LibraryAware june 2025

What's New in 2025

Marsha : the joy and defiance of Marsha P. Johnson
by Tourmaline

A Black trans luminary brings to life the first definitive biography of one of the most important and remarkable figures in LGBTQ+ history, revealing her story, her impact, and her legacy. Illustrations.

I think they love you
by Julian Winters

Denz Carter, vying for his father's CEO position, recruits his ex, Braylon, as a fake boyfriend to impress his family, only to find old feelings rekindling as business and matters of the heart collide. Original. 75,000 first printing.

So many stars : an oral history of trans, nonbinary, genderqueer, and two-spirit people of color
by Caro De Robertis

"So Many Stars knits together the voices of trans, nonbinary, genderqueer, and two-spirit elders of colour as they share authentic, intimate accounts of how they created space for themselves and their communities in the world. This singular project collects the testimonies of twenty elders, each a glimmering thread in a luminous tapestry, preserving their words for future generations--who can more fully exist in the world today because of these very trailblazers. De Robertis creates a collective coming-of-age story based on hundreds of hours of interviews, offering rare snapshots of ordinary life: kids growing up, navigating family issues and finding community, coming out and changing how they identify over the years, building movements and weathering the AIDS crisis, and sharing wisdom for future generations. Often narrating experiences that took place before they had the array of language that exists today to self-identify beyond the gender binary, this generation lived through remarkable changes in American culture, shaped American culture, and yet rarely takes center stage in the history books. Their stories feel particularly urgent in the current political moment, but also remind readers that their experiences are not new, and that young trans and nonbinary people today belong to a long lineage"

Bury our bones in the midnight soil
by Victoria Schwab

From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue comes a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

Disco witches of Fire Island : a novel
by Blair Fell

"It's 1989, and Joe Agabian and his best friend Ronnie set out to spend their first summer working in the hedonistic gay paradise of Fire Island Pines. Joe is desperate to let loose and finally move beyond the heartbreak of having lost his boyfriend to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The two friends are quickly taken in by a pair of quirky, older house cleaners. But something seems off, and Joe starts to suspect the two older men of being up to something otherworldly. In truth, Howie and Lenny are members of a secret disco witch coven tasked with protecting the island--and young men like Joe--from the relentless tragedies ravaging their community. The only problem is, having lost too many of their fellow witches to the epidemic, the coven's protective powers havebeen seriously damaged. Unaware of all the mystical shenanigans going on, Joe starts to fall for the super-cute bisexual ferryman who just happens to have webbed feet and an unusual ability to hold his breath underwater. But Joe's longing to find love istripped up by his own troublesome past as well as the lure of a mysterious hunk he keeps seeing around the island--a man Howie and Lenny warn may be a harbinger of impending doom. The Disco Witches need to find help--fast--if they're to save Joe and the island from the Great Darkness. But how? Fans of spicy queer romances with a dash of fantasy will fall in love with this stunning novel of community, love, sex, magic, and hope in desperate times"

The Loves of My Life : A Sex Memoir
by Edmund White

In this candid memoir, the 85-year-old“paterfamilias of queer literature” revisits over six decades of diverse sexual experiences—from his closeted youth in 1950s Midwest through the Stonewall and HIV crises to modern app-based connections—capturing a deeply personal and historical chronicle of evolving queer identity, relationships, and societal change.

Stag dance : a novel & stories
by Torrey Peters

This collection of one novel and three novellas explores community, desire and the complexities of gender through stories of lumberjacks navigating identity in Stag Dance, a gender apocalypse in Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones, boarding school intrigue in The Chaser and dark choices on the Vegas strip in The Masker.

Homegrown magic
by Jamie Pacton

Fleeing a stifling future, wealthy heir Yael Clauneck seeks adventure and finds unexpected refuge with childhood friend Margot Greenwillow, a struggling plant witch, as their rekindled bond blooms into love that is threatened by meddling families. Original.

The emperor of gladness : a novel
by Ocean Vuong

In the struggling town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai is saved from despair by Grazina, an elderly widow with dementia, forging an unexpected bond that reshapes their lives and reveals dynamics of love, memory, and resilience on the margins of society.

The dry season : a memoir of pleasure in a year without sex
by Melissa Febos

"A wise and transformative look at relationships and self-knowledge In the wake of a disastrous two-year relationship, Melissa Febos decided to take a break--for three months she would abstain from dating, from relationships, even from casual sex. Her friends were amused. Did she really think three months was a long time? But to Febos, it was. Ever since her teens, she had been in one relationship or another. As she puts it, she could trace a "daisy chain of romances" from then to now, in her mid-thirties. It was time to focus on herself and examine the lifelong patterns that had produced her midlife disaster. When those three months ended, she feared relapsing into old habits and decided to extend her celibate period. She knew she was taking on a challenge, but had no idea that this year would become the most fulfilling and sensual of her life. No longer defined by her romantic pursuits, she learned to relish the delights of solitude, the thrill of living on her own terms, the sensual pleasures unmediated by lovers, and the freedom to pursue her ideals without distraction or guilt. Bringing her own celibate experiences into conversation with those of women throughout history--from Hildegard von Bingen to the radical feminist group Cell 16--Febos explores how women's decisions to forego sexual intimacy with others (and particularly with men) became a route to freedoms that would otherwise have been inaccessible. The Dry Season is a memoir of celibacy, but it is ultimately a profound exploration of independence, sexuality, and deep self-knowledge. By abstaining from all forms of romantic entanglement, Febos began to see her life and her self-worth in a radical new way. Her year of divestment transformed her relationships with friends and peers, her spirituality, her creative practice, and most of all her relationship to herself"

Kiss me, maybe
by Gabriella Gamez

"Librarian Angela Gutierrez has never been kissed. But after posting a video about her late bloomer status and ace identity, she's finally ready to get some firsts out of the way. Using her new influencer status to come up with a scavenger hunt idea in which the winner earns her first kiss, Angela realizes she may need some help to pull off the event. Enter Krystal Ramirez, hot bartender and Angela's unrequited crush of five years. Despite vowing that romantic love isn't for her, Krystal seems awfully determined to help Angela pull off the scavenger hunt and find true love. There's just one problem: the connection between Angela and Krystal is getting stronger and stronger the more they hang out, until Angela isn't sure she wants to go through with the scavenger hunt after all. But Krystal is convinced that she isn't capable of love and before long, Angela realizes she's falling head over heels for a woman who may never love her back"