Messy Bisexuals, Queer Parallel Worlds, and More LGBTQ Books Out Today
Also, a bi4bi romance, a queer student rebellion, Chinese American femme poetry, and more.
Today’s Our Queerest Shelves is brought to you by: Road Home by Rex Ogle
Read the powerfully vulnerable memoir from the GLAAD Media Award-nominated author of Northranger.
When Rex is outed the summer after graduating high school, his father gives him an impossible choice: he can get a girlfriend and attend church twice a week, or he can be gay—and leave. Rex leaves, driving toward the only other gay man he knows and a toxic relationship that leaves him homeless on the streets of New Orleans.
Rex movingly writes about coming out, beginning to understand his sexuality, navigating a life on the streets, and searching for a reason to keep living. Devastating and incandescent, Rex’s story captures an enduring hope and universal hunger: for food, for love, and for a place to call home. Find out more about Road Home by Rex Ogle here!
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At the time that you read this, I will be taking a few days off to make a reading nest on the floor with my dogs, watching Miyazaki movies between books, and eating a wide variety of snacks. Very important stuff. That means Thursday’s newsletter will be coming from my fellow editor
, who will have some great recommendations for you. I’ll be back for some bonus content on Saturday. Until then, here are some exciting new queer books out today.Looking to elevate your reading life? Tailored Book Recommendations is here to help with handpicked recommendations. Tell the Bibliologists at Tailored Book Recommendations about what you love and what you don't. You can get your recommendations via email or receive hardcovers or paperbacks in the mail. And with quarterly or annual plans available, TBR has something for every budget. Plans start at just $18! Subscribe today.
New LGBTQ Releases This Week
Go Lightly by Brydie Lee-Kennedy (Bisexual Woman Fiction)
I’m a sucker for literary fiction starring messy bisexuals, and this looks like a great example of that microgenre. Holly is a twentysomething part-time cabaret performer, part-time temp, and she loves her life of constant partying and hookups in London. When she falls for Stuart and Sadie at the time, she pursues both. But then they find out about each other, and the pressures to settle down and grow up start weighing on her…
Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandria Bellefleur (Bi4Bi M/F Romance)
Alexandria Bellefleur is a fan-favorite author of queer romances like Written in the Stars and The Fiancée Farce. Her newest is an M/F romance between two bisexuals. Truly is about to start as a cohost on a dating advice podcast. She’s supposed to be the hopeless romantic to balance out her cynical divorce lawyer cohost, Colin. But her parents are getting divorced, and she caught her fiancé cheating, so she’s not feeling particularly optimistic about love. She and Colin butt heads until they begin to bond over their queerness. Holly knows she’s falling for Colin, but she’s not sure she can trust her heart again.
In Universes by Emet North (Nonbinary Sci-Fi)
Raffi is a cosmology researcher pining over queer sculptor Britt. They become obsessed about the existence of a parallel universe where Britt feels the same way about them — and then suddenly, Britt and Raffi are 13 and best friends. Raffi falls through different universes, searching for one that feels like home.
Playing for Keeps by Jennifer Dugan (F/F YA Contemporary)
If you loved Some Girls Do, you have to pick up Jennifer Dugan’s new F/F YA sports romance, Playing for Keeps. June and Ivy both have dreams of professional baseball: June as an athlete, Ivy as an umpire. Ivy throws June out of a game for grandstanding, but regardless, they become friends — and then start a romance. But referees and athletes aren’t allowed to date, and soon June is battling two threats to her dream: a worsening overuse injury, and blackmail from a rival threatening to expose Ivy and June’s relationship.
The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge by Matthew Hubbard (Queer Guy YA Contemporary)
Ezra and his best friends Lucas and Finley have bad ex-boyfriends, and they want revenge. So they work together to sabotage their exes, including taking the win for Winter Formal King out from under one of them. But then, the small town Alabama school district starts a “Watch What You Say” initiative censoring mentions of queerness, and Ezra and his friends set their sights on a much bigger target, leveraging new TikTok fame to lead a student rebellion.
The ABCs of Queer History by Seema Yasmin and illustrated by Lucy Kirk (LGBTQ Nonfiction Picture Book)
I’m happy to see so many new Pride picture books and board books out this year! This one has more text per page than the average ABC book, perfect for reading with five-year-olds and up to get the basics of queer pride and history. It begins, “A is for abundant, because we are many; our histories show we are diverse and plenty. From north and south, from here and there, queer people and queer stories are everywhere!”
Mean Boys: A Personal History by Geoffrey Mak (Gay Memoir)
Geoffrey Mak grew up a gay Chinese American son of an evangelical minister, and as soon as he could, he escaped into the art and fashion world. He quickly realized, though, that mean boys rule these spaces, and gaining status doesn’t guarantee safety or belonging. In this memoir in essays, Mak explores the difficulty of authentically navigating this strange new millennial era.
Return of the Chinese Femme by Dorothy Chan (Queer Poetry)
This poetry collection promises to be an “unabashed exploration of queerness, excess, identity, and tenderness.” It’s arranged in the form of a tasting menu, and the poems explore food, sex, pop culture, immigration, Chinese heritage, and more. It celebrates femme brashness, excess, and defiance.
✨ Paid subscribers can find 11 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!
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Queer Bookish Goodies
Look at this fancy little rainbow linen bowtie! What an adorable accessory. $35
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
11 More LGBTQ Books Out This Week
Sons, Daughters by Ivana Bodrožić, translated by Ellen Elias-Bursac (Trans Man Fiction)
I Make Envy on Your Disco by Eric Schnall (Gay Fiction)
Bad Girls by Camila Sosa Villada, translated by Kit Maude (Trans Woman Fiction) (Paperback Release)
Prom Babies by Kekla Magoon (Queer? YA Contemporary) [The description for this mentions heteronormativity, but I can't find specifics on queer representation.]
Free to Be Fabulous by David McMullin, illustrated by Robbie Cathro (Gender-Creative Picture Book)
My Love in Stitches by Emily Gossmann (Sapphic Fantasy Graphic Novel)
Splice of Life: A Memoir in 13 Film Genres by Charles Jensen (Queer Man Memoir)
The Call Is Coming from Inside the House by Allyson McOuat (Queer Essay Collection)
Tove Jansson: Life, Art, Words by Boel Westin and translated by Silvester Mazzarella (Lesbian Biography)
Mädchen in Uniform by Barbara Mennel (Lesbian Nonfiction)
The Queens' English: The Young Readers' LGBTQIA+ Dictionary of Lingo and Colloquial Phrases by Chloe O. Davis (LGBTQ YA Nonfiction)