Hope I'm allowed to post this here, but I figured this was the best option. I recently completed an eBook I published through Smashwords. The LGBT stuff doesn't come up until late in the book, but its the first in a series, and the later books bring that stuff into the forefront, the second book especially. The book is titled "Private Justice", and is a crime thriller. Cover's got flames and steel-like lettering for display.... Anyways, if anyone's interested, they can pick that up. Like I said, the LGBT stuff doesn't play a huge role, but sets the stage for things in future books...
Kelley Eskridge's "Solitare" (or maybe it's "Solitude"?) Any of Nicola Griffith's Aud Torvingen novels...I think the first is "Slow River" but I'm probably wrong because I've only read "Always." It's sort a more LGBT subplot with both... There are some halfway decent ameture works on fictionpress.com...granted there are a LOT of bad ones, but Coeur Noir's "The Deserters," "D8" by a penname I don't remember, and "A Chant For Those Gone" by Lamentable One are all quite good action-y stories with F/F romance subplots.
Re: Good/favorite GBLT books? Omg I remember that book! But I'd like to add Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice (such a good book, about the golden age of opera and the relationship between two castrati. The imagery is beautiful) Full Circle by Michael Thomas Ford (great read, packed with references to LGBT history, it's fiction) Party Monster by James St. James (I love it cause I feel like I should've live in the clubkid era lol)
I've opted for the "themed" category approach too, just for ease: Lesbian books I've really enjoyed are: Sarah Waters - Tipping the Velvet, Fingersmity, Nightwatch Jeanette Winterson - Oranges are not the only Fruit Haruki Murakami - Sputnik Sweetheart Sarah Brownrigg - Pages For you Sophie Robbins - A hole in the World Rita Mae Brown - Rubyfruit Jungle Sarah Winman - When God was a Rabbit Gay books: Mark Sanderson - Wrong Rooms And then what I would call "Queer" books - i.e. ones that subvert gender boundaries/binares: Jeanette Winterson - Written on the Body, The Passion, The Powerbook Dorothy Baker - Cassandra at the Wedding Jeffrey Eugenides - Middlesex Virginia Woolf - Orlando Great post btw, there are quite a lot on hear I've never heard of and will be checking out!
L.L Raand's "The Midnight Hunt," "Blood Hunt," and "Night Hunt." Those are all f/f I think, though. There are some good ameture ones on fictionpress.com as well. "Blood of the Damned" by Coeur Noir is a pretty good one that's just starting out.
Geography Club by Brent Haritnger (2003) It's a pretty good book with funny moments. A movie is being made of it and will be released this year.
Re: Good/favorite GBLT books? After I came out, I was at a thrift book store in LGBT section. I got these books: Inside Out, Mark Tewksbury Love, Ellen, Betty DeGeneres I was Charlie to the teeth in middle/high school, I had several epiphanies when I read it for the first time last month.:eek:
:icon_bigg There are a lot of really good ones out there! Anything by Julie ann peters is awesome in my opinion, Nancy Garden too, and Cris Beam has written some that I like too. I've read Luna many times! My favorite one of Julie Ann Peters's books is Keeping you a Secret
Just read The God Box by Alex Sanchez. It was both ridiculous amounts of adorables and sad. It can be predicable at times, but I did like that they confronted the familiar Bible quotes and stories that are seen as homophobic.
Being Emily helped me a lot when I was still toward the beginning of my transition. It helped that the book was about a trans woman coming out in Minnesota. Giovanni's Room is all about how destructive the closet can be to someone's life and the lives of those around them. It can be a difficult book to read, but it is important. Oranges Aren't the Only Fruit is a quirky book about the conflict between religion and sexual orientation, not to mention abuse suffered by disagreeable parents. Stone Butch Blues should simply be read by anyone who identifies as queer. It is about our history, our roots, and about the high level of discrimination we used to face on a daily basis from the government. Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties is also an important book. It deals with gender expression and how can relate to making your life unliveable. If you're at all interested in Judith Butler, you'll want to read this book.
Lesbian Theme Jane Fletcher is my favorite author. She has 2 series; both are brilliant. Also, 1 stray book – has the makings of a pretty good start to a new series if she decides to take it farther. I read them at least once a year. I love her books because it isn’t all sex. There is some, but the plot isn’t centered around it. Go to her site & you can read the 1st chapter of each book. Amazon, Boldstrokes, or Bella sites has them for sale. The same goes for Melissa Good’s Dar/Kerry series – although not quite as good as Fletcher, I still reread the series every 2 years (or when there is a new book published in the series). Other authors I liked enough to keep their books & reread when there isn’t anything else to do -- kinda rare, but it happens; (not in any particular order): Ali Vali Blayne Cooper Merry Shannon L.J. Baker Lois Cloarec Hart Jae Ronica Black KI Thompson (House of Clouds) Paulette Callen Kim Baldwin & Xenia Alexiou KG MacGregor L.L. Raand (aka Radclyffe – but I don’t read much under this name) – there is too much sex in the Raand series, but the story is good enough to compensate. Winter Pennington Linda Kay Silva (Echo series) Finding books like this when I was in college really helped develop a security in my sexuality that I would not have even known could exist. I live in a small conservative town. I had no way of understanding myself unless there were people I could relate to; people that could model a way of life that I could feel comfortable gravitating toward -- rather than feeling repulsed by what everyone else modeled as "normal". The nuclear family, white picket fence, etc -- just didn't ever appeal to me, but I didn't know there was anything else that wouldn't be considered 'deviant' (in a bad way). I thank the universe for all these authors (& even some of the bad ones I hated, but still felt some kinship; some belonging). Even if I'm physically still in a place where I'm unable to blend in, mentally I now know where I fit. Books transport me to that place -- thankful to have some place to escape to when I'm feeling like an endangered species.
I don't know if anyone has suggested this yet but, I don't feel like checking every post. -Love Drugged by James Klise It is about a 15-year-old boy who is gay. He isn't out and when one of his classmates finds out, he starts hanging out with the most popular chick in school. He also takes a drug that has not been experimented yet that is supposed to make you straight. It has some serious side effects that I won't spill.
I didn't see anyone suggest it yet, but if someone did I'm re-recommending it. I just finished reading Choking on Silence: A Memoir by Paul Tripp. It's about a gay man that grew up in Montana and then went on to join the military. It's the story of his life. It was the first LGBT book I've read, and I really enjoyed it. I look forward into delving into some of the ones you guys have listed!
I absolutely loved The Misifts by...I don't remember, and The House of Night series by PC and Krisitin Cast.
Any readers of Beat Generation queer folk on here? Just read Allen Ginsburg's "Howl" for the first time in ages and I'm in that sort of mood.
Amazon has Bent: the play which was also a very riveting movie. It's about the treatment of gays in Nazi Germany. The story follows two gay lovers through their trials in a concentration camp. Their love helps them survive. ---------- Post added 8th Jun 2013 at 07:42 PM ---------- There's the Oathbound series by Mercedes Lackey. Kethry is a mage from the White Winds school. Tarma is her shield-bonded, shey'chorne, lover. Together they lead a band of mercenaries through good times and hard times.
I posted this in another thread under the wrong folder by mistake. So I thought I'd post it here. This is my list of bests in no particular order, and they're all lesbian/bi themed. I apologize for any repeats from previous posts. ~Fingersmith - Sarah Waters (literary, romantic, so many twists!; one of the best authors I’ve read.) ~Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters (ditto) ~Adaptation - Malinda Lo (YA) ~Ash – Malinda Lo (YA) (Just okay…) ~Ask the Passengers - A.S. King (YA) ~The Dark Wife - Sarah Diemer (YA; a must read! greek myth rewrite) ~And Playing the Role of Herself - KE Lane (THE best lesbian romance I've ever read. Ever. I've read this over ten times and keep coming back. Find me a romance as good as this and I’ll kiss you.) ~When Women Were Warriors (trilogy) - Catherine M. Wilson (Three electronic books that are not only lesbian themed, but also historical fiction, with insights into love and just the human experience as a whole.) ~The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily M. Danforth (YA - her style floors me every time; beautiful in its complex simplicity, she's able to capture the snapshots of all that's wonderful about childhood and being a young adult.) ~When You Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win - Carol Leifer (funny!) ~The Hollows series - Kim Harrison [still ongoing] (Okay, so this doesn't have a happy ending for bisexuality, at least I don’t think, but the relationship between Rachel and Ivy is one of the most complex and intense I've ever read. The fan fiction community might help assuage any itches for you fellow Ravy fans.) ~Nightshade – Shea Godfrey (okay) ~Black Blade Blues – J.A. Pitts (This first book is good, but the others in the series are disappointing.) ~Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson (her biblical parodies are cutting) ~Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire - Lisa M. Diamond (This is an insightful “scientific” book that I would recommend every woman read. A psychologist and gender studies professor, Diamond recounts her ten year longitudinal study of 80 or so women who identified as lesbian, bisexual, or unlabeled. Diamond observes changes in these women’s sexuality (behavior, attractions, fantasies, social identity labels) over that ten year period and also provides an excellent description for her theory on women’s sexual fluidity and what governs sexual attraction based on her study.) ~Orlando – Virginia Woolf (what ISN’T awesome by her?) ~Magic's Pawn, Magic's Promise, Magic's Price - Mercedes Lackey fantasy trilogy (Okay, I lied. This is the exception that makes my rule. This one is gay themed, between two men. And Lackey is simply the bomb for traditional fantasy, period.) ~The comic “Sunstone” by shiniez on deviantART. You have to create an account to view, but it's free. (I debated a while about including this on here. It’s adult themed (*mature* subject matter) and many people may not like it. The mature filter on the site ensures no one underage can access it. But if you’re open minded, it is about lesbians, and it has sweet moments and tenderness. And it’s generally a romantic comedy with fantastic artwork. I’m not into the particular, um, subject it explores, but I love the art and the story.) ~On Fanfiction.net (meaning it’s free, so why not?) you have to read the book-length story “The Moment” by colormetheworld in the Rizzoli and Isles TV section. So well written. It changed my life. It’s an AU story, only loosely based on the show, set at high school age, so honestly you can read it without having any knowledge of the show whatsoever. Go in without preconceptions of the characters. Know it switches perspectives each chapter, starting with Maura, then Jane. That way you won't get confused. It explores themes of abuse as well (so don’t read if that bothers you), but it’s sweet and exquisite. It made my heart squeeze and break and mend and swell. Over and over. ems, the Hollows series (which I mentioned above) by Kim Harrison is urban fantasy with a strong bi undercurrent theme between Rachel and Ivy. It's beautiful, but heartbreaking, too. Nine or ten books out in the series now, and still going. But it's not looking promising for the pair, unfortunately. But I suppose there's always hope. If you decide to read the series, and want some closure, I have a few fanfiction favs I can recommend if you want. Just message me. Black Blade Blues is also fantasy, and The Dark Wife is a greek myth rewrite, which sorta counts as fantasy. Definitely read Dark Wife. I'd also like some other fantasy L/B recommendations if anyone has them. No offense, but I read Midnight Hunt by LL Rand...and sorry, but I really disliked it. It was just...sex on steroids without any romantic love, in my opinion. But that's my take on it.
