Books with lesbian protagonists worth reading?

submitted by plenty_water from self.Lesbians

When I first came out at the age of twelve and into high school i got my hands on any lesbian book I could find. Most of them were as heinous as lesbian film. So, I set that genre firmly aside.

Fast forward sixteen years. I got a job where I'll be at sea for 45 days a time. I'm now looking for good literature of any kind, really. But I've come here to find out whether lesbian literature has advanced since I last checked in. Any recommendations? It would be cool if the protagonist just happened to be gay, and the story wasn't centered on romance. Romance is fine too, since that is extremely absent in my life.

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[–]devonSwan 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

There is a great trilogy called When Women Were Warriors, the cover sucks but the story is BEAUTIFUL. All three books are good. They're warriors and it's not actually centered on the romance but it's there.

[–]plenty_water[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Wonderful. Thank you.

[–]Anniesworld 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Amatka - dystopian reality scifi book. Main character is gay but it's not about the romance. It really about her journey to find out secrets about her society. If you read it tell me what you think. ( It's a little weird at first but once you understand how the society functions it gets pretty interesting)

I was the user who tried to set up a book club that was stickied to the r/Truelesbians subreddit. I can go through some of the books I have read and send you a list of the ones I liked. I'll try and see if I can find my list that I was making when people posted their recommendations to vote on the next book.

[–]plenty_water[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I would seriously appreciate a list of books. Sad that your effort was thwarted by the sub being deleted. :/ anyways, yes, please send me whatever you have. I just downloaded Amatka. Dystopian is my favorite genre. Lesbian dystopian? EVEN BETTER. thank you.

[–]Anniesworld 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It was thwarted possibly by me. I may just not have been the right person to manage it. I tried having questions for people to try to boost engagement, maybe it came off like a requirement which it never was, but in the end people just were not participating or not as interested in the book we picked. I tried to make it a voting system and once we had our pick for the month I hosted files on a google drive to make sure everyone had access. Not sure how or what else I could have done.

If anyone else is reading this and wanting to start something like this up, hopefully im not discouraging you. I truly think it might just be I was not the right person for that.

Anyways I cleaned my room yesterday in an effort to find the lists. I found my old computer but I don't know where the cord when to charge it. I might get back to you later on in the week if I can't find it today.

[–]greenergardens 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I don't think you were at fault. I think it was also die to the inactivity of the club/subreddit. I know I was guilty of that, myself. I appreciated you for doing what you did! You got me to read Backwards from Oregon thanks to the club, and I've reread it twice since haha

[–]Anniesworld 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Let me know what you think of the book, genuinely curious what you will think of it since dystopian books are a favorite of yours.

[–]Gacho666 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

you've seen the movie 'i cant think straight' there's a book about the movie, i haven't finished it yet but i guess it's good, generally books are always better than movies.

[–]HereStill 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I'm a huge fan of Tipping the Velvet, both the series and the book.

[–]greenergardens 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I have a few, mostly online stuff.

Backward from Oregon Surface of the Deep (fiction press) Sky Woman (fiction press) Celestial Reign: Tears of the Sun (fiction press)

It's hard to find good ones.