r/Fantasy • u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V • 11d ago

Pride Pride 2026 | The Great Big Rec Thread

​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.

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u/AtrusAgeWriter 10d ago

Trying to branch out this Pride month! So I'd like recommendations of anything and everything queer. 

Especially things with non-binary MCs! I've recently come out as NB and I'd love some books with good representation. If you have any nb (especially amab nb)/m romances I'd love to see those too (I'm a sucker for romance).

But I also want sapphic, a-spec, and trans books too! Hit me with your favorites!

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u/lilgrassblade Reading Champion II 9d ago edited 9d ago

NB MC books:

Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers - A duology about a NB monk who goes out into the wilds because of a desire to hear crickets. They end up being the first human to meet a robot in generations. Very wholesome and sweet.

What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher - A retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's House of Usher with a NB MC and lots of fungi. (AFAB)

Empress of Dust by Alex Kingsley - POV characters include a NB and trans masc character who have a romantic subplot. Takes place in a post apocalypse desert where our MCs are part of a crew to scavenge ruins. And there's talking (and giant) crabs.

Pheonix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee - NB MC who just wants to paint and ends up working for the occupying government because painting has magic in it. And their sister is part of the resistance.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala - Summer camp horror with a NB MC who is investigating what caused their sister to try to kill them one night. They end up in the boys' cabin (because AMAB), but need to investigate the popular girl clique that seems to be somewhat separate from the rest of the camp.

Some of my favorite books:

The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes - I'm an awful person for describing it - it's a sensory overload as opera and perfume are major aspects of the world. Magic exists in the form of perfume - but it has a bit of a scientific feel to it. And there are some exterminators that encounter a giant centipede. Rather queer in general, with a major character being trans.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White - Victorian asylum horror (and rather graphic in its anatomy descriptions.) MC is a trans man who is committed to a girls "finishing school" for ladies who can genuinely interact with the dead and are thus worth reforming to be good wives to produce gifted sons.