I hope you like new releases, because this week is packed full of them! I had a hard time narrowing it down, even after doubling up with Riot Recs, so be sure to browse through the full list for even more books to put on hold/order.
Today, I wanted to highlight the Trans Lifeline, a crisis hotline for trans people that also gives microgrants to help trans people change legal documentation to reflect their gender. You can find out more at their website, and you can help out at their donation page.
What’s the secret behind Colleen Hoover’s explosive popularity? What’s the best reading tracker for power readers? And do you really *need* to read more this year? Check out these thoughts and more from experts in the world of books and reading by subscribing to Book Riot’s newest newsletter, The Deep Dive. Subscribe and choose your membership level today at bookriot.substack.com
Bookish Goods
New Releases
I don’t know why April 18th is such a huge release day for queer books, but there was a flood of titles to choose from this week! I know The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur is highly anticipated. And I’m excited for The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter, from the author of the wonderfully weird sapphic and trans “benign alien invasion” book The Seep.
Any Other City by Hazel Jane Plante (Queer Trans Woman Fiction)
This is the newest book from the author of Little Blue Encyclopedia: (for Vivian), a novel about a queer trans women that I’ve heard only amazing things about — I’m waiting for my library hold to come in! This one is a “two-sided fictional memoir.” Side A is in 1993, when Tracy St. Cyr, a musician at the beginning of her career, finds a new friend group of trans women artists. Side B is set in 2019, when she is writing her memoir and processing a traumatic event that happened in between.
Love Is an Ex-Country: A Memoir (Revised and Expanded) by Randa Jarrar (Queer Memoir)
Love Is an Ex-Country made a big splash when it came out in 2021: this story of traveling the USA as a queer, fat, Muslim, Arab American femme explores both the country’s history and her own. It gave me a lot to think about. Now, it’s being rereleased in paperback, revised and expanded. Make sure to check out the content warnings for this one before diving in, including racism and sexual assault.
Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer (Sapphic Fiction)
The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter (Bisexual Speculative Fiction)
Flux by Jinwoo Chong, narrated by David Lee Huynh (Queer Science Fiction) (Audiobook Rerelease)
The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur (F/F Romance)
Furious Heaven (The Sun Chronicles #2) by Kate Elliott (F/F Sci Fi)
The Bone Shard War (The Drowning Empire #3) by Andrea Stewart (F/F Fantasy)
Bound In Flesh: An Anthology of Trans Body Horror edited by Lor Gislason (Trans Horror Anthology)
The Legend of Korra: Ruins of the Empire Omnibus by Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino, Michelle Wong, and Killian Ng (Bisexual Fantasy Graphic Novel)
BARBARITIES II by Tsuta Suzuki (M/M Historical Manga)
The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs by Iman Qureshi (Lesbian Play)
a “Working Life” by Eileen Myles (Nonbinary Poetry)
Rising: From a Mud Hut to the Boardroom ― and Back Again by Graci Harkema (Queer Memoir)
Is It Hot in Here (Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth)? by Zach Zimmerman (Gay Memoir)
The Opium Queen by Gabrielle Paluch (Genderqueer History)
Ace and Aro Journeys by The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project (Asexual and Aromantic Nonfiction)
QUEER POWER: Icons, Activists, & Game Changers From Across the Rainbow by DOM&INK (Queer Nonfiction)
House Of Our Queer: Healing, Reframing, and Reclaiming Your Spiritual Practice by Bex Mui and Cordelia Eddy (Queer Nonfiction)
365 Gays of the Year by Lewis Laney (Queer Nonfiction)
For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
There were too many amazing new releases out today to only talk about two, so here are a couple more!
Sizzle Reel by Carlyn Greenwald (Sapphic Romance)
Luna Roth is trying to break into Hollywood as a cinematographer, but right now she’s stuck with an emotionally abusive talent manager boss. When she hits it off with A-list actress Valeria Sullivan, who is about to make her directorial debut, Luna has found her way in. Now she just has to impress Valeria’s director of photography — and she might as well flirt with Valeria while she’s at it. Along the way, though, she starts to fall for Valeria for real, which endangers her career and her relationship with her queer best friend, Romy.
I Hear the Sunspot: Four Seasons, Volume 1 by Yuki Fumino, translated be Stephen Kohler (M/M Manga)
Kohei is a college student who is adjusting to sudden hearing loss. His outgoing classmate Taichi offers to take notes for him — in exchange for food. Along the way, they begin to fall for each other. Start with the original I Hear the Sunspot series, then pick up I Hear the Sunspot: Four Seasons, Volume 1, which follows Kohei as he graduates and begins to look for a job — and his relationship with Taichi becomes more complicated when his ex reappears.
All the Links Fit to Click
That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.
Happy reading!
Danika