LGBT/Gay Fiction Recommendations

[docjered]

What are the best LGBT books out there? With Amazon's kinda crazy way of rating what they consider to be "smut", hard to find what's hot and what's not in this genre.

[CS]

I am hardly an expert, but I like Rick R. Reed's books.

P.A. Brown also seems cool (based on the sample I read of L.A. Heat).

Then again, they write in genres I like.

Close Range: Wyoming Stories (Annie Proulx) has the short story that eventually became the movie Brokeback Mountain, so I assume that's good too. I haven't read it though, and I have no idea how the versions differ (if they do at all).

[ladyknight33]

this is an older thread but some good books

http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,6462.0.html

[Leslie]

Here are my most recent favorites...



As CS suggested, these two are really good:





This was a very sweet story:



These two are pretty close to soft-core porn, but even so, they are well written and fun. The Back Passage is the better of the two. The author is one of the most popular gay writers in the UK right now.



Lee Rowan's Ransom series is very good, but wait for August for those. They are being re-issued with a new publisher, completely re-edited, with new (much prettier) covers. Ditto for Frost Fair by Erastes. I'll be posting links when they are released.

L

[Geoffrey]

Heh ... Great minds think alike.  I just started the same conversation over in the Book Corner ....    From it, here are two I strongly recommend:

I Am Not Myself These Days
The Memoir of a Drag Queen and her chaotic life as she falls in love with a male escort.  I picked this up on a flight from Hong Kong to Dallas and read it non-stop the entire way.  Lots of drugs and drag and both incredibly touching and funny.

The Brothers Bishop
This is the story or two very different gay brothers working through the death of their father.  This novel touched me, offended me, made me laugh and made me cry ... its probably one of the best novels I've read in a long time.

[Tango]

Sara Waters-- Fingersmith  and other's she's written-- good for gay or straight readers--    Fingersmith is a wonderful read

[Geoffrey]

I read some of the other reviews on this one:

Band Fags

and opinions are mixed.  I loved it but not everyone did ... but then the main character is 3 years younger than me and he grew up near the Detroit Suburb where I was born ... so I may be liking it more for the flashbacks than anything.        But, its a great coming of age story set in the mid 80's about a boy that doesn't want to be gay - and also wants to break out of his Band Fag shell and become popular ...

[Leslie]

Geoffrey, thanks for that recommendation. It looks interesting. I love coming of age books so I want to give this one a try.

L

[Leslie]

I've been reading Josh Lanyon's latest and it's fun and funny. I am 25% in and enjoying it very much. Unfortunately, the link maker doesn't show the cover, but here is a link:

Somebody Killed His Editor: Holmes & Moriarity, Book 1

If you are not familiar with Josh, he's a great writer and lots of good books. Here are a few more links.



He's got other books but not for sale at Amazon. If you google his name, you'll find his website, LiveJournal and various links. Enjoy!

L

[MichelleR]

Just read Str8te Boys. This is girl version of a story with two guys as opposed to what a gay man would write.

The book is actually fairly absurd as the guys do everything to get closer without admitting having hot pants for one another -- and yet I was entertained. 

[MichelleR]

I read some of the other reviews on this one:

Band Fags

and opinions are mixed.  I loved it but not everyone did ... but then the main character is 3 years younger than me and he grew up near the Detroit Suburb where I was born ... so I may be liking it more for the flashbacks than anything.        But, its a great coming of age story set in the mid 80's about a boy that doesn't want to be gay - and also wants to break out of his Band Fag shell and become popular ...

I really have to thank you for mentioning this. I grew up in Warren at pretty much the same time, so totally feeling the flashbacks. Even to the extent of the author mentioning St Mary Magdalen, which I attended for a year. Not for nothing, but the protag being gay makes me relate to him more, since I liked Rex Smith, too. If he'd been into GH instead of Days, I don't think I could stand it! 

Loving this!

[Geoffrey]

I really have to thank you for mentioning this. I grew up in Warren at pretty much the same time, so totally feeling the flashbacks. Even to the extent of the author mentioning St Mary Magdalen, which I attended for a year. Not for nothing, but the protag being gay makes me relate to him more, since I liked Rex Smith, too. If he'd been into GH instead of Days, I don't think I could stand it! 

Loving this!

I'm glad you're loving it ... I was all about the flashbacks. 

I was born and lived in Dearborn but I did Junior high and High School outside of Kalamazoo - so not all the landmarks are part of my flashback landscape, but everything else is .... and I was All My Kids instead of Days ...

[Leslie]

I am actually, believe it or not, reading a DTB that just arrived today. Dry (what do you expect from an academic?) but still interesting. I've read enough scholarly books over the years that I've developed a good speed reading system.  

[Leslie]

I sampled Band Fags and while I sort of enjoyed the story, the writing style bugged me, so I decided not to buy it. But in the "people who bought this" section I discovered this book, which I am really enjoying. I've just spent the past two hours reading here at my kitchen table, when I should be working. Oh well...

[Mikuto]

LGBT books? Who said LGBT books? *Crawls out of the woodwork*


Unmasked: Erotic Tales of Gay Superheroes

If you'll notice it does say "erotic" in the title, so it's pretty porny, but mostly it pokes fun at superheroes and is really enjoyable. If you like short stories and lots of sex then you should probably check it out

I second Leslie's recommendation of Josh Lanyon, as well as Transgressions by Erastes.

I also enjoyed I Do -- an anthology in support of marriage equality.

Not all of the stories are strong, but there are some real page turners (or button klickers?) in there!

[Geoffrey]

I sampled Band Fags and while I sort of enjoyed the story, the writing style bugged me ...

heh.  One of the things I liked was his writing style.  It was like talking to one of my friends as a kid .... maybe I was busy hearing the regional dialect and reverting back 25 years to when I lived in Michigan still ...

How about something funny.  I loves me some David Sedaris:



This isn't available on kindle, but I really love it along with some of his followup books:

[MichelleR]

I sampled Band Fags and while I sort of enjoyed the story, the writing style bugged me, so I decided not to buy it. But in the "people who bought this" section I discovered this book, which I am really enjoying. I've just spent the past two hours reading here at my kitchen table, when I should be working. Oh well...

Sampled.

Here's my counter confession -- I don't think I like False Colors. I read some, shrugged, and never seem to be motivated to return.

I don't understand me.

[Leslie]

I finished Out of the Pocket (read the whole thing in 5 hours!) and loved it. It's young adult so it is a fast read, but very sweet and I think very well done. And to paraphrase Geoffrey, I love me some coming of age stories.

Michelle, too bad about False Colors. It's very historical -- more historical than gay, almost, so I can see how that might be less enticing for some people.

Geoffrey, I love David Sedaris. I think Naked is my favorite of all his books. I loved the chapter where he visited the "nudist colony" because it rang so true. When You Are Engulfed in Flames was one of my early purchases on my original K1...which I actually never finished. It might be time to redownload and read!

Mikuto, thanks for dropping by!

L

[MichelleR]

Nah, I like historical stuff.

[Leslie]

I almost forgot about this one. I read it about a year ago when it first came out. It's good...not great. There's a section at the two-thirds point that drags a bit. Still, it's interesting and written in a humorous way. Apparently all the gay strip clubs in DC were torn down when they built the new baseball field, so it a bit of a memory for a part of Washington that doesn't exist anymore.

[Leslie]

Here's another book I just remembered. Not on Kindle, however. Back in the day, when they were getting going on filming Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee gave this book to Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal to read -- so of course, I had to read it too! The stories are interesting but seriously, this book could use some major editing. Even so, I'm glad I read it.

[harfner]

So what are your favorite Kindle books that feature gay or lesbian protagonists?  (And not erotica--that's easy to find!)

[MAGreen]

The Bay City Paranormal book was interesting. It was nice to read a book about attraction without every other scene being sex. I think I got the first one as a freebie, there are 4 or 5 in the series.

[Leslie]

We actually had another thread on GLBT books (not erotica) with lots of good suggestions. I am going to merge this one with that one.

Leslie
Global Mod

[harfner]

Oh cool--I looked for such a thread but couldn't find it.