The Well of Loneliness- Radcliffe Hall Anything by Ann Bannon Dancer from the dance – Andrew Holleran Faggots – Larry Kramer When fox is a thousand – larissa lai The fox – d.h. Lawrence Confessions of a mask – yukio mishima The prices of salt – Patricia highsmith Brokeback mountain- annie proulx Desert of the heart- Jane rule A little life – hanya yanagihara Anything Sara waters Anything valerie Taylor The swimming pool library – Alan hollinghurst Notes on a crocadile – qui miaojin Anything gale Wilhelm Rubufruit jungle – rita mae brown
If you like plays then Angel’s in America- Tony Kushner Bent – Martin Sherman The normal heart – Larry Kramer
I collect and study:) so this is a sampling of different eras and countries:)
“Ethan of Athos” by Lois McMaster Bujold “The Left Hand Of Darkness” by Ursula K. Le Guin “Merro Tree” by Katie Waitman “Bone Dance: A Fantasy for Technophiles” by Emma Bull “Glory Season” by David Brin “Wild Magic” by Jo Clayton (the whole Wild Magic series)
Katherine v Forrest has some excellent books:) oh and Lillian Faderman has some great books on lesbian history and she’s edited some fantastic anthologies. Also pretty much anything published by Naiad Press:)
Dhalgren is very dense. I think that is because it is meant to be. There is a scene where two characters talk about how often they meet, one meets the other every day, the other can go days with out seeing them. That can only be possible if time is moving at wildly different rates for the two of them. There is lots of evidence that time is moving at different rates in different parts of the city.
And everything is so subjective. The same events are shown from different perspectives and we are not told which is “true”.
Many scenes are played repeatedly from different perspectives. There is a scene in the beginning of the book where the main character is crossing a bridge in the fog and meets a group of women going in the opposite direction. At the end of the book the main character is with a group of men crossing the same bridge and they meet a woman going in the opposite direction and it is a line for line repetition of the first scene from opposite perspective. He does that a lot.
I like it…but in small doses. The brother just fell/was pushed down the elevator shaft and I needed a break. There was a graphic novel written about Delany and his partner called Bread and Wine which was very interesting. Delaney’s obsession with filth is good for thought.
I have “Bread and Wine”. I didn’t consider it an “obsession with filth”, I thought of it as “gritty realism”. That kind of sexual fetish is explored explicitly in the Nevèrÿon series.
They are much more like traditional fiction. Although the back matter on my copy of the first book makes it sound like a traditional sword and sorcery novel. Anyone expecting a traditional sword and sorcery novel would be gravely disappointed. There is an appendix called “An Introduction to Modular Calculus Part 1” That is not an introduction to modular calculus and seems to be another work of fiction posing as anthropological field diaries. One of the other books in the series is half appendix about living through the AIDS epidemic in NYC. But it is all very readable.
I love Robin Talley too! I recommend Everything Leads To You by Nina LaCour, If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo and All Out by Saundra Mitchell which actually includes a short story by Robin Talley too! ?
I Hate Everyone But You by Allison Raskin and Gaby Dunn Gender Warriors: The Next Generation by Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman A Quick & Easy Guide To They/Them Pronouns by Archie Bongiovanni and Tristan Jimerson Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg Super Late Bloomer: My Early Days In Transition by Julia Kaye The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent Of Angels In America by Isaac Butler and Dan Kois
I second the Becky Albertalli recs — Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda & Leah on the Offbeat were great. TJ Klune is fantastic — Bear, Otter, and The Kid is one of my favorite books. Love all the books in that series! He’s also a laugh-out-loud kind of funny, which I love. Him (and its sequel Us) by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy were also great. The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne was epic.
That was quite interesting. For those who haven’t read it. It is first person narration and you do not know what the gender of the narrator is, ever. Which is pretty interesting during the sex scenes.
OMG this is my thing?
The Well of Loneliness- Radcliffe Hall
Anything by Ann Bannon
Dancer from the dance – Andrew Holleran
Faggots – Larry Kramer
When fox is a thousand – larissa lai
The fox – d.h. Lawrence
Confessions of a mask – yukio mishima
The prices of salt – Patricia highsmith
Brokeback mountain- annie proulx
Desert of the heart- Jane rule
A little life – hanya yanagihara
Anything Sara waters
Anything valerie Taylor
The swimming pool library – Alan hollinghurst
Notes on a crocadile – qui miaojin
Anything gale Wilhelm
Rubufruit jungle – rita mae brown
If you like plays then
Angel’s in America- Tony Kushner
Bent – Martin Sherman
The normal heart – Larry Kramer
I collect and study:) so this is a sampling of different eras and countries:)
I’m glad someone is covering the classics.
Thanks and I’m taking some writers from your list…
The Heart’s Invisible Furies, Simon and the Homosapians Agenda,
“Ethan of Athos” by Lois McMaster Bujold
“The Left Hand Of Darkness” by Ursula K. Le Guin
“Merro Tree” by Katie Waitman
“Bone Dance: A Fantasy for Technophiles” by Emma Bull
“Glory Season” by David Brin
“Wild Magic” by Jo Clayton (the whole Wild Magic series)
I can give you some authors: Nicola Griffith, Eleanor Arnason, Rachel Pollack, Katherine V. Forrest, Samuel R. Delany, and Lee Killough.
Katherine v Forrest has some excellent books:) oh and Lillian Faderman has some great books on lesbian history and she’s edited some fantastic anthologies. Also pretty much anything published by Naiad Press:)
Samuel Delaney is a fascinating person on his own…let alone the writing
He is one of my favorite authors.
I’m struggling with dhalgren um about half way through and parts are incredible and others just leave me scratching my head.
Dhalgren is very dense. I think that is because it is meant to be. There is a scene where two characters talk about how often they meet, one meets the other every day, the other can go days with out seeing them. That can only be possible if time is moving at wildly different rates for the two of them.
There is lots of evidence that time is moving at different rates in different parts of the city.
And everything is so subjective. The same events are shown from different perspectives and we are not told which is “true”.
Many scenes are played repeatedly from different perspectives. There is a scene in the beginning of the book where the main character is crossing a bridge in the fog and meets a group of women going in the opposite direction. At the end of the book the main character is with a group of men crossing the same bridge and they meet a woman going in the opposite direction and it is a line for line repetition of the first scene from opposite perspective. He does that a lot.
I like it…but in small doses. The brother just fell/was pushed down the elevator shaft and I needed a break. There was a graphic novel written about Delany and his partner called Bread and Wine which was very interesting. Delaney’s obsession with filth is good for thought.
I have “Bread and Wine”. I didn’t consider it an “obsession with filth”, I thought of it as “gritty realism”. That kind of sexual fetish is explored explicitly in the Nevèrÿon series.
I’ll have to read those.
They are much more like traditional fiction. Although the back matter on my copy of the first book makes it sound like a traditional sword and sorcery novel. Anyone expecting a traditional sword and sorcery novel would be gravely disappointed. There is an appendix called “An Introduction to Modular Calculus Part 1” That is not an introduction to modular calculus and seems to be another work of fiction posing as anthropological field diaries. One of the other books in the series is half appendix about living through the AIDS epidemic in NYC. But it is all very readable.
Delany definitely has a fetish for gnarly hands with bitten fingernails. They show up in a lot of his stories.
Thank you! I’m adding all this to my list for the next book trip
I love Robin Talley too! I recommend Everything Leads To You by Nina LaCour, If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo and All Out by Saundra Mitchell which actually includes a short story by Robin Talley too! ?
I Hate Everyone But You by Allison Raskin and Gaby Dunn
Gender Warriors: The Next Generation by Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman
A Quick & Easy Guide To They/Them Pronouns by Archie Bongiovanni and Tristan Jimerson
Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg
Super Late Bloomer: My Early Days In Transition by Julia Kaye
The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent Of Angels In America by Isaac Butler and Dan Kois
Anything by Becky Albertalli. Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Leah on the Offbeat, The Upside of Unrequited.
I second the Becky Albertalli recs — Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda & Leah on the Offbeat were great. TJ Klune is fantastic — Bear, Otter, and The Kid is one of my favorite books. Love all the books in that series! He’s also a laugh-out-loud kind of funny, which I love. Him (and its sequel Us) by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy were also great. The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne was epic.
KJ Charles’ m/m historical romances are all made of sheer awesome. For f/f, Elyse Springer’s Thaw is a very lovely library romance.
Written on the body – Jeanette Winterson
That was quite interesting.
For those who haven’t read it. It is first person narration and you do not know what the gender of the narrator is, ever. Which is pretty interesting during the sex scenes.
Will grayson by John Green
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.
Anything Adam Silvera writes.
Everything Leads To You by Nina LaCour, so fluffy, happy, creative and simply wonderful.
Manna Francis- The Administration series, Marquesate & Voinov – Special Forces
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23446017-a-call-to-arms this book was pretty good