October’s Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Books

Author: Wo Chan

October 1, 2021

Readers dear and queer: it’s October. As we shroud ourselves in woolen layers and await The Great Pumpkin, let us dive into this month’s most anticipated LGBTQIA+ books. Please, enjoy October’s fortifying brew of queer magic…!

As always, if our list is missing an author or a book, or if you have a book coming out next month, please email us with the month of your pub date in the subject line.

Fiction

The Balance Tips by Joy Huang Clark, Interlude Press
The Blue Moth Motel by Olivia Robinson, Breakwater Books
Breaking Points by Chelsea Stickle, Black Lawrence Press
Caged in Fire by Amy Thorn
Collar Confessions: Sharing the Man of God by Dwight Allen O’Neal
Deceptive Cadence by Kora Reydgar, Ananke Press
Dreaming of You: A Novel in Verse by Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Astra House
Eleven-Inch by Michał Witkowski, translated by W. Martin, Seagull Books
Finches by A.M. Muffaz, Vernacular Books
Fungirl by Elizabeth Pich, Silver Sprocket
Game Over by Elliot Torres
The Gold Persimmon by Lindsay Merbaum, Creature Publishing, LLC
Helping Howard by Sally Schloss, Atmosphere Press
Impulsive by Jasmine Dowell, BookBaby
Keen by Erin Stalcup, Gold Wake Press Collective
Oldladyvoice by Elisa Victoria, translated by Charlotte Whittle, And Other Stories
Personal Attention Roleplay by Helen Chau Bradley, Metonymy Press
Sisters of the Great War by Suzanne Feldman, Mira Books
Sylvie by Sharon Kreider, Gray Wolf Books
Until We Fall by Nicole Zelniker, Jaded Ibis Press
What We Pick Up by Stacy Brewter, Buckman Publishing LLC

Bio/Memoir

Any Kind of Luck at All by Mary Fairhurst Breen, Second Story Press
Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life by Alan Cumming, Dey Street Books
Between Worlds: A Queer Boy from the Valleys by Jeffrey Weeks, Parthian
Four Funerals, No Marriage by Mike Keren, Woodhall Press
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way by Nancy Spain, George Weidenfeld & Nicholson
Greedy: Notes from a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much by Jen Winston, Atria Books
Hear’s the Thing: Lessons on Listening, Life, and Love by Cody Alan, Harper Horizon
House Fires by Connor Franta, Atria Books
How to Be a Girl: A Mother’s Memoir of Raising Her Transgender Daughter by Marlo Mack, Experiment
In Search of Emma: How We Created Our Family by Armando Lucas Correa, translated by Cecilia Molinari, HarperOne
The Light Streamed Beneath It: A Memoir of Grief and Celebration by Shawn Hitchins, ECW Press
Madder: A Memoir in Weeds by Marco Wilkinson, Coffee House Press
The Making of a Woman: From the Inside Out by Marlayna Glynn, Birthright Books LLC
Never Silent: ACT Up and My Life in Activism by Peter Staley, Chicago Review Press
The One You Want to Marry (and Other Identities I’ve Had) by Sophie Santos, Topple Books & Little a
Oscar Wilde: A Life by Matthew Sturgis, Knopf Publishing Group
Queer as All Get Out: 10 People Who’ve Inspired Me by Shelby Criswell, Street Noise Books
Stroke Book: The Diary of a Blindspot by Jonathan Alexander, Fordham University Press
A Tale of Two Omars: A Memoir of Family, Revolution, and Coming Out During the Arab Spring by Omar Sharif Jr., Counterpoint LLC
Unprotected by Billy Porter, Abrams Press

Nonfiction

Bee Reaved by Dodie Bellamy, Semiotext(e)
The Beginner’s Guide to Being a Trans Ally by Christy Whittlesey, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Between Certain Death and a Possible Future: Queer Writing on Growing Up with the AIDS Crisis by Mattilda Berstein Sycamore, Arsenal Pulp Press
Destination Pride: A Little Book for the Best LGBTQ Vacations by Andrew Collins, Hardie Grant Books
Poetry is Queer by J Kirby, Palimpsest Press
Special Topics in Being a Human: A Queer and Tender Guide to Things I’ve Learned the Hard Way about Caring for People, Including Myself by S. Bear Bergman, illustrated by Saul Freedman-Lawson, Arsenal Pulp Press
WHY DESIGN MATTERS: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman, Harper Design

LGBTQ Studies

The Care We Dream Of: Liberatory and Transformative Approaches to LGBTQ+ Health by Zena Sharman, Arsenal Pulp Press
King of Hearts: Drag Kings in the American South by Baker A. Rogers, Rutgers University Press

Romance

A Gym Rat’s Guide to Love by Ian M. Keller, Rainbow Dog Books
A Period of unCertainty by Sheryn Munir, Bella Books
Astrid Inside/Out by Louise McBain, Bella Books
Can’t Leave Love by Kimberly Cooper Griffin, Bold Strokes Books
The Club Revisited by A.L. Brooks, Ylva Publishing
Love’s Compromise by Cass Sellars, Bold Strokes Books
Meet Me in Madrid by Verity Lowell, Carina Adores
The Other Man by Farhad J. Dadyburjor, Brilliance Audio
The Perks of Loving a Wallflower by Erica Ridley, Forever
The Price of Betrayal by Brenda Adcock, Flashpoint Publications
Protecting the Lady by Amanda Radley, Bold Strokes Books
The Secrets of Willowra by Kadyan, Bold Strokes Books
Trial by Fire by Carsen Taite, Bold Strokes Books

Mystery/Thriller

Free Fall at Angel Creek by Julie Tizard, Bold Strokes Books
Graveneye by Sloane Leong and illustrated by Anna Bowles, TKO Studios
Investigating Helen by Benna Bos, Flashpoint Publications
The Last Blue Plate Special by Abigal Padgett, Bywater Books
On the Fence by Cade Haddock Strong, Bella Books
Party & Prey by Steve Orlando & Steve Foxe, Aftershock Comics
Reprieve by James Han Mattson, William Morrow & Company
The Savage Kind by John Copenhaver, Pegasus Crime
Unbreakable by Cari Hunter, Bold Strokes Books
What’s the Matter with Mary Jane? By Candas Jane Dorsey, ECW Press

Fantasy/Horror

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow, Tordotcom
Ace of Blades by Michael Knightley, Cat & Key Books
Blood on His Hands edited by Michael Carte, Lethe Books
The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros, Inkyard Press
City of Floods: The Fall of the Crow King by D.M. Callahan, Danielle Callahan
Eros/Psyche by Maria Llovet, Ablaze
Fit For Consumption by Steve Berman, Lethe Books
Goddess of Limbo by Lea Falls, Zauberfalls Publishing
The Goddess of Nothing At All by Cat Rector, Tychis Media
Moth by Michael Takeda, Hot Redhead Media
Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper, Berkley Books
Trailer Park Trickster by David R. Slayton, Blackstone Publishing
Turbulent Waves by Ali Vali, Bold Strokes Books
Where the Stars Sing by Aminah Fox, 22nd Light LLC

Young Adult and Children’s Literature

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Bury Me in Shadows by Greg Herren, Bold Strokes Books
Calm Undone by Garth A. Fowler, Bqb Publishing
Dead at Eighteen by D.A.E. Jackson
The Golden Hour by Niki Smith, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Just Ash by Sol Santana, Carolrhoda Lab
A King and a Monster by Danielle K. Roux, The Parliament House
Longshadow by Olivia Atwater, Starwatch Press
The Love We Hide by Damien Benoit-Ledoux, Purple Spekter™ Press
Needlework by Julia Watts, Three Rooms Press
On Top of Glass: My Stories as a Queer Girl in Figure Skating by Karina Manta, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Rebel Boys & Rescue Dogs, or Things That Kiss with Teeth by Brianna R. Shrum, Sky Pony
Still Stace: My Gay Christian Coming-of-Age Story by Stacey Chomiak, Beaming Books
Tink and Wendy by Kelly Ann Jacobson, Three Rooms Press
Tonight We Rule the World by Zack Smedley, Page Street Kids
Urchin by Kate Story, Running the Goat

Children’s/Middle Grade Literature

Frankie & Bug by Gayle Forman, Aladdin Paperbacks
The Loudest Bark by Gail Schwartz and Lucie Gagnon, illustrated by Amélie Ayotte, Rebel Mountain Press
Mr. Watson’s Chickens by Jarrett Dapier, illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi, Chronicle Books
The Pronoun Book: She, He, They, and Me! by Cassandra Jules Corrigan, illustrated by Jem Milton, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Stitch by Stitch: Cleve Jones and the AIDS Memorial Quilt by Rob Sanders, illustrated by Jamey Christoph, Magination Press
They’re So Flamboyant by Michael Genhart, illustrated by Tony Neal, Magination Press
This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us edited by Katherine Locke and Nicole Melleby, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Unicorn Horn Mountain by Ammie Elliott, Woodhall Press