LGBT Library - Books and Movies

diddlybit

Do you have one? (Mods- if this is better suited to Literature forum please move, though I think I may get a better response here. )

I have a collection of LGBT books, but unfortunately in recent years it's been sadly neglected. Some of these books I read over and over again, and have helped me realise my identity and abolished those feelings of being completely isolated when growing up gay in a small, backward little Irish town. And there are others that remind me of my first relationships and had a particular resonace as I came out to myself and others.

Here are a couple that mean a lot to me:

Jeffery Euginides- Middlesex (have read so many times that I've lost count)
Jeanette Winterson- Written on the Body and The Powerbook (Began reading these in a special but difficult time of my life)
Alison Bechdel- Dykes to Watch Out For and Funhouse (Read these in very happy times of my life)
Jean Genet- Our Lady of the Flowers (reminds me of how playful sexuality and gender can be)
Judith Butler- Gender Trouble (non-fiction but completly changed my perception of life)
Eric Marcus- Is it a Choice? Answers to 300 of the Most Frequently Asked Questions about Gays and Lesbian People (Found this in a second hand bookshop in a small country town when I was fifteen. Snuck it into my house and it became my bible.)
GCN- (Not a book but discovering it in our local library at 15 made me feel a little less alone. I used to pretend to read the encycolpedias and put it on top of them, so noone would see me reading it. :rolleyes:)

Books that I am ashamed to not have read yet -
Rita Mae Brown- Rubyfruit Jungle
Leslie Feinburg- Stone Butch Blues
Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series
More Kathy Acker

Everyone's been discussing Oscar Wilde and Lacey's book recently and it made me think of these books and my sadly neglected LGBT reading lists. So to get it back on track I'm looking for recommendations from people for books that, to an extent, (overly dramatic here), changed your life.

L.Jenkins

From my own limited reading list:

'His Name is Rebecca' - Rebecca De Havaland
'Whipping Girl' - Julia Serano
And a collection of Irish coming out stories, can't think of the editor.

Chuchoter

diddlybit wrote: »

Jeffery Euginides- Middlesex (have read so many times that I've lost count)

This is actually my all time favorite book, its so beautifully written and is an incredible story. I cried my way through it.

Otherwise I've only read a few LGBT books like Annie On My Mind and Keeping You a Secret but tbh neither of them were very good.

I'd say this would be my other favorite, its like someone wrote a book about my life, like every single aspect of that book is just so much like my own (except my dads not a mortician, but all the other parts!)

baby and crumble

I went through a HUUUUUUUUUGE phase of reading lots of gay (mostly lesbian) books. Man, some of them were awful.

BUT here are a few of the best ones. They are (IMHO) mandatory for any self-respecting book lover. (you really don't have to be gay!)

1) Tipping the Velvet- Sarah Waters.

2) The Night Watch- Sarah Waters (seriously fantastic book)

3) Hood/ Stir-Fry- Emma Donoghue. (These ones did change the way I looked at myself and who I was, as a questioning 19 year old living in Dublin for the 1st time, in particular Stir-Fry. Every lesbian in Ireland needs to read these two books. They made me feel far less alone as a teenager and running stuff through in my head. You probably don't even have to be a lesbian to appreciate them)

4) Oranges are not the Only Fruit- Jeanette Winterson

5) A Village Affair- Joanne Trollope. (This is a funny one, actually. Not funny ha-ha. It's by a proper old fashioned chick-lit author, one that mothers all over the country loved to read in the early 90's- it was one of my mothers favourite books, even before I came out. I think it has helped a lot of Irish mammy's to realise that sometimes you just fall in love, and it can't be helped, and really- is it such a big deal?)

Loving this thread!!!

diddlybit

crayolastereo wrote: »

I'd say this would be my other favorite, its like someone wrote a book about my life, like every single aspect of that book is just so much like my own (except my dads not a mortician, but all the other parts!)

Lol. Knew I should have double- checked the name before I wrote about it. Thanks. It's just great though, but I'm not sure if I should be concerned that your life is so like her experineces. :eek:

@zoegh. I love Waters too, though wasn't the greatest fan of The Night-Watch. Fingersmith is great too. Will definately pick up the Donoghue books, I've only read Room so far. Well impressed with it.

Aoifums

Is it really bad to say I've never read a single book mentioned in this thread I'm not even sure if I've read an LGBT themed book.
I haven't been to the library in a couple of years and before that I was on first name terms with the librarians so I would have been really awkward about borrowing one when I was younger.

Booon

Great suggestions.. I remember reading Stir Fry years ago, twas the first lgbt-themed book I read Must track down Hood! I recommend Biography of Desire by Mary Dorcey..

Annasopra

Aoifums wrote: »

Is it really bad to say I've never read a single book mentioned in this thread I'm not even sure if I've read an LGBT themed book.
I haven't been to the library in a couple of years and before that I was on first name terms with the librarians so I would have been really awkward about borrowing one when I was younger.

No, but you still can. If You're worried about your own library join the Ilac one

TylerIE

Outhouse has a massive range of LGBT Books, AFAIK The Lesbian section is even bigger than the gay one...

They have novels/ fiction etc as well as many devoted to particular issues.

AFAIK there is no fee and they can be borrowed for three weeks, or there is comfortable seating in the library itself or the cafe below.

Aishae

i havent really read any books on the topic... but i have recently read a few chick lit style novellas on lesbian affairs - they were really bad and im pretty sure they were written by people who havent a clue about what it is to be gay because they arent gay but hold fantasies about it. a very annoying amount of sex in them but sure i suppose most chicky novellas tend to lean that way.

i just downloaded some of those sarah waters books mentioned.
most of the ones on the thread dont seem to be on ebook but i havet checked amazon yet.

LegacyUser

zoegh wrote: »

1) Tipping the Velvet- Sarah Waters.

2) The Night Watch- Sarah Waters (seriously fantastic book)

I haven't read either of these particular books but I have read "Fingersmith" by the same author Sarah Waters. I thought it was a fantastic read and I would recommend it, not only for LGBT content but on a number of levels.

Rachiee

I didnt really like the night watch either loved fingersmith and tipping the velvet. Tallaght library are ver open and supportive ree:lgbt books but I always went to outhouse

One of my favourite lgbt books is maurice its brilliant

baby and crumble

Chapters is a great spot for LGBT books, they have a decent selection I always found, especially since they've moved to that big new store on Parnell St.

Aishae

does anyone have books (LGBT) that theyd recommend? i read all sorts but i like a spot of erotica as well as fiction, factual and history (note - not just lesbian stuff -- LGBT!)

im really looking to get stuff i can put on my kindle e-reader and most LGBT books are not available as ebooks. but some are
i got some of sarah waters (or is it walters) - tipping the velvet, fingersmith as zoe suggested in another thread

this thread may be of interest to most of us as well

Freiheit

I've just bought Terrible Queer Creatures, by Brian Lacey,very expensice E27, a History of Homosexuality in Ireland.

Whipping Girl by Julia Serano is the best Transgender themed book I've read and I've read a lot of them.

Links234

On the T side of things

Julia Serano's Whipping Girl, A Transsexual Woman On Sexism And The Scapegoating of Femininity

and Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher, which is fiction, started off a bit dull but really picked up and had my in absolute tears by the end.

dreamer_ire

Can't go wrong with Emma Donoghue, read Landing last weekend and loved it. The Sealed Letter is next on my list.

Asry

ooooo Almost Perfect sounds great. There's a book written by this photographer dude about his relationship with Michael Stipe from R.E.M. although it's never explicitly named him, but like, he's a singer in a famous band from Athens, Georgia and has other stuff in it just about his life and stuff.

It's called Outline of my Lover and it's by Douglas Martin, and amazon has it priced at £58.98 (for a used copy?). I don't know why it's so dear. But I want it so bad. Can we have a whipround or something? :pac: Although I'm getting paid soon....

TylerIE

Asry wrote: »

ooooo Almost Perfect sounds great. There's a book written by this photographer dude about his relationship with Michael Stipe from R.E.M. although it's never explicitly named him, but like, he's a singer in a famous band from Athens, Georgia and has other stuff in it just about his life and stuff.

It's called Outline of my Lover and it's by Douglas Martin, and amazon has it priced at £58.98 (for a used copy?). I don't know why it's so dear. But I want it so bad. Can we have a whipround or something? :pac: Although I'm getting paid soon....

Abebooks has it for slightly cheaper - £35 + £11 postage. I assume high price as its in demand and out of print?

Its also available for about $55 + Shipping from the States. Add Shipping of approx $15 thats about €48 so slightly cheaper than the UK!

Edit: I cant get it cheaper anywhere I'm afraid! Had a look around there...
There was an Indian supplier for €15 who strictly will only post within India

Asry

Ah you're a legend. I should take you shopping with me always!

baby and crumble

I will ALWAYS recommend Sarah Waters, in particular The Night Watch, it's mega. I also recommended Emma Donoghues Stir-Fry and Hood over in that thread, they're wonderful.

If you like biographies, I'd highly recommend "The Fry Chronicles" by Stephen Fry and "Society's Child" by Janis Ian. Fry we all know, but if you're into American folk or just awesome music in general, Janis Ian was a contemporary of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin in the 60's and 70's. Her autobiography is really well written and chronicles a lot of that time, plus her struggles with her sexuality and eventual coming out and marriage to a woman. Also have a look at "Unbearable Lightness", by Portia di Rossi. It's a really moving account of eating disorders and mental health issues, and it's underpinned again by her gay identity and the issues that caused in Hollywood.

God, I miss reading for pleasure.

kiwipower

There was a good thread here on a Gay Library of books and critics.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056230016

This was the thread LGBT Library. Maybe a Mod could combine??

I was thinking maybe a sticky on books/DVDs etc. Both resource and fiction would be great? What do others think??

hare05

Links234 wrote: »

On the T side of things

Julia Serano's Whipping Girl, A Transsexual Woman On Sexism And The Scapegoating of Femininity

and Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher, which is fiction, started off a bit dull but really picked up and had my in absolute tears by the end.

Been looking for Almost Perfect in the shops but I can't find it anywhere. Amazon only?

diddlybit

I love these threads.

For factual/theory books my favourite's have had to have been-

Judith Butler- Gender Trouble
Jack Halberstam- Female Masculinity
Michael Warner- The Trouble with Normal
Lillian Faderman: Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers
Majorie Garber: Vice/Versa
Michael Signorile: Queer in America

The Gay and Lesbian Studies Reader is a monster of a book, but great as well.

Freiheit

I think a sticky would be a good idea Kiwi.

I'm currently reading 'Telefonate mit Denise' in German , Denise, formerly Mike tells her story, growing up in the former East Germany, far more tolerant the West apparently. Sad to hear of the covert discrimination she received in her job as a nurse from patients and staff. She wrote of one passage where a patient asked for someone else to take their blood pressure. She eventually quits her job as a nurse. It's easy to forget when your amongst friends how tough it can be out there, especially was for her during her real life experience.

http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/images/3896028200/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=299956&s=books

A good Irish Trans book is 'His name is Rebecca'

http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/images/1842234447/ref=dp_image_z_0?ie=UTF8&n=299956&s=books

Have a book on LGBT in Islam ordered. Might not be obvious but Islam has it's lgbt advocates, including some clerics. Iran has the seconf highest rate of gender reassignment in the world. Sadly for the purpose of making homosexual couples hetero as homosexuality is punishable by death.

Oh and for a non-binary, gender queering perspective and a lot of history, try Transgender Warriors http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/images/0807079413/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=52044011&s=books-intl-de
Written by a legal woman who had hormonal treatment to grow a beard and to fit in but never legally changes her identity or has any surgeries, identifies as neither male nor female, has often worked as a man but legally remains a woman.

diddlybit

Not quite a book, but a blog. I'm not sure how many of you guys are familiar with this girl's comedic genius, but here it is. (Most I should say.)

http://www.effingdykes.blogspot.com/

By the way NSFW, which makes it even more fun.

Kanoe

all I have to add are Sarah waters stuff (fingersmith, affinity & TTv) and a couple of issues of Diva :P...cultured I am.

kiwipower

My partners is partial to Len Barot Radclyffe american lesbian romance paperbacks, she turns them out on double quick time! I find RedHotDiva and Amazon LGBT section where I start all searches from.

I have a load of trashy (but good) Lesbian books at home but cant think of the names at present!

L.Jenkins

His name is Rebecca - Rebecca De Havalland
Irish Coming Out Stories - Can't think of the Editior who compiled it, but I found it in the library and it was a great read.

Must buy some more lgbt books online, because the local library seems to have an extremely limited amount for its size.

Freiheit

You know I'm really a printed word addict. I often get good deals on used books in very good condition on Amazon so doesn't cost me a fortune. That new 02 prepaid Visa card has been a revelation for me. Laser is generally only accepted within Ireland, 3V was costly and cumbersome.

There's one or two to avoid as well but I don't want to end up in the courts!:)

The only good lgbt library I know of is in Outhouse. I'd like to start reading more lgb books , am overweight from my diet of T!

Freiheit

Any suggestions for such? I'm deliberately excluding T despite being T myself because I've got about 20 such books already and need no more. I'm actually interested in establishing a book club at home and while I'm well endowned with 't' titles,I'm much less so with lgb,obviously there is frequent overlaps.

Annasopra

Freiheit wrote: »

Any suggestions for such? I'm deliberately excluding T despite being T myself because I've got about 20 such books already and need no more. I'm actually interested in establishing a book club at home and while I'm well endowned with 't' titles,I'm much less so with lgb,obviously there is frequent overlaps.

Just to let you know I merged this with 2 older threads

Moon Indigo

I am a mature student (so poor:P) and on placement in Dublin so am up and down each day. Can anyone recommend the best and cheapest place to buy/rent good lesbian themed books? I read 'the sealed letter' its okay but after reading Emma's other books would not highly recommend it. To me seemed like a Sarah Waters novel written in the style of Emma Donoghue. If anyone has read it they may understand what I mean.

baby and crumble

Not a great selection in the shops tbh. Chapters down on Parnell St is generally good for 2nd hand books, and I know they have an LGBT section, but what kind of stuff is there these days I don't know. You're better off getting yourself an o2 debit card, and heading to amazon...

Annasopra

baby and crumble wrote: »

Not a great selection in the shops tbh. Chapters down on Parnell St is generally good for 2nd hand books, and I know they have an LGBT section, but what kind of stuff is there these days I don't know. You're better off getting yourself an o2 debit card, and heading to amazon...

or try Ilac library

Irish Aris

baby and crumble wrote: »

Not a great selection in the shops tbh. Chapters down on Parnell St is generally good for 2nd hand books, and I know they have an LGBT section, but what kind of stuff is there these days I don't know. You're better off getting yourself an o2 debit card, and heading to amazon...

I've been to chapters couple of weeks ago. The LGBT section is not very big, me thinks. Just 2 or 3 shelves. It has fiction, erotica, some essays and coffee table books, but not a very big variety.
I agree with you about the O2 money card. Amazon has many things, also using Foyles (London based bookstore), they have many books as well.

As for reading, Alan Hollinghurst is always a good choice for me. The Swimming Pool Library and the Line of Beauty are great books.
Also I would recommend
-Torn in pieces by Duygu Asena (she was from Turkey, died of cancer couple of years ago)
-At Swim Two Boys by Jamie O Neill (read it years ago, I thought it was very touching)
-A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood.

I have more unread books ata home, so I will let you know if something good comes up.

Baldlydrawnboy

at swim two boys is great, and if you've not checked out the tales of the city then they're an absolute must read - light hearted, very zeitgeisty, but brilliantly written. i vaguely remember watching a tv adaptation as a teenager but keep going back to reread the books because they're just so easy to dip in and out of! also colm toibin's love in a dark time is a very interesting read, picked it up for two quid in 2nd hand bookshop and it's defo worth a read if you come across it!

Freiheit

Can anyone recommend a book that contains individual experiences of being gay? ideally a compilation that I could order from Amazon?. Danke
F:)

L.Jenkins

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/185607...dir_mdp_mobile

Freiheit

Thanks,that's a very expensive book though,too expensive for me E22 plus postage...too much,any others?

wonderfulname

If you're in Dublin get it in ye olde library.

Plek Trum

I second (thrid - fourth?) Sarah Walters and Emma Donoghue - well written and enjoyable, certainly kept me company on occasions when I was sorting myself out ;0) For those of you more inclined to the easier route, many of their books have been made into drama's available on DVD.

If any of you enjoy a look at lesbian culture in the past, I read two very good books, real life stories. The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (also available on DVD)
http://www.play.com/Search.html?searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&searchstring=the+secret+diaries+of+Miss+Anne+Lister

and also 'The Ladies of Llangollen'. http://www.play.com/Search.html?searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&searchstring=the+ladies+of+llangollen

I find www.play.com can be great for LGBT books at a good price, free p&p too.
Nice thread ;0)

kiwipower

I have recently acquired a Kindle. Just wondering can anyone advise on good ebook sites for LGBT ebooks? (especially one that bills in euros) Amazon is doing my nut in, the search function is crap for isolating the good ebooks!

LegacyUser

kiwipower wrote: »

I have recently acquired a Kindle. Just wondering can anyone advise on good ebook sites for LGBT ebooks? (especially one that bills in euros) Amazon is doing my nut in, the search function is crap for isolating the good ebooks!

Isolating good ebooks is an art forum that can take several months or longer to learn, there are so many and it's very easy not to see the forest for the trees. Worth checking some blogs and forums for ebook readers as they are much better at getting rec's then relying on amazon reviews or ratings and alot of them have annual awards lists that are worth checking out.

What types of LGBT books are you looking for? Worth finding publishers that publish stuff you like and check their websites, alot of them sell ebooks direct via their own websites for cheaper. You'll have to dig through alot of smut and bad romance on the likes of amazon - most of it written by straight women for other straight women but there are a few gems in there [highly rec A Strong and Sudden Thaw by R W Day - it's nothing like the amazon description for it and I really enjoyed it] and also some books actually written *shock* by Gay people lol

If you do want some romance or smut I rec http://www.bookstrand.com/ It's in dollars but usually cheaper then amazon. Also TLA url]http://www.tlavideo.com[/url who do alot of LGBT movie releases have a ebook section on their website - I find them a bit more expensive but worth looking through their lists and rec's and then finding them on amazon or bookstrand for cheaper.

floggg

It seems any "gay" books I've seen are either smutty erotic fiction, tales of the "good ole days" before AIDS and decency or biographies of the older generation.

Can anybody recommend any more recent good gay books - fiction or non-fiction which aren't just about sex and would more reflect the modern gay (male)* experience?

* nothing against L, B or T, it's just not really of as much interest to me personally.

LegacyUser

floggg wrote: »

It seems any "gay" books I've seen are either smutty erotic fiction, tales of the "good ole days" before AIDS and decency or biographies of the older generation.

Can anybody recommend any more recent good gay books - fiction or non-fiction which aren't just about sex and would more reflect the modern gay (male)* experience?

* nothing against L, B or T, it's just not really of as much interest to me personally.

There is a good list here of 100 Gay novels - http://www.elisarolle.com/ramblings/top_100_gay_novels.htm

Most have links to a review by the blog owner which are better then most of the amazon descriptions - it's a mixed bag so some smut in there I'm afraid but there are some gems

Irish Aris

I've recently read Jim Grimsley's Comfort and Joy.
Does very well for light reading, but because it explores the connection of the two main male characters with their families, I also found it a bit thought provoking

(spoiler: one guy's family is accepting the couple, the other's not)

periodictable

A boy's own story by Edmund White
Heaven's coast by Mark Doty
Blackwater Lighouse by Colm Toibin
Naked by David Sedaris
Sexual Outlaw by John Rechy
Maurice by EM Forster
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Before night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas
The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren
And anything by Alan Hollinghurst, Derek Jarman, Tony Kushner,David Leavitt, Gore Vidal,Lorca, Susan Sontag, Randy Shilts, Larry Kramer, Susan Sontag,Walt Whitman, Sarah Shulman,Wilde, Coward.....

steel_spine

Can anyone recommend any good sci-fi/fantasy books in this vein? I have to read a lot of serious stuff for uni and I read a lot of science books, so I like to maintain some total escapism for my downtime. I''m not really into fluffy erotica/trashy romance type books, I prefer something with a captivating world.
Seem to be difficult genres to find any LGBT stuff in.

kiwipower

steel_spine wrote: »

Can anyone recommend any good sci-fi/fantasy books in this vein? I have to read a lot of serious stuff for uni and I read a lot of science books, so I like to maintain some total escapism for my downtime. I''m not really into fluffy erotica/trashy romance type books, I prefer something with a captivating world.
Seem to be difficult genres to find any LGBT stuff in.

Not really sure if you would classify them as LGBT, but Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series is a brilliant Fantasy based in what is now modern day France, with a religion based around prostution as part of the plot. There is an openness to all Sexuality with sex scenes of Homosexal and Heterosexual nature through out. Can be a bit fluffy erotica/trashy but I enjoy that about it.

lazorgirl

In One Person, John Irving -main character is Billy Abbot, portrays issues of sexual identity, bisexuality, cross dressing and politics of gender identity in an interesting way. long book but worth the read
The Song of Achilles -Madeline Miller; mainstream soft read but really enjoyed how she explored the sexual & spiritual relationship between Patroclus & Achilles