With the season for beach vacations and road trips now upon us, what better time to refill your bookshelf — or your e-reader — with the latest LGBT titles. Take a look at some of the works in which we’ve buried our noses to get some ideas.
The Elephant of Surprise Brent Hartinger Fiction
The fourth volume in Hartinger’s young-adult series, which began with “The Geography Club,” has gay Russell, bisexual Min and the straight Gunnar craving adventure, or what they call the “elephant — er, element — of surprise.” For Russell, this means breaking up with his long-distance boyfriend, Otto, and pursuing his crush on Wade, an African-American “freegan.” Wade introduces Russell to his eco-friendly alternative lifestyle, in which he and others live using only what they need in life, foraging for food in Dumpsters and squatting in abandoned houses. Meanwhile, Min suspects her closeted girlfriend Leah of something hinky and enlists Russell and Gunnar’s help to get answers.
“The Elephant of Surprise” breezes along as Russell meets up with Wade to determine if this attractive stranger is equally smitten with him. Their bonding is sweet but somewhat unconvincing; moreover, Wade’s looks seem to appeal to Russell more than his “freegan” lifestyle. Although the subplot involving Min raises some good points about truth and trust in relationships, it also feels a bit false. Of greatest interest is Russell’s consideration of Kevin, his ex-boyfriend from “Geography Club.” Despite its narrative flaws, Hartinger captures his teens well, and fans will look forward to the characters’ next adventures. —Gary Kramer
In a Queer Voice: Journeys of Resilience from Adolescence to Adulthood By Michael Sadowski Nonfiction
“In a Queer Voice” traces the ups and downs of the lives of a series of LGBT people, using their own words to show the transitions they undergo as they struggle for self- and societal acceptance.
Sadowski’s book is based on a two-pronged study of LGBT teens conducted when they were adolescents and then six years later when they reached adulthood. The writer profiles each subject, detailing the supports he or she has at home, at school and in other contexts. And then, the reader can later see how that person’s life has changed in the intervening period and how his or her own conceptions of sexuality and identity have been shaped in that time.
While reading a personal account from an LGBT teen can be enlightening, Sadowski provides added insight by allowing the teens to speak for themselves and analyzing their linguistics to uncover deeper meaning.
“In a Queer Voice” is an excellent piece for teachers, mental-health providers or other professionals looking to learn more about the psyche of LGBT youth. It can also be a wonderful resource for teens themselves, or their families, who are seeking — Jen Colletta
The Letter Q: Queer Writers’ Notes to their Younger Selves Edited by Sarah Moon and James Lecesne Nonfiction
Think “It Gets Better” only for LGBT writers, and you have “The Letter Q: Queer Writers’ Notes to their Younger Selves” by Moon and Lecesne.
This book will have readers either in tears, hysterics or both. “The Letter Q” caters to LGBT-identified youth, and the writers featured include stories of heartbreak, inspiration and power. The book features a plethora of stories from LGBTs who come from and have vastly different life experiences, but who ultimately find self-acceptance and success on many different levels.
This book is a must-read for LGBT individuals of all walks of life and ages, and can be particularly comforting for youth struggling to believe that it gets better. — Angela Thomas Man Up!: Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence By Ross Mathews Memoir
We’re willing to bet if you like Mathews on television, you will be happy to devour his first book and memoir charting his unlikely path to stardom — going from a bubbly, bright-eyed child in a small farm community and, through ambition and a series of chance encounters, ending up a celebrity in his own right.
Matthews is every bit as ebullient and entertaining in print as he is on television. Along the way, he regales readers with his super-fan perspective of encounters with various celebrities. Plus, there’s the added bonus of a forward written by celebrity gal pal Gwyneth Paltrow and an afterward written by his late-night cohort and benefactor Chelsea Handler.
If you’re looking for a quick and entertaining read overflowing with flash, glamour and heart, this is definitely a book you should add to your library. — Larry Nichols
Maxie Mainwaring, Lesbian Dilettante Monica Nolan Fiction
Monica Nolan’s delightful dilettante, the madcap Maxie Mainwaring, is a pleasing and plucky protagonist. In this often-alliterative book, Nolan depicts the title character, an ex-deb who has been cut off from her allowance by her aggravated mother after some bad behavior — a fabulous opening scene of seduction in the Bay City Woman’s Club powder room. Newly broke, Maxie must find employment despite her inability to do anything (much less do it before 10 a.m.). She scrapes by at the Magdalena Arms, where she lives with other lesbians, including Lois Lenz (subject of Nolan’s equally amusing first novel).
However, between fighting with her on-again/off-again girlfriend Pamela and trying to keep a series of jobs, Maxie gets embroiled in a mystery that brings her close to an attractive butch named Lon, and her ambiguous new fifth-floor neighbor, Kitty. Nolan’s witty, pulpy fiction breezily addresses how women lived in the mid-1960s, and how social norms were enforced at debutante balls, publishing houses and all-female watering holes. The intrigue is as interesting as Maxie’s sexual assignations with various women, but it is Maxie’s restlessness — at work or at play — that keeps the book interesting as the story unfolds right up to the final, satisfying unmasking of a mob queenpin.
—G.M.K.
My Two Uncles Judith Vigna Children’s
In Vigna’s endearing new book, a child struggles to unite her love for her uncles with her grandfather’s homophobia, painting a realistic picture of the modern family from a child’s eyes.
The watercolor-illustrated tale follows Elly as she prepares for her grandparents’ 50th anniversary party, depicting her making a party gift with her Uncle Ned and his partner, Phil, as naturally as she would with other family members. However, Elly is confounded when her grandfather refuses to allow Phil at the party, and conflicted about going herself out of loyalty to her uncles, whom she accepts unconditionally. The story includes Elly’s father explaining to her how some people see her uncles as different from other couples, an exchange that highlights the innocent simplicity of youth and the barriers presented by adulthood. Ultimately, the grandfather character begins to warm to the idea of Ned and Phil, impressing upon the reader that acceptance is a gradual process, but one that should ultimately be strived for.
The storybook is a perfect companion for modern families looking to illustrate to their youngsters both the value of diversity and acceptance of people with varying views. However, just as Elly was far more progressive than her grandfather, the book could ultimately prove to be just as educational for adults as it is for kids. — J.C.
New Queer Cinema: The Director’s Cut By B. Ruby Rich Nonfiction
No matter how much you know about queer cinema, we’re willing to bet Rich has you beat.
To her credit, Rich, a film critic, journalist and scholar who has written for a number of publications like The Village Voice and The Guardian UK, educates the reader in fine and detailed fashion without ever being in danger of being boring in the process. And given the academic nature in which the subject matter is treated, that is quite the feat.
The wealth and density of the information contained in “New Queer Cinema” can at times be a little bit too much for casual fans of queer cinema, but if you really want to delve deep into the leaps and bounds LGBT subject and filmmakers have made in movies since the early 1990s, as well as get some insights into the impact celebrated films like “Brokeback Mountain” and “Milk” had on popular culture, this the book to read.
— L.N.
Oy Vey! I’m Glad I’m Gay By Barry Losinsky Memoir
In his first book, Losinsky has managed to create an intimate yet delightful take of coming to terms with one’s sexuality and identity. Losinsky’s memoir takes readers to Baltimore, where the author grew up in a world rich with diversity within the Jewish community. The memoir explores both positive and negative experiences — from instances of sexual assault and near-death experiences to what Losinsky calls “The Perils of Barry” to sexual explorations and his ultimate coming-of-age that leads him to both define and own his sexuality.
Losinsky’s brutal honesty about his life and his struggles with his identity is something readers of all backgrounds will appreciate. — A.T.
The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame By Gengoroh Tagame, Anne Ishii, Chipp Kidd and Graham Kolbeins Erotic
Uh … wow! This sure as hell ain’t Dragon Ball Z. Available for the first time in the United States translated in English, the collection of gay manga works by Tagame (described as the “Tom of Finland” of Japan) probably isn’t something you want to crack open in public.
The artwork is superbly skilled and detailed. The stories oftentimes are very, very, very hardcore, with hyper-masculine characters and seemingly endless explorations of themes like bondage, sadomasochism, torture, humiliation and other fetishes that make the aforementioned kinks seem super-vanilla by comparison. We’re not kidding here, this is some seriously graphic and sometimes sadistic action that really goes to the edge and beyond.
If you are already a connoisseur of gay erotic graphic novels and are looking for something darker and more extreme, this is probably your Disneyland. But if you still have your training wheels on, hold off. There are things you can’t un-see, and this book is like a branding iron to brain in that respect.
— L.N.
Shy By John Inman Humor
Tom used to be with Jerry. Jerry is now with Stanley. Tom and Stanley’s brother, Frank, have social anxiety disorder. So Jerry and Stanley hook the two up — not because they’re nice guys and want to help them. No, they bring them together via an invite to their house, not telling them there is a huge party going on, just to be assholes. Some of the descriptive passages of the ordeal are absolutely hysterical, as is most of the book.
Tom and Frank hit it off and quickly become a couple. They settle into Tom’s San Diego apartment while Frank looks for work until a few phone calls from Frank’s sick dad back in Indiana prompt the two to drive from California to Indiana and help out. Tom is a city boy who hates everything that goes along with farming, but his love for Frank carries him through the first few days, albeit not unscathed. At the end of the first day in Indiana, he has blisters from hoeing, a black eye from getting kicked by a pig, a bloody, wounded arm from a chicken attack, a swollen ear from a bee sting and a Mercurochrome-slathered foot from where Frank removed a leech. But, he did get to help deliver some piglets in a muddy pen, so it wasn’t all for nothing. And it just gets funnier and funnier.
Mix in a 1,400-pound hog named Samson, an always horny, leg-humping chihuahua named Pedro and a few other oddball humans and you have acres of burst-out-laughing chuckles. — Scott Drake
Strength of the Pack: The Tameness of the Wolf By Kendall McKenna Fiction/fantasy
If there is anything hotter than a marine, it’s one that’s an animal. Noah is literally an animal during the full moon. More than that, Noah is an Alpha werewolf.
The Marine Corps is taking advantage of shifters — men who shape-shift into werewolves during the full moon — and utilizing them in special ops. As the Alpha, Noah is in charge of all the other shifters in his unit, although he is not in charge of the unit itself. Lucas has had commands with shifters before and, when Noah is transferred into Lucas’ unit, the two are pitted in a struggle of the Alpha werewolf and the ranking human superior. Eventually, Lucas proves to Noah he is the dominant of the two. Throughout the following days, weeks and month, the two get more involved and animal instincts take control. How these two interact professionally and personally is as intoxicating as the scent of Lucas is to Noah when they are both sexually aroused. Do not be lulled into thinking this is a typical werewolf story. It is anything but. And fortunately, this is being billed as the first of a series, so there could be much more intensity to come. — S.A.D.
The Wild Beast of Wuhan By Ian Hamilton Fiction
“The Disciple of Las Vegas” was the engrossing first book in the Ava Lee mystery series, featuring a lesbian Chinese-Canadian forensic accountant. The next installment, “The Wild Beasts of Wuhan,” due out in June, may not be as strong as Ava’s debut, but it is still compelling. Here, Ava investigates an art forgery case — the “Wild Beasts” of the title — a collection of fake Fauvist paintings. Wary of accepting the case, the globetrotting Ava follows the money from China to London to the Faeroes Islands and beyond. Curiously, most of the information Ava needs comes to her with only mild difficulty; she only once has to resort to her bak mei martial arts and is rarely placed in danger.
Instead, Ava displays her mental acuity manipulating the people she encounters — clients and criminals alike—to her advantage. But as fascinating as Ava’s work is, “The Wild Beasts of Wuhan” concentrates too much on it, her appearance (Brooks Brothers shirts) and coffee habits (Starbucks VIA). Meanwhile, her personal life — a girlfriend back in Canada, her family on a cruise — is mostly relegated to the back burner, even if it is meant to flesh out one of the more appealing heroines in print today.
— G.M.K.