Reads Rainbow Awards 2019: The Results

It’s that time!!! The votes are in, and we’re about to announce the results of our Alternative Choice Awards (Goodreads who?). You’ve been voting for 5 weeks and now we have our winners*.

*In the interests of promoting as much LGBT lit as we can, we were actually just going to put top 5, but then some categories had multiple books with the same number of votes, so, as you can see, five is somewhat of an… underestimate?

Anyway. If you’re interested:

See the breakdown of results here!

Otherwise, happy scrolling!

FICTION

1. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
2. A Love Story for Bewildered Girls by Emma Morgan
3. Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett
4. Patsy by Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn
4. Lie With Me by Philippe Besson

4. The Not-Wives by Carley Moore
5. I’m Sorry This Isn’t Porn and Other Apologies by Verity Ritchie

MYSTERY & THRILLER

1. Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist
2. The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif
3. The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown
4. Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall
5. After the Eclipse by Fran Dorricott

HISTORICAL FICTION

1. The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite
2. Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
3. Ziggy, Stardust & Me by James Brandon
3. Proper English by K. J. Charles
4. Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis

4. The Huntress by Kate Quinn
5. This Brutal House by Niven Govinden
5. Two Wings to Fly Away by Penny Mickelbury

FANTASY

1. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
2. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (*)
3. Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger
4. The True Queen by Zen Cho
5. The Binding by Bridget Collins

ROMANCE

1. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
2. Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole
3. Work for It by Talia Hibbert
4. Reverb by Anna Zabo
5. Anyone But You by Chelsea M. Cameron

SCIENCE FICTION

1. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal el-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
2. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
2. Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee
3. Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes
4. And Shall Machines Surrender by Benjanun Sriduangkaew

4. Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone
4. The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
4. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
5. Alice Payne Rides by Kate Heartfield
5. The Widening Gyre by Michael R. Johnston

NONFICTION

1. I Hope We Choose Love by Kai Cheng Thom
2. Real Queer America by Samantha Allen
3. The Stonewall Reader ed. by NYPL
4. When Brooklyn Was Queer by Hugh Ryan
5. The Book of Pride by Mason Funk

MEMOIR & BIOGRAPHY

1. Brave Face by Shaun David Hutchinson
2. Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden
3. We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib
4. Unicorn by Amrou al-Kadhi
5. How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones

GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS

1. Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker & Wendy Xu
2. Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki & Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
3. Bloom by Kevin Panetta & Savanna Ganucheau
4. The Avant-Guards by Carly Usdin & Noah Hayes
5. Heartstopper, vol. 2 by Alice Oseman

POETRY

1. The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
2. Radiant Souls by Lenee H.
3. Soft Science by Franny Choi
4. Lord of the Butterflies by Andrea Gibson
5. Feed by Tommy Pico

DEBUT NOVEL

1. Crier’s War by Nina Varela
2. I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver
3. Wilder Girls by Rory Powers
4. Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno
5. The Perfect Assassin by K. A. Doore

YA FICTION

1. I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver
2. The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum
3. Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi
4. Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins
5. How to be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters

YA SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

1. The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
2. Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan
3. The Fever King by Victoria Lee
4. Crier’s War by Nina Varela
5. We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

*See end of breakdown for notes.

Did your faves make it? What else would you rec?