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Well, Pride Month is officially over, but we keep it queer all year around here. Today, I have seven new queer book releases out today that you should consider for your TBR, including Sad Girl Literature of the bisexual variety, the queer book of the summer, a sapphic thriller that’s Kill Bill meets The Handmaiden meets Thelma and Louise, an achillean dark academia novel, and more. Let’s get into it!
New LGBTQ Releases This Week
Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna (Queer Fiction)
It’s June 2019 in London, a heat wave has swept over the city, and in one charged weekend, lives will change forever. This follows a multi-generational cast, including Phil, who is falling for his housemate Keith, who already has a boyfriend. Meanwhile, Phil’s mother is traveling to London to try to seize back control of her life and to tell Phil that she’s been diagnosed with cancer, if she can track him down. This comes highly recommended by Eileen Myles, and several publications are calling it the book of the summer.
Misrecognition by Madison Newbound (Bisexual Fiction)
I love a messy sapphic book. If you’re a fan of Sad Girl Literature, this should be top of your TBR. Elsa is struggling after her breakup. She was seeing a couple, and they were her whole life. Now, she numbs out by scrolling Instagram endlessly. There, she becomes obsessed with an actor in an upcoming gay movie that is filming nearby. Her job as a hostess at an upscale restaurant brings her in close contact with him — and with his androgynous dinner companion, Sam, who Elsa is immediately drawn to.
The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani, translated by Sam Bett (Sapphic Thriller)
This is a queer thriller that’s Kill Bill meets The Handmaiden meets Thelma and Louise. It’s set in 1970s Tokyo as the daughter of a mob boss and her female bodyguard/driver try to survive this cut-throat environment. Liberty Hardy recommended it on today’s All the Books episode — just be prepared for a lot of violence and gore.
Making It by Laura Kay (Queer Romance)
Twenty-eight-year-old Isobel lives with her mother and her chinchilla Abigail in a small flat, where she deals with her mental health struggles by having a strict routine. She works part-time at a paint-your-own-pottery studio and channels her creativity into depictions of Abigail in a variety of mediums. Her life is upended when the Abigails catch the eye of reality TV star and artist Elizabeth Staggs, who offers her a job helping in her new arts documentary series. Soon, she’s moving into a flat with queer roommates in London, falling for one of them, and struggling to live up to the producer’s exacting standards. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, but will Issy be able to handle the pressure?
Cash Delgado is Living the Dream by Tehlor Kay Mejia (F/F Romance)
And here’s one I talked about on All the Books today! How much you will enjoy this book really comes down to how you feel about reading about a truly oblivious main character. The kind of person who googles, “Can you be straight and have sex dreams about your female best friend…every night?” and “Can you be straight and want to kiss one woman?” Cash is worried about her obvious crush on her best friend hurting the most important relationship in her and her daughter’s life — and causing Cash to have an identity crisis — but the attraction is getting harder to be able to deny.
A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman (Achillean YA Dark Academia)
In this dark academia thriller, Cal Ware is excited about the chance to reinvent himself at Essex Academy. He doesn’t have to be the poor, queer outsider anymore…except that his fellow students at Essex immediately spot that he’s not from money, and he’s soon just as isolated as before. Cal is about to give up and go home when he discovers a secret society at Essex. If he can get in, he’ll finally belong. He’s taken under the wing of charismatic society member Luke Kim, and soon Cal is falling for him. But the Rush rituals keep getting more dangerous, and Cal will have to decide how much he’s willing to sacrifice to fit in.
Person Unlimited: An Ode to My Black Queer Body by Dean Atta (Queer Memoir)
✨ Paid subscribers can find eight 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!
Etsy Item of the Day
Drag Is Not A Crime Tee Shirt by TJCatShop
This shouldn’t have to be said, but we’re in the dark timeline where it’s actually up for debate, so this “Drag is Not a Crime” shirt makes your stance very clear. $5 from each sale goes to the ACLU Drag Defense Fund. Available in sizes S to 3XL. $28+
Which of these are you planning to read? Let’s chat in the comments!
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8 More LGBTQ Books Out This Week
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