This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
For all of those participating in the 2024 Read Harder Challenge, you might have noticed the small text at the bottom of the list that says, “Bonus task: complete all tasks with LGBTQ authors.” In case you’re attempting that bonus task, I’ve put together a list of eight books by queer authors that check off Read Harder tasks.
One thing I want to emphasize about this bonus task is that it shouldn’t be used as an excuse to out people or to interrogate anyone about their sexuality or gender identity. This is about highlighting authors who publicly identify as queer, trans, nonbinary, etc, as these authors do. Please don’t message strangers asking them to tell you their sexuality or gender.
With that out of the way, here are eight books you can read for tasks that are by queer authors, several of which check off multiple tasks. Most of these I personally have read for Read Harder, because most of my reading is queer — there’s a reason I write the Our Queerest Shelves newsletter. Let me know in the comments which books you’d add to this list!
Jasmine is Haunted by Mark Oshiro
This one comes out tomorrow, and I just finished reading it! It’s a middle grade book about Jasmine, who has to keep changing schools and houses because she’s haunted by a disruptive ghost. In her new school, she meets a couple of friends in the GSA and finds out that they’re both interested in the paranormal, so they decide to investigate what’s going on with Jasmine. All three of the friends are queer (one is genderfluid and changes pronouns throughout the book). This completes task #3: Read a middle grade horror novel, and task #6: Read a middle grade book with an LGBTQIA main character.
Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings
This year, I’ve learned I love romances between two neurodivergent women. In this one, Opal just won the lottery, so she spontaneously decides to buy a flower farm and live on it while making her art. The problem is that Pepper already lives on the farm: her con artist mother sold it out from under her. Now, they’re living together as they figure out a solution. While they’re both neurodivergent (Pepper is autistic, Opal doesn’t have a definitive label), they have very different communication styles: Opal is bubbly and chatty, and Pepper is more guarded and suspicious. This often puts them in conflict, but they also have an undeniable attraction. I appreciated the realistic obstacles to their relationship, and I was rooting for them the whole time. As you have probably put together, this completes task #19: Read a romance with neurodivergent characters.
