Bibliographies

EFCollins

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Oh, and the main character in one of the more recent short stories is an older gay man, but I don't remember the name of the story.

The story is called "A Very Tight Place" by Stephen King and it's in his recent antho,"Just After Sunset".
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Kitty Pryde

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I just finished a really interesting YA novel that had gay teenage characters and, more notably, a transgender child (female to male). In 1930s Europe.The LGBT themes are not the main focus of the book at all, but I thought they were handled in a really thoughtful and sensitive way. I'm dying for the sequel to come out to find out what happens to this boy! A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper.
 

Barbarique

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I hope it's not violating any boundaries to mention my own novel, SHE'S MY DAD (ISBN: 9781432743772, Outskirts Press.) The title character is a transsexual woman, and there are several supporting characters who are gay. :)
 

Kitty Pryde

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I've been on a kick of reading awkward coming-of-age stories about gay boys. Research for my WIP, you see. Latest book recs:

Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai - fiction about a Sri Lankan boy falling in love with his (male) cousin
Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai - this one is on my TBR pile, novel about coming out amid ethnic tensions in Sri Lanka
Blue Boy by Rakesh Satyal- also on my TBR list, novel about a fey Indian-American boy dealing with being different and coming to the (possibly not correct) realization that he is strange because he is the latest incarnation of Krishna
Nasty by Simon Doonan - hilarious memoir about a small fabulous gay boy and his gay BFF growing up in the fifties in a dreary town in England around a wacky family
 

Kitty Pryde

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Just started a really good one: The Value of X, by Poppy Z Brite. Two guys in New Orleans fall in love and open a restaurant. Also followed by:

Liquor
Prime
Soul Kitchen
D*U*C*K

So far it's awesome.
 

Darklite

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Just started a really good one: The Value of X, by Poppy Z Brite. Two guys in New Orleans fall in love and open a restaurant. Also followed by:

Liquor
Prime
Soul Kitchen
D*U*C*K

So far it's awesome.

I have all those books :) I love Poppy Z Brite. A master a characterisation. Really hope she gets her mojo back one day soon and starst writing again. I miss her fiction :(
 

Kitty Pryde

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I just picked up a collected volume of the Beebo Brinker novels by Ann Bannon, some of the earliest non-tragedy lesbian lit, and with one of the first butch lesbian MCs. It's from the 50s. It looks awesome.

The MC is criticized for wearing men's clothing:

"I'm no man. Okay. But I'm sure as hell no woman, either. I don't look good in anything. At least these things fit me."
 

Deleted member 42

Those Beebo Brinker books were hugely important to an awful lot of queer women.

They were sold in spinner racks at drug stores and in some ways were an antidote to Raclyffe Hall's Well of Loneliness.
 

Kitty Pryde

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In my efforts to not be so much judging a book by its cover, I picked up a book at the library called M+O 4EVR by Tonya Hegamin, which looks and sounds like an insipid teen romance novel, possibly involving a lot of texting. Turns out it's ACTUALLY a literary novel and the MC is an African-American lesbian. In literature standards, that makes it practically as rare as a yeti. The cover features 2 silhouettes, a girl and a person of indeterminate gender, and the flap copy vaguely alludes to two girls who are friends. So far it's REALLY good. Sekritly gay novels FTW? I understand the need to appeal to the masses (of readers), but it makes it awfully hard to find books about the things you're interested in.
 

Anne Lyle

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Want some SF&F? These are all big-name authors from my bookshelves, not specialist small presses.

Science Fiction
Ethan of Athos, Lois McMaster Bujold
Shadow Man, Melissa Scott
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin

Fantasy
The Nightrunner series, Lynn Flewelling
The Bone Doll's Twin, Lynn Flewelling
Swordspoint and The Privilege of the Sword, Ellen Kushner
The Steel Remains, Richard Morgan
The Last Herald-Mage trilogy, Mercedes Lackey

I will also put in a good word for my writing buddies Alex Beecroft (Age of Sail m/m romance) and Naomi Clark (f/f werewolf private eye) - both with small presses but very good. Naomi's UF novel Silver Kiss was shortlisted by the ALA.
 
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absitinvidia

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Is this a list of primarily mainstream books, or are you including established gay presses as well?

Bella Books and Bold Strokes Books have hundreds of lesbian titles.

In any event, Lee Lynch should be added to the list.
 

JohnnyGottaKeyboard

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Joe Keenan's Philip and Gilbert trilogy: Blue Heaven, Putting on the Ritz, and My Lucky Star.
It was one of the happiest days of my life when I learned that Keenan had finally written another book in that series. I've read the first two many times!

Other recs:

The Boys on the Rock, by John Fox (0-312-09419-1(2))
gay males, my own Catcher in the Rye, I always say.
The Velocipede Handicap
The Day We Were Mostly Butterflies both by Louise W. King (no ISBN avail)
g-male narrator, but mainly about lesbians. These were my antidotes to the Well of Loneliness
 

BenPanced

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I'm about to try re-reading Gaywyck by Vincent Virga, considered to be the first gay gothic/historical romance. I also found Vadriel Veil, the sequel, and another book of his called A Comfortable Corner (found both a used paperback and a proof copy). His webpage said he was going to be self-pubbing his books on Lulu, but I couldn't find anything there because he was supposed to have a third Gaywyck book but it wasn't picked up by his publisher.
 

BenPanced

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Ugh. Double ugh. Triple ugh. I made it through Gaywick but after a while, my inner editor kicked in. Serious infodump-a-rama. There was a decent story in there, somewhere. I've started Vadriel Vail and after that first chapter, I'm not sure where it's going to go. More infodump and events leave me questioning how a main character is going to redeem himself.

ETA: I suspect it's going to happen a lot, but if I have to read one. More. TIME about how beautiful Vadriel Vail is using one more floral metaphor, I'm going to weep bitter tears of frustration.

But I have to keep reading. It's that phenomenally AAAIIIEEE!!!
 
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