Category: Our Queerest Shelves

This one has been getting a ton of buzz — in fact, Goodreads named it a Buzziest Debut Novel of 2023. It follows Elsie, a queer Black 28-year-old poet who finds herself floundering when she’s evicted. She calls up her old friend, Juliet, who she hasn’t spoken to in a year. Soon, she’s crashed on her couch and deciding what to do next between Drag Race reruns. This is being compared to Queenie and Luster.

Liz works for a queer magazine that’s saved from shuttering when it’s bought out by two rich lesbians — but the acquisition comes with a whole lot of cuts and changes that Liz chafes against. When she has to work closely with her new boss Daria, she’s sure her snark will get her fired, but instead Liz finds herself reluctantly attracted to her. This one has a butch love interest and a gender-questioning main character.

Curious Minds by Rachel Gold (Sapphic Romance)

Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard, narrated by Jennifer Aquino Sapphic Fantasy (Audiobook Rerelease)

Remnants of Filth: Yuwu (Novel) Vol. 1 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou (BL Historical Fantasy)

Mermaid Huntress: An Ice Massacre Graphic Novel (Volume 1 and Volume 2) by Tiana Warner, April Pierce, and Riah LeBlanc (Sapphic Fantasy Graphic Novel) (Rerelease)

Sisters Lydia and Penny’s respective relationship dramas blew up their lives last year, so this summer, they have a pact: no boys. No drama. This brings them closer than ever, until Lydia has a coffee shop meet cute with Fran. Dating a girl isn’t against technically against the rules…right?

Jude is a nonbinary 12-year-old with a best friend named Dallas. When Stevie is bullied by her classmates for possibly liking girls, Jude quickly invites her into their friend group, and the three of them become inseparable. Together, they decide to found a Diversity Club, where everyone can be themselves. But will they be able to get the support to start it?

This is a prequel series to Hirano and Kagiura, which is a BL romance between roommates. These short stories explore what these characters were like as first years, including seeing familiar situations from new perspectives.

If I See You Again Tomorrow by Robbie Couch (M/M YA Speculative Romance)

Against the Stars by Christopher Hartland (Queer YA Speculative Romance)

Drew Leclair Crushes the Case by Katryn Bury (Bisexual Middle Grade Mystery)

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 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.

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)

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)

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)

First of all, it’s so rare to see disability representation on covers, especially for disabled people of color, so this is great to see. Yolanda is a Deaf, queer, Black Dominican high school sophomore who is about to be initiated into her family line of brujas, but her powers bring visions of the new white guy at school planning an act of racist gun violence.

Bianca is an anxious nonbinary teen who bird watches from their bedroom window — but instead, they see a neighbor murdered by someone wearing a plague mask. When it’s ruled a suicide, they’ll have to overcome their fears of a) talking to people and b) being killed to investigate with the help of some nerdy friends. This is described as campy and absurdist, and the official description ends, “perhaps the real murder investigation is the friends we make along the way.”

Ranita Atwater is a queer Black woman finishing a four-year sentence for drug possession. She’s been sober for three years and is eager to get out and regain custody of both of her kids. But navigating the outside world isn’t simple, and she has to find where this new version of herself fits into it. This is being compared to Jesmyn Ward and Yaa Gyasi!

Kyr has been trained since birth to avenge the murder of the planet Earth. She is a skilled fighter, just waiting for her time to strike. Then she’s assigned to the Nursery instead, to produce babies, and her brother is given a deadly mission. Kyr is not going to give up her destiny as the sword of a dead planet so easily, so she teams up with an imprisoned alien and her brother’s rebellious friend to fulfill her destiny — and discovers the universe is very different from what she’s been taught.

Falling For the Mark by Dominique Davis (F/F Romance)

Pascal and The Forger by Avril Ashton (M/M Romance)

A Thief in the Night by KJ Charles (M/M Historical Romance)

Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall (Queer Historical Romance)

Tell Me How it Ends by Quinton Li (Lesbian and Aro/Ace Cozy Fantasy)

Snow Fairy by Tomo Serizawa (BL Manga)

Stevie and Nora have been secretly dating for years, and they have a plan to move to California so they can be together openly after graduation, once they’re free of their conservative hometown. But then Stevie has an accident that puts her in a coma. When she wakes up, she can’t remember the last two years — including Nora. I found this to be a completely absorbing read; I read it all in one day! You can hear my full thoughts on the April 4 episode of All the Books. (I also recommend another queer YA book on that episode: ¡Ay, Mija! (A Graphic Novel) by Christine Suggs.)

Clement and Cristina Trudeau are 16-year-old twins and the heirs to a powerful magical family — but that means less than it used to. Thirty years ago, a murder led to a magical massacre and an upheaval in the power system. Clement finds comfort in his magic, while Cristina has walked away from it after a spell of hers killed their father. Now, they’ll have to work together to solve that past murder to prevent another massacre.

¡Ay, Mija! (A Graphic Novel): My Bilingual Summer in Mexico by Christine Suggs (Nonbinary YA Graphic Novel)

Dotson by Grayson Lee White (Trans Boy Middle Grade Graphic Novel) (Written by a trans kid!)

My Love Mix-Up!, Vol. 7 by Wataru Hinekure and Aruko (M/M YA Manga)

My Mommies Built a Treehouse by Gareth Peter and Izzy Evans (Two Moms Picture Book)

This is a literary horror novel about a talented pianist who has to abandon her career when her parents are in an accident and need her to support them. She ends up working at a high-end beauty and wellness store, becoming friends with the owner’s niece — and then falling for her. But while the products they sell promise to give their users a perfect body, face, and life, the high price tag is not the only price they’ll have to pay…

From the author of The Town of Babylon, this is a collection of interconnected short stories about navigating politics in everyday life, mostly about Latino queer men in New York City. The connection point between the stories is an interracial gay couple, Gus and Eduardo, who we revisit in different times and contexts.

The Winter Knight by Jes Battis (Gay Arthurian Fantasy)

Morphosis by Aj Saxsma (Gay Horror)

Fat Off, Fat On: A Big Bitch Manifesto by Clarkisha Kent (Bisexual Memoir) (Audiobook Rerelease)

The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag by Sasha Velour (Drag Memoir)

I’m so excited to read this — while also being apprehensive, because I get the feeling it’s going to devastate me. This is a queer YA horror/thriller about religious trauma, alternating between points of view in different timelines. Manny is a homeless teen, kicked out for being queer, who has decided to gamble on traveling with the Varela family. Eli is part of a secluded religious community. He’s dedicated to the faith — but can’t remember his past. Then a body is discovered, and Eli and Manny’s lives will both never be the same. You can read an excerpt of this on Book Riot!

This is currently #1 on Amazon for “Teen & Young Adult Fiction on Physical & Emotional Abuse,” so looks like we’re going with two heavy reads today. George is a teenager who finds peace on the water – and she needs that escape. Her best friend is pregnant; her estranged father just barged back into her life, bringing back memories she’s suppressed; and smoke is rolling over everything from the spreading wildfires. When she meets the vibrant and joyful Calliope, she finds a new escape — but it’s not long before everything she’s been running from catches up to her.

I cannot resist a sapphic mermaid story. Add in a horror element, and that’s even better. Ren Yu is a swimmer who is dedicated to her sport — but she has long been secretly obsessed with mermaids…the kind of powerful, deadly mermaids that pull sailors under to their death. She’ll do anything to have that kind of freedom. Anything.

Queer history has long been suppressed, and you’re lucky if it was taught in your school history classes. This illustrated history book inspired by the TikTok account starts at the ancient world and goes up to the present day, making it a great primer for anyone unfamiliar with how we got to where we are now.

Loki’s Ring by Stina Leicht (LGBTQ Science Fiction)

More Sure by A. Light Zachary (Nonbinary Poetry)

Why Don’t You Eat Me, My Dear Wolf? by Ao Koishikawa (Fantasy BL Manga)

The Heavy Bright by Cathy Malkasian (Queer Graphic Novel)

It’s a tale as old as time: the mascot falls for the head cheerleader. Unfortunately for Hawkins, Regina is already dating Chloe, and she convinces Hawkins to start tutoring Chloe for free. But Chloe and Hawkins knew each as kids — back when Hawkins went by Belle and wore princess dresses to school — and this plan and love triangle might be working out very differently than Regina intended.

Noah and Lewis bonded from their shared interest in the paranormal — and over being the only trans boys in school. When Lewis dies in a car accident, Noah begins writing letters to Mothman to process his grief. As he begins to connect to a new friend group, he also becomes more convinced that Mothman is real, and he prepares to delve into the woods to find him and prove it.