This month we're focusing on all things geeky (not that that's much different from the other eleven months of the year). Think film festivals, comic conventions, fan fiction and tabletop games! So pack your favourite dice, open up AO3 and spend the next 72 hours frantically trying to finish that cosplay - these are 12 LGBTQ+ books about queer nerds that everyone should read:

If You Still Recognise Me

Comic Books & Fan Fiction

YA Contemporary Romance

Queer Rep: Queer Women. LGBTQ+ Cast

Reading Age: 14+

Elsie has a crush on Ada. With a shared obsession with a queer-coded comic book series and the fan fiction that accompanies it, Ada is the only person in the world who truly understands her.

Unfortunately, they've never met in real life and Ada lives an ocean away. But Elsie has decided it's now or never to tell Ada how she feels.

That is, until her long-lost best friend Joan walks back into her life. In a summer of repairing broken connections and building surprising new ones, Elsie realises that she isn't nearly as alone as she thought. But now she has a choice to make...

Broken Hearts And Zombie Parts

Indie Films

YA Contemporary Romance

Queer Rep: Queer Men

Reading Age: 14+

A Big Gay Rom-Zom-Com with Heart. Jesse Spark has a broken heart and in a few short weeks he'll require major surgery to repair it - which means he only has a month to accomplish two almost-impossible tasks. 1) Shoot his epic zombie movie on a shoestring budget if he has any hope of getting into film school. 2) Fall in love before this surgery lands him with a huge scar - because how will anyone ever fancy him after that? Sex Education meets Love, Simon - with fake zombies - in this savagely funny gay YA romance about body image, self-acceptance and falling in love, all while shooting a low-budget zombie flick!

Breakup, Makeup

ComicCon and Cosplay

YA Contemporary Romance

Queer Rep: Queer Men, Non-Binary

Reading Age: 14+

Glow Up meets Comic Con in this bold, queer second chance romance where a special effects makeup artist must compete against their ex-boyfriend in a unique makeup and cosplay competition to win the scholarship of their dreams... and maybe their ex's heart. Eli Peterson is a self-taught, up-and-coming makeup artist in the cosplay scene who is just barely making ends meet. While they might be slaying it with their breath-taking, innovative looks, they're also trying to save up enough money for top surgery and convince their parents that taking a gap year to focus on their dream of being a makeup artist is worthwhile. During a convention, Eli hears about Makeup Wars, a cosplay makeup competition that could change everything. The problem is that they be going head-to-head with some of the most talented up-and-coming makeup artists - including rival influencer Zachary Miller, who also happens to be their ex-boyfriend.

Out Of Character

Fan Fiction

YA Contemporary Romance

Queer Rep: Queer Women

Reading Age: 14+

If you asked seventeen-year-old Cass Williams to describe herself, she’d happily tell you she’s fat, queer, and obsessed with the Tide Wars books. What she won’t tell you—or anyone in her life—is that she’s part of an online Tide Wars roleplay community.

But secretly retreating to her online life is starting to catch up with Cass. For one, no one in her real life knows her secret roleplay addiction is the reason her grades have taken a big hit. Also? Cass has started catching feelings for Rowan Davies, her internet bestie…and Taylor might be catching on.

As Cass’s lies continue to build, so does her anxiety. Roleplaying used to be the one place she could escape to, but this double life and offline-online love triangle have only made things worse. Cass must decide what to do—be honest and risk losing her safe space or keep it a secret and put everything else on the line.

Stars In Their Eyes

ComicCon

YA Graphic Novel

Queer Rep: Queer Women, Non-Binary

Reading Age: 12+

In this lighthearted YA romance, Maisie and Ollie discover that nothing beats the feeling of falling in love for the first time.

Maisie is on her way to Fancon! She's looking forward to meeting her idol, Kara Bufano, the action hero from her favorite TV show, who has a lower-leg amputation, just like Maisie.

But when Maisie and her mom arrive at the convention center, she is stopped in her tracks by Ollie, a cute volunteer working the show. They are kind, charming, and geek out about nerd culture just as much as Maisie does. And as the day wears on, Maisie notices feelings for Ollie that she's never had before. Is this what it feels like to fall in love?

I Think I Love You

Film Festivals

YA Contemporary Romance

Queer Rep: Queer Women

Reading Age: 12+

A sweet and funny debut novel about falling for someone when you least expect it . . . and finding out that real life romance is better than anything onscreen.

Emma is a die-hard romantic. She loves a meet-cute Netflix movie, her pet, Lady Catulet, and dreaming up the Gay Rom-Com of her heart for the film festival competition she and her friends are entering. If only they’d listen to her ideas. . .

Sophia is pragmatic. She’s big into boycotts, namely 1) relationships, 2) teen boys and their BO (reason #2347683 she’s a lesbian), and 3) Emma’s nauseating ideas. Forget starry-eyed romance, Sophia knows what will win: an artistic film with a message. Cue the drama.

They Came to Slay: Queer Culture of DnD

Dungeons & Dragons

Queer Culture - Non-Fiction

Queer Rep: LGBTQ+

Reading Age: 17+

Queer people have always played Dungeons & Dragons. Since the mid-2010s, the queer dice-rolling magic and might-wielding contingent have been taking up more space.

They Came to Slay is a queer non-fiction book about the history of Dungeons & Dragons within queer culture, and how the game became such a powerful mechanic for queer people. The book examines how DnD allows queer people to explore how they want to lead their lives in real and imagined worlds alike.

Sarahland

Fan Fiction

Contemporary Short Stories