This months queer book club theme is inspired by the "Short Story Collection" square on the bingo card.

This will be a short poll, 48 hours from the time of this post.

Both discussions will be posted on a Sunday this time (for my sanity).

May 24th - Halfway Discussion (Based on whichever story ends closest to the halfway mark).

May 31st - Final Discussion

Because this is once again a short turn around time (we will be posting polls for June later this month so it doesn't happen again) each discussion post will be divided into sections for each story. So if you can't read ALL the stories chose one story you'd like to focus on and discuss.

Mind the page count and the short turn around time to read.

I once again tried focus on a variety of themes, settings, and tones and variety of queer-rep.

I can't post polls so please upvote your favorite option in the comments below.

Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel - Julian K Jarboe

Pages: 204

In this debut collection of body-horror fairy tales and mid-apocalyptic Catholic cyberpunk, memory and myth, loss and age, these are the tools of storyteller Jarboe, a talent in the field of queer fabulism. Bodily autonomy and transformation, the importance of negative emotions, unhealthy relationships, and bad situations amidst the staggering and urgent question of how build and nurture meaning, love, and safety in a larger world/society that might not be "fixable." 

Add Magic to Taste - Assorted Authors

Pages: 306

For Add Magic to Taste, 20 authors have come together to produce all-new, original short stories uniting four of our absolute favorite themes: queer relationships, fluff, magic, and coffee shops! Our diverse writers have created an even more diverse collection of stories guaranteed to sweeten your coffee and warm your tart.

Gods of Want - K-Ming Chang

Pages: 224

In "Auntland," a steady stream of aunts adjust to American life by sneaking surreptitious kisses from women at temple, buying tubs of vanilla ice cream to prepare for citizenship tests, and hatching plans to name their daughter "Dog." In "The Chorus of Dead Cousins," ghost-cousins cross space, seas, and skies to haunt their live-cousin, wife to a storm-chaser. In “Xífù,” a mother-in-law tortures a wife in increasingly unsuccessful attempts to rid the house of her. In "Mariela," two girls explore one another's bodies for the first time in the belly of a plastic shark while in "Virginia Slims," a woman from a cigarette ad comes to life. And in "Resident Aliens," a former slaughterhouse serves as a residence to a series of widows, each harboring her own calamitous secrets. With each tale, K-Ming Chang gives us her own take on a surrealism that mixes myth and migration, corporeality and ghostliness, queerness and the quotidian. Stunningly told in her feminist fabulist style, these are uncanny stories peeling back greater questions of power and memory. 

Trans-Galactic Bike Ride - Edited by Lydia Rogue

Pages: 192

"What would the future look like if we weren't so hung up on putting people into boxes and instead empowered each other to reach for the stars? Take a ride with us as we explore a future where trans and nonbinary people are the heroes.

In worlds where bicycle rides bring luck, a minotaur needs a bicycle, and werewolves stalk the post-apocalyptic landscape, nobody has time to question gender. Whatever your identity you'll enjoy these stories that are both thought-provoking and fun adventures.

Featuring brand-new stories from Hugo, Nebula, and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Charlie Jane Anders, Ava Kelly, Juliet Kemp, Rafi Kleiman, Tucker Lieberman, Nathan Alling Long, Ether Nepenthes, and Nebula-nominated M. Darusha Wehm. Also featuring debut stories from Diana Lane and Marcus Woodman."

Mothman is my Boyfriend - McKayla Coyle

Pages: 192

Welcome to Cryptid Creek, a secret town full of undiscovered creatures, from yetis to lake monsters. Only very special humans can find their way here, but when they do stumble in, they can’t resist the allure of this cozy locale—or its fascinating citizens.

Join the humans of this inclusive fantasy community as they browse the bookshop with Mothman, hit the skate park with nightcrawlers, wander the botanical garden with the Jersey Devil, and go on other dream dates that offer new spins on classic romance tropes. Stories include:

• A friends-to-lovers slow burn with the Loveland Frog
• A fake dating scheme with a swamp monster
• A butch/femme hookup with Sasquatch
• A second-chance drama with the Michigan Dogman
• And more fun trysts with your favorite creatures!

If you loved Legends and Lattes and That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf, get ready to dust off your cryptozoology equipment and put on your cutest outfit—because monster lovers, misfits, and anyone who relates to cryptids will never want to leave this mountain town.

This is a short story collection so if you can't do EVERY story pick one or two to focus on.

Discussion Dates and Stories Covered Below

May 24th: The Marks of Aegis through Wake World

May 31st: Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel through The Thing In Us We Fear Just Wants Our Love

At first glance this month I thought maybe publishers were saving their new releases for Pride, but every source I checked had bunches more books! It's an especially good month for YA. Also, while it's not strictly queer, I wanted to share another relevant noteworthy release: Reactionary Worldbuilding: From Speculative Imagination to Political Practice. There's a new Murderbot too, but I couldn't confirm if there's anything queer in this one so it's not in the list. What are you most excited about?

P.S. starting next month (hopefully) this list will also be available as a free monthly newsletter if you'd rather get it in your inbox. Stay tuned.

Title	Author	Release Date	Publisher	Representation	Extra
Chai and Charmcraft	Lynn Strong	5/1/26	-	Achillean	Fantasy, romance, Middle Eastern
The Girl with a Thousand Faces	Sunyi Dean	5/5/26	Tor	Sapphic	Horror, historical fiction
A Long and Speaking Silence	Nghi Vo	5/5/26	Tor	Nonbinary	Novella
You Pierce My Soul	Jessica Mary Best	5/5/26	Quirk Books	Sapphic, lesbian	YA, scifi, dystopian
Body Count	Codie Crowley	5/5/26	Disney Hyperion	Sapphic, lesbian	YA, horror, thriller
The Cove	Claire Rose	5/5/26	Wednesday Books	Queer	YA, horror, thriller - unclear how speculative vs. just culty
As The World Falls Down	Jadzia Axelrod (writer), Rye Hickman (illustrator)	5/5/26	DC Comics	Queer	YA, graphic novel
That Which Feeds Us	Keala Kendall	5/5/26	Random House	Sapphic	YA, gothic, paranormal
The Wives of Herrick Hall	Julie Lew	5/5/26	Quill & Crow Publishing House	Sapphic, lesbian	Horror, gothic
Homebound	Portia Elan	5/5/26	Scribner	Queer	Scifi, historical fiction
Between Sun and Shadow	Laura Genn	5/5/26	Peachtree Teen	Sapphic, lesbian	YA, scifi Beauty & the Beast
Mothman Is My Boyfriend: Ten Tales of Cryptid Love and Lust	McKayla Cole, Wendy Stephens (illustrator)	5/5/26	Quirk Books	Queer	Fantasy, romance
The Forgetting Navigations	Marlee Jane Ward	5/6/26	Interstellar Flight Press	Sapphic	Scifi, novella
Ignore All Previous Instructions	Ada Hoffman	5/12/26	Tachyon	Queer, transmasc	Scifi, coming of age, autistic mc, transmasc love interest
All Hail Chaos	Sarah Rees Brennan	5/12/26	Orbit	Queer	IIRC in the first book the protagonist isn't queer, but there are sapphic and achillean POV characters
Sarah Gailey	Make Me Better	5/12/26	Tor		Horror, mystery, cults
Radiant Star	Ann Leckie	5/12/26	Orbit	Queer	Scifi, space opera
The Hanging Bones	Elle Tesch	5/12/26	Feiwel & Friends	Aro, ace	YA, gothic, science fantasy
The Saw Mouth	Cale Plett	5/12/26	Delacorte Press	Genderqueer	YA, horror, dystopia
Blighted	T.E. Lane	5/12/26	Bold Strokes Books	Sapphic	Fantasy
The Lost Book of Lancelot	John Glynn	5/12/26	Grand Central Publishing	Achillean	Fantasy, Arthurian
Andromeda	E.S. McLeod	5/14/26	Bantam	Sapphic, lesbian	Mythology retelling
Plastic, Prism, Void: Part One	Violet Allen	5/19/26	LittlePuss Press	Transfem, transmasc	Scifi
Villain	Natalie Zina Walschots	5/19/26	William Morrow	Queer	Science fantasy, superheroes
The House of Now and Then	Edward Underhill	5/19/26	Avon	Transmasc, achillean	Magical realism
Decomposition Book	Sara van Os	5/19/26	Hanover Square Press	Sapphic, lesbian	Horror, thriller
All Us Saints	Katherine Packert Burke	5/19/26	Bloomsbury	Transfem	Horror
A Star Cursed Heart	Annie Mare	5/19/26	Ace	Sapphic, lesbian	Fantasy, romance
The Fake Divination Offense	Sara Raasch	5/19/26	Bramble	Achillean	Romantasy
A Different Kind of Enemy	Lee Wind	5/19/26	Duet Books	Achillean	YA, scifi, dystopian
The Color of Time	Millie Abecassis	5/19/26	Shiraki Press	Sapphic, lesbian	Science fantasy
Canon	Paige Lewis	5/19/26	Viking	Sapphic, lesbian	Science fantasy
Being Aro	Madeline Dyer (Ed.), Rosiee Thor (Ed.)	5/26/26	Page Street	Aro	YA anthology with mix of contemporary, scifi, and fantasy
Bromantasy	Máire Roche	5/26/26	G.P. Putnam's Sons	Achillean	Romantasy, fun spredges
Bone of My Bone	Johanna van Veen	5/26/26	Poisoned Pen Press	Sapphic, lesbian	Horror, historical fiction
The Last Best Quest Ever	F.T. Lukens	5/26/26	Margaret K. McElderry Books	Nonbinary	YA, fantasy
Every Exquisite Thing	Laura Steven	5/26/26	Wednesday Books	Sapphic, lesbian	YA, dark academia, rerelease
We Could Be Anyone	Anna-Marie McLemore	5/26/26	Feiwel & Friends	Queer	YA, paranormal, historical fiction, scammers
Waiting on a Friend	Natalie Adler	5/26/26	Hogarth	Queer, lesbian	Historical fiction, paranormal
Velveteen vs. The Consequences of Her Actions	Seanan McGuire	5/31/26	Subterranean		Straight protagonist, but queer cast and subplots

Disclaimer: Representation is my best guess via ARC reviews, blurbs, and Goodreads. Sources and Goodreads tags might be inaccurate. If something is blank I couldn't find more specific info, so probably safe to assume queerness is not central to the story.

---

Sources:

• Autostraddle
• Lavender Books
• Locus Mag
• LGBTQ Reads
• Queer Lit
• Proud Geek
• Them
• Every Book a Doorway
• Netgalley, Tor, Orbit, Goodreads
• Book Riot If you are a Book Riot member they have a spreadsheet of over 400 queer releases coming in 2026.