12 of the Best Queer Books: 2024 New Releases

It’s hard to describe to non-queer folks the challenges and joys of moving through the world as a queer person. In these essays, poet and journalist Shayla Lawson shares learnings and surprising encounters from their travels around the globe, from Mexico to Egypt to Japan and beyond. With each new locale, they share introspections on how their journeys have shaped them and represent different aspects of their life. If you’re looking for wide-reaching nonfiction that explores identity, personal growth, and lots of adventures, don’t miss this book.

Kacen Callender has written a remarkable array of books across genres and age ranges, including popular titles like Felix Ever After and Stars in Your Eyes. Now they’re kicking off a new YA fantasy series with Infinity Alchemist, full of queer, trans, and nonbinary characters. Ash Woods is determined to learn alchemy, but his path is blocked when he’s rejected from Lancaster Mage’s College. He takes a job as a groundskeeper to secretly learn the art of alchemy, and when he’s caught by another apprentice named Ramsay, Ramsay agrees to keep the secret — if Ash helps her find a missing sacred text. It’s a thrilling adventure full of magic, dark mysteries, and adventure.

Traditionally published Indigenous stories are often focused on the past, ignoring the very real experiences of contemporary Indigenous peoples. In this memoir-in-essays, Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe beautifully ties her own family’s past with her lived experience as a queer woman from the Upper Skagit and Nooksack Indian Tribes in today’s world. It’s a provocative and wonderfully crafted collection exploring cultural legacies, colonialism, and finding your own path forward.

Recent years have ushered in a “gender panic” of the political right, attacking the freedom and safety of trans and gender non-conforming people from schools to public bathrooms to every corner of public life. In these dangerous times, post-structuralist gender theorist Judith Butler has returned with the fiery takedown of anti-gender politics. Butler, author of the landmark work Gender Trouble, traces the ways gender anxieties have been weaponized by authoritarian and fascist leaders and makes a bold argument for fighting for equality for all genders.

Romantasy (romance + fantasy) was the fastest-rising book genre in 2023, and as we’re soon to see in 2024, it’s just getting started. This queer, sexy, adventure-filled romantasy by debut author Justinian Huang is sure to make waves. Two men destined to find each other across lifetimes are reincarnated again and again, from a young emperor and courtier in ancient China to a college student and handsome stranger in modern-day Los Angeles. As their love story is reenacted through the centuries, they’re tested by the strange and dangerous world around them. How long can their love survive?

Queer romance has been slowly carving out a space in the world of traditional publishing, and in 2024, we’re finally starting to see a wider array of queer characters finding their own happy endings. In KT Hoffman’s The Prospects, readers meet Gene Ionescu, the first openly trans professional baseball player. Gene is finally hitting his stride on his minor league team, the Beaverton Beavers, when his biggest rival is traded to his team. But the electric tension between Gene and Luis slowly turns into the kind of chemistry that can help them win big time — on the field and off. It’s a joy-filled romance sure to have baseball fans and sport-hating readers cheering wholeheartedly for the Beavers.

A queer murder mystery set in space? Say no more, I’m in! Only the wealthy elite can snag a spot aboard the Altaire, a luxury spaceship orbiting Earth where guests have a chance to fight for a spot on a new Mars settlement, avoiding certain death on crumbling planet Earth. During a school reunion on the Altaire, a group of past classmates becomes determined to find the truth of an unsolved murder during their school days. But their investigation distracts them from the many ulterior motives of their fellow space travelers. It’s a layered, imaginative tale with a dynamic ensemble cast of characters.

When it comes to queer romance, TJ Alexander is writing some of today’s funniest, most endearing, and steamiest love stories around. Their foodie romances Chef’s Kiss and Chef’s Choice made me laugh so hard I cried. Now they’re back with something new (and quite different when it comes to traditionally published romances): Triple Sec, a polyamorous rom-com set around a swanky Manhattan cocktail lounge. When a disillusioned bartender is propositioned by a hot queer couple, she gains the confidence to try new things in relationships and in other aspects of her life.

Akwaeke Emezi is a phenomenal queer author whose work tells powerful, unexpected stories across genres, including literary fiction (The Death of Vivek Oji), romance (You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty), YA fantasy (Pet), and more. They’ve been on my must-read list since their 2018 debut, Freshwater, and every time a new Emezi title is announced, I know it’s going to blow me away even more than their last. Emezi’s upcoming literary fiction novel Little Rot is perhaps their darkest and messiest tale yet. When longtime couple Aima and Kalu split, five friends are thrown into chaos in Nigeria’s wealthy, exclusive underground. They’re each pushed to the edge to protect themselves from great evil.

Casey McQuiston, author of Red, White & Royal Blue, can certainly be given at least partial credit for the massive rise in popularity of queer romance. Their debut novel cracked the publishing world wide open for queer stories, showing that readers of all stripes could find joy in celebrating LGBTQ+ love. McQuiston has described their upcoming novel as “sluts in Europe,” which, honestly, say no more. But if you must know more, it follows two bisexual exes who accidentally book the same food and wine tour through France, Spain, and Italy and end up challenging each other to an international hookup competition. If a book description has ever sparked my interest more than this one, I certainly can’t name it.

Award-winning poet Danez Smith has written brilliantly crafted collections like Homie and Don’t Call Us Dead. If you’re looking for queer poetry to watch in 2024, Bluff should absolutely be on your list. Their newest collection is an exploration of racial justice, violence, and healing in Smith’s hometown, the Twin Cities, as well as a call for poetry and the arts to help build a path toward a collective future. From rage and grief to inspiration and hope, these poems are an emotionally powerful call to action.