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I know I say this every Tuesday, but I can’t believe how many great queer books are out this week. We’ve got everything from queer litfic to nonbinary mythology retellings to sapphic sci-fi, bisexual YA horror, and gay memoir — plus 15 more titles for paid subscribers.
Writing these new release roundups has made my TBR reach deadly proportions, but I’m not going to complain. Let’s dive in!
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New LGBTQ Releases This Week
The Italy Letters by Vi Khi Nao (Sapphic Fiction)
As the title suggests, this literary novel is told in a series of letters from the main character in Las Vegas to her lover in Italy, written in a beautiful, stream-of-consciousness style. The letters touch on betrayal, sex, the immigrant experience, class, and more. This is a sensual, surprising novella that is, in turn, funny, disturbing, and poetic.
How to Leave the House by Nathan Newman (Queer Guy Fiction)
This 320-page novel is all set during 24 hours of Natwest’s life, as he waits for a “deeply embarrassing package” to be delivered to his house so he can intercept it before he leaves for university. Meanwhile, we get glimpses into the minds and lives of the other characters in his life, from a dentist who pursues his dream of being an artist by painting human mouths to an imam tortured by his complicated relationship with the vicar. This promises to be an “outrageously funny and tenderly moving” story that shows how we’re all connected.
One Summer in Miami by Amber Rose Gill (F/F Romance)
You might know Amber Rose Gill as the winner of the fifth season of Love Island, but she’s also a romance author. This is her second novel. It follows Kya, who has been working flat-out to achieve success working in tech in Silicon Valley. She’s finally giving herself a break by taking a vacation in Miami…and then finds out she’s been fired on the flight out. In a Miami bar, she meets Jade, a DJ who lives a very different life. It was supposed to just be a summer fling, but that quickly gets complicated.
The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis (Nonbinary Mythological Retelling)
Caro De Robertis is a beloved author of queer lit, including Cantoras. In their newest book, they retell the Greek myth of Psyche and Eros. Psyche is tied to a rock by her father to be sacrificed to the gods, but Eros — the nonbinary deity of desire — saves her instead, hiding her in an idyllic palace. There, they fall in love during the nights they spend together, though Eros must fly off every morning. But Psyche begins to doubt Eros, forcing them into a reckoning that could change the worlds of gods and mortals.
There are actually two queer retellings of the Psyche and Eros myth out this week, so also check out Oath of Fire by K Arsenault Rivera!
The Phoenix Keeper by S. A. MacLean (F/F Fantasy)
Fans of queer cozy fantasy, you need to have this on your radar! Aila is the phoenix keeper at a magical zoo. She’s trying to get the resources to restart their breeding program to save this endangered species, but that means asking the know-it-all griffin keeper, Luciana, for help — and Luciana thinks the phoenixes should be performing instead. As poachers and other threats close in, Aila will have to fight for the future of the species.
This book looks tailor-made for me! I love a sapphic cozy fantasy novel, and I’m always looking for more fantasy books about magical/fantasy/mythological animals. I’m so excited to read this.
Key Lime Sky by Al Hess (Nonbinary Sci-Fi)
Speaking of cozy fantasy, can I interest you in a cozy sci-fi book? Denver Bryant is nonbinary, autistic, and passionate about pies. When he witnesses a UFO explosion that no one else seems to have noticed, he starts documenting the strange events around town in his pie blog. The blog skyrockets in popularity, and he begins investigating to get the answers his readers crave. As people begin disappearing, he teams up with handsome bartender Ezra to stop this strange invasion before it’s too late.
Time’s Agent by Brenda Peynado (Sapphic Sci-Fi)
In this eco-fiction, anti-capitalist novella, pocket worlds were supposed to be the answer to humanity’s problems — but now, they’re tightly controlled by corporations. Raquel and her wife Marlena’s hopes for this discovery have been destroyed, and so has their relationship. Marlena now lives in a pocket world that Raquel wears around her neck. They don’t speak anymore. But Raquel is not done fighting for a different future.
The Dark We Know by Wen-yi Lee (Bisexual YA Horror)
Isadora Chang escaped from her hometown of Slater as soon as she could. It was hard enough being bisexual in a small town, but when two of her friends died, she left before she became the next victim. But when her abusive father dies, she reluctantly returns just long enough to claim the inheritance. That’s when she runs into Mason, her last living friend from childhood. He tells her that their friends were murdered by an evil in Slater, and he needs her help to stop it. Isa can’t exactly refuse because Slater refuses to let her leave again. She’s beginning to hear things on the wind, and her sketchbook is filling up with disturbing drawings she doesn’t remember doing…
Manboobs: A Memoir of Musicals, Visas, Hope, and Cake by Komail Aijazuddin (Gay Memoir)
“What do you do when you’re too gay for Pakistan, too Pakistani to be gay in America, and you’re ashamed of your body everywhere?” In this memoir, Komail Aijazuddin recounts leaving Pakistan for the U.S., hoping it would be the place where he could find acceptance — only to find that while he could find gay community, he also faced racist hostility in post-9/11 America. Caught between two worlds, he works to create his own space to belong.
✨ Paid subscribers can find 15 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
Queer Pride Bookshelf Print by CrowCollectiveShop
Show off your queer bookish pride with this rainbow bookshelf! There are also prints in this shop for other pride flags, including bisexual, nonbinary, asexual, trans, and more. $13
Which of these is on your TBR? Let’s chat in the comments!
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15 More LGBTQ Books Out This Week
Bonus content for paid subscribers continues below.
