10 Exciting LGBTQ Books from Around the World

[@glendaw5221]

Well I am 71 and no longer attracted to anyone sexually (lol) but I do love all people! I’ve learned so much from your channel. Not just bookish things. 😍

[@WillowTalksBooks]

It's wonderful to have you be so accepting. You inspire me 💜

[@MeBookology]

Thank you for sharing this list. I am from the United Arab Emirates, and we barely have an open discussion about the marginalized LGBT group. In the UAE, there are many now. At the end of the day, these people are human with feelings, and they struggle too. A few years back, LGBT groups would do anything to hide, now slowly, they are coming out. But of course, they're considered an outcast. Society's denial doesn't mean this group will disappear because you can see them on campuses and in public life today. I saw "Detransition Baby" in our local bookstore, which was a positive thing to see. As a Muslim and a conservative, I want to understand the LGBT people on a personal level to see how we can co-exist in the Emirates. People usually use religious narratives when discussing this topic, and I keep telling them that let God Almighty judge us all.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Glad I could be of some help on your journey. And I'm very happy to see Detransition, Baby at a UAE bookstore. That's a very positive and Impressive step. As a side note, I lived in the UAE for a short time. It's nice to meet someone so considered and open-minded, thank you.

[@junhowpeng3470]

As a Taiwanese who had watched a number of your videos, I was wonderfully surprised to see your appreciation of Taiwan!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Taiwan is one of my favourite places in the world. I love everything about it and I can't wait to come back 💜

[@sotelovillagrandianaitzel5704]

I love your lgbtq+ recommendations more than anyone else's because they come from all over the world and you're so passioante about them, thank you for sharing your personal conection with queernes, happy pride!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Thank you very much! I want to explore and recognise queerness as it exists in every culture and from every perspective (if possible). Glad you enjoyed, and happy pride to you, too!

[@sterrejalou]

So happy for you you're feeling good in your own skin. Great channel! Astounded I've never come across one of your videos to be honest. So binge watching all of them right now!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Haha that's very flattering! We started off as a blog and we've been around for a few years now. The channel has been going for about a year and I love the support it gets 💜

[@danielaweberdani]

bit late for the debate but "kitchen" made a japanese language learner & teacher out of me, all those years ago, feels so nostalgic. 🇯🇵

[@jstamps9578]

Your love of books about every color of human experience especially the historically squashed, is so contagious. You're blowing my mind that great people like you exist.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I honestly don't know what to say except thank you 💜 I just love people.

[@jstamps9578]

It shows

[@JTBCPFC]

I'm so fucking proud of you W. We were at uni together, but haven't been in touch for a very long time. You're incredibly brave and I'm so glad you're happy. Keep up the great work x

[@ameliareads589]

You never waffle, you are only kindly sharing your enthusiasm with us. You are just awesome, Will! Keep sharing your journey, I will follow you everywhere it's going. The Membranes sounds very impressive!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

You are honestly too kind, thank you so much! 💜 And please do check out The Membranes!

[@laurenb_101]

I’m really glad you uploaded this video and I’m happy to hear that you’re slowly discovering your gender identity and sexuality. I recently bought Loveless because I’m finding that I am identifying as ace which explains a lot about me and my past relationships and I thank you for including this on the list 😊

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I'm glad you're growing to understand your own sexual identity more, as well. We need a lot more ace representation in art and media!

[@laurenb_101]

Thank you and we really do 👍

[@nowvoyaging8881]

A few years ago, I came across the term “demisexual”. And suddenly everything that had seemed so hard or odd about me and dating and my feelings about sex suddenly made sense. And more recently I’ve begun to come around to the idea that I might be panromantic. Part of me feels like I’m making too big a deal out of things but then another part of me wonders if maybe I’m not as “straight” as I always thought of myself as. Not sure if any of that makes sense lol Either way, thank you for the list! Detransition Baby has been on my radar for a bit, but I’m excited to hear your other picks!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Yes, this is why community and representation matters! When we find words or people that relate to our own feelings, we can understand them better. I'm glad you're exploring your sexual identity; it's a wonderful journey and I've been infinitely happier since coming out 💜

[@frannook]

Oh my, To the warm horizon sounds so beautiful even if harrowing! Immediately added to my ever growing list of books to read, thank you

[@WillowTalksBooks]

It's quite the read! I really hope you enjoy it :)

[@mishka_bear]

I am so happy you mentioned Kitchen! I was thinking about it just yesterday! I read it in '99 (in translation but not in English) as a baby trans/GQ and it was such an important book for me at the time. Definitely will go and reread it now. So happy I found your channel a few weeks ago!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I'm glad that, as a trans person, you found the trans representation in Kitchen to be positive! A lot of cis writers fail to write trans stories/characters. Thanks for watching!

[@mishka_bear]

​@@WillowTalksBooks Actually I don't know how current day me would evaluate the representation. That's one reason why I've been thinking of reading it again. But in '99 in a largely pre-internet Eastern Europe that was about all the representation 15 year old me could get, so I do feel very emotional about this book :) Thank you for the great analyses you publish!

[@kcarrii]

AYYYYY I'm so happy to see an ace book on here!! Legit never see pride recs including ace books so thank you sm!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

You're very welcome! Ace erasure bothers me a lot when it comes to pride and queer spaces. We need more ace representation!

[@Ali94749]

Read kitchen in Japanese before reading it in English and I think the translation is alright. People are too harsh on it I think.

[@Scarfknitter]

Glad to hear that you mentioned Taiwan🥰 Think I read The Membranes in high school and feel I need to reread it now

[@WillowTalksBooks]

It was so wonderful having this book available in English to read and enjoy 💜

[@dawnofthesecondday]

Lovely video once again, your channel is such a breath of fresh air within the booktube scene! My tbr list has grown immensely since discovering this channel and I'm happy to see that this video did it once again! I'll get to Memorial, The Membranes and To the Warm Horizon as soon as I can manage to get them in my hands. I too wish there was more ace/aro rep in literature, it's such a wide spectrum that fits so many different kinds of personal experiences under its definition. As an ace person I personally found Loveless quite triggering even at times due to my own history on the spectrum, but since it has made the acearo spectrum more visible in general, I'll give it some credit. I'm happy to see so many people have gotten so much out of it, even if my personal experience with it wasn't all that positive. Anyway, thanks for the recs and I'm looking forward to new videos! Have a great summer!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Thank you so much for your support, and I'm glad you found some books here you like the sound of! I've heard a lot of mixed responses to Loveless. My ace friends who have read it really found it uplifting but that's certainly not a universal reaction. Sadly, it's the only aroace novel I know of. If you happen to know more, please send recs my way!

[@morganmeadowes6861]

Thank you so much for this video and your recommendations! I’ve definitely noted down a couple of them to read myself. Funnily enough I have to disagree with you on the one book you recommended that I’ve also read, Loveless by Alice Oseman. While I’m aroace and nonbinary myself and therefore definitely understand the importance of representation, I do actually think that this book has a very problematic aspect that I have yet to see discussed anywhere. Sunil's pronouns are disrespected. Oseman included a nonbinary character, which we love to see, of course, and mentioned them using he/they pronouns explicitly multiple times, so I do not understand why she thought it’s a good idea to exclusively use he/him pronouns throughout the book for the character using he/THEY pronouns. I’m not complaining that people like and appreciate her books because Loveless has some very rare representation and Heartstopper has really helped a lot of people. I just don’t understand why nobody is talking about her disrespecting the pronouns of a character the she herself created. It would have been absolutely no problem had she just written that Sunil uses he/him pronouns. That wouldn’t have made him any less nonbinary, of course. But she wrote that they use he/they pronouns, so please use he/they pronouns for him. Anyway, not trying to come across as a dckhead, I really do appreciate your videos. :)

[@isabellehall9217]

Thank you for these great recommendations!!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

You're very welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed!

[@jenntendo64system]

What a great list! Watching your videos is always so dangerous for my TBR 😂 Have you read/heard of “Pet” by Akwaeke Emezi? They are a non-binary author and the book has a young trans protagonist (it’s a YA book).

[@jenntendo64system]

Also your summary of Detransition, Baby is perfect 👌🏼

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Aw thank, Jenn! And yes I'm a big fan of Akwaeke Emezi. I read Freshwater and found it very emotionally heavy and difficult (but rewarding). Haven't read any of their other books yet tho.

[@jenntendo64system]

@@WillowTalksBooks I think you might like Pet, although it may read a bit young. I still need to read Freshwatwr and Death of Vivek Oji.

[@glendaw5221]

I had to look up pansexual! Bear with me!❤️

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Of course! It just means someone who is attracted to all genders. Or that attraction is not dependent on gender. I am attracted to any and all people.

[@panikiczcock2891]

I hated the English translation of Kitchen lol I switched to the Polish one and it was much more enjoyable. I'm ace but I've never finished Loveless. It was kinda too juvenile for me idk

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Yeah it sucks that Kitchen has gotten a bad rap for its wonky English translation. Guess we're due a new one! And yeah Loveless is definitely YA and I'm not a big YA fan myself, but I still found it charming and well-written.

[@panikiczcock2891]

​@@WillowTalksBooks Certainly and for more new translations of her books in general! I hope for more ace rep in books about adult characters. I feel like we're extremely underrepresented.