Recs if you like Gay the Pray Away...

every struggled to find actual lesbian/sapphic books when at the library or bookstore? so did I!

bc of said struggle, I started to curate a personal list of books that either has lesbian MCs and/or featured a primary sapphic romance.

i haven't read all of these, but I do try my diligence in confirming that they meet the above perimeters, since many books claim to be sapphic when they're not. this is an ever updating list, only fiction for now!

Basically, a huge list of books from all genres featuring sapphic characters, whether bisexual, lesbian, butch, femme, or anything in between.

Includes fiction and nonfiction. Books with spice, and books with very little romance alike. You may find epic lady knights, pirates, ancient vampires or just weird girl adventures, heartbreaking stories or cozy books of found family and queer joy. Memoirs, historical fiction, instruction manuals, maybe even a poem or two.

Welcoming suggestions<3

❌ online discourse, ✔️ holistic knowledge fiction & non-fiction that will deepen your understanding of sapphism, its language/label evolution, and its intersections with bipoc, gender diversity and bisexuality. (please note “lesbian” terminology was originally an expansive umbrella openly inclusive of fluid sapphics when many books were published, and not all identify as specifically/exclusively wlw!)

Novels for when you want to explore religious trauma and the impacts of religion through fiction. For nonfic, see my list “From saint to sinner: religious deconstruction”

Suggestions are welcome!

list inspired by the one church lady who asked me what i was reading a few years back, then was shocked and appalled when i showed her The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. this is all for you maam🫡

audiobooks where the narrator is the author! any book goes, no matter the genre. there may be multiple versions of the audiobook, but at least one version has the author as narrator. please suggest more in the comments!

All the YA Sapphic books that have been published (or at least most of them). The books in this list have at least one main character who is either a lesbian, bisexual or pansexual. I only put the first books in series.

Books with sapphic characters at their center!

This list includes books where the character's queerness is clear, not merely suggested. The sapphic characters have to be central to the story.

The genres go beyond romance, expanding to historical fiction, fantasy, poetry, graphic novels, horror, non-fiction & more.

The selection is still growing 🌈

This list focuses on characters that have lived through physical, sexual, or religious trauma. This is not a list of self help or feel good books. This is for the people who know life is dark, love is conditional, and trust is something you guard. Endings are not guaranteed to be happy (tho some are) and characters may not be likable (trauma does that to you), but all books listed are ones that I've personally read and like. I will not add books that I do not know.

put!! them!! both!! on!! the!! cover!! we want chemistry, detailing and design!! WUH! LUH! WUH! shakes the publisher some of these are series so check out the rest!

If the butch deconstructs gender, the femme constructs gender. She puts together her own special ingredients for what it is to be a 'woman,' an identity with which she can live and love.—Joan Nestle, The Persistent Desire

fiction that with care depicts the “fem(me)” as in instinctive lover, nurturer and fierce protector of the queer community, especially in relation to gender nonconforming butch/stud/masc peers. <3 check out my other list of my favourite butchfemme fiction in general!

All books include main characters that are sapphic. This includes trans and non-binary lesbians

Natalie Naudus has narrated hundreds of audiobooks so bear with me as I try to get them all on this list!

Because of the lesbian ex-tradCath that I am, here's a list of mostly fiction books uniting Christianity in its various forms with queerness, where both are large themes. Disclaimer: I have not read all of the books here, so if there are some that have been mislabeled, please tell me! Suggestions are always welcome!

your fave iconic lesbian books were written by bi+ authors!!!

mostly to oppose the erasure of essential bisexual participation in lesbian literature and misinformation that bi+ women broadly prefer mlm to wlw. most of these authors have several sapphic books so make sure to check out the rest! many are also nonbinary, trans and/or on the aro/ace spectrums so please be mindful of their pronouns, labels (or lack thereof) and gender identities. suggestions welcomed!

All the sapphic fiction books I can think of (for series: only first book included) I'll be adding more and suggestions are welcome! :)

we owe lots of great butchfemme (and derivative masc/fem) rep to bi, pan, queer & unlabeled characters, often by bi+ authors! bi, aspec & trans folks are historically essential participants of butchfemme lesbian/sapphic/queer culture. these books have plurisexual character(s), sometimes through implied attraction transcending gender rather than explicit labels; this includes intersections with gender diversity and asexual/aromantic spectrums. check out my other list on bi butches/studs/mascs!

curated list of my fave fiction that have authentic and in-depth portrayals of the bi+ experience—often through intersections with gender expansiveness and the aromantic/asexual spectrums—as attraction that transcends gender, and/or the unique simultaneous embodiment of homosexuality and heterosexuality.

WLW books that deal with the intersection of queer identity and religion.