute of Sexual Science, Bertie works to improve queer rights in Germany and beyond, but everything changes when Hitler rises to power.
Tropes & Themes: World War II & transgender history, fugitive suspense, timely message
The South
First book in a to-be-released quartet
Written by Tash Aw, narrated by Windson Liong
A radiant, intimate novel of the longing that blooms between two boys over the course of one summer—about family, desire, and what we inherit.
When his grandfather dies, Jay travels south with his family to the property they’ve inherited, a once flourishing farm that has fallen into disrepair. The trees are diseased, the fields parched from months of drought.
Jay’s father, Jack, sends him out to work the land, or whatever land is left. Over the course of these hot, dense days, Jay finds himself drawn to Chuan, the son of the farm’s manager, different from him in every way except for one.
Tropes & Themes: Malaysian setting & rep, gay coming-of-age romance, family & relationships
🫣 Horror & Thriller 🫣
Horror, thrillers, and “transgressive” fiction genres give queer-centered stories a place to repackage their reality of being othered and constrained by society.
Eric LaRocca, author of This Skin Was Once Mine and Everything the Darkness Eats shared this when we asked why he thought queer rep in horror and transgressive fiction is important:
So much of the horror fiction I encountered at an impressionable age made me reflect on my identity, my purpose as a human being. I wish to inspire those same feelings in other people, too. – read the full quote here >
Through the hero (or heroine) respectfully reflecting the LGBTQIA+ community, they can inspire hope or act as a cautionary tale.
Perfect Picks: Every Sweet Thing Is Bitter is an upmarket suspense debut while Nameless Things is a classic survival horror, but both titles pack a punch with truly heart-racing plots.
Every Sweet Thing Is Bitter
Written by Anthony Passeron (translated by Frank Wynne), narrated by Ben Caplan
A woman with a violent past gets a chance at redemption in this upmarket suspense debut, perfect for fans of Lisa Taddeo and Tiffany McDaniel.
Thirteen years ago, Providence Byrd threw the family car in reverse and ran over her mother. Even though her mother survived, that single instant of teenage madness made Providence a felon and irrevocably altered her life. When her mother disappears years later under suspicious circumstances, Providence tells herself that returning home is her chance to find closure… and to find out if her abusive father is to blame.
Tropes & Themes: mystery thriller, resilient queer FMC, family dynamics, [trigger warning] domestic violence & abuse
Nameless Things
Written by Ernest Jensen, narrated by Ben Caplan
For fans of Stephen King and Nick Cutter, a gripping horror thriller set in Colorado’s Devils Cup State Park where survival becomes a deadly game against subterranean terrors.
In the aftermath of a painful breakup, Mike and his friend Wade seek solace in the remote beauty of Devil’s Cup State Park, Colorado. Their quest for peace is abruptly ended when a meteor strike causes a rock to fall, trapping them and a diverse group of campers within the ancient volcanic caldera. As they grapple with their new reality, a far more sinister challenge emerges from the depths of the earth.
Tropes & Themes: survivor horror,
Get even MORE queer horror recs in this blog! >
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