A few LGBTQIA characters come out to the world this May. From well-known guncles to witches, these characters bring different perspectives on what it is like to be queer in the worlds created by these authors.
If you have read the books in our LGBTQIA picks for April, we have 8 new titles to add to your TBR list. Melissa Mogollon, Johanna van Veen, and S.T. Gibson are among the authors we highlight this month.
In order of release date, here are 8 LGBTQIA books we are looking forward to reading this May:
1. You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian – May 7
If the theme of a grumpy character falling in love with the sunshine character is your cup of tea, You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian is the book for you. The story follows the mid-century love story between a baseball player stuck in a batting slump and the reporter who is supposed to cover his first season.
Things get complicated when the two start falling in love. On one hand, as an athlete, Eddie is afraid to come out. On the other hand, Mark has promised never to be anyone’s secret again.
Book Description: An emotional, slow-burn, grumpy/sunshine, queer mid-century romance for fans of Evvie Drake Starts Over, about grief and found family, between the new star shortstop stuck in a batting slump and the reporter assigned to (reluctantly) cover his first season—set in the same universe as We Could Be So Good.
The 1960 baseball season is shaping up to be the worst year of Eddie O’Leary’s life. He can’t manage to hit the ball, his new teammates hate him, he’s living out of a suitcase, and he’s homesick. When the team’s owner orders him to give a bunch of interviews to some snobby reporter, he’s ready to call it quits. He can barely manage to behave himself for the length of a game, let alone an entire season. But he’s already on thin ice, so he has no choice but to agree.
Mark Bailey is not a sports reporter. He writes for the arts page, and these days he’s barely even managing to do that much. He’s had a rough year and just wants to be left alone in his too-empty apartment, mourning a partner he’d never been able to be public about. The last thing he needs is to spend a season writing about New York’s obnoxious new shortstop in a stunt to get the struggling newspaper more readers.Isolated together within the crush of an anonymous city, these two lonely souls orbit each other as they slowly give in to the inevitable gravity of their attraction. But Mark has vowed that he’ll never be someone’s secret ever again, and Eddie can’t be out as a professional athlete. It’s just them against the world, and they’ll both have to decide if that’s enough.
2. All Fours by Miranda July – May 14
Life as a woman in her forties can be complicated, and that is exactly what Miranda July portrays in her new book All Fours. The story follows an artist as she decides to drive across the country from LA to New York, leaving her husband and child at home.
However, things take a different turn when she takes an exit during her drive and finds herself on a different journey. The woman now dives into the reinvention of her sexual, romantic, and domestic lives.
Book Description: The New York Times–bestselling author of The First Bad Man returns with an irreverently sexy, tender, hilarious, and surprising novel about a woman upending her life.
A semifamous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to New York. Twenty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey.
Miranda July’s second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July’s wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman’s quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.
3. Oye by Melissa Mogollon – May 14
As you follow Luciana’s story, Oye will feel like the most intriguing, emotional, and entertaining conversation you have ever eavesdropped on. Her Abue refuses to evacuate her residence for the hurricane while simultaneously dealing with a new medical diagnosis.
That is when Luciana and her Abue are forced to share a bedroom. In this space, Luciana becomes Abue’s caretaker as she discovers family secrets and balances her time between sneaking out and meeting with other girls.
Book Description: A young woman reckons with her rowdy, unpredictable family and the revelation of their long-buried history in this wildly inventive debut.
“Yes, hi, Mari. It’s me. I’m over my tantrum and finally calling you back. But you have to promise that you won’t say anything to Mom or Abue about this, okay? They’ll set the house on fire if they find out…”
Luciana is the baby of her large Colombian American family. And despite usually being relegated to the sidelines, she now finds herself the voice of reason in the middle of their unexpected crisis. Her older sister, Mari, is away at college and reduced to a mere listening ear on the other end of their many phone calls, so when South Florida residents are ordered to evacuate before a hurricane, it’s up to Luciana to deal with her eccentric grandmother, Abue, who’s refusing to leave. But the storm isn’t the only danger. Abue, normally glamorous and full of life, is given a crushing medical diagnosis. While she’d prefer to ignore it and focus on upholding her reputation and her looks instead, the news sets Abue on her own personal journey, with Luciana reluctantly along for the ride.
When Abue moves into Luciana’s bedroom, their complicated bond only intensifies. Luciana would rather be skating or sneaking out to meet girls, but Abue’s wild demands and unpredictable antics are a welcome distraction from Luciana’s misguided mother, absent sister, and uncertain future. Forced to step into the role of caretaker, translator, and keeper of the devastating secrets that Abue begins to share, Luciana suddenly finds herself center stage, facing down adulthood—and rising to the occasion.
As Luciana chronicles the events of her upended senior year over the phone, Oye feels like the most entertaining conversation you’ve ever eavesdropped a rollicking, heartfelt, and utterly unique novel by an author as original as she is insightful.
4. Thirsty by Jas Hammonds – May 14
Thirsty follows Blake Brenner as she deals with her drinking habits. On the one hand, drinking and partying help her be bold and funny, leading the Serena Society (a sorority she wants to join) to like her more.
On the other hand, drinking is getting out of control and affecting other areas of her life. Blake must decide what her priorities are and what she is going to do to achieve success.
Book Description: It’s the summer before college and eighteen-year-old Blake Brenner and her girlfriend, Ella, have one goal: join the mysterious and exclusive Serena Society. The sorority promises status and lifelong connections to a network of powerful, trailblazing women of color. Ella’s acceptance is a sure thing—she’s the daughter of a Serena alum. Blake, however, has a lot more to prove.
As a former loner from a working-class background, Blake lacks Ella’s pedigree and confidence. Luckily, she finds courage at the bottom of a liquor bottle. When she drinks, she’s bold, funny, and unstoppable—and the Serenas love it. But as pledging intensifies, so does Blake’s drinking, until it’s seeping into every corner of her life. Ella assures Blake that she’s fine; partying hard is what it takes to make the cut.
But success has never felt so much like drowning. With her future hanging in the balance and her past dragging her down, Blake must decide how far she’s willing to go to achieve her glittering dreams of success—and how much of herself she’s willing to lose in the process.
5. My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen – May 14
Roos Beckman has spent her entire life among séances organized by her mother and followed by a spirit companion only she can see. Her life changes when widow Agnes Knoop invites her to live with her in her dead husband’s manor.
Shortly after, someone turns up dead, and all eyes turn to Roos. Now, Doctor Montague must determine whether Roos created the idea of a spirit to cover for what she did or if everything she is saying is real and she is innocent.
Book Description: Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth—strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries—is the only good thing in Roos’ life, which is filled with sordid backroom séances organized by her mother. That is, until wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop attends one of these séances and asks Roos to come live with her at the crumbling estate she inherited upon the death of her husband. The manor is unsettling, but the attraction between Roos and Agnes is palpable. So how does someone end up dead?
Roos is caught red-handed, but she claims a spirit is the culprit. Doctor Montague, a psychologist tasked with finding out whether Roos can be considered mentally fit to stand trial, suspects she’s created an elaborate fantasy to protect her from what really happened. But Roos knows spirits are real; she’s loved one of them. She’ll have to prove her innocence and her sanity, or lose everything.
6. The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields – May 14
Marigold Claude was taken to the Isle of Innisfree by her grandmother to train and become the next Honey Witch. The cost? No one can fall in love with the Honey Witch. Things change, however, when Lottie Burke shows up on the island, claiming not to believe in magic.
Marigold does everything in her power to prove the other woman wrong but soon finds herself caring for Lottie in ways she never imagined. That is when darker magic awakens, and Marigold must fight to protect her magic and her heart.
Book Description: The Honey Witch of Innisfree can never find true love. That is her curse to bear. But when a young woman who doesn’t believe in magic arrives on her island, sparks fly in this deliciously sweet debut novel of magic, hope, and love overcoming all.
Twenty-one-year-old Marigold Claude has always preferred the company of the spirits of the meadow to any of the suitors who’ve tried to woo her. So when her grandmother whisks her away to the family cottage on the tiny Isle of Innisfree with an offer to train her as the next Honey Witch, she accepts immediately. But her newfound magic and independence come with a No one can fall in love with the Honey Witch.
When Lottie Burke, a notoriously grumpy skeptic who doesn’t believe in magic, shows up on her doorstep, Marigold can’t resist the challenge to prove to her that magic is real. But soon, Marigold begins to care for Lottie in ways she never expected. And when darker magic awakens and threatens to destroy her home, she must fight for much more than her new home—at the risk of losing her magic and her heart.
7. The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley – May 21
In the sequel to The Guncle, Patrick is thriving professionally. His acting career has taken off, but he finds himself single and lonely. That is why he takes advantage of his brother’s wedding to join his niece and nephew and once again become their favorite relative.
Nothing is as he expected as he finds the wedding full of family chaos. He begins butting heads with the family’s Launt and must keep his sister from flirting with every guest. Can Patrick truly save the day?
Book Description: From the nationally bestselling author of The Guncle comes the much-anticipated sequel, in which Patrick O’Hara is called back to his guncle duties…at a big, family wedding in Lake Como, Italy.
Patrick O’Hara is finally in a league of his own…professionally. Inspired by his stint as Grant and Maisie’s caretaker after their mother’s passing, Patrick has “un-stalled” his acting career with sit-com, Guncle Knows Best. Still, some things have had to take a back seat. Looking down both barrels at fifty, Patrick is single and lonely after breaking things off with Emory. But at least he has family, right?
When his brother Greg announces his big, second wedding in Lake Como, Italy, Patrick feels pulled toward Grant and Maisie and flies to Europe to attend the lavish event, only to butt heads with a newfound Launt (Lesbian Aunt), curb his sister Clara from flirting with guests, and desperately restore himself to the favored relative status in the eyes of the kids, as they struggle to adjust to a new normal. But is it Patrick’s job to save the day? Or is simply celebrating love enough to quell the family chaos?
Gracing the page with his signature blend of humor and heart, Steven Rowley delivers the long-awaited sequel to a beloved story, all about the complicated bonds of family, love, and what it takes to rediscover yourself, even at the ripe age of fifty.
8. Evocation by S.T. Gibson – May 28
David Aristarkhov grew up always hiding in the shadow of his oppressive father. After his father’s death, he created a life for himself as a Boston attorney with a side life as the medium of a secret society.
Now, closer to his thirtieth birthday, the Devil has come to collect an ancestral debt. In order to escape death, David must out to his ex-boyfriend and member of a rival society, Rhys, but to do so he must connect with his wife Moira.
Book Description: The Devil knows your name, David Aristarkhov.
As a teen, David Aristarkhov was a psychic prodigy, operating under the shadow of his oppressive occultist father. Now, years after his father’s death and rapidly approaching his thirtieth birthday, he is content with the high-powered life he’s curated as a Boston attorney, moonlighting as a powerful medium for his secret society.
But with power comes a price, and the Devil has come to collect on an ancestral deal. David’s days are numbered, and death looms at his door.
Reluctantly, he reaches out to the only person he’s ever trusted, his ex-boyfriend and secret Society rival Rhys, for help. However, the only way to get to Rhys is through his wife, Moira. Thrust into each other’s care, emotions once buried deep resurface, and the trio race to figure out their feelings for one another before the Devil steals David away for good…
The first book in a spellbinding and vibrant new series from The Sunday Times bestselling author of A Dowry of Blood.
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What will you be reading in May? Share your picks in the comments below!
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Lara Rosales
By day, Lara Rosales (she/her) is a solo mom by choice and a bilingual writer with a BA in Latin-American Literature who works in PR. By night, she is a TV enjoyer who used to host a podcast (Cats, Milfs & Lesbian Things). You can find her work published on Tell-Tale TV, Geek Girl Authority, Collider, USA Wire, Mentors Collective, Instelite, Noodle, Dear Movies, Nicki Swift, and Flip Screened.
