I follow hundreds of queer book blogs and scour the news for mentions of queer books, so I’m here to share with you all the latest in queer book news, reviews, and interviews. This week, Tim Walz comments on book bans, Hayley Kiyoko announces a new book, and more.

Tim Walz Tells Off Republicans for Banning Books About Gay Penguins While Allowing School Shootings to Continue

A video of Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz at the national dinner for the Human Rights Campaign has gone viral. In it, he addresses the warped priorities of the Republican party, which is pushing to ban books like And Tango Makes Three — a picture book about two male penguins raising a chick together, based on real penguins — instead of addressing school shootings.

And Tango Makes Three remains one of the most frequently challenged books in the country, including being banned in Florida last year. This year, a school and library edition of the book was released with resources on how to deal with book challenges and bans.

In the video, Walz says,

“This is what these folks are focusing on, spending their time on, like reading about two male penguins who love each other is somehow going to turn your children gay.

Here’s what I tell you, it’s a fact of life, some people are gay. But you know what’s not a fact of life? That our children need to be shot dead in schools. That’s not a fact of life.”

This is a response to Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance’s statement about the school shooting in Winder, Georgia, where he said, in part: “I don’t like this. I don’t like to admit this. I don’t like that this is a fact of life.”

Hayley Kiyoko Is Writing a Second Book

Last year, singer Hayley Kiyoko (known to her fanbase as Lesbian Jesus) came out with her first book: Girls Like Girls, based on her groundbreaking song — and incredible music video — of the same name. Now, she’s announced on her Instagram that she’s writing a second book. No other information is available at this time.

Girls Like Girls was one of my most anticipated books of last year, because I love her music, but…I DNFed it. I really did not enjoy the writing style. I know lots of people loved it, though, so congrats to those readers on this news!

The Carmilla Series was a Historic Achievement in Lesbian Television — That Was Never on TV

The Carmilla web series, inspired by the 1872 lesbian vampire novel of the same name, debuted ten years ago! I appreciated this review of its impact and how ahead of its time it was. Sure, it looks a little dated now, and it was definitely low budget, but it was a great time with — as Paste puts it in this article — “endearing, scrappy charm.” I rewatched it last year and still loved it. I still definitely recommend watching it — and reading the original book, especially the edition Carmen Maria Machado edited.

Check Out These Queer Book Lists

Autostraddle put out their 72 Most Anticipated Queer Books Coming Out Fall 2024. Be prepared for your TBR list and preorders to grow, because we have some amazing queer books heading our way in every conceivable genre.

For National Translation Month, LGBTQ Reads has put together a big list of queer books recently translated into English, including The Night of Baba Yaga by Akiro Otani, translated from Japanese by Sam Bett; Walking Practice by Dolki Min, translated from Korean by Victoria Caudle; and Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk, translated from Spanish by Heather Cleary.

Sapphic book lovers, you might enjoy playing with the I Heart Sapphfic BookFinder, which has just added the option of searching thousands of sapphic books with multiple themes/tropes — say, cozy mystery + butch/femme + a high “spice” level. You can also look for certain kinds of representation. This is mostly F/F romance.

Recent LGBTQ Book Reviews and Interviews

And finally, here are some recent reviews of queer books you might be interested in learning more about. This includes a few Lesbrary reviews, which is my personal sapphic book blog.

Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde by Alexis Pauline Gumbs was reviewed at Autostraddle ( A New Biography Transforms Our Understanding of Audre Lorde and the Genre Itself) and The New York Times (A Celebratory Take on Audre Lorde’s Brave, Hard, Unconventional Life).

My Lesbian Novel by Renee Gladman was reviewed at Frieze: Renee Gladman Fulfills Literary and Romantic Desires in My Lesbian Novel .

I reviewed Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield, a time loop story about disabled Jewish lesbians, for the Lesbrary.

A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen was reviewed at the Lesbrary (A Sweet & Sizzling Summer Romance ) and Autostraddle ( A Swoony Sapphic Romance Between Two Foodies).

Autostraddle interviewed Margaret Killjoy about her new trans fantasy novel, The Sapling Cage, out on September 24.

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