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DVDs
GAY 1. “Make the Yuletide Gay,” directed by Rob Williams (2009, 89 min., $19.99 DVD). Follows a young gay couple — Nathan and Gunn — as they face their first Christmas apart. 2. “Shank,” directed by Simon Pearce (2009, 89 min., $19.99 DVD). Handsome young men are growing up. 3. “Eating Out: All You Can Eat,” directed by Glen Gaylord (2009, 81 min., $24.95 DVD). Casey is new to the gay scene, refreshingly cute, geeky and extremely shy. When bombastic Tiffani befriends Casey and takes him under her wing, his adventures have only just begun! 4. “Hollywood, Je t’aime,” directed by Jason Bushman (2008, 97 min., $24.95 DVD). After a breakup, gay Parisian Jerome impulsively books a solo Christmas vacation to Los Angeles. LESBIAN 1. “L Word 6, Final Season,” directed by Angela Robinson (2008, 438 min., $49.95 DVD). It’s the final season of the show that won our hearts and got us talking for its unwavering dedication to portraying sexy lesbian characters in a steady stream of increasingly hot storylines. 2. “Girl Seeks Girl” (“Chica Busca Chica”), directed by Sonia Sebastian (2007, 153 min., $24.95 DVD). This hot and hilarious lesbian soap opera takes you on a wild ride through the mixed-up love lives of a group of sexy Madrid lesbians. English subtitles. 3. “Kate Clinton: 25th Anniversary Tour,” directed by Andrea Meyerson (2007, 65 min., $19.95 DVD). Making us laugh, encouraging us to think and inspiring us to be out and proud, Clinton isn’t slowing down, she’s revving up. 4. “Lesbian Sex & Sexuality,” directed by Katherine Linton (2007, 158 min., $29.95 DVD). Takes viewers on an uncharted and provocative journey where the subject of lesbian sexuality and desire isn’t whispered, but celebrated.
BOOKS
LGBT 1. “Second Person Queer: Who You Are (So Far),” edited by Richard Labonte and Lawrence Schimel (Arsenal Pulp, 223 pp., $18.95 pb). An anthology of essays on LGBT life written in the second person. The essays take the form of letters to family and friends, missives to homophobes, confessions to lovers and words of advice for the next generation — and much more. 2. “Out in the Country: Youth, Media and Queer Visibility in Rural America,” by Mary L. Gray (NYU, 279 pp., $22 pb). Gray maps out the experiences of young people living in small towns across rural Kentucky and along its desolate Appalachian borders, providing a fascinating and often surprising look at the contours of gay life beyond the big city. 3. “Fifty Gay and Lesbian Books Everybody Must Read,” edited by Richard Canning (Alyson, 342 pp., $16.95 pb). Fifty essays by critics, public figures and authors on 50 books that reflect the best of lesbian and gay literature. LESBIAN 1. “Returning Tides,” by Radclyffe (Bold Strokes, 252 pp., $16.95 pb). From the Lambda Literary Award-winning author comes book six in her Provincetown series. 2. “Push: A Novel,” by Sapphire (Vintage, 192 pp., $13 pb). Precious Jones, 16 years old and pregnant by her father with her second child, meets a determined and highly radical teacher who takes her on a journey of transformation and redemption. The book is the basis of the current movie, “Precious.” 3. “The Legacy,” by Susan X. Meagher (Brisk, 277 pp., $16 pb). The latest installment of this popular series of romances. 4. “The Importance of Being Iceland: Travel Essays in Art,” by Eileen Myles (Semiotext(e), 216 pp., $17.95 pb). Myles travels New York City, seeing it with a poet’s eye for detail and with the consciousness that writing about art and culture has always been a social gesture.
GAY 1. “Murder On Camac,” by Joseph DeMarco (Lethe, 396 pp., $18 pb). Gunned down in the street, author Helmut Brandt’s life ebbs away, putting a chain of events in motion that places P.I. Marco Fontana on a collision course with the church and local community. 2. “Single Man,” by Christopher Isherwood (U of Minnesota Press, 186 pp., $15.95 pb). George, the protagonist, is adjusting to life on his own after the sudden death of his partner. 3. “Sordid Truths: Selling My Innocence for a Taste of Stardom,” by Aiden Shaw (Alyson, 275 pp, $15.95 pb). Chronicles the author’s ascent from being just another broke college boy who dabbled with the idea that he could sell his young body for hard cash to becoming the internationally renowned adult-film superstar. 4. “Love Means No Shame,” by Andrew Grey (Dreamspinner Press, 234 pp., $14.99 pb). Geoff is in the city, living the gay life to the hilt, when his father’s death convinces him to return to the family farm. Discovering a young Amish man asleep in his barn, Geoff learns that Eli is spending a year away from the community before accepting baptism into the church.