LGBTQ+ Book Gift Guide: Best Sellers Worth Wrapping

Sophia Bush tells her own story, from her bohemian Los Angeles childhood to a decade on One Tree Hill and her years filming Chicago P.D. This edition is read by the author, so it lands like a personal conversation. It's a thoughtful pick for anyone who grew up with Brooke Davis or follows Bush's activism.

A senator's golden-boy son ends up rooming with a tattooed rule-breaker who runs an illegal fight ring, and enemies-to-lovers sparks fly. Readers say it's emotionally charged with relatively low angst and a sweet payoff, with the epilogues earning special praise. Many call it a book they'll reread.

A reclusive Hollywood icon finally tells the truth about her glamorous life, her seven marriages and a great forbidden love. Buyers describe twists they didn't see coming, an ending that made them cry, and pages they couldn't stop turning. It's the kind of book people press into friends' hands.

Award-winning Ann Leckie returns to the Imperial Radch universe with a standalone about a contested holy site, a food shortage and a communication blackout. Readers love the writing style, though opinions on the story and characters are split. It's a rewarding gift for someone already hooked on Leckie's world.

Brian Belovitch came out three times: as a queer teen, as a transgender woman known as Tish and later Natalia, and as an HIV-positive gay man during the AIDS crisis. The memoir moves from Studio 54 to Army life in Germany to downtown New York nightlife, then to recovery. Reviewers call it raw, deeply moving and hard to put down.

A washed-up author latches onto a vulnerable young gay man's story to revive her career, and the secrets pile up fast. It's pitched for fans of Yellowface, and buyers say it kept them intrigued to the end. Some readers flagged spelling errors and an unlikeable lead, which suits fans of morally messy narrators.

Douglas Stuart's latest follows a young artist returning to his father's croft on the Isle of Harris, caught between a preacher father's expectations and his own desires. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and chosen for Oprah's Book Club. Readers find it beautiful and compelling, though many note it's a heavy, sometimes depressing read.

Rival hockey captains Shane and Ilya are enemies in public and something else entirely in private. Now a streaming show on HBO Max in the U.S., it's a natural gift for anyone who watched and wants more. This new audio edition is narrated by Cooper North, and readers rave about Ilya's dry humor and the emotional payoff.