April Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Books

Author: Suzi Garcia

April 1, 2023

April is a month of possibilities. Spring is officially here, and we are entering National Poetry Month.

But March was a hard month. Every month is a new attack on our rights, on our lives. I try to celebrate our voices and our stories during the Most Anticipated. We can’t leave that behind like Spring Cleaning.

But we can find joy in each other. Queer joy is essential, so take this moment to explore and celebrate these fantastic books, including from Lambda award winners and fellows like  Sarah Gerard,  Hazel Jane Plante, and Kb Brookins. 

Bio/Memoir

• I Could Not Believe It: The 1979 Teenage Diaries of Sean Delear by Sean Delear,  Semiotext(e)
• Rising: From a Mud Hut to the Boardroom — And Back Again by Graci Harkema, Page Two Books, Inc.
• As Good as a Marriage: The Anne Lister diaries 1836-38 by Jill Liddington, Manchester University Press 
• In the Company of Grace: A Veterinarian’s Memoir of Trauma and Healing by Jody Lulich, University of Minnesota Press 
• Anything That Moves by Jamie Stewart, And Other Stories 
• Resilience: A Polemical Memoir of AIDS, Bears, and F*cking by Les K. Wright, Bearskin Lodge Press 

Fiction

• Performer Non Grata by Brian Alessandro, Rebel Satori Press
• Mon Dieu, Love by Jane V. Blunschi, Texas Review Press
• The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher, Ballantine Books
• The Butter House by Sarah Gerard, Conium Press 
• The Lost Archive by Lynn C. Miller, University of Wisconsin Press 
• Any Other City by Hazel Jane Plante, Arsenal Pulp Press
• The Red Book of Farewells by Pirkko Saisio, Two Lines Press 
• The Half-White Album by Cynthia J. Sylvester, University of New Mexico Press
• The People Who Report More Stress: Stories by Alejandro Varela, Astra House 

LGBTQ Studies

• Ace and Aro Journeys: A Guide to Embracing Your Asexual or Aromantic Identity by The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project, Jessica Kingsley Publishers 
• The Queer Art of History: Queer Kinship after Fascism by Jennifer V. Evans. Duke University Press
• Puta Life: Seeing Latinas, Working Sex by Juana María Rodríguez, Duke University Press  
• The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag by Sasha Velour, Harper 

Romance

• Live It Out by Jenn Alexander, Bywater Books 
• Sizzle Reel by Carlyn Greenwald, Vintage 
• Training Horses and Hearts by Nicole Gustafson, Bella Books
• Where the Heart Leads by Ally McGuire, Butterworth Books 
• Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall, Montlake 
• Just as You Are by Camille Kellogg, Dial Press

Mystery/Thriller

• This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham, Sourcebooks Fire
• Flower Frenzy by T. Thorn Coyle, Pf Publishing 
• Virgin & Child by Maggie Hammand, ​​Barbican Press
• In the Lives of Puppets by Tj Klune, Tor Books
• The Fitful Sleep of Immigrants by Orlando Ortega-Medina, Amble Press
• Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans, Clarion Books 

Speculative Fiction

• The Winter Knight by Jes Battis, ECW Press
• The Stars of Mount Quixx: The Brindlewatch Quintet, Book One by S. M. Beiko, ECW Press 
• The Warden by Daniel M. Ford, Tor Books 
• Backdoor Carnivore by G. G. Gilt, Planet Bizarro
• The Way of the Cicadas by Audrey Henley, Monodon Books 
• Time Bomb by John Patrick, Queer Space 
• Foxy Tails by Natalina Reis, Hot Tree Publishing
• Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh, Tordotcom 

Young Adult Literature

• Harley Quinn: Ravenous by Rachael Allen, Random House Books for Young Readers 
• Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker, Tor Teen
• Becoming a Queen by Dan Clay, Roaring Brook Press 
• Juno Loves Legs by Karl Geary, Catapult 
• Robin and Her Misfits by Kelly Ann Jacobson, Three Rooms Press 
• The Immeasurable Depth of You by Maria Ingrande Mora, Peachtree Teen 
• Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar by Jessamyn Violet, Three Rooms Press 

Children’s/Middle Grade Literature

• Drew LeClair Crushes the Case by Katryn Bury, HarperCollins 
• Against The Stars by Christopher Hartland, Tiny Ghost Press 
• My Mommies Built a Treehouse by Gareth Peter, Lantana Publishing
• Jude Saves the World by Ronnie Riley, Scholastic Press 
• Dotson: My Journey Growing Up Transgender by Grayson Lee White, West Margin Press 
• Grandad’s Pride by Harry Woodgate, Little Bee Books 

Poetry

• Saltwater Demands a Psalm: Poems by Kweku Abimbola, Graywolf Press 
• Cataloguing Pain by Allison Blevins, YesYes Books 
• Freedom House by Kb Brookins, Deep Vellum Publishing 
• Celebrate Pride with Lockheed Martin by Jake Byrne, Buckrider Books 
• Lent by Kate Cayley, Book*hug Press
• Trinity Street: Poems by Jen Currin, House of Anansi Press 
• limerence by Octavio R. González, Rebel Satori 
• Four in Hand by Alicia Mountain, BOA Editions
• A “Working Life” by Eileen Myles, Grove Press
• My Yellow Heart by VI Khi Khi Nao, Girl Noise Press
• More Sure by A. Light Zachary, Arsenal Pulp Press 

Comics/Graphic Novels

• We Only Find Them When They’re Dead Vol. 3 by Al Ewing, Boom! Studios 
• The Legend of Korra: Ruins of the Empire Omnibus by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino
• The Sucker by Elle Shivers, Silver Sprocket