Book picks similar to
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Christmas Lights
Amelia Andrews - 2019
New home. New job. New town. She's moved in with her politically-active best friend from university who has promised to find Millie a date before Christmas. When news that the local head of the council, Nightmare Nightingale, has decided that there will be no Christmas tree in the town centre that year, Millie is quick to pick up a placard and join the protests. After all, what is Christmas without a tree? But Millie soon discovers that Professor Kay Nightingale isn't quite the nightmare she is painted to be. What will happen when Millie gets closer to Kay? How will she explain the confusing relationship to her friends? And will there be a Christmas tree in the end?
Breathing Underwater
Lu Vickers - 2007
One roots for Lily as one does for Huck Finn. This beautifully written debut novel explores the fragile links between a girl’s growing awareness of her sexuality and the far-reaching effects this has upon her family.”—Pamela Ball, author of Lava and The Floating City"Lu Vickers is an exquisite writer. Her work can be, at once, poetic, sharp, hilarious, and relentlessly moving. In Breathing Underwater, she investigates, with keen insight, the legacies of guilt, the intricacies of the mother-daughter relationship, and the complexities of budding sexuality. A stunning, rich, and haunting debut." --Julianna Baggott, best-selling author of Girl Talk, The Madam, and Lizzie Borden in LoveIn 1970s Chattahoochee, Florida, where the main employer is a mental institution, it’s sink or swim for Lily. When her mama, a former beauty queen who once dreamt of being Miss Florida, takes Lily and her siblings fishing one morning, Lily nearly drowns while her mother looks on, “weighing her gains against her losses.” Lily proves to be a survivor, which she will need to prove again and again, as she struggles to stay afloat amidst her mother’s slow mental deterioration, her first love, and her quest to come to terms with who she is and what she wants from this crazy world. With lyrical prose, Lu Vickers gives voice to Lily’s inner soul, and in turn reveals how universal our needs and desires are.
1979: A Big Year in a Small Town
Rhona Cameron - 2003
An evocative, moving and at times hilarious true-life story about growing up gay in a small town, finding out you're adopted, and losing your father at the age of fourteen. Always an outsider, the Rhona of 1979 was desperate to fit in at any cost, and here lies the bittersweet humour. At the heart of the book is the Clubhouse, a place that symbolises all that is normal, happy, and secure. And behind the club, outside, Rhona and her friends are smoking, fighting, kissing and drinking. In this darkly funny and deeply biographical first book, Rhona Cameron takes us back to a year when everything seemed to change. A new British government came to power, the Eighties were approaching and at times life felt so precarious that it really looked like she and her family might never make it through the next year, let alone the next decade.
Seven Moves
Carol Anshaw - 1988
Forging a trail that leads into the heart of Morocco, Seven Moves tracks Christine's gradual recognition that no one can ever really know another's soul. Bearing Anshaw's trademark style -funny, hip, and laser-sharp -this is "a tightly told tale that resists the bookmark as well as any thriller" (Chicago Sun-Times). A Reader's Guide is now available.
Twentysix
Jonathan Kemp - 2011
In each chapter, titled after a letter of the alphabet, an anonymous narrator details his experiences, travelling to cruising grounds and sex clubs, exploring the boundaries of sex, desire, pleasure, and the body, while reflecting on the limits of language and the act of writing.In the tradition of Georges Bataille, Kathy Acker and Jean Genet, these pieces take us to places language doesn't often go. Kemp powerfully stages a series of anonymous encounters, describing the relentless pursuit of sexual pleasure with luminous intensity, while at the same time facing the impossibility of capturing the moments he describes. This is a bold and challenging work, unashamedly sensual and searching. Kemp beautifully counterpoises explicit description with a searing interrogation of the extreme measures taken in the quest for sexual fulfillment.
Touchdown Hero
Rachel Maldonado - 2016
She is living out her dream of playing football on an all women's football team while attending a four year college to become a school teacher. With all of her time being split in several directions between schoolwork, practice, homework, and football games, she never thought she would meet a woman where and when she least expected it. Holly Larson was perfect. Sweet, smart, beautiful and at the right time at the right place. She's everything that Charlie could ever want or hope for, but is she too good to be true? If you're a fan of Rachel Maldonado's other books, you'll want to add this one to your collection!
Pray the Gay Away
Michael Zakar - 2017
Coming out is hard. The struggle is ongoing, a daily part of life whether to a new friend, a co-worker, or most importantly yourself. Pray the Gay Away chronicles Michael and Zach as they face awkward sexual encounters, drug-fueled escapades, coming out to each other, and their biggest foe - Mom, a woman who not only gave birth to what she calls one regret - but two. The memoir hilariously and poignantly explores what it’s like growing up as gay, Iraqi twins in modern America. Pray the Gay Away was inspired the night Mom snuck into their bedroom and force fed them “holy grapes,” determined to “de-gay” them. The Zakar Twins are new voices speaking out against generations, particularly within the Iraqi culture, who look down on being gay. This book is not only for the LBGTQ community, but for young adults, looking to achieve normalcy.
What We Lost
Dale Peck - 2003
In What We Lost, a story that startles in its immediacy and lack of sentimentality, Dale Peck refracts his father's past through the prism of his own vivid imagination, forging a bridge between generations and revealing the dark secrets at the heart of family.
Privateer
Robin Roseau - 2013
Along with her brother's wife and children, she finds herself held hostage for ransom aboard the privateer Fleetwind. Sorri Westmere, captain of the Fleetwind, sets out to tame the fiery redhead, but she is soon captivated herself.Striving to teach Rani that being a hostage isn't as bad as it might sound, Sorri learns that perhaps her choice of careers is an impediment to personal happiness.Privateer is a fantasy novel of 140,000 words and is the first in the Five Kingdoms series.
All The Way Dead
Stephen E. Stanley - 2013
Danny Black doesn’t exist. Danny Black is, in reality, anthropology professor Luke Littlefield. After moving to West Hollywood to teach, Luke realizes that no one takes pretty boys seriously. As Luke says, no one has ever asked him how many college degrees he has when he’s standing shirtless at a photo shoot. Luke puts on thick glasses and baggy clothing to appear more professional. Life seems routine and safe, that is until he meets British film star Ian Stoddard. Luke admits that he has no idea who Ian is, and Ian finds that fact appealing.When a decades old murder is uncovered at the college, Luke and his anthropology students take the opportunity to construct a case study. Can Luke maintain his two separate identities and solve a decades old murder, or will it all blow up in his face?
Chonburi International Hotel & Butterfly Club
Shakina Nayfack - 2020
Despite the group’s warm welcome, Kina (Nayfack) prepares for her life-altering operation all alone. But a caring nurse (Ivory Aquino), a wise couple (Kate Bornstein and Annie Golden), and a karaoke-loving bellhop (Telly Leung) may be exactly who she needs to ignite her truest sense of self. WTF Associate Artistic Director Laura Savia directs this spirited comedy about a woman who tests the bonds of an unlikely sisterhood.The playwright wishes to thank The Drama League's Beatrice Terry Residency, Daryl Roth, Natasha Sinha, Beehive Dramaturgy Studio, Playwrights Horizons, Rachel Jett, Daryl Roth, and the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center’s National Theatre Institute.Note: This play contains mature themes and language.
Rushes
John Rechy - 1981
Over the course of a single evening, an extraordinary range of characters passes through the Rushes, creating an unforgettable mosaic of individuals and constructing an ephemeral community. The descent into the depths of a sexual world culminates with one of the most shattering experiences in recent fiction. Out of the lives he explores, Rechy distills a moving human experience that will leave few readers untouched" -- Page 4 of cover.
Watermelon Nights
Greg Sarris - 1998
Johnny is trying to organize the remaining members of his displaced tribe; at the same time he contemplates leaving his grandmother's home for the big city. As the novel shifts perspective, tracing the controversial history of the tribe, we learn how the tragic events of Elba's childhood, as well as Iris's attempts to separate herself from her cultural roots, make Johnny's dilemma all the more difficult. Gritty yet rich in detail and emotion, Watermelon Nights stands beside the novels of Louise Erdrich, Michael Dorris, and Sherman Alexie as an important work not only in Native American literature, but in contemporary American fiction.
Becoming Chloe
Catherine Ryan Hyde - 2006
He's on his own in New York City. Nobody to depend on; nobody depending on him. And it's been working fine.Until this girl comes along. She's 18 and blond and pretty--her world should be perfect. But she's seen things no one should ever see in their whole life--the kind of things that break a person. She doesn't seem broken, though. She seems . . . innocent. Like she doesn't know a whole lot. Only sometimes she does.The one thing she knows for sure is that the world is an ugly place. Now her life may depend on Jordy proving her wrong. So they hit the road to discover the truth--and there's no going back from what they find out.This deeply felt, redemptive novel reveals both the dark corners and hidden joys of life's journey--and the remarkable resilience of the human soul.