(Note: This page is no longer being updated. I occasionally talk about books at my LiveJournal, though.)
The Charioteer, by Mary Renault
An oldie (1952) but goodie. It's the earliest gay love story that I know of with a happy ending. The novel is set in a British military hospital during the Second World War. Our hero, wounded soldier Laurie Odell, has to choose between two love affairs, one ideal but platonic, the other flawed but passionate. Renault spends a certain amount of time explaining why homosexuality isn't evil (it was the 1950s, after all) but you can ignore most of that, and you're rewarded with subtle, wonderful characterization and writing that's beautifully austere.
The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
A marvelous romp of a book, set in an alternative England where literature is taken very, very seriously. No slashiness here, but a darn good read, especially if you're a booklover. The sequel, Lost in a Good Book, is also interesting but not as delightful as the first one.
As Meat Loves Salt, by Maria McCann
A stunning, beautiful, tragic story, set in England in the 1640s, during the Civil War. The protagonist is a deeply disturbed young man who finds himself falling in love with another young man in the army. Circumstances are very much against them, and so are the obsessions and jealousies of the protagonist. A must-read.
Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, and The Ghost Road, by Pat Barker
An amazing trilogy set during the First World War. Barker's protagonists include real people (the poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon and the psychiatrist William Rivers) and fictional ones, all of whom meet up at a military hospital for shellshocked officers. Barker tells a fantastic story that deals with Big Issues. Do not miss these.
A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters, by Julian Barnes
A set of interconnected short stories by a master of contemporary fiction. As the title suggests, Barnes retells world history, from Noah's Ark to infinity, with many odd little stops in between.
Close Range, by Annie Proulx
I'm recommending this mostly for the sake of a single story, "Brokeback Mountain," which is about a twenty-year love affair between two cowboys that neither of them quite understands until it's too late. If you don't cry reading this, you're tougher than I am.
The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare
Sure, Shakespeare hardly needs my vote, but what the hell. This play is my own personal favorite. Shakespeare deals in complicated ways here with issues of power, money, anti-Semitism, and love both homoerotic and heteroerotic. And it's a cracking good story.
Home