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2021 LGBTQ-Authored Leadership Books

We created this list to promote leadership narratives written by those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ). This list is meant to be a resource, not an official endorsement. The books are not ranked or listed in any particular order. 

LGBTQ-Authored-Leadership-BooksDownload

(Download the PDF version of this list in the link above)

  1. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
  2. Entrepreneurial You: Monetize Your Expertise, Create Multiple Income Streams, and Thrive by Dorie Clark
  3. Seriously…I’m Kidding by Ellen Degeneres
  4. Shut Up, I’m Talking!: Coming Out in Hollywood and Making It to the Middle by Jason Stuart
  5. All In: An Autobiography by Billie Jean King
  6. An Archive of Hope: Harvey Milk’s Speeches and Writings by Harvey Milk
  7. Rainbow Warrior: My Life in Color by Gilbert Baker
  8. The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer
  9. Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words by Freddie Mercury
  10. GuRu by RuPaul
  11. The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss by Anderson Cooper & his mom Gloria Vanderbilt
  12. Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock
  13. Untamed by Glennon Doyle
  14. Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir by Brian Broome
  15. Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing: Essays by Lauren Hough
  16. Pride Leadership: Strategies for the LGBTQ+ Leader to be the King or Queen of Their Jungle by Steven Yacovelli
  17. Fit to Serve: Reflections on a Secret Life, Private Struggle, and Public Battle to Become the First Openly Gay U.S. Ambassador by James C. Hormel & Erin Martin
  18. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
  19. In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror by Anthony D. Romero
  20. Beautiful on the Outside: A Memoir by Adam Rippon
  21. Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level by Leander Kahney
  22. The Path Forward: Rethinking Federal Marijuana Policy by Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Rep. Jared Polis
  23. Forever Young: The Story of Troye Sivan by Alana Wulff
  24. The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen
  25. Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen
  26. Raf Simons by Sunny Chanday
  27. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
  28. Everybody’s Got Something by Robin Roberts & Veronica Chambers
  29. Dear White People by Justin Simien
  30. Michael Kors by Sunny Chanday
  31. This is the Fire: What I say to My Friends About Racism by Don Lemon
  32. Binge by Tyler Oakley
  33. Tom Ford by Tom Ford
  34. On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope by DeRay Mckesson
  35. Blood, Bones, & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton
  36. White Girls by Hilton Als
  37. Oh Myyy!: There Goes the Internet by George Takei
  38. They Called Us Enemy: Expanded Edition by George Takei
  39. The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom: Practical and Spiritual Steps to You Can Stop Worrying by Suze Orman
  40. Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel & Blake Masters
  41. Trust: America’s Best Chance by Pete Buttigieg
  42. Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future by Pete Buttigieg
  43. Nothing Personal by James Baldwin
  44. Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey by Alvin Ailey & A. Peter Bailey
  45. In the Shadow of the Eagle: A Tribal Representative in Maine by Donna M. Loring
  46. Me by Ricky Martin
  47. And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir by Joan Baez
  48. The Holly Woodlawn Story: A Low Life in High Heels by Holly Woodlawn
  49. The Gloria Anzaldúa Reader (Latin America Otherwise) by Gloria Anzaldúa
  50. I’m the One That I Want by Margaret Cho
  51. WOLFPACK: How to Come Together, Unleash Our Power, and Change the Game by Abby Wambach
  52. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
  53. Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds edited by Adrienne Maree Brown
  54. We Will Not Cancel Us edited by Adrienne Maree Brown
  55. Love and Rage by Lama Rod Owens
  56. I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl’s Notes from the End of the World by Kai Cheng Thom
  57. Martina by Martina Navratilova
  58. Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good edited by Adrienne Maree Brown
  59. Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements edited by Adrienne Maree Brown
  60. How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office: The Anti-Politics, Un-Boring Guide to Power edited by Adrienne Maree Brown
  61. The Children of Harvey Milk: How LGBTQ Politicians Changed the World by Andrew Reynolds
  62. Representation Matters: How Victory Fund, Victory Institute, and LGBT Leaders are Transforming America by Karen Ocamb
  63. Serving in Silence by Margarethe Cammermeyer
  64. Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage by Barney Frank
  65. Pressure is a Privilege: Lessons I’ve Learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes by Billie Jean King
  66. Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making it Work by Tim Gunn
  67. Queer Eye: Love Yourself, Love Your Life by Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness, Bobby Berk & Karamo Brown
  68. My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope by Karamo Brown
  69. Naturally Tan by Tan France
  70. Over The Top by Jonathan Van Ness
  71. 71. One life by Megan Rapinoe & Emma Brockes
  72. It’s About Damn Time by Arlan Hamilton
  73. Inclusion: Diversity, the New Workplace, & The Will to Change by Jennifer Brown
  74. Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob Tobia
  75. Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa

We are continually adding to this list. If you have any recommended additions please send us an email at info@curiositybased.com so we can add it here.

Interested in reading more? Check out our AAPI-Authored Leadership Booklist!

Check out the list!

Read our other leadership booklists too!

2021 AAPI-Authored Leadership Books

We created this list to promote leadership narratives written by Americans of Asian Pacific Islander (API) heritage. This list is meant to be a resource, not an official endorsement. The books are not ranked or listed in any particular order. 

AAPI-Authored-Leadership-BooksDownload

(Download the PDF version of this list in the link above)

  1. This Is One Way to Dance by Sejal Shah
  2. My Forgotten Seattle by Ron Chew
  3. Sigh, Gone: A Misfits Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In by Phuc Tran
  4. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
  5. Living for Change by Grace Boggs
  6. Where the Past Begins: Memory & Imagination by Amy Tan
  7. Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir by Eddie Huang
  8. The Cooked Seed: A Memoir by Anchee Min
  9. Out of the Gobi: My Story of China & America by Weijian Shan
  10. Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir by Padma Lakshmi
  11. Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo by Jo Koy
  12. An American Family: A Memoir of Hope & Sacrifice by Khizr Khan
  13. Brotherhood: Dharma, Destiny, and the American Dream by Deepak Chopra & Sanjiv Chopra
  14. Hawaii’s Story by Liliuokalani
  15. Nisei Radicals: The Feminist Poetics and Transformative Ministry of Mitsuye Yamada and Michael Yasutake by Diane C. Fujino
  16. See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur
  17. Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter’s Story by Mazie K. Hirono
  18. How to Raise a Feminist Son: Motherhood, Masculinity, and the Making of my Family by Sonora Jha
  19. Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan by Ruby Lal
  20. The Souls of Yellow Folk: Essays by Wesley Yang
  21. Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong
  22. Fault Lines: A Memoir by Meena Alexander
  23. Eat a Peach: A Memoir by David Chang
  24. Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change by Ellen Pao
  25. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
  26. The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere (TED Books) by Pico Iyer
  27. The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist’s Guide to Success in Business and Life by Avinash K. Dixit
  28. The Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything by Guy Kawasaki
  29. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams by Deepak Chopra
  30. The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
  31. Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life by Jim Kwik
  32. Postcolonial Leadership, A: Asian Immigrant Christian Leadership and Its Challenges by Hee An Choi
  33. Enough About Me: The Unexpected Power of Selflessness by Richard Lui
  34. Legal Heroes in the Trump Era: Be Inspired, Expand Your Impact, Change the World by Tahima Watson
  35. Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone by Satya Nadella
  36. All In by Jerry Yang
  37. Radical: Fighting to Put Students First by Michelle Rhee
  38. My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future by Indra Nooyi
  39. Unprecedented: The Masters and Me by Tiger Woods
  40. Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
  41. Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee by Sharon Lee
  42. Unsung Hero: The Col. Young O. Kim Story by Woo Sung Han
  43. You’re More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change Happen by Eric Liu
  44. Holding Serve: Preserving on and Off the Court by Michael Chang
  45. Great Asian Americans: Michelle Kwan by Stephanie Cham
  46. Great Asian Americans: Ellison Onizuka by Stephanie Cham
  47. Great Asian Americans: Tammy Duckworth by Stephanie Cham
  48. Great Asian Americans: Patsy Mink by Stephanie Cham
  49. Great Asian Americans: Yo-Yo Ma by Stephanie Cham
  50. To The Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei by George Takei
  51. Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self by Alex Tizon
  52. I love a Broad Margin to My Life by Maxine Hong Kingston
  53. Dat: Tackling Life and the NFL by Dat Nguyen
  54. Courage: The backbone of Leadership by Gus Lee and Diane Elliott-Lee
  55. Madame Wu Chien-shiung: The First lady of Physics Research by Tsai-chien Chiang
  56. It Takes Moxie by Maureen Francisco
  57. Finding the Edge: My Life On The Ice by Karen Chen
  58. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki
  59. Still Life with Rice by Helie Lee
  60. I’m the One That I Want by Margaret Cho
  61. When Invisible Children Sing by Chi Cheng Huang
  62. Creating the Digital Future: The Secrets of Consistent Innovation at Intel by Albert T.c. Yu
  63. Boundaries by Maya Lin
  64. The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang
  65. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim
  66. Leadership and Crisis by Bobby Jindal
  67. Enduring Conviction: Fred Korematsu and His Quest for Justice by Lorraine K. Bannai
  68. A Principled Stand: The Story of Hirabayashi v. United States by Gordon K. Hirabayashi
  69. Growing Up Brown: Memoirs of a Filipino American by Peter M. Jamero
  70. The Silent Master: Awakening the Power Within by Tae Yun Kim
  71. The Black Widow’s Guide to Killer Pool: Become the Player to Beat by Jeanette Lee
  72. My Forty years as a Diplomat by Feng-Shan Ho
  73. You Can’t Be Serious by Kal Penn
  74. Behind Deep Blue: Building the Computer that Defeated the World Chess Champion by Feng-Hsiung Hsu
  75. Not Nice: Stop People Pleasing, Staying Silent, & Feeling Guilty…And Start Speaking Up, Saying No, Asking Boldly, & Unapologetically Being Yourself by Dr. Aziz Gazupura
  76. The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala Harris
  77. Impressive First Impressions: A Guide to the Most Important 30 Seconds (And 30 Years) of Your Career by Vu H. Pham
  78. With Schwarzkopf: Life Lessons of the Bear by Gus Lee
  79. Purpose Mindset by Akhtar Badshah
  80. Conquering the Chaos by Ravi Venkatasan
  81. You Are A Mogul: How to Do the Impossible, Do It Yourself, and Do it Now by Tiffany Pham
  82. The Diversity Advantage: Fixing Gender Inequality in the Workplace by Ruchika Tulshyan
  83. Shorter: Work Better, Smarter, and Less – Here’s How by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
  84. Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
  85. Come into my Office: Stories from an HR Leader in Silicon Valley by Mai Ton
  86. AugmentAsian: Strategies and Tools for Asian Pacific American Professional & Leadership Success by Asian Upward & Elevate Teams
  87. Edge: Turning Adversity Into Advantage by Laura Huang

We are continually adding to this list. If you have any recommended additions please send us an email at info@curiositybased.com so we can add it here.

Interested in reading more? Check out our Leadership Books Authored by Women booklist!

Check out the list!

Read our other leadership booklists too!