Recs if you like Star Shipped...

We should all be reading queer, all year, but this list is full of upcoming queer books of all makes and models coming out in 2026. If you have a rec to add, just please keep in mind we’re looking for 2026 releases!

Every single Aardvark Book Club book pick since its inception. Updated monthly!

Hii, everyone ♡ I am a very big fan of the booktuber @caricanread so I thought I would make a list of all the books she has read this year! ✰

Exactly what it says! Done watching Heated Rivalry? Waiting for the rest of the Game Changers books to come in at the library? I've got you covered!

Also a good list if you're dipping your toe into thinking about romance as 'real' reading - these books will give you nuance, social justice, magic systems, empowerment, and all of them will give you supportive queer love and nice warm feels. Not all sports, though there's many of those in here. Welcome to reading romance, friends!

this is an ongoing list of lgbtqiap+ books (across all genres, and age groups) that are planned to be released in 2026. if you’re an arc reader, you can also check whether any of them are available as arcs!! feel free to suggest books to add, since I’ll work on this list over time as well 🥰

last books added in: january!

M/M hurt/comfort books - ones I’ve read plus ones recommended to me in the r/MM_RomanceBooks subreddit. Most of these have pretty intense hurt because that’s my jam

Romance books featuring meaningful mental health and neurodivergent representation, including anxiety, depression, ADHD, autism, and more. Because every kind of mind deserves butterflies and a happily ever after.

The title speaks for itself 🤝

links for the full year in the comments

Will be updated as the year goes on ✨ open to comments ✨

fiction books with disability, chronic illness, neurodivergence, and mental illness representation (usually written by Own Voices authors).

I’ve combined these categories because I’ve found they have impacted my life in similar ways and a lot of books include overlap 💗

All the 2026 Aardvark book club picks

Some Books with Characters who have Migraine

All the Illumicrate, Afterlight, Evernight, Starbright, etc. picks for 2026

Shamelessly yoinked from a certain other reading app that shall not be named... this is a list of recently published (2025-2026) LGBTQ+ fiction across a spectrum of genres and identities!

(Disclaimer: I haven't read most of these, but so many compelling covers made me want to save them all in a list to continue referencing into the future.)

the queer romance and fantasy books that are on my tbr (and that i love)

romance releases i’m looking forward to

Novels whose main characters are artists, recommended by Pagebound users. Recommendations are always welcome; the only rules are that the main character must be an artist of some form (be it a painter, writer, actor, musician, dancer, or even a chef) and that their art must play a key role in the plot. If you're looking for YA or middle grade novels about artists, please check out the "Aspiring Artists" list on my profile.

Queer romance novels that felt a little bit like bubblegum and sunshine and rainbows (but with like, a plot and some character development and stuff). Are these books a little silly? Did they take a few chapters for me to really get hooked? Did they make me stupidly grin at my kindle and make my husband wonder just what on earth I was reading? The answer to all of those is yes of course. And I wouldn’t want them any other way.

Romance books with a road trip.