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The Little Book of Queer Icons: The inspiring true stories behind groundbreaking LGBTQ+ icons
An inspiring collection of the biographies of previously marginalized people whose stories deserve to be told and celebrated.
Discover the fascinating stories behind 38 queer icons, all of them ground-breakers, risk-takers and game-changers. Whether they are activists, sportspeople, scientists or superstars, every one of these people has been a trailblazer in their field, and deserves to have their achievements celebrated the world over. Be empowered and inspired by their extraordinary life stories, their awesome achievements and their wonder-words of wisdom with this pocketbook of remarkable people, and prepare to be introduced to your new superheroes.
Discover the fascinating stories behind 38 queer icons, all of them ground-breakers, risk-takers and game-changers. Whether they are activists, sportspeople, scientists or superstars, every one of these people has been a trailblazer in their field, and deserves to have their achievements celebrated the world over. Be empowered and inspired by their extraordinary life stories, their awesome achievements and their wonder-words of wisdom with this pocketbook of remarkable people, and prepare to be introduced to your new superheroes.
160 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2019
5 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 12, 2020
I don't know if this little book (4 1/8" x 6 7/8") can be called THE definitive list of Queer Icons, but it includes information on quite a few people, some I was already aware of, and some I wasn't.
The list is by the person's year of birth, and each person gets four pages - one with a black and white line drawing, their name, date of birth and death (if applicable), and a short synopsis of what they are known for; two with "Their Incredible Story", or a short bio; and one with "Their Awesome Achievements", a bullet point list. It also includes a quote from the person.
The bio and the achievements list sometimes was repetitive, and it felt like the author could have surely found additional information on the 'icon' to include.
Although the author seemed to be careful to use the person's preferred pronouns in the bio, it annoyed me that everyone, regardless of their preferred pronouns/identified gender, had the headline "their". It seems like those should have been changed.
I enjoyed getting to know about each of the people included. The book was generally well written, and the drawings were nice.
I received this product free from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an unbiased review. I never guarantee a positive rating, and all opinions are my own.
The list is by the person's year of birth, and each person gets four pages - one with a black and white line drawing, their name, date of birth and death (if applicable), and a short synopsis of what they are known for; two with "Their Incredible Story", or a short bio; and one with "Their Awesome Achievements", a bullet point list. It also includes a quote from the person.
The bio and the achievements list sometimes was repetitive, and it felt like the author could have surely found additional information on the 'icon' to include.
Although the author seemed to be careful to use the person's preferred pronouns in the bio, it annoyed me that everyone, regardless of their preferred pronouns/identified gender, had the headline "their". It seems like those should have been changed.
I enjoyed getting to know about each of the people included. The book was generally well written, and the drawings were nice.
I received this product free from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an unbiased review. I never guarantee a positive rating, and all opinions are my own.
January 10, 2026
A great little collection of queers. I felt like some were missing, while also appreciating ones I hadn't heard about before. I do understand that everyone can't be included, but this felt very English-centric to me. To be fair, it is an English book, so... but still.
November 13, 2019
This is a very informative little book that introduced me to some individuals and activists that I hadn't heard of before. I also learned more about some people I knew about. None of this is a deep dive but simply short profiles of those chosen to be icons. As a plus, after the profiles, there's a page devoted to the reading list so I won't have to go back and try to remember who wrote books such as Oranges are Not the Only Fruit as well as page called Watch List for the movies about some of the icons. Although there's a long way to go in advancing awareness and acceptance on LGBTQ+, this book struck me as very positive as it showed how much progress as been made and who was instrumental in making it. My only quibble with this book which is certainly not the author's fault is this sort of stiff paperback takes active effort to keep it open for reading. It's great that it's sturdy for a paperback, but if released for a moment, the book wants to snap together. This is a valuable reference book on this topic.
August 27, 2023
A very informative book which introduced me to many iconic queer individuals and also reminded me of individuals I looked up to when I was younger! I loved reading about every single one of them!
December 18, 2019
The term "queer" is used inclusively in this small book; small by dimensions only since it covers 38 individuals. Some of the people I've known before but a handful I had not read or heard about previously. The subjects are from around the world and are laid out chronologically by birth year. The majority are from the 20th century which makes perfect sense given the availability of information and the modern concept of gender and sexuality orientation.
The layout of the book is excellent as well -- a cross-hatching black & white drawing of the subject, a list of "superpowers" beneath them, a biography that begins with a gender neutral "they/them" but then reflects the subject's identity preferences, a list of "awesome achievements," and a larger print quote. However, not every entry includes all these parts and that is either an editorial mistake or an author error.
Sometimes the "awesome achievements" are highlights that were not fully covered in the biography and that was perfect because it added more information. However, a few times that section was just too repetitive and felt like it could have been deleted so that a 39th and perhaps a 40th icon could have been included.
While care was taken to be explain context and historical details, I noticed a few errors particularly in relationship to feminism or other social movements that were adjacent, complimentary of, or opposed to the work of the subject covered. It's great to accept what an individual identifies as but when you use terms like "radical" out of historical context, it loses proper meaning and feed misinformation that anti-LGBTQ+ groups use to trick people.
The layout of the book is excellent as well -- a cross-hatching black & white drawing of the subject, a list of "superpowers" beneath them, a biography that begins with a gender neutral "they/them" but then reflects the subject's identity preferences, a list of "awesome achievements," and a larger print quote. However, not every entry includes all these parts and that is either an editorial mistake or an author error.
Sometimes the "awesome achievements" are highlights that were not fully covered in the biography and that was perfect because it added more information. However, a few times that section was just too repetitive and felt like it could have been deleted so that a 39th and perhaps a 40th icon could have been included.
While care was taken to be explain context and historical details, I noticed a few errors particularly in relationship to feminism or other social movements that were adjacent, complimentary of, or opposed to the work of the subject covered. It's great to accept what an individual identifies as but when you use terms like "radical" out of historical context, it loses proper meaning and feed misinformation that anti-LGBTQ+ groups use to trick people.
December 13, 2019
For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle
I have been a huge fan of all of the awesome biography list books that have become popular of late (Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women, The Little Book of Feminist Saints) so I was really excited to see one dedicated to LGBTQ icons.
Great book for learning new things about well-known icons as well as getting exposure to icons the reader might not have heard of before. Wonderful variety of people included with diverse identities represented such as gay man, lesbian, non-binary, transgender, etc. It was also nice to see various people from politics, sports, film, music, etc. included.
Each entry contains a 2-3 page story of the person that discusses why they are such an icon and worthy of recognition as well as a list of achievements, and usually a quote or two. Each also has an amazingly beautiful black-and-white illustration, which I absolutely loved.
A great book to browse or read straight on through.
I have been a huge fan of all of the awesome biography list books that have become popular of late (Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women, The Little Book of Feminist Saints) so I was really excited to see one dedicated to LGBTQ icons.
Great book for learning new things about well-known icons as well as getting exposure to icons the reader might not have heard of before. Wonderful variety of people included with diverse identities represented such as gay man, lesbian, non-binary, transgender, etc. It was also nice to see various people from politics, sports, film, music, etc. included.
Each entry contains a 2-3 page story of the person that discusses why they are such an icon and worthy of recognition as well as a list of achievements, and usually a quote or two. Each also has an amazingly beautiful black-and-white illustration, which I absolutely loved.
A great book to browse or read straight on through.
July 11, 2023
Samuel Alexander (2019) THE LITTLE BOOK OF QUEER ICONS
London. Summersdale Publishers
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 out of 5 stars
The sleeve reads, "Discover the fascinating stories behind 38 queer icons, all of them ground-breakers, risk-takers and game-changers. Whether they are activists, sportspeople, scientists or superstars, every one of these people has been a trailblazer in their field, and deserves to have their achievements celebrated the world over. Be empowered and inspired by their extraordinary life stories, their awesome achievements and their wonder-words of wisdom with this pocketbook of remarkable people, and prepare to be introduced to your new superheroes."
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Amazing! All featured are worth naming, some of the icons are favourites of mine: Munroe Bergdorf, Laverne Cox, Marsha P. Johnson, Margaret Cho, Jack Monroe. There needs to be more volumes although that'll compromise the "Little Book Of" selling point. Icons like Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, Lil Nas X, Laith Ashley, Lady Gaga, Paul O'Grady and many more should be in this book.
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#SamuelAlexander #TheLittleBookOfQueerIcons #Books #Read #Reads #Reading #Review #Reviews #BookReview #BookReviews #GoodReads
London. Summersdale Publishers
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 out of 5 stars
The sleeve reads, "Discover the fascinating stories behind 38 queer icons, all of them ground-breakers, risk-takers and game-changers. Whether they are activists, sportspeople, scientists or superstars, every one of these people has been a trailblazer in their field, and deserves to have their achievements celebrated the world over. Be empowered and inspired by their extraordinary life stories, their awesome achievements and their wonder-words of wisdom with this pocketbook of remarkable people, and prepare to be introduced to your new superheroes."
=====
Amazing! All featured are worth naming, some of the icons are favourites of mine: Munroe Bergdorf, Laverne Cox, Marsha P. Johnson, Margaret Cho, Jack Monroe. There needs to be more volumes although that'll compromise the "Little Book Of" selling point. Icons like Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, Lil Nas X, Laith Ashley, Lady Gaga, Paul O'Grady and many more should be in this book.
=====
#SamuelAlexander #TheLittleBookOfQueerIcons #Books #Read #Reads #Reading #Review #Reviews #BookReview #BookReviews #GoodReads
April 12, 2022
A minor jab, but this book should actually be called "The Little Book of Mostly British Queer Icons". A notable majority of the folks covered herein are well known and talked about in the UK, but probably not as much in North America. Still, it is an inspiring collection of stories about people who have (and are) stood up for the rights and dignity of people living with different sexualities and gender identities. If there's a complaint, it's that the the little "intriguing facts" part at the end of each article really just summarizes what was already discussed IN the article. Rather unnecessary.
August 24, 2023
As noted by another review, the “their achievements” section of each profile should really have instead used the chosen pronouns of each person BUT other than that, it’s a great, handy little book that educates on a range of people - some household names, some I’d never heard of. Would be fab for teenagers or people starting to get involved with queer history and queer culture, but of course is quite limited for those already pretty comfortable and confident in their queerness. Would be a cute little book to keep on a coffee table for guests to flick through while waiting for a cuppa !
October 3, 2023
Really not a definitive list of all the queer icons (it is a "little book" after all) but it was very inclusive by having icons from all backgrounds. I even got to know a few of them I had never heard of!
Overall the word that first comes to mind is cute. Although it might not have been a good idea for stand alone list, since there are already queer icons listed that are not up-to-date.
Overall the word that first comes to mind is cute. Although it might not have been a good idea for stand alone list, since there are already queer icons listed that are not up-to-date.
December 1, 2019
Read December 2019
38 short introductions to LGBTQ+ icons. I really enjoyed reading this. The setup was great and I loved how the collection featured people whose story I was already familiar with as well as people I didn’t know yet, or only knew by name.
38 short introductions to LGBTQ+ icons. I really enjoyed reading this. The setup was great and I loved how the collection featured people whose story I was already familiar with as well as people I didn’t know yet, or only knew by name.
December 4, 2019
Wish I could share this smartly written book with young kids in school. Though quite euro-centric, it picks a diverse group of individuals and gives a brief intro to the work they've done.
April 25, 2020
A succinct little book of Queer icons. I love that this book referenced a dozen other books that are well worth a read. Definitely one for your reference bookshelves.
July 12, 2024
4.5 stars
November 22, 2020
Featuring such notable queer icons as George Takei, Sir Ian McKellen, Ellen Degeneres and Audre Lorde, this book not only highlights the struggles and discrimination faced by members of the LGBT community because of their orientation, but also the breakthroughs in their fight for equality and acceptance.
Regardless of how people feel about the LGBT community, it must be remembered that they are human beings who simply wish to live their lives free from discrimination and prejudice. Sincere love between two consenting adults can never be a bad thing, and deserves our respect.
Regardless of how people feel about the LGBT community, it must be remembered that they are human beings who simply wish to live their lives free from discrimination and prejudice. Sincere love between two consenting adults can never be a bad thing, and deserves our respect.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews