Scott Preston. Scribner, $28 (304p) ISBN 978-1-6680-5067-5
Preston’s blistering debut takes place in the farthest reaches of northern England, on “cloud-eaten” fells battered by wind and inhabited mostly by sheep. There’s nothing much for narrator Steve Elliman to do when he returns to his elderly dad’s farm after spending years away as a lorry driver up an... Continue reading »
Alex Finlay. Minotaur, $28 (336p) ISBN 978-1-250-86379-9
Finlay (What Have We Done) returns with a tightly coiled spine tingler about a law student under suspicion for his high school girlfriend’s disappearance. Five years ago, while Ryan Richardson and his girlfriend, Alison Lane, were on a date, Ryan fell unconscious and Alison vanished. After ... Continue reading »
Chuck Tingle. Nightfire, $26.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-250-87465-8
Tingle (Camp Damascus) cements his place in horror with this gory romp, which doubles as a love letter to every queer kid who wished for TV characters like themselves and a sharply pointed warning about the state of entertainment and the rise of AI. Misha Byrne is a gay screenwriter hoping ... Continue reading »
Susie Dumond. Dial, $18 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-593-59627-2
Dumond’s triumphant sophomore outing (after Queerly Beloved) finds heroine Gray hesitant to reenter the dating scene after ending her relationship with her partner of 10 years. Being new to New Orleans, where she’s living in the garage apartment of her childhood best friend Cherry and worki... Continue reading »
Anna Härmälä. Nobrow, $20.99 trade paper (168p) ISBN 978-1-913123-22-2
Härmälä’s wit glows as warmly as her saturated pastel colors in her semi-autobiographical debut about tackling parenthood alone. Her partner dumps her while she’s pregnant, leaving her to shoulder the responsibilities of birthing and then raising their daughter, Alma. After she fantasizes about burn... Continue reading »
Cindy Juyoung Ok. Yale Univ, $20 trade paper (100p) ISBN 978-0-300-27392-2
Winner of the 2023 Yale Younger Poets Prize, Ok in her refreshing debut uses language to push against the staid edges of the status quo, exposing the tenuous and often contradictory beliefs that seemingly undergird reality. With their capacious perspective, these verses bear witness to the hypocrisi... Continue reading »
Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee. Revell, $26.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-8007-4275-1
In this tour de force from Brotherton (A Bright and Blinding Sun) and Lee (A Single Light), four friends’ lives change irrevocably when America becomes embroiled in WWII. In 1930s Mobile, Ala., preacher’s son Jimmy Propfield shares an idyllic upbringing with childhood sweetheart Cl... Continue reading »
Morgan Parker. One World, $28 (224p) ISBN 978-0-525-51144-1
For African Americans, “becoming a person, forming an identity” is a “sham assignment from the start,” according to this graceful and deeply personal essay collection from National Book Critics Circle Award–winning poet Parker (Magical Negro). Cataloging a lifetime’s worth of mental health ... Continue reading »
Jack Turban. Atria, $28.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-6680-1704-3
Psychiatrist Turban debuts with a vital parenting guide for raising trans children. Writing for parents who may have little familiarity with trans terminology, Turban explains the basics of gender expression and the importance of using the right pronouns. A wealth of client stories addresses common ... Continue reading »
Anne Lamott. Riverhead, $22 (208p) ISBN 978-0-593-71441-6
Lamott (Dusk, Night, Dawn) brings her signature wit and warmth to these effervescent meditations on matters of the heart. Drawing from across her life, Lamott details how seemingly lost love can be transmuted into different forms, recalling how friends and family stepped in after she was br... Continue reading »
Matteo L. Cerilli. Tundra, $17.99 (328p) ISBN 978-1-77488-230-6
Cerilli delivers a stunning debut in this gripping paranormal horror novel about queer teens growing up in a community that doesn’t accept them and the insidious danger of apathy. Paz Espino is considered a “weirdo” in her hometown of Bridlington—and most Bridlington denizens don’t like weirdos. Not... Continue reading »