As you may know, Independent Bookstore Day was rescheduled this year, but no matter the date, there’s been no year in which it’s more important to show whatever support you can. Behold, here are a bunch of wonderful indies that show great support to queer books, each with a little recommended list of books to buy from them!
This year, with the advent of Bookshop, some of these stores have shifted their ordering over there, so this will be a little hodgepodge, but what else would you expect of 2020?
(Stores are organized in alphabetical order by state, then city.)
Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe and Phoenix, AZ
- Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
- Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler
- Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh
The Ripped Bodice, Los Angeles, CA
- Browse their list of LGBTQ+ titles!
Vroman’s Bookstore, Pasadena, CA
- Browse their list of LGBTQIA+ reads!
Mysterious Galaxy, San Diego, CA
- The Afterward by E.K. Johnston
- The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
- Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha
- This is All Your Fault by Aminah Mae Safi
- White Trash Warlock by David Slayton
- Tarnished are the Stars by Rosiee Thor
Books, Inc., San Francisco, CA
- The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders
- Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
- The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Shop at Matter, Denver, CO
- Queer: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens by Kathy Belge and Marke Bieschke
- How to Understand Your Gender by Alex Iantaffi
- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
- Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
Burgundy Books, Saybrook, CT
- Out in the Country by Mary L. Gray
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
East City Bookshop, Washington, DC
- His Hideous Heart ed. by Dahlia Adler
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin
- Snapdragon by Kat Leyh
Writer’s Block Bookstore, Winter Park, FL
- Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
- Good Boy by Jennifer Finney Boylan
- Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
- The Deep by Rivers Solomon
- Fairest by Meredith Talusan
Avid Bookshop, Athens, GA
- We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
- In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
- Homie by Danez Smith
- Beyond the Black Door by A.M. Strickland
Brave and Kind Books, Decatur, GA
- The Summer of Impossibilities by Rachael Allen
- Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh
- The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters
Brain Lair Books, South Bend, IN
- Queer City by Peter Ackroyd
- Real Queer America by Samantha Allen
- wow, no thank you. by Samantha Irby
Raven Bookstore, Lawrence, KS
- Homesick by Nino Cipri
- Crownchasers by Rebecca Coffindaffer
- Lady Hotspur by Tessa Gratton
- Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
- A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney
- The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz
Tubby and Coo’s, New Orleans, LA
- See their Bookshop list of their Favorite Queer SF/F!
Copper Dog Books, Beverley, MA
- The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood
- Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
- Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
- Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Porter Square Books, Boston, MA
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (20% off)
- Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (20% off)
- The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco
- Finna by Nino Cipri
- Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall (20% off)
- You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
- Becoming Eve by Abby Stein
- These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling (20% off)
- Real Life by Brandon Taylor (20% off)
- Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells
Silver Unicorn Books, West Acton, MA
- Unapologetic: a Black, Queer, Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements by Charlene Carruthers
- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
- The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
- Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
- The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite
Loyalty Bookstores, Silver Spring, MD and Washington, DC
- You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
- Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis
- Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Dias
Brilliant Books, Traverse City, MI
- Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
- The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune
- Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
Moon Palace Books, Minneapolis, MN
- Check out their book lists for their selections for Non-Binary Book Club and Queer Book Club!
Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul, MN
- Spellhacker by M.K. England
- Havenfall by Sara Holland
- The Spy With the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
- Gold Wings Rising by Alex London
This House of Books, Billings, MT
- In the Vanishers’ Palace by Aliette de Bodard
- The Bright Lands by John Fram
- Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Firestorm Books + Coffee, Asheville, NC
- Lie with Me by Philippe Besson
- Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
- Sugar Run by Mesha Maren
- The Empress of Salt & Fortune by Nghi Vo
Bookworks, Albuquerque, NM
- Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
- Less by Andrew Sean Greer
- Kenzie Kickstarts a Team by Kit Rosewater
Kew and Willow, Queens, NY
- The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake
- Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
- Wilder Girls by Rory Power
- Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden
Books of Wonder, New York, NY
- King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender
- Reverie by Ryan La Sala
- Faith: Taking Flight by Julie Murphy
- Infinity Son by Adam Silvera
- Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth
- Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters
Oblong Books, Rhinebeck, NY
- Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (signed)
- Swan Song by Lisa Alther
- Sorted by Jackson Bird (signed)
- Faith by Julie Murphy (signed)
- Birthday by Meredith Russo
Powell’s Books, Portland, OR
- Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett (buy 2, get 1)
- Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn (buy 2, get 1)
- Save Yourself by Cameron Esposito (30% off)
- In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (30% off)
- Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
- Lot by Bryan Washington (buy 2, get 1)
- Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner (buy 2, get 1)
See also: their list of Black LGBTQIA+ Voices (20% off)
Harriett’s Bookshop, Philadelphia, PA
- Untamed by Glennon Doyle
- wow, no thank you. by Samantha Irby
- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
- All My Mother’s Lovers by Ilana Masad
- On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN
- The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James by Ashley Herring Blake
- Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake
- Release by Patrick Ness
- Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney Stevens
- Here For It by R. Eric Thomas
Interabang Books, Dallas, TX
- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
- This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples
- Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
One More Page Books, Arlington, VA
- The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
- The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
- Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore
- I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
- The Shadow War by Lindsay Smith (signed)
- The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls by Jessica Spotswood
- Pulp by Robin Talley
- Music From Another World by Robin Talley
Books and Crannies, Martinsville, VA
- The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett
- Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
- Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski
- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
- Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power
- The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper
- Memorial by Bryan Washington
Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, VA
- Officer Clemmons by Francois Clemmons
- Flamer by Mike Curato
- Boys of Alabama by Genevieve Hudson
- Broken People by Sam Lansky
- When the Stars Wrote Back by Trista Mateer
Third Street Books, Seattle, WA
- Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert
- Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist
- Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
- Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall
- By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery