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I read about 70 queer books in 2024, and I found plenty of new favourites! I already shared with you the best 2024 queer books I read, but many of my top reads of the year were backlist. I picked up titles that got tons of buzz when they first came out and found out they lived up to the hype. I finally got around to books that had been languishing on my shelves for years—for better or worse. (Check out my least favourite queer books of 2024 for the “worse” side.)
This year, I fell in love with genres I’ve only dabbled in before. In terms of new releases, that was the romance genre. But in backlist, I realized just how great a fantasy book can be and finally admitted that despite being a scaredycat, I actually really enjoy horror books.
Here are my ten favourite queer books I read in 2024 that didn’t come out this year, from literary fiction to epic fantasy to swamp horror to history and more.
All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews
This was a book club pick, and I think I would have DNFed it otherwise. Sneha is a difficult main character to read about at the beginning of the book: she’s a queer woman of colour with a lot of internalized racism and homophobia that she projects onto other people. I’m glad I stuck with it, though, because it ended up being one of my most memorable reads of the year. I enjoyed seeing the journey Sneha goes on to accept herself, and the messy found family dynamic is compelling.
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
This sapphic fantasy trilogy is one I’ve only heard excellent things about, but I was intimidated by the idea of starting a new epic fantasy series—especially when the first volume is 500+ pages. Despite the length and the many characters’ points of view, I was completely absorbed by this story. Have you ever read a book so good it makes you angry? Like you want to just shove it at people and say, “Why aren’t you reading and talking about this??” That’s how I felt after finishing The Jasmine Throne. The characters and the world are so vivid; it really showed me what a fantasy novel can do.
Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne
Cozy fantasy is closer to my reading comfort zone, so I knew this one would be a new favourite. What really shone was the two main characters, Kianthe and Reyna, and their relationship to each other. They’re both flawed and three-dimensional, and I enjoyed seeing how they learn to live together and deepen their relationship. Also, I was always going to love a sapphic cozy fantasy about starting a bookshop/teashop.