Twelve upcoming book releases featuring or written by LGBTQIA women/non-binary people
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY UNSPLASH
If reading more books is one of your New Year’s Resolutions this year, look no further than this list. 2023 is set to be an exciting year for books featuring or written by LGBTQIA women or non-binary people. Regardless of whether you want romcoms or gothic suspense mysteries, we’ve got you covered. Here are our top 12 books that you should definitely have on your shelves this year.
Sorry Bro by Taleen Voskuni
Get ready to pre-order Taleen Voskuni’s debut novel Sorry Bro which will make its way to shelves on 2 February 2023. After Nar’s boyfriend tries to propose to her, she decides she needs to find someone who is a better match for her. At her mother’s insistence, Nar embarks on a month-long festival of events in Armenia to reconnect with her heritage. However, instead of finding a nice Armenian man like her mother hopes, she is a bit more preoccupied by her new friend Erebuni…
Sorry Bro explores bisexuality, culture, and self-discovery through moments that will make you laugh out loud. This new writer brings a fresh take on self-identity, with a story that will capture both your heart and sense of humour.
Frontier by Grace Curtis
Love, loss, and… laser guns? Frontier by Grace Curtis is a new sci-fi Western that’s sure to keep you hooked. Curtis’ debut novel imagines a world struck by the effects of climate change – people have never been so diverse but so divided. One thing they can all agree on is that they’re suspicious when a stranger lands in the middle of the night. Armed but scared, this stranger knows only one thing – they’re looking for someone.
Frontier is a book for fans of Becky Chambers and Mary Robinette Kowal, which explores the desperation of love in a time of global uncertainty. It will be available to purchase on 9 March 2023.
Transitional: In One Way Or Another We All Transition by Munroe Bergdorf
“As time goes on, we all develop as people. We all transition. It’s what unites us, not what separates us.”
Munroe Bergdorf is a world-renowned model and activist who made history as the first transgender woman to appear on the cover of Cosmopolitan UK. Her new memoir Transitional: In One Way Or Another We All Transition explores her own experience with transitioning in a deeply intimate and vulnerable way. She explores the necessity for all humans to transition, and how it can help heal and build a stronger community around us. It has already been described as “a phenomenon” by The Guardian and “A powerful and unstoppable new force” by Teen Vogue.
The hardcover edition will be available from 16 February 2023.
Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly
Get ready for the ultimate genderqueer story of 2023! Dawn Levit feels stuck in life. In the day she works in conservation at the Met as a bookbinder, and her free time is spent looking for inspiration in street art. At work she’s forced to present as female, even when that’s not always the way she feels inside.
Her world is turned upside down when she finds the torn-off cover of a 50s lesbian pulp novel, Turn Her About, behind the endpaper of an old book with a love letter written on the back. Dawn becomes determined to find the author of this note, convinced that in discovering this mystery she might finally be able to understand herself.
Endpapers will be ready to purchase on 7 February 2023.
Your Driver Is Waiting by Priya Guns
A gender-flipped reboot of the iconic 1970s film Taxi Driver? Say no more. If Your Driver Is Waiting isn’t on your 2023 reading list, what are you doing?
Living paycheck to paycheck as a driver, Damani is exhausted. She can barely focus on herself let alone the protests going on around her in the city for ‘people like her’. That’s until she meets Jolene. On the outside, Jolene seems perfect – attentive, educated, very pretty. The only issue: Damani has never dated a white girl, especially not a rich one. Things seem picture perfect until Jolene does something unforgivable, setting off an unstoppable chain of events.
Hilariously funny and sharply satirical, pick up this book for a witty social commentary and a sapphic romance. This book will be released on 2 March 2023.
Any Other City by Hazel Jane Plante
This two-sided fictional memoir has it all: indie rock, queer kinship, and sex. Any Other City is split into two sections following the life of trans musician Tracy St. Cyr. Side A provides a look at her adjustment to a big city, trying to make her name as an artist. Nearly two decades later, Side B looks at her retrospective reflections as she sits down to write her memoir. It describes itself as “a love letter to trans femmes and to art itself”.
Dedicated to displaying a world full of punk and desire, this book will be ready to buy on 18 April 2023.
Such Pretty Flowers by K.L. Cerra
If you’re feeling like reading something more Gothic this year, K. L. Cerra is the author for you. Such Pretty Flowers follows Holly as she investigates the mysterious death of her brother. Desperate to get answers, Holly starts to stalk Maura – a black-eyed florist with a fondness for carnivorous plants. This soon turns to an obsession with a woman she knows she shouldn’t trust…
This thrilling debut novel from K.L. Cerra combines the Southern Gothic genre with a queer romance that is bound to keep you on the edge of your seat. It will be available to buy on 7 February 2023.
Chlorine by Jade Song
One of the most highly anticipated books of the year, Chlorine is a coming-of-age story mixed with dark horror. It follows the story of Ren Yu, a swimmer who is determined to become her ultimate goal: a mermaid. And nothing will get in her way.
This story navigates sapphic longing, love, and how far a human will go to achieve their dreams. Pre-release reviews of the books have even described it as unnerving in the best possible way. It goes on sale on 28 March 2023.
Pomegranate by Helen Elaine Lee
Ranita Atwater is sober. But finishing her four-year sentence for opiate possession at Oak Hills Correctional Center means getting out. And that has its own host of issues. Leaving behind her lover Maxine, Ranita must navigate the world again by herself, avoiding temptation at all costs. Pomegranate delves into Ranita’s experience as a black woman in America, and explores a story of loss, healing, redemption, and strength. From the author that gave us The Serpent’s Gift, this novel will be available to buy on 11 April 2023.
Dykette By Jenny Fran Davis
Named as a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Our Culture, Yahoo! and SPY.com, Dykette is the absurd, darkly funny story of a young woman who embarks on a ten-day getaway with her partner and two other queer couples. Jealousy, secrets, and hidden intentions all threaten to break apart these couples one at a time. Will they all make it through the ten days? This captivating book is messy, sexy, and utterly thrilling all at the same time. Davis’ debut novel will be released on 16 May 2023.
Behind The Scenes by Karelia Stetz-Waters
If you want a fun romcom to sink your teeth into this year, look no further than Behind The Scenes. Business consultant Rose Josten is nearing “pug lady” status: she even dresses them in Gucci and she treats them like her children. But something feels like it’s missing. Former filmmaker Ash Stewart is too heartbroken to even think about love. But when Rose enters the picture, Ash realises that maybe she had been too quick to judge romance completely. Will they have a movie magic romance… or will it also end in tragedy?
Grab this book on 31 January 2023 and enjoy the hilarious twists and turns.
The Last Tale Of The Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi makes her adult novel debut with The Last Tale Of The Flower Bride. This Gothic tale is centred around the mystical Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada – an heiress to a large fortune. After marrying a man who believed in fairy tales and myths, she asked him only one thing: not to pry into her past. When news comes that her aunt is dying, Indigo’s past – especially the disappearance of her childhood friend Azure – becomes too exciting for her bridegroom to resist. A tale of obsessive, toxic female friendship with heavy sapphic undertones, this novel is set to be one of the most exciting reads of the year.
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride will be released on 14 February 2023.
Make sure you’ve got these marked in your calendar!
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