My Favorite Queer Reads!

Reading is one of the best forms of entertainment, and you can trust me on this because I am a writer! During Pride Month, and year-round, one of the best things we can do for the queer creators we know and love is supporting their content.

As a furry author, I have had the privilege of interacting with so many wonderful writers and their stories as a reader and editor. And since I love writing lists, I wanted to share some of my favorite reads that either contain LGBTQ+ themes and characters, or are by LGBTQ+ authors. Most of these will be books/short stories by fellow furries, but the other options will be horror/action type things.

Just as a disclaimer! I am only doing books that I have finished for this list. I am very much bad at sticking to one book at a time sometimes, thanks to ADHD and a very packed schedule. So when I do get to read, I sometimes forget to finish a book. It’s weird, and a habit I hope to drop. So unfortunately, while I have been loving The Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao and Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle, I can’t really speak on them as a whole until I have finished reading. (Don’t let that stop you from reading them though.) I will be avoiding as many spoilers as I can!

Also! If you see [18+] next to a title, that means that there’s adult content in that story (whether it be sexual or graphic or really fucking gory.)

• Scars of the Golden Dancer by NightEyes DaySpring [18+]
  This is the story of Zayn and Naji, a jackal prostitute/sword dancer and a hyena swordsman for hire. This book was a good read. It took me a while to finish completely (because of the ADHD) but it had a lot of good things that kept me invested when I was able to read. I love both of the main characters, though I think I liked Zayn more because he proves himself to be quite a badass. It’s got swords, betrayal, death, and some rather steamy moments. What more could you want from a book?! (Also, NightEyes tables at some of our U.S. furry cons! So if you ever see him or his books, check him out! And give his fennec, Fadel, some headpats!)
  
• Rafts by Utunu [18+]
  After the gods of the sky and sea violently clash, Kunet finds himself adrift on his raft with an unexpected companion, a gnoll. This story is a slow burn romance in which you see two characters from two different tribes learn to survive and live together. There are definitely challenges for the two main characters, but this relationship is possibly one of the sweetest I have ever read. As I read this, Shima became one of my favorite characters almost instantly with his silly and sweet nature. This book also has some intensely sexual images and scenes throughout, but that doesn’t stop the tears. Seriously, the author warned me this book would be gay and sad. And I underestimated just how sad I would be.
  
• You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron [18+]
  Charity and her coworkers have possibly one of the coolest jobs ever as the cast and crew for a summer camp slasher experience. However, as the last week of their job approaches, some of her coworkers start to disappear. One of my biggest praises of this slasher has to be the central cast of characters. Charity, her girlfriend Bezi, and their coworkers and friends are a real likeable bunch. I had a lot of time to get to know them all, which made it a lot easier to root for them to survive. There were a few twists in this book I did not even begin to see coming, one of which caused me to say “Oh my God!” out loud and cause at least five people to look at me with weird expressions. With queer women as the lead and the love interest, this is a good pick for any horror nerds!
  
• Aces High by J. Daniel Phillips
  A murdered train robber is given a second chance at life, but only if he can collect the Aces and lives of the friends he used to run with. The book follows John Blackfoot as he sets off on his journey, while also getting a glimpse into his life before coming back from death. This was one of the first stories I was able to edit when I started working with THP. It’s also the first western I have read, and I loved it! The supernatural twist on a good old fashioned western revenge story really had me hooked.
  
• Sam Digger: Beaver Detective by Ian Madison Keller
  Sam Digger is a beaver detective with Portland police. This collection features several stories featuring Sam and her bull boyfriend, Oscar. This collection has seven really good stories with some really fun and bloody twists and turns. My personal favorite story in this collection is House of Hares. But all of the stories are good, and not all of them feature crimes and crime solving. some of them also feature some cute and romantic moments between Sam and her boyfriend. (The author of this collection, Ian Keller, is trans and goes by he/him/they/them.)
  
• This is Not a Horror Movie by Sarah Dobie Bauer
  Emory has been pining for his vacation neighbor, Connor Nichols, for the past four summers. However, more sinister happenings start to rear their ugly heads as a beloved beach bum goes missing. Emory and Connor team up to try and figure out what’s going on. This is just a loose summary to a story I really enjoyed. It’s a classic jock/nerd dynamic that I originally thought I was going to not like, but I was wrong. There were a lot of good references, and a good sinister storyline that served as a backdrop for a good romance.

I am not saying these are the only queer books I have read cover to cover (so far) but I am saying I definitely need to read more books. But, books are not the only type of queer media I enjoy! There are short stories that I love just as much. Here are just a few of my favorite short stories! Some of them are actually in the form of podcast episodes!

• Rites of Wood and Bone by Utunu (Read by Leuna)
• Dragon Roasted Coffee Beans by Jay “Shirou” Coughlan (Read by Khaki)
• Water by Utunu (Read by Khaki) Part One Part Two
• Same as Me by NightEyes DaySpring (Read by Carrizo)
• Of Heart and Stone by Solomon Harries
• Threads by Utunu (Featured in Fang 11) [18+]
• Stay Dead by Bill Kieffer (Featured in Awoo, Who’s This?)
• The Puplift series from Tempe O’Kun of Culturally F’d

There are others I could add to this list, but they’re either not out yet or I couldn’t find the name of the anthology they came out in.

There are also stories in Happy Howlidays (the anthology I edited) that are queer/written by queer authors. I was able to read and work with all of the stories and authors in the anthology so it’s safe to say that I highly recommend them. You can find a link to the anthology on my Works Published page.

This list is not as big as I’d like it to be. There are so many other queer stories out there! And one place you can go to find some, is the Voice of Dog podcast! It’s a podcast where you can hear furry authors read stories by other furry authors, and a good portion of the stories and authors featured on the podcast are queer folks. (And they just started releasing their Pride Month episodes!) So check it out.

Till my next post, have a lovely day.