8 must-read queer books like On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

If you liked the queer plot in On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong , here is a list of 8 books like this:

Similar categories in bell hooks's All About Love: New Visions book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

"All awakening to love is spiritual awakening"

-bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions

"Couples who rarely or never have sex can know lifelong love. "

-bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions

"Honesty and openness is always the foundation of insightful dialogue."

-bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions

"Isolation and loneliness are central causes of depression and despair."

-bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions

Similar categories in Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• literary fiction
• fiction
• contemporary

Similar categories in Richard Siken's Crush book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• poetry
• lgbt
• fiction
• contemporary
• queer

Similar categories in James Baldwin's Giovanni’s Room book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• literary fiction
• lgbt
• fiction
• novels
• queer

"Nobody can stay in the Garden of Eden."

-James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room

"Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition."

-James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room

"...for nothing is more unbearable, once one has it, than freedom."

-James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room

"I loved her as much as ever and I still did not know how much that was."

-James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room

Similar categories in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• poetry
• literary fiction
• fiction
• novels
• adult

"I woke to the sound of rain."

-Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

"I wanted to be where nobody I knew could ever come."

-Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

"When they asked me what I wanted to be I said I didn't know."

-Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

"If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed."

-Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

Similar categories in Donna Tartt's The Secret History book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• literary fiction
• fiction
• contemporary
• novels
• adult

"It's a terrible thing, what we did,"

-Donna Tartt, The Secret History

"How quickly he fell; how soon it was over."

-Donna Tartt, The Secret History

"Forgive me, for all the things I did but mostly for the ones I did not."

-Donna Tartt, The Secret History

"I suppose the shock of recognition is one of the nastiest shocks of all."

-Donna Tartt, The Secret History

Similar categories in Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Similar categories in Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Similar categories in Ros Schwartz's I Who Have Never Known Men book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• literary fiction
• adult
• fiction
• novels

"Survival is never more than putting off the moment of death."

-Ros Schwartz, I Who Have Never Known Men

"I thought it was unfair, and then I understood that, alone and terrified, anger was my only weapon against the horror"

-Ros Schwartz, I Who Have Never Known Men

"Look at them. They’re pretending, they behave as though they still have some control over their lives and make momentous decisions about which vegetable to cook first."

-Ros Schwartz, I Who Have Never Known Men

"Only now, I tell myself that what I'd felt for her, the trust that slowly built up, the constant preference for her company and the joy each time I was reunited with her after an expedition were prob…"

-Ros Schwartz, I Who Have Never Known Men

Similar categories in Patti Smith's Just Kids book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• poetry
• audiobook

"There's always new stuff, that's for sure."

-Patti Smith, Just Kids

"Who can know the heart of youth but youth itself?"

-Patti Smith, Just Kids

"I knew he didn't love me, but I adored him anyway."

-Patti Smith, Just Kids

"Christ was a man worthy to rebel against, for he was rebellion itself."

-Patti Smith, Just Kids

Similar categories in Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• literary fiction
• fiction
• audiobook

"Always, Christmas brought out the best and the worst in people."

-Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These

"for people were bound, he knew, to reveal not only themselves, but what they knew, in conversation"

-Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These

"And then the nights came on and the frosts took hold again, and blades of cold slid under doors and cut the knees off those who still knelt to say the rosary."

-Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These

"When he reached the yard gate and found the padlock seized with frost, he felt the strain of being alive and wished he had stayed in bed, but he made himself carry on and crossed to a neighbour’s hou…"

-Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These

Similar categories in Mieko Kawakami's All the Lovers in the Night book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• literary fiction
• fiction
• contemporary
• adult
• audiobook

"It only took me a couple of hours to realise that she was a woman of talents beyond anything I could imagine - even though I was a stranger to such talents myself."

-Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night

"The light at night is special because the overwhelming light of day has left us, and the remaining half draws on everything it has to keep the world around us bright."

-Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night

"When I felt sleepy I slept, and when I opened my eyes I got up, letting hunger dictate when to head to the fridge or kitchen cabinet to eat some of the things that I'd stocked up on. When supplies ra…"

-Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night

"When I felt sleepy I slept, and when I opened my eyes I got up, letting hunger dictate when to head to the fridge or kitchen cabinet to eat some of the things that I'd stocked up on. When supplies ra…"

-Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night

Similar categories in Julia Armfield's Our Wives Under the Sea book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• audiobook
• literary fiction
• lgbt
• fiction
• contemporary
• adult
• queer

"El océano profundo es una casa embrujada: un lugar donde se mueven en la oscuridad cosas que no deberían existir."

-Julia Armfield, Our Wives Under the Sea

"She refused almost every aspect of my help, the way women will when they've been bred to accept little more than the baset civility."

-Julia Armfield, Our Wives Under the Sea

"I don't know why I expected you to read my mind,' I say, when I call back to leave her a message, 'I was just doing what I always do, assuming the world revolves around me."

-Julia Armfield, Our Wives Under the Sea

"The space around us is a claw half grasped, holding tight without quite crushing, and I wish, in the idle way I always wish these days, that I felt more confident in my ability to breathe."

-Julia Armfield, Our Wives Under the Sea

Similar categories in Amal El-Mohtar's This Is How You Lose the Time War book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• adult
• lgbt
• fiction
• queer

"Atlantis sinks. Serves it right."

-Amal El-Mohtar, This Is How You Lose the Time War

"And everyone is alive, somewhere in time."

-Amal El-Mohtar, This Is How You Lose the Time War

"All the stars are eyes here, always seeking."

-Amal El-Mohtar, This Is How You Lose the Time War

"I would rather break the world than lose you."

-Amal El-Mohtar, This Is How You Lose the Time War

Similar categories in Mona Awad's Bunny book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• literary fiction
• fiction
• contemporary
• adult
• audiobook

"The pink pony inside me weeps softly."

-Mona Awad, Bunny

"Oh, Bunny, I love you. I love you, Bunny."

-Mona Awad, Bunny

"We think of it as art meets life, Bunny. We’re putting art into the world."

-Mona Awad, Bunny

"Because life is shorter than we are, she says, so why beat around the bush?"

-Mona Awad, Bunny

Similar categories in Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• adult fiction
• literary fiction
• fiction
• contemporary
• adult
• audiobook

"A convenience store is a world of sound."

-Sayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman

"People who are considered normal enjoy putting those who aren't on trial, you know."

-Sayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman

"Anyone who devotes their life to fighting society in order to be free must be pretty sincere about suffering."

-Sayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman

"Well, I guess anyone who devotes their life to fighting society in order to be free must be pretty sincere about suffering."

-Sayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman

Similar categories in Tomasz Jedrowski's Swimming in the Dark book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• audiobook
• literary fiction
• lgbt
• fiction
• contemporary
• queer

"Little sparks cause fires too."

-Tomasz Jedrowski, Swimming in the Dark

"I avoided you, so that you couldn’t avoid me."

-Tomasz Jedrowski, Swimming in the Dark

"Selfish. Growing into yourself is nothing but that."

-Tomasz Jedrowski, Swimming in the Dark

"See it as a game– everyone knows the rules. And if you can’t change them, there’s no point in worrying."

-Tomasz Jedrowski, Swimming in the Dark

Similar categories in Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• adult fiction
• literary fiction
• fiction
• contemporary
• adult
• audiobook

"Friendship,"

-Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

"How I will miss the horses."

-Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

"You try again. You fail better."

-Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

"There are no ghosts, but up here"

-Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Similar categories in R.F. Kuang's Yellowface book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• adult fiction
• literary fiction
• fiction
• contemporary
• adult
• audiobook

"The truth is fluid, there is always another way to spin the story."

-R.F. Kuang, Yellowface

"They tell authors never to look at Goodreads, but nobody follows that advice—none of us can resist the urge to know how our work is being received."

-R.F. Kuang, Yellowface

"Writing is the closest thing we have to real magic. Writing is creating something out of nothing, is opening doors to other lands. Writing gives you power to shape your own world when the real one hu…"

-R.F. Kuang, Yellowface

Similar categories in Mieko Kawakami's Heaven book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• literary fiction
• fiction
• contemporary
• novels
• audiobook

"Karena kau selalu dilukai, kau sungguh-sungguh memahami seperti apakah orang terluka."

-Mieko Kawakami, Heaven

"The more I looked at it, the less it seemed like something for a house. More like a tiny gravestone."

-Mieko Kawakami, Heaven

"You think about how other people feel. You're so kind. It makes sense. Because we're always in pain, we know exactly what it means to hurt somebody else."

-Mieko Kawakami, Heaven

"People are always dying. It's a perfect truth. No matter how we live our lives, we all die, sooner or later. In which case, living is really just waiting to die."

-Mieko Kawakami, Heaven

Similar categories in Philippe Besson's Lie With Me book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• audiobook
• literary fiction
• lgbt
• fiction
• contemporary
• adult
• queer

"Desire does not go out like a match, it extinguishes slowly as it burns into ash."

-Philippe Besson, Lie With Me

"You get used to everything, even the defection of those you thought you were bound to forever."

-Philippe Besson, Lie With Me

"I also know how much of yourself you have to leave behind in order to look like everyone else."

-Philippe Besson, Lie With Me

"In the end, love was only possible because he saw me not as who I was, but as the person I would become."

-Philippe Besson, Lie With Me

Similar categories in R.F. Kuang's Babel book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• adult
• fiction
• audiobook

"It is astounding, in truth, how much of academia’s perceived resource scarcity is artificially constructed."

-R.F. Kuang, Babel

"Grief suffocated. Grief paralysed. Grief was a cruel, heavy boot pressed so hard against his chest that he could not breathe."

-R.F. Kuang, Babel

"languages aren't just made of words. they're modes of looking at the world. They're the keys to civiliation. And that's knowledge worth killing for"

-R.F. Kuang, Babel

"It revealed the sheer dependence of the British, who, astonishingly, could not manage to do basic things like bake bread or get safely from one place to another without words stolen from other countr…"

-R.F. Kuang, Babel

Similar categories in Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• adult fiction
• literary fiction
• fiction
• contemporary
• novels
• adult
• audiobook

"What next? I couldn't imagine."

-Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation

"I wasn't an insomniac, but I was miserable."

-Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation

"Life was repetitive, resonated at a low hum."

-Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation

"I just wanted to sleep all the time. I had a plan."

-Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation

Similar categories in Sally Rooney's Normal People book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• adult fiction
• literary fiction
• fiction
• contemporary
• novels
• adult
• audiobook

"People are a lot more knowable than they think they are."

-Sally Rooney, Normal People

"I'm not a religious person but I do sometimes think God made you for me."

-Sally Rooney, Normal People

"No. I was frustrated sometimes but not lonely. I never feel lonely when I'm with you."

-Sally Rooney, Normal People

"Most people go through their whole lives, without ever really feeling that close with anyone."

-Sally Rooney, Normal People

Similar categories in Michelle Zauner's Crying in H Mart book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• audiobook
• adult
• contemporary

"what procellous awesomeness does not in you abound"

-Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart

"It felt wrong to talk to anyone, to smile or laugh or eat again knowing that she was dead."

-Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart

"I could almost feel in the embrace that my concerns had been her concerns, my pain had been her pain."

-Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart

"Maybe I was just terrified that I might be the closest thing she had to leaving a piece of herself behind."

-Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart

Similar categories in Toshikazu Kawaguchi's Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1) book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• audiobook
• adult
• fiction
• contemporary

"Thank you, for the honor of having you."

-Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)

"Negativity is food for malady, one might say."

-Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)

"She wanted to do things without having to worry what others thought. She simply lived for her freedom."

-Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)

"With the coffee in front of her, she closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. It was her moment of happiness."

-Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)

Similar categories in Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• audiobook
• adult fiction
• literary fiction
• poetry
• lgbt
• fiction
• contemporary
• novels
• adult
• queer

"It was beauty, I learned, that we risked ourselves for."

-Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

"To look at something is to fill your whole life with it, if only briefly."

-Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

"What were you before you met me?" "I think I was drowning" "And what are you now?" "Water"

-Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

"A page, turning, is a wing lifted with no twin, and therefore no flight. And yet we are moved."

-Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Similar categories in Carmen Maria Machado's In the Dream House book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• audiobook
• adult
• lgbt
• queer

"But this story? This one's mine."

-Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House

"I thought you died, but writing this, I'm not sure you did."

-Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House

"Your heart launches itself against your rib cage like an animal."

-Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House

"How do you get someone you want to want you? Why did no one love you?"

-Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House

Similar categories in Coco Mellors's Cleopatra and Frankenstein book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• adult fiction
• literary fiction
• lgbt
• fiction
• contemporary
• novels
• adult
• audiobook

"And you’re in love?"

-Coco Mellors, Cleopatra and Frankenstein

"People are like this too, you know,"

-Coco Mellors, Cleopatra and Frankenstein

"When the darkest part of you meets the darkest part of me, it creates light."

-Coco Mellors, Cleopatra and Frankenstein

"Cleo and Frank could not make each other happy, no matter how hard they’d tried."

-Coco Mellors, Cleopatra and Frankenstein

Similar categories in Dolly Alderton's Everything I Know About Love book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• audiobook
• contemporary

"Nearly everything I know about love, I've learnt from my long-term friendships with women."

-Dolly Alderton, Everything I Know About Love

"No matter how uncertain and unpredictable life gets, some people really do walk next to you for ever."

-Dolly Alderton, Everything I Know About Love

"She knows where to find everything in me and I know where all her stuff is too. She is, in short, my best friend."

-Dolly Alderton, Everything I Know About Love

"I don't need any words or looks or comments from a man to believe I'm visible; to believe I'm here. don't need to run away from discomfort and into a male eyeliner. That's not where I come alive."

-Dolly Alderton, Everything I Know About Love

Similar categories in Caleb Azumah Nelson's Open Water book and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

• adult fiction
• literary fiction
• fiction
• contemporary
• novels
• adult
• audiobook

"Trauma makes you considerate."

-Caleb Azumah Nelson, Open Water

"You are more than the sum of your traumas"

-Caleb Azumah Nelson, Open Water

"You do not want to die before you can live"

-Caleb Azumah Nelson, Open Water

"...love was not always synonymous with care."

-Caleb Azumah Nelson, Open Water