1. Vanishing Half 

By Brit Bennett

The divergent fate of twin sisters, as one passes for white and the other remains black, challenges the nature of identity, revealing new possibilities to move beyond its strictures.

2. Shuggie Bain

By Douglas Stuart

An emotionally-charged entry to the intimate relationship between an alcoholic woman and her queer son, Douglas Stuart intensely captures the power of a mother-child bond in remaking the world previously shattered by poverty.

3. Real Life

By Brandon Taylor 

Real Life follows the passionate encounter between a black gay man and a white 'straight'-identified man in search of their true-self and freedom from the strictures of race, class, and gender.

4. Bestiary

By K-Ming Chang 

Full of spirits and creatures from Taiwanese and Chinese folktales, this wildly-inventive novel blurs the boundary between reality and dreams to encapsulate the intertwined journey of three generations of Taiwanese-American women to find their long-lost home.

5. The Death of Vivek Oji

By Akwaeke Emezi

Wrapped in poetic storytelling and interweaving the journey for a new self with spirituality, Akwaeke Emezi also explores how loss and sorrow often bring us to a new understanding of love, life, and identity that cannot always be fully captured by our language.