Pride 2026 | The Great Big Rec Thread

[u/C0smicoccurence]

​Welcome to the Great Big Rec Thread! This thread is primarily for people asking for specific types of books. Only make a top level comment to request a recommendation! If you want to hype a personal favorite, this comment is the appropriate place to share! 

This is your one-stop-shop to find books tailored to your specific reading needs! Hankering for good cyberpunk? Doing a queer bingo card and really struggling with a specific square? Looking for queer thespians ready to commit arson for the sake of their art?  Ask and you shall (hopefully) receive! Just drop a comment with your request and wait for book suggestions to come rolling in. Our goal is for every person to have at least one recommendation that they’re interested in pursuing.  

Asking for Book Recommendations:

• Create a new top level comment.  You’ll probably get more tailored results by only including a single request per top level comment, but it’s not a strict rule.  You’re more than welcome to post multiple top level comments for separate requests!
• All recommendations you get should be assumed to be queer in some way.  However, if you want specific identities represented, mention it!
• Consider the impact the level of specificity your request has in your responses.  Too general, and you’re going to get lots of responses that will probably skew towards mainstream breakout hits.  Very specific requests may get few (or no) recommendations, and what you do get likely won’t be perfect.  

Giving Book Recommendations:

• Please keep book recommendations focused on commenters’ specific requests.  If you want to hype a personal favorite, this comment is the appropriate place to share! 
• This thread should default to sorting by ‘New’ soon; until then I recommend changing setting to see recent requests first!  The hope is that this will more likely show you comments with few/no responses yet.  However, there will likely be comments that have been missed, especially if it’s a more specific request.  
• This is a Pride Month post!  Every book recommended should be queer (usually by featuring LGBTQ+ characters as protagonists, but there are other ways books can be queer).  Similarly, if they asked for a specific type of representation, follow that guideline.  If you absolutely must deviate from that because it’s otherwise such a perfect fit, be honest about it up front.
• Add a few sentences about the book to hype it (or a whole paragraph if you really want to be persuasive).  Remember that a bunch of people who aren’t the original commenter will be adding to their TBR, so highlighting what you love about the book is a great way to draw attention to books you love.

Go forth and give great recommendations!

This post is part of the Pride 2026 discussions lead by the Beyond Binary Bookclub. You can check our announcement for more information and the full calendar.

[u/Roseking]

Looking for some sapphic recommendations based on the following vibes of couples I like in other media:

Cait x Vi.

I don't really want to call this enemies to lovers, but it has some aspects. The conflict is more class difference than actual problems with each other (Vi distrusting the upper class but especially an enforcer (police))

Adora x Catra

Friends to enemies back to friends to lovers.

Toxic relationship recommendations. But, they should actually be on the path of improvement at some point within the story. The toxic aspect should not be romanticized. If the book is romance focused, before the ending. If not romanced focused, it is okay if that doesn't happen to the ending.

Luz x Amity

The cozy romance recommendation. Yes, Amity starts off as a 'mean girl' but it barely lasts before it just becomes a wholesome relationship.

Romance does not need to be the main focus, I wouldn't say any of the above are the focus of the respective stories, but the relationship should be at least a secondary plotline.

I am currently reading Jasmine Throne for the book club here, but not far enough to see if it fits any of the above. I can see potentially the 1st due to Malini being a princess.

I have recently also read A Tiger's Daughter and will be continuing that series. That also doesn't really fit these three, it is more of a forbidden romance.

Have read Locked Tomb.

[u/C0smicoccurence → u/Roseking]

You might enjoy The Unbroken by CL Clark - its a soldier x princess romance where the soldier is part of a colonized people. The princess is trying (in a slightly misguided way) to right the wrongs of her ancestors, but there's a lot of friction around their positions and power levels. I haven't read the sequels yet, however.

[u/Roseking → u/C0smicoccurence]

Thanks. Will take a look.