New LGBTQ Books Out June 18, 2024

New LGBTQ Books Out June 18, 2024

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Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside of work, much of her free time is spent looking for her next great read and planning her next snack.

Find her on Twitter at @Erica_Eze_.

While Danika is out living life and being fab, I’m here to update y’all on the queer books that should be on your radar this week. And let me tell you, things get a little unhinged (in the best way, obviously). Weird things start happening when a strange family shows up as a queer couple renovates a house, a girl finds out that a mermaid saved her life only so she could save her for dinner, and Akwaeze Emezi shows us the rot of Nigeria’s underbelly. Phew!

Let’s get to them.

New LGBTQ Releases This Week

cover of Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi

Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi (Queer Fiction)

Award-winning Nigerian author Akwaeke Emezi is giving scandal, seedy underbelly, sex, lies, and corruption — and it all starts with a breakup. Aima, unwilling to wait any longer for Kalu to marry her, breaks it off with him. Kalu then goes to his friend Ahmed’s sex party, and from that point on, the narrative is full of chaos. The main characters — who are eventually joined by two Nigerian sex workers — are thrown into the darkest parts of Lagos, and must navigate all the rot.

cover of A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell

A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell (Transmasculine M/F Historical Romance)

Unreformed Victorian rakes are just a good time, and Kit Griffith is living his best life on the British seaside. A former painter, he decided to leave his former sisterhood of women artists to live life freely as a trans man, and he’s still galavanting and — let’s say — making merry with vacationers. The problem? His move away from his artist community seemed to take away his creativity. So now, he’s selling bicycles, which is why, when Muriel Pendrake, a spicy botanist, tries to commission Kit for illustrations, Kit knows he shouldn’t accept. But Kit wants Muriel’s help in proving women’s cycling abilities to an all-male club…and he wants her for other things, too.

cover of We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer (Sapphic Horror)

This is being described as a Get Out/Parasite kind of thriller, so it’s no surprise that there’s news of a Netflix adaptation coming out soon (starring Blake Lively). In it, young queer couple, Charlie and Eve, are house flippers who have just scored a major steal in a beautiful neighborhood. One day, when they’re in the middle of fixing up the house, a man and his family show up, saying that they used to live there years ago, and asks if he can show his kids the house. Then ole boy proceeds to bring in all the bad juju. Basically, as soon as he and his family enter the house, weird things start happening, including one of the family’s children going missing and uncanny goings-on in the basement. On top of all that, the family is also overstaying their welcome, and Eve suddenly can’t find Charlie.

cover of MAKE IT COUNT: MY FIGHT TO BECOME THE FIRST TRANSGENDER OLYMPIC RUNNER BY CECÉ TELFER

Make It Count: My Fight to Become the First Transgender Olympic Runner by CeCé Telfer (Trans Woman Memoir)

CeCé Telfer has been through everything from living out of the back of her car to withstanding transphobia, and here, she showcases the perseverance it took to make it as an Olympic runner. After growing up in Jamaica, she made her way to Toronto, the U.S., and eventually the Olympics, where she is the first openly transgender woman competing.

cover of This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Vol. 1 by Sai Naekawa

This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Vol. 1 by Sai Naekawa (Yuri Fantasy Manga)

Hinako is a high school student who has a lot of problems — she lives alone in a seaside town, constantly feels like she’s drowning…and apparently seems delicious. One day, a monster tries to eat her and she passes out while struggling, only to wake up to find out that a mermaid has saved her. And now wants to eat her, too! Except, the mermaid wants to wait a bit, to give her time to mature into something that tastes good. A win is a win, I guess? Hinako, being the girl that she is — remember all those problems — doesn’t try to escape this fate and instead befriends the mermaid. couldn’t be me

✨ Paid subscribers can find more LGBTQ book recs from Danika out this week at the end of this post!

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter and the New Release Index — you can even filter by queer books!

Queer Bookish Goodies

You Are Loved Canvas Tote
Image via Transpainter on Etsy

This tote is so pretty and perfect for summer-time galavanting! $26

That’s it for me! It’s been real. Danika will be back soon with their usual. In the meantime, they’ve included some more releases below for All Access subscribers. If you’d like to hear me yapping about more book things, you can find me writing for our BIPOC newsletter, In Reading Color, and on the YA podcast Hey YA, which I cohost with Kelly Jensen.

More LGBTQ Books Out This Week

Have you read any LGBTQ new releases recently? Let’s chat in the comments!

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