5 Upcoming Queer Books Out in 2024 That I Just Learned About
Since I write about new LGBTQ book releases every week on Our Queerest Shelves, I keep a giant spreadsheet of upcoming queer books, adding titles as soon as I learn about them. I follow approximately a million queer book blogs, BookTubers, BookTokers, Bookstagrammers, etc — and that’s not to mention the deluge of publicity emails I get. Put those together with the increase in traditionally published queer books and you get a spreadsheet of truly monstrous proportions.
Currently, I have a running list of more than 500 queer books that came out so far this year, and that’s only a selection — I couldn’t possibly keep track of all the self-published LGBTQ books out every week. So, I thought I’d give you a peek into The Spreadsheet by sharing the five most recent additions.
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Legend of the White Snake by Sher Lee (October 15)
This is a queer retelling of a Chinese folktale. Prince Xian’s mother is dying a slow, painful death after being bitten by a white snake. She can only be cured by killing the snake and using its body to make an antidote. Xian is determined to get revenge. What he doesn’t know is that the snake can take a human form. When Xian meets the stable boy Zhen, they quickly fall for each other — but Zhen soon realizes that he’s the one Xian is hunting.
Sync by Ellen Hopkins (August 27)
Ellen Hopkins is the author of many different YA novels in verse. In Sync, twins Storm and Lake have been separated again, placed in separate foster homes. Lake finds comfort with another foster, Parker, and they start a relationship. She convinces Lake that they should run away together to escape their ultra-religious foster home, which leaves them living on the streets. Meanwhile, Storm is back in prison after becoming violent with the person who sexually assaulted his girlfriend. This is told in letters between the twins.
Bad Houses by John Elizabeth Stintzi (September 3)
I heard so much about Stinzi’s surreal novel My Volcano, so I’m looking forward to their new short story collection, Bad Houses. These collection of fabulist stories promises that it “feels like it was penned by a trans Alice Munro mixed with a bubblier Franz Kafka” and includes illustrations from the author.
Dancing on My Own: Essays on Art, Collectivity, and Joy by Simon Wu (June 25)
I found out about this one while editing an upcoming post by Laura Sackton about great Pride reads! This essay collection mixes personal writing and cultural criticism. It discusses sexuality, immigration, capitalism and more, while “center[ing] the sticky vulnerability of living in a body in a world where history is mapped into every choice we make, every party drug we take, and every person we kiss.”
Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore (August 20)
This one I just added to the spreadsheet today, and I found out about it in the intro to a post about bookish tote bags, of all things! It’s a paranormal M/M romance with a trans guy main character. When Ezra’s mother runs off with the Rabbi’s wife, Ezra agrees to help out in her place in the family funeral business. One upside is working with Jonathan, who he has a crush on. But Ezra is the only one who can see the ghosts that surround them, including the ghost of Ben, Jonathan’s late husband…
What’s your most-anticipated upcoming queer book release? Let’s chat in the comments!
That’s it for me! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog the Lesbrary. You can hear me on All the Books, and you can also read my Book Riot posts and subscribe to my other Book Riot newsletter, Read Harder.
Happy reading!
Danika
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