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2SLGBTQI+ Topic April 2026 |
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A Good Person
by Kirsten King
A Most Anticipated Book of 2026 Goodreads - Forbes - The Millions - CrimeReads - Bookstr King's debut, with its deeply unreliable narrator and zigzagging plot, evokes a zillennial Gone Girl. --New York Times Book Review If Ottessa Moshfegh dabbled in murder. --Seattle Times An electric binge-of-a-debut about an antihero who seeks revenge on her ex-situationship with a hex, only for him to actually, literally die. Lillian and Henry have been enjoying each other's company, particularly in bed. Even though Lillian's best (and only) friend calls it a situationship, Lillian knows better. And she has a plan to lock Henry down. She'll be the best, most accommodating version of herself until he falls in love with her. But when Henry blindsides Lillian with a breakup instead of a love declaration, Lillian is left with no choice but to exact revenge with a hex. Lillian expects Henry to grovel and come crawling back to her. What she doesn't anticipate is becoming a prime suspect in his murder case when he's found dead. Desperate to control the narrative, clear her name, and assume her rightful place as Henry's mourning girlfriend, Lillian's pursuit of the truth will throw her into a dangerous tailspin, which may just upend her life for good. A deliciously addictive novel that explores our darkest, most human impulses, A Good Person heralds Kirsten King as a striking new voice in fiction.
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The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne
by Summer N. England
Love grows in the most unimaginable of places in Summer N. England's sweet and spicy cozy romantasy debut, for fans of The Spellshop and For Whom the Belle Tolls Most stories end with a happily ever after. But mine? Well, it begins with one ... After a lonely childhood, Clara Thorne is living out her happy ending as the magically gifted gardener for the town of Moss. Sure, her closest companion is a surly hedgehog, and she's forever stuck on the first line of her novel, but she has a home. That is, until The Goddess chooses Clara for an important quest--travel to the cursed town of Dwindle and grow them a garden. In less than a month. Only Clara's hiding a terrible secret: her magic doesn't work outside Moss. Worse, The Goddess has assigned the absurdly sexy, annoyingly cheerful Hesper Altanfall to keep her safe. Clara would rather eat thorns than accept help--especially since Hesper insists that Clara's magic is bound to her heart, not her home. Nevertheless, the two can't help growing closer as they traverse enchanted woods and share tavern beds. But with an ancient evil threatening from the shadows, saving Dwindle will require more than enchanted crops. Clara will need to unearth a magic she's always believed impossible.
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Afternoon Hours of a Hermit
by Patrick Cottrell
A darkly funny and profoundly moving new novel by award-winning author Patrick Cottrell.And who did I think I was, trying to teach the troubled youth how to write?...I would say I was Dan Moran, a Korean adoptee, single, approaching forty, once plain-in-appearance as a woman, now ugly as a man, that's who or what I thought I was. Most importantly, I was no longer useless, I was a writer.Five years after the death of his youngest brother, Dan Moran is now the published trans author of the autofictional novel Sorry to Disrupt the Peace. He is teaching fiction in Brooklyn and working on his next book-a psychological thriller-when a mysterious envelope arrives for him in the mail. Addressed to the wrong name, it includes a childhood photo of his deceased brother. But who would send such a thing, and why?Against his better judgment, Dan returns to his childhood home on the eve of his brother's memorial dinner. His estranged family is surprised to see him, but he ignores them. He drives around in his brother's Honda Accord, believing he is a detective. He searches for a constellation of unidentified women who may have been involved with his brother, all while being mistaken for another man. He hopes his investigation will reveal exactly who he was to his brother, but in a series of unsettling and destabilizing encounters, what he discovers is the irrevocable distance between who we are and how we are perceived.Afternoon Hours of a Hermit is Patrick Cottrell's long-awaited second novel--an existential noir, an absurd comedy, a complex character study, and a heartbreaking inquiry into the paradox of identity, memory, and the very enterprise of writing fiction.
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Evil Genius
by Claire Oshetsky
A Recommended Read from: Alta * Bustle * Electric Literature * Forbes * LitHub * Los Angeles Times * Kirkus * New York Times * People * Vulture An exuberant, brutally hilarious novel about a young woman's insatiable quest to carve her own path--even if she needs to step over a few dead bodies along the wayIt's 1974 and San Francisco is full of mystery and menace. Nineteen-year-old Celia Dent keeps telling herself how lucky she is to be working at the phone company and to be married to her Drew, a man who says he loves her. Celia's contentment with her little life is shattered, though, when a woman she knows from work is murdered in a love tryst gone awry. What would that be like, Celia wonders, to die for love--or to kill for love? What would it be like to live each moment passionately and with full awareness that each breath is bringing her closer to her last?Before Celia knows it, her musings about love-and-death happenings are bleeding into daily life. Suddenly she's playing hooky from work and searching for a love tryst of her very own. She's practicing her marksmanship at a local gun range and thinking about how good it would feel to bury something sharp inside her domineering husband's ear. It's all pretend, though, until the night comes when Celia finally goes too far, and she and Drew are set on a deadly collision course.Exhilarating, surreal, and bitingly clever, Evil Genius is a comic noir exploring obsession and desire--and what happens when a sweetly seditious young woman dares to imagine a better life.
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Homebound
by Portia Elan
Five interlocking lives. One beloved story. A dazzling adventure across centuries and continents in search of the things that hold us together. A joy--at once a gripping mystery that confidently spans centuries, and a hauntingly beautiful exploration of what makes us human...It kept me up all night --Madeline Miller, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Circe and Song of Achilles It's 1983 and Becks can't wait to get the hell out of Cincinnati. She's nineteen, blasting her Walkman, and hiding from the fact that her beloved uncle, the only person who understood her, is dead. But she has work to do: he left her a half-finished game to complete--one last collaboration to find her way out of loneliness. Little does she know, what Becks is making will echo far into the future and shape the lives of a scientist, a sentient automaton, and a flinty sea captain in ways she cannot imagine. All are bound together by their search for connection--and by a futuristic traveler on a mysterious mission through space. A novel about our deep interconnectedness, Homebound is a clear-eyed, hopeful adventure into humanity's future and capacity for love.
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Temporary Palaces
by Jeff Miller
A plainspoken, punk-rock hymn ... This is a book that will pick you up off the floor of a mosh pit and wrap you in its arms. --Sean Michaels In the fevered summer of 2001, charismatic activist Rob and his collective set up a squat in an abandoned house. His bandmate and lover, Ben, watches anxiously as his own plans are threatened by Rob's choice of radical politics over music. Meanwhile, photographer Alex finds herself torn between documenting the chaos of the scene and saving the friendship that binds them together. When the police break up the squat, Rob vanishes, and the dream dies. Ten years later, Alex and Ben find each other again--she's conquering Montreal's contemporary art world, he's running a thriving restaurant in Ottawa. But their success feels hollow. As they excavate their shared past, they must confront the ghost of Rob's disappearance and the trauma that pushed them apart. Pulsing with the raw energy of basement punk shows and DIY creativity, late-night manifestos and first heartbreaks, Temporary Palaces is a blazing debut that captures a generation caught between idealism and survival, art and activism, the dreams that define us and the compromises that save us.
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A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home: Housekeeping Hacks You Can't Live Without
by Melissa Dilkes Pateras
Melissa Dilkes Pateras is the most competent housekeeper/DIY-project master/home repair genius that you've ever been sexually attracted to. Once she followed her kids onto TikTok and began sharing her years of knowledge, she found a community eager for her approachable, often tongue-in-cheek advice on everything from caulking to why color-coded closets are a spiritual experience. She doesn't care about transforming our homes into a minimal, beige Instagram post. Melissa sees housekeeping as a form of anxiety relief, self-care, and self-esteem-building. She wants us to feel able to take care of our homes in a way that works for us-so we can relax and feel confident inviting others over; in short, to say, come on in--
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Genderqueer Menopause: Navigating Menopause for Trans, Gender-Nonconforming, Genderfluid, and Other Queer-Bodied Folx
by Lasara Firefox Allen
For readers of What Fresh Hell is This? and Next Level, a queer, gender-affirming guide to navigating menopause--find gender euphoria, learn how to advocate for your healthcare, and empower yourself Prompts, tools, and expert wisdom for living well through menopause and beyond The diverse menopause experiences of nonbinary, trans, and other queerbodied individuals have been overlooked--and actively invisibilized--for far too long. Genderqueer Menopause is an indisputable and empowering resource for those navigating symptoms and seeking gender-affirming care during the menopause transition. Author, menopause doula and coach, and genderqueer educator Lasara Firefox Allen, MSW, pushes back against the norms of mainstream menopause care, asserting that menopause should not--and will not--be suffered in silence. They help you: Gain tools to enhance your awareness of premenopausal, perimenopausal, menopausal, and postmenopausal lifeReframe negative beliefs and internalized biasPush back against heteronormative medical standards of careManage symptoms like brain fog, sleep problems, and genitourinary and menstrual changesHear from the voices of trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive peopleDemystify menopause and define your own experienceAllen's perspective centers the genderqueer experience and the community's needs from an affirming frame. Genderqueer Menopause challenges conventional narratives surrounding menopause and guides readers through this life transition using practical resources and exercises. Genderqueer Menopause is a powerful resource for gender expansive folx to empower themselves, find relief, and gain support. Menopause can be a time of both grief and celebration for many of those in the trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer communities. Use this book to ease the process and live well.
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