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Reads Rainbow Awards 2022: Shortlists

Nominations collected, we come to you with the shortlists now! These were the top 10 books from each category that ended up being nominated, and it’s from these that our winners will be selected. Voting doesn’t open until 10AM GMT tomorrow, but we thought we’d give you a chance to look at what there is to vote for a little earlier than that. You will be able to vote on this site from tomorrow! So, without further ado, let’s have a look at what’s made it through.

Related: Reads Rainbow Awards 2019, 2020 & 2021.

How it’s going to work

These are the first awards where the shortlists are completely decided by you guys!

You nominated your favourite LGBT books of 2022, so you know how that process worked & what were the rules! But just to reiterate: any book featuring LGBT main characters (or poetry books by authors who ID as LGBT, or nonfiction books on LGBT-related topics) that has been first published in 2022, was eligible.

The ten books with the most nominations from you guys in each category were set to form the final round. Once again, voting will open on 11th January at 10AM GMT and close on 25th January at 10AM GMT. Results will be announced on 31st January.

Shortlists

Adult contemporary fiction

Broken Beyond Repair by Emily Banting
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun
Husband Material by Alexis Hall
A Dash of Salt and Pepper by Kosoko Jackson

A Whisper of Solace by Milena McKay
The Wait is Over by Nicole Pyland
Son of Sin by Omar Sakr
Ask Me For Fire by Halli Starling
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

Adult mystery & thriller

The Language of Bodies by Suzanne DeWitt Hall
Last Chance Chicago by Diana DiGangi
The Lighthouse by Fran Dorricott
Delafield by Katherine V. Forrest
Timber Falls by Gerri Hill

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
Lavender House by Lev A. C. Rosen
Real Easy by Marie Rutkoski
Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor
Strange Attractors by Ana K. Wrenn

Adult historical fiction

Masters in This Hall by K. J. Charles
Infamous by Lex Croucher
The Raven and the Banshee by Carolyn Elizabeth
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall
Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall

Babel by R. F. Kuang
Dead Letters from Paradise by Ann McMan
Observations on the Danger of Female Curiosity by Suzanne Moss
After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz
Her Duchess to Desire by Jane Walsh

Adult horror & paranormal

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Dying for You by Jenny Frame
Harsh Reality by Elle E. Ire

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
Boys, Beasts & Men by Sam J. Miller
Bite Me! (You Know I Like It) by Fae Quin
Cougar Woods by Tiana Warner
All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes

Adult fantasy

The Hourglass Throne by K. D. Edwards
Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans
Undergrounder by J. E. Glass
A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow
A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Even Though I Knew the End by C. L. Polk
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
Deadbeat Druid by David R. Slayton
The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri

Adult science fiction

Scatter by Molly J. Bragg
Adrift in Starlight by Mindi Briar
Homeworld by Gun Brooke
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard

Reel to Real Love by Elle E. Ire
If I Were a Weapon by Skye Kilaen
Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell
The Stars Undying by Emery Robin
A Fractured Infinity by Nathan Tavares

YA contemporary fiction

Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler
How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow
She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick
A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo
Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
All Signs Point to Yes ed. by g. haron davis, Cam Montgomery & Adrianne White
The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes
Take Your Shot by Riley Scott
Anne of Greenville by Mariko Tamaki

YA mystery & thriller

Murder of Crows by K. Ancrum
Aces Wild by Amanda DeWitt
Dead End Girls by Wendy Heard
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala
The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor

The Killing Code by Ellie Marney
Summer’s Edge by Dana Mele
Cold by Mariko Tamaki
Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado
The Gravity of Missing Things by Marisa Urgo

YA historical fiction

No Stopping Us Now by Lucy Jane Bledsoe
Glorious Poison by Kat Dunn
Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong
Valiant Ladies by Melissa Grey
A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar

One for All by Lillie Lainoff
This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke
Self Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore
Fraternity by Andy Mientus
Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken by Nita Tyndall

YA horror & paranormal

Wicked Little Things by Justin Arnold
Eternally Yours ed. by Patrice Caldwell
The Sacrifice by Rin Chupeco
Dead Flip by Sara Farizan
Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson

Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne
Youngblood by Sasha Laurens
Funeral Girl by Emma K. Ohland
The Restless Dark by Erica Waters
Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

YA fantasy

At Midnight ed. by Dahlia Adler
All Daughters Rise by Alysa Auriemma
Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
Heat Wave by T. J. Klune

So This is Ever After by F. T. Lukens
From Dust, a Flame by Rebecca Podos
Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches by Kate Scelsa
A Cruel and Fated Light by Ashley Shuttleworth
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

YA science fiction

Harley Quinn: Reckoning by Rachael Allen
Dreams Bigger than Heartbreak by Charlie Jane Anders
All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown
The Kindred by Alechia Dow
Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson

The Loophole by Naz Kutub
Godslayers by Zoe Hana Mikuta
At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp
The Border Crosser by Cindy Rizzo
The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Middle grade & picture books

Moonflower by Kacen Callender
All Moms by Sarah Kate Ellis, Kristen Ellis-Henderson & Max Rambaldi
Alice Austen Lived Here by Alex Gino
Hazel Hill is Gonna Win This One by Maggie Horne
Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle by Nina LaCour & Kaylani Juanita

Answers in the Pages by David Levithan
A Costume for Charly by C. K. Malone & Alejandra Barajas
The Last Hope in Hopetown by Maria Tureaud
Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith
Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

Graphic novels & comics

Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo & Ren Graham
Flung Out of Space by Grace Ellis & Hannah Templer
Eat the Rich by Sarah Gailey, Pius Bak & Roman Titov
Anne by Kathleen Gros
A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Vol. 9 by Makoto Hagino

Monstress, Vol. 7: Devourer by Marjorie M. Liu & Sana Takeda
Chef’s Kiss by Jarrett Melendez & Danica Brine
Fence: Rise by C. S. Pacat & Johanna the Mad
Garlic and the Witch by Bree Paulsen
Anne of West Philly by Ivy Noelle Weir & Myisha Haynes

Poetry

Against Heaven by Kemi Alabi
100 Queer Poems ed. by Mary Jean Chan & Andrew McMillan
A Tinderbox in Three Acts by Cynthia Dewi Oka
Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow. by Noor Hindi
A Shiver in the Leaves by Luther Hughes

Alive at the End of the World by Saeed Jones
50 Things Kate Bush Taught Me About the Multiverse by Karyna McGlynn
Clean by Scott-Patrick Mitchell
Paradise (point of transmission) by Andrew Sutherland
Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong

Nonfiction

Another Appalachia by Neema Avashia
A Secret I Can’t Tell by Joe Gantz
Girls Can Kiss Now by Jill Gutowitz
A Girlhood by Carolyn Hays
The Trans Guide to Mental Health and Well-Being by Katy Lees

Bad Gays by Huw Lemmey & Ben Miller
A Quiet Foghorn by Raymond Luczak
Black Folk Could Fly by Randall Kenan
Y’all Means All by Z. Zane McNeill
Bi by Julia Shaw

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