Lately, there have been a lot of lists of queer books coming out in 2020, so I thought I would gather them here for you to browse through!
- Book Riot’s 20 Queer YA Books For Your 2020 TBR
- LGBTQ Reads’s LGBTQIAP YA 2020 Preview: January-June
- LGBTQ Reads’s 2020 LGBTQAP Adult Fiction Preview: January-June
- LGBTQ Reads’s TBRainbow Alert: 2020 YA Starring QTPoC, Part I
- Book Riot’s Most Anticipated LGBTQ Books of 2020
- Book Riot’s 50+ YA Books Starring Queer Girls Hitting Shelves in 2020
- LGBTQ Reads’s TBRainbow Alert: 2020 Graphic Novels and Memoirs, Part I
After perusing these lists, I have definitely added quite a few to my own TBR. Here are some of my favourites, and why they caught my eye.
Young Adult:
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow: An Earth invaded by aliens, where emotion is illegal. Ellie keeps a secret illicit library, and it’s discovered by the alien M0Rr1S–but he’s intrigued by human art. Illegal library + road trip!
Music From Another World by Robin Talley: I loved Talley’s Pulp, a historical YA about lesbian pulp fiction, the 1950s, and queer girls today. This is another historical YA, this time set in the 70s, and I hope it lives up to her previous one!
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar: Rival henna shops YA! Rivals to lovers!
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson: Two girls both running for prom queen (and the associated scholarship) fall in love! (I didn’t know rivals to lovers was a trope I was looking for, but apparently it is.)
Blood Countess by Lana Popović: I like reading f/f horror in October, and this is an Elizabeth Báthory story, which I always find fascinating. I’ve been looking for a sapphic take!
When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey: I loved Gailey’s River of Teeth, and I’m excited for Magic for Liars, so of course her first YA is on my list. This is also sapphic witches!
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust: I loved Bashardoust’s Girls Made of Snow and Glass, a fairy tale-inspired YA, so I know this one–based on Persian mythology–will be right up my alley.
Out Now: Queer We Go Again! edited by Saundra Mitchell: All Out is an incredible YA anthology, encompassing so many queer identities, and reclaiming a happy queer past. So of course I’m going to be picking up the contemporary anthology in the same vein.
I Kissed Alice by Anna Birch: enemies-to-lovers f/f YA romcom plus fanfiction. What could be better?
This Is All Your Fault by Aminah Mae Safi: Three teens working together to try to save their indie bookstore, with an Empire Records vibe.
Adult:
The Seep by Chana Porter: trans lesbian weird fiction/dystopia?? This is what I’ve been waiting for!
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey: Sarah Gailey again! Queer outlaw librarians on horseback!
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: An all-women island, followed by witch trials, with an f/f romance? Colour me intrigued.
The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey: I love the sound of this book–a haunted house narrative with a museum’s whole mammal collection as backdrop? Plus an f/f romance? I didn’t know I wanted this!
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner: A photo of celebrity Jo and her assistant Emma laughing together gets them labelled a couple, and the paparazzi goes out of control. The rumour wasn’t true when it started… but as they spend more time together, they realize it may be coming true after all.
All My Mother’s Lovers by Ilana Masad: After Maggie’s mother dies, she leaves 5 envelopes, all addressed to men Maggie has never heard of. Now she is on a road trip to hand-deliver this letters and learn about her mother’s hidden life. This sounds like a darker version of 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and I am on board for it.
You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat: Honestly, that title alone would do it for me, but I’m also intrigued by this Palestinian-American main character who ends up at a treatment centre for her “love addiction” (being queer).
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The Seep sounds fantastic – that’s an immediate TBR addition. I have a digital ARC of Upright Women Wanted, and just got an early finished copy of The Mercies yesterday.