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Germanicus
Dec 16, 2007, 9:26 AM
All,

I've just taken over the running of my local LGBT reading group by being the only person who bothered to turn up to the outgoing co-ordinator's last meeting. Shocking, I know, but if I don't do something it will disappear and the Barbarians on the Scene will have won ...

So, whilst I am waiting for the handover of the reading lists from previous years, I would like to hear site member's suggestions for reading material. The requirments are very simple:

1. Books can be fiction or non-fiction

2. Books must feature LGBT characters and themes either centrally or incidentally - we've covered the works ranging from Colm Toibin to "Fried Green Tomatoes at The Whistle Stop Cafe" to Oscar Wilde.

No sensible suggestions refused
ladymozart
Dec 16, 2007, 10:17 AM
There is a new book out called Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides(sp?) about a trans person it is supposed to be quiet good it was an Oprah book so It comes highly reccomended.
I am on the waiting list at the library for it.
I am sure I know of more but it is too early in the morning to think so I will let you know if I think of more.
good luck
Ladymozart:three:
oceans
Dec 16, 2007, 5:45 PM
I just finished reading "The Landing" by Emma Donahue (spelling??).

Really enjoyed it, was able to relate to the characters in the book to a degree. Was always wondering what was going to happen next to them.
Skater Boy
Dec 16, 2007, 6:06 PM
Try "A Beautiful Mind" by Sylvia Nasar. Its the biography of the Nobel Prize winning bisexual mathematician John Forbes Nash. It was also made into a Hollywoood movie featuring Russell Crowe, so a comparison of the two might be appropriate.

http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Mind-Mathematical-Genius-Laureate/dp/0743224574/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197842251&sr=1-2

Other than that, how about "Bi Any Other Name" which deals specifically with Bisexual people's real-life issues.

http://www.amazon.com/Bi-Any-Other-Name-Bisexual/dp/1555831745/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197842295&sr=1-1

Or, Carl Jung's "Aspects Of The Feminine" which is really more concerned with gender studies, but might prove enlightening if your group care about the subject matter.

http://www.amazon.com/Aspects-Feminine-Routledge-Classics-Jung/dp/0415307708/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197842386&sr=1-1

Lastly, Erich Fromm's classic "The Art Of Loving" doesn't deal "specifically" with LGBT issues, but the theme of Love (in its various forms) is really quite relevant to most (if not ALL) of us.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Loving-Erich-Fromm/dp/0061129739/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197842424&sr=1-1

:2cents:
HennaHunny
Dec 16, 2007, 6:47 PM
Just be ''people'' and read books.....do we really want to start labelling books as right for straight, gay or bisexual people, on a separate basis!
jamiehue
Dec 16, 2007, 10:51 PM
augusten burroughs books im sure many on site would enjoy.
Germanicus
Dec 17, 2007, 5:37 PM
Just be ''people'' and read books.....do we really want to start labelling books as right for straight, gay or bisexual people, on a separate basis!

The whole point of the reading group is to give people an alternative to the drudgery of the scene in Blackpool by providing a means by which they might make sense of their life and experiences through reading about other LGBT folk in fact and fiction.
DiamondDog
Dec 17, 2007, 6:14 PM
Bret Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero.
shameless agitator
Dec 17, 2007, 9:47 PM
Try "A Beautiful Mind" by Sylvia Nasar. Its the biography of the Nobel Prize winning bisexual mathematician John Forbes Nash. It was also made into a Hollywoood movie featuring Russell Crowe, so a comparison of the two might be appropriate.

http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Mind-Mathematical-Genius-Laureate/dp/0743224574/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197842251&sr=1-2

I'm a bit confused by this one. Was Nash bi? I've never read the book, only saw the movie. I didn't see anything there to indicate he was anything but straight though. I would recommend A Home At The End Of The World. Can't remember the author off hand though.
Fire Lotus
Dec 17, 2007, 10:57 PM
I'm a bit confused by this one. Was Nash bi? I've never read the book, only saw the movie. I didn't see anything there to indicate he was anything but straight though. I would recommend A Home At The End Of The World. Can't remember the author off hand though.

The author of "A home at the end of the world" is Michael Cunningham. I didn't read the book, but the movie was exelent. Now I want to find the book.

If I remember correctly, in the book, "A beautiful mind", it was implied that John Nash was bi. But you are right, it was left out of the movie.
HennaHunny
Dec 17, 2007, 10:58 PM
The whole point of the reading group is to give people an alternative to the drudgery of the scene in Blackpool by providing a means by which they might make sense of their life and experiences through reading about other LGBT folk in fact and fiction.

Never been 'to' blackpool....only througt it...once...that was enough......i prefer more cultured areas of the world......like...say...the rest of lancashire!
HennaHunny
Dec 17, 2007, 11:03 PM
The whole point of the reading group is to give people an alternative to the drudgery of the scene in Blackpool by providing a means by which they might make sense of their life and experiences through reading about other LGBT folk in fact and fiction.

you.could try villette...bronte......all the austens.........barbara trapido is a good writer...and still alive.........or the history of the rothschilds....very interesting!!!!!......and on and on and on...oh erewhon.......di da di da!
Azrael
Dec 17, 2007, 11:17 PM
Other than that, how about "Bi Any Other Name" which deals specifically with Bisexual people's real-life issues.

http://www.amazon.com/Bi-Any-Other-Name-Bisexual/dp/1555831745/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197842295&sr=1-1

This one helped me quite a bit. Highly recommended.
HennaHunny
Dec 18, 2007, 1:39 AM
.......and poetry.........non gender or sexual orientation specific...........Rupert Annuals......The Dandy (a magazine for children of all ages), I Claudius, and Claudius the God, The Old Man And The Sea, Pickles the Pony follows his nose, Hello, Aren't We A Great Human Race, Cooking for one, The Diary Of Anne Frank, Little Women, Jo's boys, Little Men, What katy Did, What Katy Did Next, What Katie Did at School, Alive! Escape from the Andes.........Biographies, Autobiographies, Books about History......Art.....The World, Nature, Travel.....
Skater Boy
Dec 18, 2007, 5:37 AM
If I remember correctly, in the book, "A beautiful mind", it was implied that John Nash was bi. But you are right, it was left out of the movie.

Yes, exactly. It is reasonably well documented that Nash engaged in what could be considered "homosexual relations", and these are mentioned in the book. However, since it was a "Hollywood Movie" (and because Nash himself has not openly admitted to them) they were omitted from the film. Interestingly enough, the movie makes Nash out to be be quite a loveable character, where as in real life, he was a bit an... asshole. Anyway, for all of the above reasons, I thought this story might warrant study.
shameless agitator
Dec 18, 2007, 3:45 PM
I can't believe I didn't think of this before. Armistead Maupin's "Tales of The City" Series. There are like 7 of them, but they're wonderful & each book pretty well stands on it's own.
MarieDelta
Dec 19, 2007, 8:13 AM
I would propose a couple of books_

"Shes Not There" Jennifer Boyland (its a biography of a transpersons life)

"My Husband Betty" - Helen Boyd (mostly about Male to female crossdressers, another part of the transgender community)

"Shes Not The Man I Married" - Helen Boyd ( a transpersons spouse's perspective)

"Stone Butch Blues" - Leslie Fienberg


I think that should do it for now. If I think of any others that I like, I'll be sure to post'em.




Fwiw- "Middlesex" is about an intersexed person , not a trans person.