Kaleidoscope Book Club

Kaleidoscope Book Club

The Kaleidoscope Book Club meets 6:00 – 7:00 pm on the third Thursday of each month in the Pullen Room at Hughes Library and online via Zoom.

Each month features a theme highlighting LGBTQ+ authors, characters, and stories across all genres. Suggested titles are provided in advance, but you are welcome to choose any book that fits the theme—on or off the list. Haven’t finished your book? Join the conversation anyway!

Most suggested titles can be found through the library’s catalog. Additionally, some selections can be found through the Library’s collections on Hoopla  or Libby. You’re welcome to pick a title from the suggested list or choose your own read!

Who Can Join
All adults are welcome—LGBTQ+ readers, allies, and anyone curious. We strive for a respectful and inclusive atmosphere for all participants.

How to Participate
The club is offered in a hybrid format: attend in person at the library or join via Zoom. For questions, to join the reminder list, or to receive the Zoom link:

2026 Schedule

January – Thursday, January 15th, 6pm

  • Theme: Fresh Starts & First Chapters
    Kick off the new year with coming-of-age stories or books about self-discovery and transformation. Read about characters finding themselves, coming out, transitioning, or beginning new chapters in their lives. Books should feature LGBTQ+ characters or be written by authors from the LGBTQ+ community. Fiction or nonfiction selections welcome. Books from any category—adult, young adult, etc. —are welcome.
  • January Recommendations – Kaleidoscope

February – Thursday, February 19th, 6pm

  • Theme: Black Love, Queer Legacies & Futures
    In celebration of Black History Month, this month’s theme invites you to explore LGBTQ+ stories connected to Black history, culture, and imagination. Choose a book that features Black LGBTQ+ characters or is written by a Black author from the LGBTQ+ community. Stories may center on love, relationships, identity, resistance, pivotal moments in Black history, or visions of Black futures. Fiction or nonfiction selections are welcome, including romance, classics, poetry, essays, memoirs, or speculative works. Books from any category—adult, young adult, and beyond—are all welcome.
  • February Recommendations – Kaleidoscope Book Club

March – Thursday, March 19th, 6pm

  • Theme: We March: Rights, Resistance, & the Fight Forward
    For March, we invite you to read a book choice rooted in LGBTQ+ resistance, advocacy, and the ongoing fight for rights and safety. Choose a book that explores protest, organizing, community defense, standing up in the face of injustice or anything similar that inspires you, whether through memoir, fiction, poetry, history, or speculative futures. Stories could center on collective action, personal courage, legal battles, chosen family, or the long work of protecting hard-won freedoms. Lighter, hopeful, or forward-looking reads are also welcome, including stories that imagine safer, freer worlds. All genres and age categories—adult, young adult, and beyond—are invited.
  • March Recommendations – Kaleidoscope Book Club

April – Thursday, April 16th, 6pm

  • Theme: Queer Earth: Stories Rooted in Land, Water, and Survival
    In celebration of Earth Day, we invite you to read a book that explores the relationship between queer lives and the natural world. Choose a story that engages with landscapes, ecosystems, climate change, environmental justice, or humanity’s place within the living planet. These books might imagine climate futures, reflect on the queerness of nature, or explore how land and environment shape identity, belonging, and survival. Or anything else you think fits within the theme! Books should be by an LGBTQ+ author, include LGBTQ+ themes, or center LGBTQ+ characters. Selections may include climate fiction, speculative worlds, nature writing, memoir, poetry, literary fiction, or genre-blending works. All genres and age categories—adult, young adult, graphic works, and beyond—are welcome
  • April Recommendations – Kaleidoscope Book Club

May – Thursday, May 21st, 6pm

  • Theme: Service & Sacrifice: Military + LGBTQIA+ 
    In theme with Memorial Day, this month we will read with books featuring LGBTQIA+ veterans, active-duty characters, or stories set in military contexts. Explore the complex experiences of LGBTQIA+ people serving, having served, or living in the shadows of war and conflict. Books should center LGBTQIA+ characters or be written by authors from the community. Fiction, nonfiction, or memoir are welcome. Books from any category—adult, young adult, juvenile—are welcome.
  • May Recommendations – Kaleidoscope Book Club

June – Thursday, June 18th, 6pm

  • Theme: Read the Rainbow (Pride Month — Free Choice)
    It’s Pride Month! Read anything that celebrates LGBTQIA+ identities and experiences. Total freedom this month: any book by an LGBTQIA+ author or featuring characters from the community that makes you proud, makes you think, or makes you smile. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels—whatever speaks to you. Books from any category—adult, young adult, juvenile—are welcome. Let’s celebrate together!

July – Thursday, July 16th, 6pm

  • Theme: From Rivalry to Romance: LGBTQIA+ Stories in Sports
    Celebrate summer and the spirit of competition with books featuring LGBTQIA+ characters in the world of sports. Dive into athletic romance, coming-out stories on the field or court, the history of LGBTQIA+ athletes breaking barriers, fierce rivalries that turn into something more or anything else you feel fits the theme. Books should center LGBTQIA+ characters or be written by authors from the community. Fiction, nonfiction, memoir, or romance are welcome. Books from any category—adult, young adult, juvenile—are welcome.
  • Recommendations to come

August – Thursday, August 20th, 6pm

  • Theme: Every Body, Every Story (Disability Rep + LGBTQIA+) 
    Explore the intersection of disability and LGBTQIA+ identities. Read books featuring disabled LGBTQIA+ main characters or written by disabled authors from the community. Stories should center characters navigating both their disabled and LGBTQIA+ identities. Fiction, nonfiction, or memoir are welcome. Books from any category—adult, young adult, juvenile—are welcome.
  • Recommendations to come

September – September 17th, 6pm

  • Theme: Dark Academia & Scary Thrills
    Get into the fall spirit with horror, gothic tales, mystery, thriller, dark academia, or anything atmospheric and unsettling featuring LGBTQIA+ themes. Read about LGBTQIA+ characters facing supernatural threats, solving mysteries, surviving terror, or wrestling with the pressures and shadows of academic life. Books should center LGBTQIA+ characters or be written by authors from the community. Fiction primarily, but true crime and spooky nonfiction are also welcome. Books from any category—adult, young adult, juvenile—are welcome.
  • Recommendations to come

October – October 15th, 6pm

  • Theme: Queer Myth Retellings
    Dive into legends, folklore, and mythology retold through a queer lens. Read retellings of fairy tales, ancient myths, folk stories, or legendary epics that center LGBTQIA+ characters or reimagine classic tales with queer identities at the heart of the story. Books should center LGBTQIA+ characters or be written by authors from the community. Fiction, fantasy, or magical realism are welcome. Books from any category—adult, young adult, juvenile—are welcome.
  • Recommendations to come

November – November 19th, 6pm

  • Theme: Seasoned Stories (Stories w/ Queer Elders/Characters 50+)
    Celebrate the wisdom of queer elders with books featuring older LGBTQIA+ characters, intergenerational relationships, or community members sharing their experiences across generations. Read about characters over 50, aging in the LGBTQIA+ community, or the bonds between elders and younger generations. A perfect tie-in to Native American Heritage Month, Thanksgiving, and a spirit of honoring ancestors. Books should center LGBTQIA+ characters or be written by authors from the community. Fiction, nonfiction, or memoir are welcome. Books from any category—adult, young adult, juvenile—are welcome.
  • Recommendations to come

December – December 17th, 6pm

  • Theme: Favorites & Festivities (Free Choice)
    End the year by sharing the books that moved you most! Holiday-themed or not—bring your favorite genre and come ready to celebrate the stories that mattered to you this year. Any book by an LGBTQIA+ author or featuring characters from the community. All formats welcome. Books from any category—adult, young adult, juvenile—are welcome.