LGBT Books

My friend lent me Keeping You Secret, which is a great. Extremely relatable especially for high schoolers/college girls

 

The absolute best book I've ever read that was LGBY related was Hero by Perry Moore.

It's not just another self-indulgent book about how angsty a teenager can be. Nor is it a book about a gay boy having adventures with his best gal pal. It's really refreshing. Unless you haven't read the style of the aforementioned cliche books, haw.

 

To date, my all time favourite LGBT book was The God Box by Alex Sanchez.

 

I'm dying to get my hands on Keeping You a Secret and The Preacher's Son (it's really difficult being in the closet and not able to drive.) The only one I've been able to read is Kissing Kate. It's a cute book and a quick read. I found it quite relatable with questioning stuff and whatnot.

 

i liked the rainbow boys series
havent been able to find the last one yet though

i loved hero
it was so neat

but katokumi is right alot of gay books are very cliched
one that i hated is "David Inside Out"

itwassoooboring.

 

There have been a few threads about gay books already, if you want to have a look through them (but I love them and I'm glad we're bringing the subject back to life ).

http://emptyclosets.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2819
http://emptyclosets.com/forum/showthread.php?t=574

I'm sure there are more but those are the two I found. Here are my all-time faves:

The World of Normal Boys
K. M. Soehnlein

Leave Myself Behind
Bart Yates

A Density of Souls
Christopher Rice

You can also check out these which I found pretty good:

Sea of tranquility
Paul Elliott Russel

Geography Club
Brent Hartinger

So Hard to Say
Alex Sanchez

Call me by your name
André Aciman

 

Can any one recommend a book that you can find in a local Barnes and Noble that is a good read and is not the following?

A sex story
A porno
About fag hags
A romance that is overblown
Unrealistic endings
Stereotypical characters

If so, thanks!
I'm so afraid to buy books because of the above mentioned things. Romance seems to be the only theme all LGBTQ books have in common. And I'm afraid to buy a romance book because I don't need to read about sex. I want something entertaining, fun, and non-pornographic. I mean they can imply sex, but to describe every physical attribute and action is a little too graphic for my taste.

Thanks again!
:smilewave

 

Of my faves (see above), I'd recommend The World of Normal Boys : coming of age story of a teen in the late 70's. I think it fits the criteria... it's not really romance (really coming of age), though of course the main characters has some romantic/sexual encounters. But it's really tastefully written and really not porn.

You might also enjoy Sea of Tranquility. It's not really a conventional book, it made me think and it's interestingly written (narration alternating between the main guy, his astronaut dad, his alcoholic mom and his sometimes-lover). There are some instances of graphic sex, but it's really short and matter-of-factly; again, that's not the focus. No big descriptions or anything.

I understand why you want to get away from crap books though I read one once that was basically crappy erotica with more story in between the sex. It was decent erotica, but after 100 pages I was like, "OK, enough...". The books I've mentionned are not that

 

I JUST FINISHED THAT BOOK! I love it love it love it! It's really good for anyone whose religion is important to them...

 

Hero and the God Box are two of my favorite books.

I have reread them so many times now it is sad.

Grateful I have the hardcovers

 

Howl by Allen Ginsberg is my favorite piece of poetry, like, ever. I highly recommend it to everyone even vaguely interested in the Beat Generation/Beat poetry and literature.

Queer, Naked Lunch, and Junky (or Junkie) by William S. Burroughs are also solid reads, though they are a bit, er, vulgar at times. Just a heads up.

 

*thread resurrection*

I recently bought a few. Some have been mentioned but I'm gonna post them anyway.

The God Box - Alex Sanchez
Quite good but short. 4/5

Almost Like Being In Love - Steve Kluger
Loved this, unique and cute but the ending was kind of rushed. 4.5/5

Call Me By Your Name - Andre Aciman
Well written but I personally dislike the characters. 3.5/5

Comfort and Joy - Jim Grimsley
Nice story, realistic but sad. 4/5

Mysterious Skin - Scott Heim
More of a book about abused boys but it was a good read nonetheless. 4.5/5

Hero - Perry Moore
A gay superhero, what more can I say? 4.5/5

When You Were Me - Robert Rodi
Average. Cliched and ending was weird and not well explained. 2.5/5

I'm reading At Swim, Two Boys (Jamie O'Neill) now and its really difficult to understand sometimes. The language is a bit complicated to me.

 

Mysterious Skin was great
They have a movie out as well, which I loved.

 

Yup. I watched it recently and it was equally good. Although I can't help feeling disgusted when the coach was doing things to the boys :/

 

I notice that most of the books here are about boys, well heres my list of gay girl books i've read or am going to read when I find them:

The Well Of Lonliness - Radcliffe Hall
Keeping You A Secret - Julie Anne Peters
Far From Xanadu - Julie Anne Peters
Empress Of The World - Sara Ryan
The Rules For Hearts - Sara Ryan
Mosh Pit - Kristyn Dunnion
Bottle Rocket Hearts - Zoe Whittall
Wolfcry - Amelia Atwater Rhodes [just know that this one is book 4 of 5 in Rhodes' Kiesha'Ra series]
The Child - Sarah Schulman
Nightwood - Djuna Barnes
Annie On My Mind - Nancy Garden
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson
Sexing The Cherry - Jeanette Winterson
The Wives of Bath - Susan Swan
Am I Blue? - Anthology edited by Marion Dane Bauer

What can I say? I work at a bookstore

 

Oh wow, I tried to read that and I gave up after 3 pages, seriously. And I'm a pretty good reader and I hate putting down books I've started. But I was like 'No way I'm reading this...'. Good luck!

 

Dare, Truth or Promise.
I have no idea who it's by, but i've heard some amazing things about it.

 

God Box by Alex Sanchez is gold.

M or F? by Lisa Papademetriou and Christopher Tebbetts (about a gay boy who helps his girl friend flirt with a boy via IM, and falls for the boy, and the other boy falls for the person IMing him. Whoa).

Is It a Choice? Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Gay & Lesbian People by Eric Marcus.

Boy meets Boy by David Levithan

Transparent: Love, Family, and Living the T with Transgender Teenagers by Cris Beam

Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth by Wayne R. Besen

Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is by Abigail Garner

Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us by Kate Bornstein

 

I can't think of the title but the poem about Walt Whitman in a grocery store checking out guys makes my heart swoon. And then there is that Walt Whitman poem about "the manly love of trees" or something. Awesome.