30 New LGBTQ+ Books to Add to Your Reading List in 2021
History? True crime? Nostalgic YA fiction? Got it all.
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Books play an important role in our lives. By opening a book, we open a magical passage that transports us to another world. Sometimes those worlds are fantastical and fictional, other times they're still fictional, but very grounded in reality. And there are even times when the book and the world it metaphorically transports us to is nonfiction, but the journey is still its own kind of magic. If you're looking to immerse yourself in stories about and by the LGBTQ+ community, there are plenty of books just waiting to transport you. What's more, the 2021 slate of new books includes a great selection of LGBTQ+ books, both fiction and nonfiction.
From memoirs, to collections of essays and poetry, to accounts and investigations into historically significant movements, LGBTQ+ books coming out in 2021 run the gamut. That makes sense, of course, since the stories of the LGBTQ+ community are unique and varied and impossible to capture in a single kind of story or from a single perspective. But the point is that no matter what you're looking for and what kind of read you're in the mood for, there's bound to be a brand new LGBTQ+ book on the horizon, just waiting to fill that void in your life (and your reading list). Bookmark this list so you can refer to it throughout the year, any time you're in the need of a brand new read.
Set in an alternate history where women are tried for witchcraft if they can't have children, this western follows Ada, a woman who is forced to flee when she can't get pregnant with her husband. Ada ends up joining a mostly-female gang of outlaws (I'm resisting the urge to make a girl gang joke here), led by a charismatic, nonbinary figure known as The Kid.
Release date: January 5
This novel, which has been compared to the beautiful writing of Toni Morrison, is about the forbidden union between Isaiah and Samuel, two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation.
Release date: January 5
This groundbreaking novel, which expertly weaves together issues of gender, sex, and relationships, focuses on three women—both trans and cis—who find themselves in the position to raise a baby together.
Release date: January 12
This YA book is about a young girl (whose mom has made a career of scamming criminals) who ends up in a hostage situation alongside her ex-boyfriend and current girlfriend. Awkward, right? Millie Bobby Brown is set to star in (and produce) the film version, which will live on Netflix.
Release date: January 26
In this collection of essays, the former editor-in-chief of Nylon candidly discusses the challenges of navigating the New York media scene as a lesbian and, in the process, provides a roadmap to other marginalized people working to make their way in industries that don't have a history of embracing them.
Release date: January 26
This moving memoir is about Ziyad's experiences growing up Black and queer in America and explores what it's like to reunite with the past and come of age in your own way.
Release date: February 1
This collection of short, slice-of-life stories about queer men takes readers on a journey that includes stops in a variety of places, from gentrified bars in Oakland to farm towns in Alabama, but they all share Purnell’s unique and fearless point of view.
Release date: February 2
This gorgeously illustrated glossary features more than 800 words and phrases created by and for queer culture, and acts as a guide to the LGBTQ+ community's contributions to the English language.
Release date: February 2
In this novel, Rachel, a woman with a not-so-great relationship with food, takes a detox from her strict diet—and communication with her mother, who's responsible for it—at the suggestion of her therapist. During her detox, Rachel becomes increasingly drawn to Miriam, a woman who works at the local yogurt shop.
Release date: February 2
This intimate, beautiful collection of poems, complete with lines like "to be queer / is a way to forgive life," is a must-read.
Release date: February 9
In Gay Bar, Jeremy Atherton Lin examines the history of gay bars and the impact that their closings may have throughout the gay community.
Release date: February 9
Set in 2015, just weeks after the Supreme Court marriage equality ruling, this novel focuses on high school art teacher Sebastian Mote, who is single and lonely and envious of his queer students, who get to live their truths in a way he couldn't as a teen. When he runs into an old friend, Oscar, at a wedding, he sees it as the potential for a second chance and a new life.
Release date: February 16
This collection of poetry, the followup to 2018's Haunt, explores themes of fear, hope, and self-identity.
Release date: March 1
When 28-year-old Grace goes on a girls' trip to Vegas to celebrate completing her PhD, the weekend ends up being wilder than expected when Grace drunkenly marries a woman she just met—and uproots her life to follow her new wife to New York.
Release date: February 23
This collection of 32 stories from emerging writers explores the South Asian experience in the U.S., U.K., and Canada through deeply personal accounts of immigration, mental health, sexual orientation, gender identity, racism, colorism, religion, and more.
Release date: March 2
If you're a fan of true crime and LGBTQ+ history, then Last Call, which digs into the story of a serial killer who stalked gay men in the '80s and '90s, has to be added to your reading list.
Release date: March 9
In this collection of poetry, Mans explores the complications of mother/daughter relationships, and writes poems dedicated to people like Michelle Obama. "Dear First Lady, / I watched as my 4-year old cousin / Sat in the mirror, / placed my grandmother’s pearls / around her neck and said, / “Do I look like Michelle Obama?”
Release date: March 9
This collection of stories about different women named Sarah, and all of them are fighting against some societal norm. For example, one Sarah loves Buffy (as in the show), and uses fan fic to work through romantic obsession.
Release date: March 9
Pádraig Ó Tuama's memoir draws on the Irish saying, "It is in the shelter of each other that the people live," and explores themes of Celtic spirituality, belonging, and sexual identity.
Release date: March 23
This YA thriller, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is a sexy exploration of the intersections of love, art, and power. In it, Veronica, a photographer struggling to find inspiration, falls hard for a mysterious dream girl named Mick, and finds herself pulled along on an adventure that includes a fire, two murders, three drowning bodies, and more.
Release date: March 30
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