Categories
Our Queerest Shelves

Welcome to Our Queerest Shelves!

I am over the moon to be writing you this newsletter! I am always looking for new ways to be able to talk about queer books, so I’m excited to be in your inbox every week talking about the latest queer book news and new releases.

I’ve been writing about queer books on the internet for more than 10 years now, and so much has changed! I used to be able to keep track of almost every queer book being published by a mainstream publisher. I would be able to read every sapphic YA title as it came out. Luckily, that’s no longer possible: there are so many queer books in every genre being published! I truly believe we are in the golden age of queer YA, especially.

Of course, the fight is far from over. While gay and lesbian books are getting more common, and even trans and bisexual books are getting a little more attention, there are still a lot of identities that have almost no representation, such as demisexual or genderfluid folks. It becomes even more distressing when you add any kind of intersectionality: queer books continue to be very white, and it’s difficult to find books with both queer and disability representation. If you’re looking for a particular genre, it can also narrow your options to almost non-existent.

I’m confident that we’re at least moving in the right direction, though! My priority is to shine a spotlight on the queer lit we do have! The more sales and attention they get, the more room is made for other LGBTQ book deals.

All the Links Fit to Click

LGBTQ Book Riot Posts

New Releases This Week

Buckle up, because June 1st was a ridiculous publishing day just in queer book releases alone! What better way to welcome Pride than a deluge of new queer reads?

cover of one last stop by casey mcquiston

Skye Papers by Jamika Ajalon (Bisexual F/F Fiction)

With Teeth by Kristin Arnett (Lesbian Literary Fiction)

In Our Words: Queer Stories from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Writers edited by Victoria Villasenor and Anne Shade (Queer Anthology)

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (Bisexual F/F Romance)

Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters (F/F Romance)

Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia (Lesbian Mystery)

Peter Darling by S.A. Chant (Rerelease) (Trans Man M/M Fantasy)

Cover for The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (Bisexual Fantasy/Literary Fiction)

Future Feeling by Joss Lake (Trans Man Sci Fi/Literary Fiction)

The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver (Non-Binary YA Contemporary)

The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons (M/M Trans Man YA Contemporary)

You’re The One That I Want by Simon James Green (M/M YA Contemporary)

Never Kiss Your Roommate by Philline Harm (F/F YA Contemporary)

Jay’s Gay Agenda by Jason June (M/M YA Contemporary)

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan (Paperback Rerelease) (Gay & Lesbian YA Contemporary)

The Darkness Outside Us cover

The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott (F/F YA Contemporary)

The Love Song of Ivy K. Harlowe by Hannah Moskowitz (F/F YA Contemporary)

Trouble Girls by Julia Lynn Rubin (F/F YA Contemporary)

The (Un)Popular Vote by Jasper Sanchez (M/M Trans Man YA Contemporary)

The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon (Trans Man YA Fantasy)

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer (M/M YA Sci Fi)

The Girl from the Sea by Molly Ostertag (F/F Middle Grade Fantasy Graphic Novel)

Continuum cover

Skate for Your Life (Pocket Change Collective) by Leo Baker and illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky (Non-Binary Nonfiction)

The Engagement: America’s Quarter-Century Struggle Over Same-Sex Marriage by Sasha Issenberg (Nonfiction)

Continuum (Pocket Change Collective) by Chella Man and illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky (Genderqueer Nonfiction)

The 2000s Made Me Gay: Essays on Pop Culture by Grace Perry (Nonfiction)

Sharice’s Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman by Sharice Davids with Nancy K. Mays, illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (Lesbian Picture Book)

Sharice's Big Voice

A Kids Book About Being Non-Binary by Hunter Chinn-Raicht (Non-Binary Children’s Nonfiction) (By a trans teenager, for trans young people)

Pride In series (Change, The Arts, STEM, and Sports) by Emilie Dufresne (LGBTQ Children’s Nonfiction)

A Kids Book About Being Inclusive by Ashton Mota and Rebekah Bruesehoff (LGBTQ Children’s Nonfiction)

A Kids Book About Being Transgender by Gia Parr (Trans Children’s Nonfiction)


Until next time, you can find me on Twitter @Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books on the first Tuesday of the month, and I post weekly New Releases videos on the Book Riot Youtube channel. You can bet I sneak in as many queer titles as I can!