Our Most Anticipated Queer Books for January 2026

New year, new queer books! If you’re looking to get a solid start on your reading goal for the year, this list is a great place to start. We’re starting 2026 strong with a slate of new queer and trans books that span genres. There are also a few works in translation featured below. Read more works in translation! Read more short stories! Read more experimental books! Support LGBTQ+ authors by preordering their books! As always, shout out anything we didn’t include in the comments!

Is This a Cry for Help? by Emily Austin (January 13, Literary Fiction)

Emily Austin’s novel We Could Be Rats made our best queer books of 2025 list, so naturally we’re anticipating her latest, about a librarian named Darcy whose wife Joy is similarly of the book world, working for a book binding service. They live a pretty simple life, with cats of course, but that’s all thrown into upheaval when Darcy learns her ex-boyfriend Ben has died, prompting a mental breakdown and medical leave from her work. When she returns to the library, she’s met with a political struggle as book bans and attacks on DEI start to dismantle the library ecosystem.

Mega Milks: Essays on Family, Fluidity, Whiteness and Cows, by Megan Milks (January 13, Nonfiction)

Oh, I’m a big Milks fan (the author but also the beverage). Their novel Margaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body was one of my favorite queer books of 2021, and I’m super excited about this strange essay collection that directly confronts the fact of the author sharing a name with the white beverage we all know and likely have opinions about. The essays touch on “human lactation, Big Dairy, being queer and lonely, climate change, transmasculinity, the bull semen industry, the milky roots of white supremacy, and the best practices for giving and receiving a hug,” according to the publisher. I trust a writer as sharp as Milks to connect all the dots there.

Sheer: A Novel, by Vanessa Lawrence (January 13, Literary Fiction)

This novel is set across nine days in 2015, chronicling the demise of protagonist Maxine Thomas, a founder and creative director of a cult makeup company who ends up suspended by her board for a scandal. While stuck in her NYC apartment awaiting her fate, she recounts for the reader her version of the story that all led to here. Juicy!

Steppe,by Oksana Vasyakina, translated by Elina Alter (January 20, Literary Fiction)

Originally written in Russian and translated here into English by Elina Alter, this novel follows a queer literature student traveling across Russia with her estranged long-haul truck driver father who is secretly dying of AIDS.

Hemlock by Melissa Faliveno (January 20, Literary Fiction)

Steeped in themes of desire, transformation, and addiction, this queer Gothic novel from a brilliant author (read the essay collection Tomboyland if you have not already!) follows Sam, who returns to her family’s rundown cabin deep in the Wisconsin Northwoods where she slips up on her sobriety and is pulled into a twisted, surreal state. Folks, it’s being called a butch Black Swan, so buckle up!

On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield (January 27, Horror)

It sounds like this novel would pair well with Hemlock. It’s similarly a surreal queer Gothic tale, this one centered on Judith Rice, who is drawn to the forests of Southern Georgia where she ends up living in a house violently haunted just like her. Over the years, she becomes a healer. And eventually she’s upended by the arrival of an enigmatic woman she’s irresistibly drawn to.

When the Museum is Closed: a Novel, by Emi Yagi, translated by Yuki Tejima (January 27, Literary Fiction)

What a joy it is to include two works in translation in our top picks for the month (and it works out well for me, a person who has made it a goal to read more works in translation this year!). This magical realism novel is about Rika, who begins a very strange new job where she’s tasked with talking to a statue of Venus after the museum has closed. She and Venus then fall in love. Weird! I love the premise!

Persona, by by Aoife Josie Clements (January 27, Horror)

THE one and only Alison Rumfitt described this novel as “the most stomach-churning, upsetting, thoroughly cursèd queer book of the year.” SIGN ME UP. In it, the trans woman protagonist discovers porn on the internet of herself but has no memory of making it. Evil ensues. The book contends with art-making, sex work, the evils of capitalism, internet culture, and more.

And now enjoy the rest of our most anticipated LGBTQ books for January 2026!

Playing for Keeps, by Alexandria Bellefleur (Romance)

Two publicists find themselves at odds when their clients —an NFL quarterback and a popstar —embark on a romantic relationship. But the publicists also find themselves falling for each other. Sounds like thinly veiled Taylor/Travis-adjacent fic, but it promises to deliver for fans of the secret relationship trope and workplace romance.

Through Gates of Garnet and Gold, by Seanan McGuire(YA Fantasy)

This is the 11th book (!!!) in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, in which fan favorite character Nancy returns. The book promises queer, trans, nonbinary, and asexual representation.

Fanny Hill (Or, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure), by John Cleland, in conversation with Chelsea G. Summers and Jessica Stoya (Reissue, Erotic Fiction)

This is a re-release of the steamy 18th century novel considered the first original published English prose erotica. It’s being put out in a new edition by Smith & Taylor Classics, the brilliant Unnamed Press imprint that also recently republished Hauntings by Vernon Lee, for which I participated in a contextualizing conversation with Gretchen Felker-Martin.

The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution, by Shulamith Firestone (Reissue, Nonfiction)

Verso is republishing this 1970 seminal feminist text that acts as a manifesto for women’s liberation.

The Rhythm of Raine at Dawn, by Aricka Alexander (Romance)

Author of Black sapphic romance Aricka Alexander is back with the first book in a planned duology, about a girl named Raine who posts a video of herself dancing to original choreography for a popular R&B artist’s latest song, changing her life.

Fire Sword & Sea, by Vanessa Riley (Historical Fiction)

Here is a queer and Black pirate novel based on the legend of Jacquotte Delahaye, a 17th century pirate. In this high seas saga set on the Caribbean Sea in 1675, Delahaye is the mixed-race daughter of a wealthy tavern owner. She dreams of a life of seafaring and snuggling and becomes a dockworker in Haiti by disguising herself as a man. She falls in love with a courtesan and is pulled into a life full of secrets, intrigue, and yes, swashbuckling.

Like in Love With You, by Emma R. Alban (Historical Romance)

A rivals-to-lovers Regency romance, this book follows Catherine Pine, a woman who relocates to Bath in 1817 and encounters her mother’s arch nemesis and her daughter. Catherine’s mother wants to enact revenge thanks to a decades old betrayal by having Catherine win over her enemy’s daughter’s suitor, Mr. Dean. The daughters, naturally, start falling for each other.

Greta Gets the Girl, by Melissa Marr (Romance)

For fans of forbidden romance tropes as well as romance stories set in the publishing world! My favorite detail from the description of this book is the existence of a dating app called Sappho’s Kiss Society.

The Queer Thing About Sin: Why the West Came to Hate Queer Love, by Harry Tanner (Nonfiction)

Harry Tanner traces and investigates the history of homophobia in the West.

The Book of Blood and Roses, by Annie Summerlee (Fantasy)

A vampire hunter goes undercover at a university and falls in love with her roommate…who is a vampire, of course.

You’ll Never Forget Me, by Isha Raya (Mystery)

A struggling actress named Dimple Kapoor gets away with accidentally killing her Hollywood rival Irene Singh, but then things get complicated when Irene’s parents hire hotshot PI Saffi Mirai Iyer, who engages in a cat-and-mouse pursuit of Dimple.

Genderqueer Menopause, by Lasara Firefox Allen (Nonfiction)

This book promises a gender-affirming and expansive guide to navigating menopause.

Worst-Case Scenario, by Ray Stoeve(YA Romance)

Queer YA author Ray Stoeve is back with an enemies-to-lovers romance about two teens who tie in the election for their school’s Queer Alliance presidency and are therefore forced to share the title. It sounds delightfully nerdy.

Our Ex’s Wedding, by Taleen Voskuni (Romance)

In this romantic comedy, two people who hate each other —Armenian wedding planner Ani Avakian and winery heir Raffi Garabedian —must come together to plan their mutual ex’s wedding.

The Iridescents: Stories by Emrys Donaldson (Short Stories)

Set across the American South, this short fiction collection looks at how the queer and trans community create and embody magic in the everyday acts of survival and connection. You’ll find trans, genderqueer, and all flavors of gay in these pages. There’s a speculative, fabulist bend to the stories, and strange, surreal queer short stories are extremely up my alley.

A Wild Radiance, by Maria Ingrande Mora (YA Fantasy)

This romantasy tale is full of magic, platonic queer relationships, polyamory, anti-capitalism, and a fantasy road trip.

Not Your Founding Father: How a Nonbinary Minister Became America’s Most Radical Revolutionary, by Nina Sankovitch (Nonfiction)

Here is the kind of history they probably didn’t teach you in school! If you’re interested in early colonial U.S. history and particularly the birth and growth of specific religious movements in the 18th century, check this one out.

A Black Queer History of the United States, by C. Riley Snorton & Darius Bost (Nonfiction)

This project examines and documents the lives of LGBTQ+ Black Americans from slavery to present day. Historical figures studied include Josephine Baker, Bayard Rustin, and more.

One Aladdin Two Lamps, by Jeanette Winterson (Hybrid)

Prolific and brilliant queer author Jeanette Winterson pens a feminist reimagining of One Thousand and One Nights that serves as memoir, manifesto, and folklore all at once.

Mine, Yours & Ours, by Karmen Lee (Romance)

One of our resident romance readers, Sai, loved Karmen Lee’s previous book The 7-10 Split. This new novel is a mafia tale with Black sapphic characters that promises revenge AND romance.

See You at the Summit by Jordyn Taylor (Romance)

This wintry romance is about a woman who comes out as bi and then reluctantly falls for a straight man.

Lost Girls of Hollow Lake, by Rebekah Faubion (YA Thriller)

Touted as having Yellowjackets vibes by the publisher, this thriller is about a group of teens who visit a dangerous island where three are left behind. The survivors eventually go back in order to face the sinister force haunting (and hunting) them.

Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar by Anahita Kartik (YA Romance)

Another queer South Asian romance! This road trip romance was blurbed by THE Meg Cabot?! Say no more. It’s about the titular Krishna Kumar, a certified bi disaster who spends the summer before college in India flirting with her beautiful neighbor but…not getting kissed. IS she about to be the only freshman who has never been kissed?! There’s also a cousin-nemesis in the story, and I think the romance genre should have more cousin-nemesis representation personally.

Love Makes Mochi, by Stefany Valentine (YA Romance)

A teen goth fashion designer heads to Tokyo where she meets a tattoo artist apprentice who changes her mind about love.

To Ride a Rising Storm, by Moniquill Blackgoose (Fantasy)

In this sequel to the beloved fantasy tale To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, we follow the young Indigenous woman protagonist and her dragon in their fight to save their homeland.

Fair Game: Trans Athletes and the Future of Sports, by Ellie Roscher & Dr. Anna Baeth (Nonfiction)

We should all be paying very close attention to the ways the “debate” about trans folks’ inclusion in sports continues to unfold, and you can start by reading the books that are coming out about it.

She Is Here, by Nicola Griffith (Hybrid)

Between new Jeanette Winterson and new Nicola Griffith, we’re getting fresh work from some of the greats in the queer literary canon this month! This new book contains essays, poems, art, and stories. Griffith can indeed do it all.

She Who Remains, by Rene Karabash, translated by Izidora Angel (Literary Fiction)

More queer literature in translation! Let’s go!!!! This Bulgarian queer novel is set in a rural Albanian village and tells a stream of consciousness tale of a woman running up against patriarchal violence, denied what she desires most.

The Big M: 13 Writers Take Back the Sort of Menopause, edited by Lidia Yuknavitch (Essays)

Contributors to this work of narrative health/medicine writing include Roxane Gay, Joey Soloway, and more. It tackles “themes of freedom and mortality, sexuality and the patriarchy.”