March is a weird month. It’s not quite winter, and it’s not quite spring. It’s a little bit of both. It always feels to me like it goes on forever, and it’s easy to get lost in it. The excitement of the new year has worn off, but the sense of newness and possibility that comes with spring hasn’t yet arrived. Often, after two months of great reading in January and February, I find myself at a loss in March, feeling stuck back in the grind, unsure what to read next.
Happily, it doesn’t have to be that way! For starters, there are some incredible queer books coming out this March that are sure to brighten the month up. It’s also Women’s History Month, which is a great excuse to take a deep dive into queer women’s history. And guess what else? March’s drab, unassuming nature doesn’t have to be bleak and boring. Let’s treat it as an invitation to read exciting, unusual, get-me-out-of-here books instead!
This month’s curated queer TBR is full of books that are bright and colorful, strange and enchanting. Suffering from cabin fever? Pick up a road trip romance! Tired of winter? Escape with a space opera! Feeling stuck? I have a speculative novel that will shake you up in the best way possible. With all these amazing queer books, I promise that March doesn’t have to feel like a long slog through the mud.
Get Excited About New Releases
Brother & Sister Enter the Forest by Richard Mirabella (March 14)
This haunting debut is a beautiful but unflinching look at trauma, the lingering effects of injury, and complicated sibling relationships. It unfolds in two timelines. In the past, teenage Justin sets off on a road trip with his first boyfriend that turns into a nightmare. In the present, Justin arrives at his sister’s house desperate to repair their fractured relationship — and find himself again after experiencing devastating violence.
Flux by Jinwoo Chong (March 21)
Fans of Weird Queer and genre-blending speculative fiction, you’ll want to take note of this one! It follows the intersecting lives of three characters, of three different ages, as they each deal with increasingly strange situations. Chong explores Asian American identity, capitalism and commodification, time travel, the role of technology and pop culture in our lives, and a whole lot more.
Chlorine by Jade Song (March 28)
A dark sapphic coming-of-age novel with mermaids? Sign me up. The story follows Ren Yu, a Chinese American teenager who pours everything into her one passion: swimming. She’s determined to become the best swimmer there is and build a good life for herself. So she draws on stories of eerie sea monsters and mysterious ocean creatures for inspiration. It’s a novel about transformation, queer desire, womanhood, monstrosity, and familial lineage.
Celebrate Women’s History Month
A Life in Trans Activism by A. Revathi with Nandini Murali
Women’s history is trans history, so what better way to celebrate Women’s History month than with a memoir about trans activism? In this memoir, Indian trans activist A. Revathi shares personal stories about her life and insights into her many years working for trans rights, both as the director of a large NGO and independently. Recent history is just as important as older history, and this book shines a light on trans lives and communities in India.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Nonfiction isn’t the only way to learn about history! If you’re more of a historical fiction person, this YA novel is the perfect pick for women’s history month. Set in San Francisco in the 1950s, it’s a coming-of-age story about Lily, a Chinese American teenager trying to figure out who she is in a world that’s pulling her in a hundred different directions. There’s so much history here about women in STEM, queer clubs and drag shows, lesbian pulp novels, San Francisco’s Chinatown, racist immigration laws, McCarthyism, and more. Plus, it’s a gorgeous love story!
Wish Janet Mock a Happy Birthday
Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
Janet Mock’s birthday is on March 10 (happy birthday, Janet!), and if you haven’t read her memoir yet, it is time to change that. She writes with humor, compassion, vulnerability, and fiery passion about her life as a trans woman, growing up in Hawaii, activism, sex work, becoming a writer, self-love, and so much more. And if you’re already read this one, don’t worry — you can pick up her equally wonderful second memoir, Surpassing Certainty.
There Are Trans People Here by H. Melt
The transphobia in the U.S. right now is terrifying and devastating and fills me with incandescent rage and heartbreak. And while it’s always a good time to read about trans joy, it feels especially important to read about it right now — and then for all of us to get loud about it. This poetry collection is a celebration of trans ancestors and trans people today. It’s a love song to trans resistance and trans brilliance, and a playful, joyful, fierce imagining of what an abundant and creative trans future might look like.
Fight Off Cabin Fever with a Virtual Trip…
Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly
I can’t think of a better escape from the March doldrums than a romance novel about a very long trip! If you’re feeling stuck in your house and you’d rather be anywhere else, hop on the Pacific Crest Trail with Alexi and Ben as they hike across glaciers and through a desert, encounter all sorts of wildlife, listen to bird songs, and, oh yeah, fall in love! This is a beautiful, vivid, heartwarming story about two men who are both running from past pain and heartache, and the gentle way they help each other find their way back to themselves.
…a Space Adventure…
Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden
Maybe you live in California, or the Pacific Crest Trail just isn’t far enough away, or you’re not into romance. If you’re looking for a book that will truly jettison you out of orbit, this is the one for you. It’s set in a future in where humanity has abandoned earth, and now live inside giant space beasts that they use as ships. Yes, you read that right: they live inside giant living creatures! This book gets weird, but it’s not just weird: there’s political intrigue, a sapphic romance, family secrets, a fascinating matrilineal society, and…did I mention the giant space beasts?
…or a Totally Wild Speculative Novel!
My Volcano by John Elizabeth Stintzi
If the month of March — in-between winter and spring, a little bit boring, feels like it lasts forever — had an opposite in book form, it would be this book. This book is wild. It begins when a volcano suddenly appears in Central Park, and it only gets stranger from there. It unfolds in a dizzying array of short chapters, following characters on every continent as the world around them becomes more and more unhinged. There’s time travel, shape-shifting, weird bees, ancient mythology, and more. It’s a revelatory and surprisingly moving novel about living through impossible times.
If you enjoy these monthly curated queer TBR lists, check out February’s — there’s no rule saying you can’t read any of those books in March, too!