Books like God says no by James Hannaham

Middlesex follows a Greek-American family's multigenerational saga, charting the life of its intersex protagonist as they navigate gender identity and the search for belonging.

Jennifer Egan’s interlocking narratives weave the lives of Bennie Salazar, a former punk rocker turned record executive, and Sasha, a restless young woman, across decades and continents, exploring music, memory and the fragile threads that bind us.

When a mysterious psychic arrives in 1969 Lower East Side, New York, four siblings learn the day they will die, setting off a life‑long quest that tests fate, choice, family and the search for meaning.

A sweeping Indian novel that weaves themes of love, family, and self‑realization, exploring gender identity, interpersonal bonds, and the human spirit amid loss and resilience.

Michael Cunningham’s lyrical novel weaves Virginia Woolf’s final days with contemporary tales of love, inheritance, hope, and despair, centering on poet Richard and his friend Clarissa as they navigate fame and personal fulfillment.

A New England family saga follows Loo and her father, Samuel Hawley, as they navigate a fishing village, hidden family secrets, and the lingering shadow of Hawley's former life as a professional criminal.

A Nigerian-American teen in Washington, D.C. faces family, cultural and personal turmoil as he navigates coming out and the expectations of two worlds.

In “Memorial,” a Japanese American chef and a Black day‑care teacher navigate love, family, and identity when one must return to Osaka to confront a dying father, forcing both men to reevaluate their lives and relationships.

"Pastor Jerome Tyler 'JT' Thomas is charismatic behind the pulpit, charming to all he comes in contact with, and lethal to those who linger too long. Since the age of twenty-two, when he prayed for God to keep him out of prison, JT knew he would preach the gospel. Bishop Turner makes it possible; but there are strings attached, and now JT isn't sure he can stay tied down. Cutting loose causes more problems than JT anticipated. When an old friend from his days on the streets resurfaces and his 'extracurricular activity' comes knocking on his front door, JT's life and the lives of those close to him spiral out of control. Now he will need divine intervention to make things right. But how much help can a man hope to receive when he feels he's been forsaken by God?"--Page 4 of cover.

Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian's Pilgrimage in Search of God in America is part memoir and part investigative analysis that explores the explosive and confusing intersection of faith, politics, and sexuality in Christian America. The quest to find an answer is at the heart of Does Jesus Really Love Me?—a personal journey of belief, an investigation, and a portrait of a faith and a nation at odds by award-winning reporter Jeff Chu. From Brooklyn to Nashville to California, from Westboro Baptist Church and their “God Hates Fags” protest signs, to the pioneering Episcopalian bishop Mary Glasspool—who proclaims a message of liberation and divine love, Chu captures spiritual snapshots of Christian America at a remarkable moment, when tensions between both sides in the culture wars have rarely been higher. Funny and heartbreaking, perplexing and wise, Does Jesus Really Love Me? is an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual pilgrimage that reveals a nation in crisis.

Erneste, a devoted Swiss hotel waiter, carries a concealed grief: a love that began decades earlier for Jakob, a waiter‑in‑training who fled Europe and vanished with his partner. When Jakob writes from America, Erneste is forced to confront the passion that has haunted his quiet life.

In the five years since Alana Sharp Dumond lost her husband, she has remodeled her life. Her vintage car company is raking in money. She owns her own home and she has top-of-the-line friends. If she misses the feel of a man's arms around her, she'd never admit it. Worldly restaurateur Roland Casey has had his eye on sultry Alana for months, but she keeps putting the brakes on all his moves. Can he mend her once-broken heart?

"Siya Khumalo grew up in a Durban township where one sermon could whip up a lynch mob against those considered different. Drawing on personal experience - his childhood, life in the army, attending church, and competing in pageants - Khumalo explores being LGBTQI+ in South Africa today. In You have to be gay to know God, he takes us on a daring journey, exposing the interrelatedness of religion, politics and sex as the expectations of African cultures mingle with greed and colonial religion."