New LGBTQ Books Out April 23, 2024
Including a queer Korean space opera, a sapphic YA take on Alice in Wonderland, a gay academic thriller, and more!
Today’s Our Queerest Shelves is brought to you by: Disney Publishing
Zoe Hana Mikuta, author of Gearbreakers and Godslayers, takes a delicate knife straight through the heart of this beloved surrealist fairytale!
LUSH, TERRIFYING, and UNCANNY! This Korean-inspired Alice in Wonderland retelling about two very wicked girls, forever bonded by blood and betrayal follows the story of young witches, once lovers, Caro Rabbit and Iccadora Alice Sickle, who were both sentenced to Wonderland – a dark forest filled with monsters. Years later and now both free, Caro is living the high life in the glittering capital of the Red Queen, and Icca, hardened by Caro’s betrayal, is a ruthless hunter who will stop at nothing to exact her vengeance: On Caro. On the queen. On the throne itself. Find out more about Disney Publishing here!
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Another week, another big release day for LGBTQ books! I really find it difficult to decide which ones to highlight, because there are so many intriguing titles every Tuesday. I do also want to throw out a couple of honorable mentions for award-winning gay fiction titles that are out in paperback today: The Foghorn Echoes by Danny Ramadan and The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor.
New LGBTQ Releases This Week
Also check out today’s sponsor, a Korean and sapphic YA take on Alice in Wonderland!
All Things Seen and Unseen by R.J. McDaniel (Queer Fiction)
Alex has just been released from the hospital after a suicide attempt. During their time getting treatment, they lost their job and school funding. A friend offers Alex a job over the summer housesitting on a remote British Columbia island. There, they receive unsettling phone calls and suspect something strange is happening in this insular community.
Bad Habit by Alana S. Portero, translated by Mara Faye Lethem (Trans Woman Fiction)
This follows a working class trans woman growing up in Madrid. She struggles to find her place during the 80s and 90s heroin epidemic and the upheaval surrounding the fight for workers’ rights. Eventually, she finds community with other trans women and divas, which helps to lead her back to herself.
Providence by Craig Willse (Gay Thriller)
Literary novels about professors sleeping with their students are a dime a dozen, and making it a relationship between two men doesn’t make it a new story — but this one takes a different tack. As Mark Lausson risks his professional reputation to have a secret relationship with sophomore Tyler, he realizes too late that Tyler can’t be trusted. Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl, says: “Is Craig Willse the secret love child of Tana French and Patricia Highsmith? There’s no other explanation. My new favorite thriller!"
Ocean's Godori by Elaine U. Cho (M/M Space Opera)
Here’s another queer Korean SFF book out today! This one is a space opera following Ocean, a Korean space pilot who feels distanced from her culture and outcast by her profession, after a mission goes wrong. Teo is Ocean’s best friend, and he’s being framed for murdering his family. Together, they’ll try to outrun the people after him and clear his name…while making room for some romance (both M/F and M/M) along the way.
So Long Sad Love by Mirion Malle (Sapphic Graphic Novel)
When Cleo finds our her boyfriend isn’t the person she thought he was, she feels like she’s losing everything. She moved to another country to be with him, and now she has to pick up the pieces of her life and start again. But just as she is starting to write off the prospect of romance in her life at all, she finds love in an unexpected place: with another woman.
Homebody by Theo Parish (Nonbinary YA Graphic Memoir)
This graphic memoir is about the messy process of Theo Parish discovering their nonbinary identity as a teenager, and how confusing navigating gender norms and presentations was until they found that label. It comes recommended by Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer!
✨ Paid subscribers can find 17 more LGBTQ books out this week at the end of this post! ✨
For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter and the New Release Index — you can even filter by queer books!
Queer Bookish Goodies
I love the retro look of this Support Your Local Drag Queen sticker! $4
That's it for me! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog the Lesbrary. You can hear me on All the Books, and you can also read my Book Riot posts and subscribe to my other Book Riot newsletter, Read Harder.
Happy reading!
Danika
Book Riot has podcasts to keep your ears listening for days! Check them out and subscribe.
17 More LGBTQ Books Out This Week
(Including a cute M/M/M/M polycule graphic novel and a picture book where The Little Engine That Could visits a Pride parade…!)
Relinquishing Control by J.J. Arias (F/F Romance)
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun (Novel) Vol. 5 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou, illustrated by St (M/M Fantasy)
Out of Blue Comes Green by M.E. Corey (Trans Guy YA Contemporary)
Finally Fitz by Marisa Kanter (Bisexual YA Contemporary)
Harley Quinn: Redemption by Rachael Allen (F/F YA Fantasy)
Blood Justice (Blood Debts #2) by Terry J. Benton-Walker (Gay YA Fantasy)
The Siren, the Song, and the Spy by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, narrated by Rachanee Lumayno, Kurt Kanazaw, André Santana, and Krysta Gonzales (Queer YA Fantasy) (Audiobook Rerelease)
Saint-Seducing Gold (Forge & Fracture Saga #2) by Brittany N. Williams (Sapphic YA Fantasy)
I Think We Can!: A Visit to the Pride Parade (The Little Engine That Could) by G. M. King, illustrated by Jill Howarth (LGBTQ Picture Book)
Olivette Is You by Nico Tortorella and Melissa Kashiwagi (Nonbinary Picture Book)
Boyfriends, Volume Two by refrainbow (M/M/M/M Polycule Graphic Novel)
Love and Rockets: The Sketchbooks by Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez (Sapphic Comics)
Yuri is My Job! Vol. 12 by Miman (Yuri Manga)
DeadEndia: The Divine Order by Hamish Steele (Trans Guy YA Paranormal Graphic Novel)
Yes, No, or Maybe? (Light Novel 3) by Michi Ichiho, illustrated by Lala Takemiya (M/M Light Novel)
The Punk Rock Queen of the Jews by Rossi (Queer Memoir)
Gay Science: The Totally Scientific Examination of LGBTQ+ Culture, Myths, and Stereotypes by Rob Anderson (LGBTQ Nonfiction)