A new round of queer, trans, LGBTQIA+ books to suit every fancy is here to get you through the mind-melting days of midsummer.
Former Judith A. Markowitz Award Winner Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Ph.D.’s debut novel Big Girl sorts through the perils of diet culture on a young girl, and explores longing and desire, wrapped in 90s throwbacks.
When you’ve had enough of the heat and you’re ready to take a dip, question what’s in the water in They Drown Our Daughters or submerge yourself in Julia Armfield’s exploration of the depths, Our Wives Under the Sea.
Next, follow memoirist Chris Belcher from early life as a Pretty Baby, winning an Appalachian infant beauty contest, to an adult life split between realms: academic and pro domme, and the sharp insights earned throughout.
And if you wish you could watch Succession and lie under a tree simultaneously, try a deep dive into the Getty family dynasty with a copy of Growing up Getty, a look into the past and present, including LGBTQ+ members of the newer generations.
Settle into the expansive range of a poet’s perspective and power to hold dualities with Shareen K. Murayama’s Housebreak and Eric Tran’s Mouth, Sugar, and Smoke.
Turn off the lights, turn on the fan, and read on in search of love, a mysterious thrill, and other worlds.
Looking for even more books to read? Check out our Bookshop page with handy lists of previous award winners, finalists, authors featured in our May We Present series, and more!
Would you like your upcoming title considered for a future Most Anticipated list? Email editor@lambdaliterary.org to let us know–be sure to include the publication date for your new release, title, author, genre, and Bookshop.org link if available.
Bio/Memoir
- All Down Darkness Wide: A Memoir by Seán Hewitt, Penguin Press
- Caught In The Act: A Memoir by Courtney Act by Shane Jenek, Pantera Press
- Immoral, Indecent, and Scurrilous by Gerald Hannon, Cormorant Books
- Love of My Life: The Life and Loves of Freddie Mercury by Lesley-Ann Jones, Coronet Books
- Prepare for Departure: Notes on a single mother, a misfit son, inevitable mortality and the enduring allure of frequent flyer miles by Mark Chestnut, Vine Leaves Press
- Pretty Baby: A Memoir by Chris Belcher, Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Fiction
- 80% Done With Straight Girls by Mari Sangiovanni, Bywater Books
- Big Girl by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Liveright Publishing Corporation
- Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens, Scribner Book Company
- Brother Alive by Zain Khalid, Grove Press
- Florida Woman by Deb Rogers, Hanover Square Press
- Gods of Want: Stories by K-Ming Chang, One World
- Harry Sylvester Bird by Chinelo Okparanta, Mariner Books
- Jazzed by Jill Dearman, Vine Leaves Press
- Other Names for Love by Taymour Soomro, FSG
- Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield, Flatiron Books
- Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress, Ballantine Books
- The Work Wife by Alison B. Hart, Graydon House
- This Way Out by Tufayel Ahmed, Lake Union Publishing
- Unearthingly by Julian Mithra, Kernpunkt Press
Nonfiction
- Fashionable Masculinities: Queers, Pimp Daddies, and Lumbersexuals Edited by Vicki Karaminas, Adam Geczy, Rutgers University Press
- Growing Up Getty: The Story of America’s Most Unconventional Dynasty by James Reginato, Gallery Books
- I Lay This Body Down: The Transatlantic Life of Rosey E. Pool by Lonneke Geerlings, University of Georgia Press
- The Italian Invert: A Gay Man’s Intimate Confessions to Émile Zola translated by William Peniston, Nancy Erber, edited by Michael Rosenfeld
LGBTQ Studies
- Jewish Lesbian Scholarship in a Time of Change by Marla Brettschneider, Routledge
- Kinky in the Digital Age: Gay Men’s Subcultures and Social Identities by Liam Wignall, Oxford University Press
- In Transit: Being Non-Binary in a World of Dichotomies by Dianne E. Anderson, Broadleaf Books
- Manifestations of Queerness in Video Games by Gaspard Pelurson, Routledge
- Music, Gender and Sexuality Studies: A Teacher’s Guide by Jacqueline Warwick, Routledge
- Otherwise Than the Binary: New Feminist Readings in Ancient Philosophy and Culture edited by Jessica Elbert Decker, Danielle A. Layne
- Queer and Trans African Mobilities: Migration, Asylum and Diaspora edited by B. Camminga and John Marnell, Zed Books
Romance
- Annie on a Bun by A.L. Duncan, Bella Books
- A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows, Tor Books
- Caught Inside by Lynnette Beers, Flashpoint Publications
- Endless Quest by S.Y. Thompson, Flashpoint Publications
- Golden Hour by Kat Jackson, Bella Books
- Homeworld: The Denamore Scrolls by Gun Brooke, Bold Strokes Books
- Runaway Train by Simon Doyle, SD Press
- The Last Lavender Sister by Melissa Brayden, Bold Strokes Books
- The Probability of Love by Dena Blake, Bold Strokes Books
- The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett, Carina Adores
- Worth a Fortune by Sam Ledel, Bold Strokes Books
Mystery/Thriller
- Hunting Gold: Cantor Gold Crime Series #6 by Ann Aptaker, Bywater Books
- Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey, Tor Books
- Secret Sanctuary by Nance Sparks, Bold Strokes Books
- The Child Riddler by Angela Greenman, Bella Books
- The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley, Bloomsbury Publishing
- Timber Falls by Gerri Hill, Bella Books
- Vicious Creatures by Ashton Noone, Scarlet
Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror
- A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers, Tordotcom
- August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White, Orbit
- Dead Woman’s Secret (Nearly Departed) by Elle E. Ire, DSP Publications
- Devil’s Due by J.P. Jackson, Rebel Satori
- Hooked: A Lush, Feminist Peter Pan Retelling by A.C. Wise, Titan Books
- Outland: The Badland Series, Book 2 by Kristin Keppler and Allisa Bahney, Bold Strokes Books
- Silk Fire by Zabé Ellor, Solaris
- Skin Grows Over by Lucy Elizabeth Allan, Ghost Orchid Press
- They Drown Our Daughters by Katrina Monroe, Poisoned Pen Press
- Youngblood by Sasha Laurens, Razorbill
Young Adult Literature
- Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min, Flatiron Books
- Heat Wave by TJ Klune, Tor Teen
- Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor, Wednesday Books
- The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen by Gary Eldon Peter, Fitzroy Books
- The Witchery by S. Isabelle, Scholastic Press
- The Valkyrie’s Daughter by Tiana Warner, Entangled: Teen
Children’s/Middle Grade Literature
- If You’re a Kid Like Gavin by Gavin Grimm, Kyle Lukoff and J Yang, Katherine Tegen Books
- Riley Reynolds Crushes Costume Day and others by Jay Albee, Stone Arch Books
- The Comedienne’s Guide to Pride by Hayli Thomson, Page Street Kids
- The Language of Seabirds by Will Taylor, Scholastic
Poetry
- A Boy in the City by S. Yarberry, Deep Vellum Publishing
- Bimboland by Erin Taylor, Archway Editions
- Housebreak by Shareen Murayama, Bad Betty Press
- Mouth, Sugar, and Smoke by Eric Tran, Diode Editions
- Rookie by Caroline Bird, Carcanet
- Swan Hammer by Maggie Graber, Michigan State University Press
Comics/Graphic Novels
- Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo and Ren Graham, Henry Holt & Company
- The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame: Master of Gay Erotic Manga Vol. 1 by Gengorah Tagame, edited by Graham Kolbeins, Fantagraphics
- Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure by Lewis Hancox, Graphix
Looking for something to read while waiting for July’s reads to be released? We’ve got you covered!
