LGBTQ-inclusive books remained top targets of bans and “soft censorship” throughout 2024, but titles that centered queer characters and explored topics related to sexual orientation and gender identity continued to find fierce advocates in readers and booksellers.
We asked NBC Out readers and booksellers across the country about their favorite lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer books of 2024. Here’s a selection of what we heard:
‘Private Rites’ by Julia Armfield
A version of King Lear that is queer and climate-dystopian, “this book is haunting and surreal,” said Kelsey Jagneaux, the events coordinator at Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg, Florida.
“It delivers on all the heightened drama of its source material while perfectly reimagining the contentious daughters of this modern Lear,” Jagneaux said.
Readers may recall Armfield’s powerful debut novel, “Our Wives Under the Sea,” which balanced elements of horror and the supernatural while exploring the story of a lesbian couple involved in a deep-sea research mission.
‘Coexistence’ by Billy-Ray Belcourt
“Coexistence,” the debut short story collection of Indigenous writer and academic Billy-Ray Belcourt is the top pick of Julie Wernersbach, the owner of Hive Mind Books, a queer bookstore and coffee shop in Brooklyn, New York.
“These short stories center the interior lives of young, gay intellectuals who are deeply introspective about their relationships with other men, their families, their work, themselves, their Indigenous identities and with the history of their Canadian land and ancestors,” Wernersbach said.
“I love fiction that deals directly with philosophical ideas, poetry and the life of the mind, and that puts it right alongside sex and longing and love and family. Belcourt’s work is intricate, nuanced, and deep, very much working through and with ideas. And if you’ve spent any time on apps like Grindr, there’s plenty in this collection for you about intimacy, too.”
‘Housemates’ by Emma Copley Eisenberg
Emma Copley Eisenberg’s bestselling queer road-trip romp was a favorite 2024 read of Samantha Puc, coordinator of The Nonbinarian Book Club at The Nonbinarian Bookstore in Brooklyn, New York.
“‘Housemates’ is such a beautifully queer take on the quintessential American road trip novel that asks pertinent and timely questions about art, connection and what sustains us as we age, especially in relationship to bad actors and the harm they perpetuate,” Puc said.
In this latest book, Eisenberg — whose 2020 true-crime book, “The Third Rainbow Girl,” explored a double murder in rural Appalachia — “focuses particularly on how her characters embody their desires, centering fatness and queerness with attention toward complexity and how hard it can be to figure out who you are and what you want when you’re young, in love and thrust into the spotlight,” Puc added.
‘Little Rot’ by Akwaeke Emezi
An “unsettling, spicy and thrilling literary fiction with the most diverse cast” is how Chelsia Rice, co-owner of Montana Book Company in Helena, Montana, describes “Little Rot.”
The novel, which follows five friends through the murky underbelly of a fictionalized Nigerian city, begins with a breakup and then races forward, taking its characters on a harrowing journey.
“It is a steamy entanglement of chaos. It’s brutal, it’s thrilling and nobody is left unscathed. There’s representation of all genders and sexualities. This book just blew my mind,” Rice said.
‘Somewhere Beyond the Sea’ by TJ Klune
The highly anticipated sequel to “The House in the Cerulean Sea,” this novel is part of “The Cerulean Chronicles” fantasy series.
NBC Out readers loved both books, and they aren’t alone: “The House in the Cerulean Sea” is considered one of the most popular fantasy novels of the past decade.
The books follow Arthur Parnassus, the headmaster of an orphanage. He hopes to be the father of the children who live there, who are magical and described as dangerous. A story of found family and resistance, this series is beloved by readers, and its author dedicated the book to the transgender community.
‘Exhibit’ by R.O. Kwon
R.O. Kwon’s second novel explores the relationship between two Korean American women who both find themselves at a crossroads — and drawn to each other.
“This book is full of sexy sentences, startling images, complicated characters and unexpected moments of tenderness,” said Rachel Knox, co-host of the Tombolo Book Club at Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg, Florida. “Two women, with different art forms, brush up against one another at just the right time and form something larger than the sum of their parts. I kept finding myself picking up this book and flipping back to sections, rereading them and feeling like they were perfect little arias.”
‘American Teenager’ by Nico Lang
A nonfiction option for readers interested in true stories about LGBTQ people, “American Teenager” was recommended by Susan Post, the owner of BookWoman in Austin, Texas.
Post said “no other book supporting trans families has generated so much interest in our store.” She added that BookWoman sold more than 75 copies of journalist Nico Lang’s debut title in one weekend.
“Being such a personal look into the lives of trans youth, ‘American Teenager’ has profoundly touched those who care about trans and other queer youth,” she said.
In an interview with NBC News this year, Lang described how they spent nearly a year traveling the country to document the lives of eight trans teens as the transgender community was being targeted by hundreds of state bills seeking to restrict their access to gender-affirming care and sports, among other things.
‘The Pairing’ by Casey McQuiston
An NBC Out reader favorite, “The Pairing” is a dual-point-of-view novel about Theo and Kit, two bisexual exes who have accidentally booked themselves on the same European tour.
Surprised to see each other, they make a bet on who can sleep with their tour guide first, and a hookup competition ensues. But is a second-chance romance in the cards for these two?
Pick up this book for descriptions of scenic European travels, food and wine and a blend of romance and self-discovery we’ve come to expect from the author of “Red, White & Royal Blue,” “One Last Stop” and “I Kissed Shara Wheeler.”
‘In Universes’ by Emet North
Considered one of the best science fiction and fantasy books of the year, “In Universes” is a kaleidoscopic debut of parallel worlds that can be read as a stand-alone novel or a series of interconnected short stories.
The book follows various versions of Raffi, a queer physicist who exists in a multiverse and searches for belonging and love as they cross space and time.
This was a favorite of Charlie Crawford, co-owner of Montana Book Company, who found it both compelling and unusual.
‘On Strike Against God’ by Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ’ 1980 feminist novel “On Strike Against God” was out of print for decades before being reissued this year.
The story follows Esther, a divorced professor who falls in love during the social upheaval and feminist consciousness-raising of the 1970s.
“A bitingly funny coming-out novel about first love and first failure, it captures the pains and pleasures of coming into yourself and falling out of step with the world around you. Esther is the original feminist killjoy — acerbic, brilliant, obsessive, confrontational, deeply relatable. In this edition, editor Alec Pollak approaches contextualizing a controversial, difficult, crucial period of lesbian feminist history with deep generosity and seriousness,” said Ira Beare, the co-operator of Bookends in Florence, which describes itself as “the last lesbian bookstore in Western Massachusetts.”
Beare added this book is “everything a reissue should be — perfect for mean lesbians, later-in-life lesbians, academic lesbians, archive enthusiasts (who do tend to be lesbians) and anyone interested in feminist literary history.”
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