Top Gay Books of the XXI century
It's that time of the year again, when I update the Top Gay Books List. Some books went up, some went down, and there are many new entries, especially for the second decade of the XXI century.
As usual some "boring" basic rules: the list considers only gay themed books released after January 1, 2000, so you can consider this a Top 100 List of the XXI century. To enter the list I browsed all the LGBTQ publishers I found, considered all the specific awards and all the recommendations from friends. I haven't read ALL the books, like you, I am trying to read as much as possible, but the list is impartial, meaning that if I didn't like a book, or I haven't read it yet, I nevertheless included it in the list.
To decide the ranking I chose to consider the owned copies on LibraryThing, a cataloguing website that seems to be "serious" and of common use. For every author I considered only a book, the one with more owned copies, so the list is more a Top Authors than a Top Books.
The actual list will remain frozen for 1 year, and in September 2015 I will reopened it and track the changes. In the meantime, I will continue to feature authors from this list in my In the Spotlight appointment.
First decade (2000-2009) (All books with links here: http://www.elisarolle.com/ramblings/top_100_gay_novels.html)
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
The Master by Colm Toibin
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
Specimen Days : A Novel by Michael Cunningham
At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson
Melusine by Sarah Monette
Fraud by David Rakoff
The Vesuvius Club: A Bit of Fluff (Lucifer Box Novels) by Mark Gatiss
A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice
Hero by Perry Moore
The Book of Salt by Monique Truong
Untold Stories by Alan Bennett
Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
The Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman
Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger
As Meat Loves Salt (Harvest Original) by Maria McCann
The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant by Dan Savage
Shadows Return by Lynn Flewelling
How I Paid for College by Marc Acito
Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn
My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger
The Misfits by James Howe
The Indian Clerk by David Leavitt
Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite
Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders by Gyles Brandreth
I Am Not Myself These Days: A Memoir (P.S.) by Josh Kilmer-purcell
All Through the Night by Suzanne Brockmann
Carnival by Elizabeth Bear
Havemercy by Jaida Jones
Dramarama by E. Lockhart
My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr
The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd
The Married Man by Edmund White
Freak Show by James St. James
Wicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale
Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford
The World of Normal Boys by K. M. Soehnlein
Mississippi Sissy by Kevin Sessums
The Center of the World by Andreas Steinhofel
Strangers: Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century by Graham Robb
Absolutely Positively Not by David LaRochelle
Alternatives to Sex by Stephen McCauley
Homosexuality and Civilization by Louis Crompton
Without Reservations by J. L. Langley
King and King by Linda de Haan
Cut & Run by Madeleine Urban
Not a Day Goes By : A Novel by E. Lynn Harris
The Coming Storm by Paul Russell
Fatal Shadows by Josh Lanyon
The Year of Ice by Brian Malloy
Comfort and Joy by Jim Grimsley
Leave Myself Behind by Bart Yates
The Last Exit to Normal by Michael Harmon
What They Always Tell Us by Martin Wilson
Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star by Tab Hunter
The Back Passage by James Lear
Sprout by Dale Peck
The Martian Child: A Novel About A Single Father Adopting A Son by David Gerrold
A Strong and Sudden Thaw by R. W. Day
Becoming Chloe by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Point of Dreams (Astreiant) by Melissa Scott
Homophobia: A History by Byrne Fone
The God Eaters by Jesse Hajicek
Now Is the Hour by Tom Spanbauer
The Sluts by Dennis Cooper
Fellow Travelers by Thomas Mallon
That's Revolting!: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens by Kelly Huegel
Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church by Jack Rogers
Out of the Pocket by Bill Konigsberg
The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy by Robert Leleux
Brethren: Raised By Wolves by W. A. Hoffman
Scarlet and the White Wolf by Kirby Crow
The Notorious Dr. August by Christopher Bram
Zero at the Bone by Jane Seville
The Assignment by Evangeline Anderson
The First Verse by Barry McCrea
Vintage by Steve Berman
Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community by Andrew Marin
We Disappear by Scott Heim
The Way of Light (The Chronicles of Magravandias, Book 3) by Storm Constantine
The Abomination by Paul Golding
Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy
Swish: My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever and What Ended Up Happening Instead by Joel Derfner
Oleander House by Ally Blue
When I Knew by Robert Trachtenberg
Gay Life & Culture: A World History by Robert Aldrich
Freaks and Revelations by Davida Wills Hurwin
Bareback by Chris Owen
Amuse Bouche (Russell Quant Mysteries) by Anthony Bidulka
Blue Boy by Rakesh Satyal
False Colors by Alex Beecroft
Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America by Jonathan Rauch
Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai
Tale of Two Summers by Brian Sloan
Edinburgh by Alexander Chee
Another Kind of Cowboy by Susan Juby
Take Me Out: A Play by Richard Greenberg
Posted To Death: A Simon Kirby-Jones Mystery (James, Dean, Simon Kirby-Jones Mystery.) by Dean James
A Secret Edge by Robin Reardon
Collision Course by K A Mitchell
Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969 by William J. Mann
Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film about The Grapes of Wrath by Steven Goldman
Clay's Way by Blair Mastbaum
Vampire Vow by Michael Schiefelbein
Breakfast with Scot by Michael Downing
Queer Street: Rise and Fall of an American Culture, 1947-1985 by James McCourt
Mexican Heat #1 Crimes&Cocktails Series by Laura Baumbach
Dark Reflections by Samuel R. Delany
Love Stories: Sex between Men before Homosexuality by Jonathan Ned Katz
Dear Friends: American Photographs of Men Together, 1840-1918 by David Deitcher
Latter Days by C. Jay Cox
A Son Called Gabriel by Damian McNicholl
Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is by Abigail Garner
Caught Running by Abigail Roux
Crossing Borders by Z. A. Maxfield
Saints of Augustine by P. E. Ryan
Rag and Bone (Henry Rios Mysteries) by Michael Nava
Standish by Erastes
Mind Fuck by Manna Francis
The Kiss Murder by Mehmet Murat Somer
The Bill from My Father: A Memoir by Bernard Cooper
At My Mother's Knee...: and other low joints by Paul O'Grady
My Side of the Story: A Novel by Will Davies
Ransom by Lee Rowan
Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen
The Phoenix by Ruth Sims
7 Days at the Hot Corner by Terry Trueman
Friendly Fire by Patrick Gale
Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry by Evan Wolfson
Losing Matt Shepard by Beth Loffreda
How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity by Michael Cart
Half-Life: A Novel by Aaron Krach
Discreet Young Gentleman by M. J. Pearson
The King by David Feintuch
Out & About Campus: Personal Accounts by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender College Students by Kim Howard
Desert Sons by Mark Kendrick
Back Where He Started by Jay Quinn
A Young Man's Passage by Julian Clary
Bourbon Street Blues by Greg Herren
Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander: A Novel by Ann Herendeen
David Inside Out by Lee Bantle
Avoidance by Michael Lowenthal
Man About Town by Mark Merlis
Going the Other Way: Lessons from a Life In and Out of Major League Baseball by Billy Bean
Camp Hell: A Psycop Novel by Jordan Castillo Price
The Trouble Boy by Tom Dolby
My Best Man by Andy Schell
Lawnboy by Paul Lisicky
Shades of Gray by Brooke McKinley
The Mirror of Love by Alan Moore
No Going Home by T. A. Chase
The Romanian: Story of an Obsession by Bruce Benderson
The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government by David K. Johnson
Someone Killed His Boyfriend by David Stukas
First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery by Scott Sherman
Band Fags! by Frank Anthony Polito
Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback by Susan Stryker
Molly's Family by Nancy Garden
Handyman by Claire Thompson
Can't Buy Me Love by Chris Kenry
Out of the Ordinary: Essays on Growing Up with Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Parents by Noelle Howey
The Children Are Free: Reexamining the Biblical Evidence on Same-sex Relationships by Rev. Jeff Miner
When You Don't See Me by Timothy James Beck
Lake Overturn: A Novel by Vestal Mcintyre
Every Man For Himself by Orland Outland
Tricks of the Trade by Ben Tyler
Queer Jews by David Shneer
Civil Wars: A Battle for Gay Marriage by David Moats
Change of Heart by Mary Calmes
Shameless by Paul Burston
Out of Sync: A Memoir by Lance Bass
The Manny Files by Christian Burch
The Traitor Game by B. R. Collins
Soul Mates: Bound by Blood by Jourdan Lane
Selfish and Perverse by Bob Smith
Fool's Errand by Louis Bayard
Common Sons by Ronald L. Donaghe
The Good Thief by James Buchanan
Broadway Nights: A Romp of Life, Love, and Musical Theatre by Seth Rudetsky
Boy Toy: A Mark Manning Mystery (Mark Manning Mysteries (St. Martin's Paperback)) by Michael Craft
Queer London: Perils and Pleasures in the Sexual Metropolis, 1918-1957 (The Chicago Series on Sexuality, History, and Society) by Matt Houlbrook
The New Gay Teenager (Adolescent Lives) by Ritch C. Savin-Williams
Letters to Montgomery Clift by Noel Alumit
Falling by M. L. Rhodes
Bad Case of Loving You by Laney Cairo
War Boy by Kief Hillsbery
Mahu by Neil S. Plakcy
L.A. Heat by P.A. Brown
Limits of Justice (Benjamin Justice Mysteries) by John Morgan Wilson
Faith for Beginners by Aaron Hamburger
Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East by Brian Whitaker
So Me by Graham Norton
Secrets Of A Gay Marine Porn Star by Rich Merritt
The Velveteen Father: An Unexpected Journey to Parenthood by Jesse Green
The Summer They Came by William Storandt
A Note in the Margin by Isabelle Rowan
The Actor's Guide To Murder by Rick Copp
The Straight Road to Kylie by Nico Medina
Here's What We'll Say: Growing Up, Coming Out, and the U.S. Air Force Academy by Reichen Lehmkul
Bent by Sean Michael
Always My Child: A Parent's Guide to Understanding Your Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, or Questioning Son or Daughter by Kevin Jennings
Bending the Landscape: Horror - Original Gay and Lesbian Writing by Nicola Griffith
Why You Should Give A Damn About Gay Marriage by Davina Kotulski
On Fire by Drew Zachary
The Four Dorothys (Drama!) by Paul Ruditis
Come Out Fighting: A Century of Essential Writing on Gay & Lesbian Liberation by Chris Bull
Any Kind Of Luck by William Jack Sibley
Rough Canvas by Joey W. Hill
Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families under the Law (Queer Ideas) by Nancy D. Polikoff
Tongue Tied by Richard Stevenson
Salvation Army (Semiotext(e) / Native Agents) by Abdellah Taïa
Deadly Nightshade by Victor J. Banis
Men Like Us : The Gmhc Complete Guide to Gay Men's Sexual, Physical, and Emotional Well-Being by Daniel Wolfe
Love Means No Shame by Andrew Grey
Gay Dads: A Celebration of Fatherhood by David Strah
The Desire for Dearborne by V B Kildaire
Bound In Blood: The Erotic Journey of a Vampire by David Thomas Lord
A Strong Hand by Catt Ford
Nothing Pink by Mark Hardy
Man in the Middle by John Amaechi
Hot Sauce by Scott Pomfret
God Says No by James Hannaham
A Fostered Love by Cameron Dane
Whistling in the Dark by Tamara Allen
The Master of Seacliff by Max Pierce
The Conversion by Joseph Olshan
A Push and a Shove: A Novel by Christopher Kelly
Golden Men: The Power of Gay Midlife by Harold Kooden
Evil? by Timothy Carter
Sugarless: A Novel by James Magruder
My Undoing: Love in the Thick of Sex, Drugs, Pornography, and Prostitution by Aiden Shaw
My Trip Down the Pink Carpet by Leslie Jordan
Male Model by Dave Benbow
The Hour Between: A Novel by Sebastian Stuart
Bound by Deception by Ava March
The Male Nude Now: New Visions for the 21st Century by David Leddick
Capital Queers: An Alex Reynolds Mystery (Alex Reynolds Mysteries) by Fred Hunter
Heaven [Heaven Sent 1] by Jet Mykles
The Archer's Heart by Astrid Amara
First Person Queer: Who We Are (So Far) by Richard Labonte
When The Stars Come Out by Rob Byrnes
Through It Came Bright Colors by Trebor Healey
Onyx by Felice Picano
Finlater by Shawn Stewart Ruff
Alone in the Trenches: My Life As a Gay Man in the NFL by Esera Tuaolo
Setting the Lawn on Fire by Mack Friedman
Queer America: A GLBT History of the 20th Century by Vicki L. Eaklor
First Person Plural by Andrew W.M. Beierle
Turnskin by Nicole Kimberling
Suspension by Robert Westfield
Secret Matter by Toby Johnson
Queer by Simon Gage
The Boys and the Bees by Joe Babcock
When You Were Me by Robert Rodi
Dishes by Rich Wallace
Boston Boys Club by Johnny Diaz
Angel Lust : An Erotic Novel of Time Travel by Perry Brass
Alex in Wonderland by Michel Lacroix
Master Of Obsidian by Jamie Craig
Altered Heart by Kate Steele
Vadriel Vail by Vincent Virga
Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement by Tanya Erzen
A Scarecrow's Bible by Martin Hyatt
Riddle of the Sands by Geoffrey Knight
The Name of the Game by Willa Okati
The Man I Might Become: Gay Men Write About Their Fathers by Bruce Shenitz
Fingering The Family Jewels by Greg Lilly
An American Family (Non-Traditional) by Michael Galluccio
My Brother and His Brother by Håkan Lindquist
A Time Before Me by Michael Holloway Perronne
IM by Rick R. Reed
The Haunted Hillbilly by Derek McCormack
Uneven by Anah Crow
Lover's Knot: An M/M Romance by Donald Hardy
Cursed by Rhianne Aile
Second decade (2010-2019) (All books with links here: http://www.elisarolle.com/ramblings/top_100_gay_novels.2.html)
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green
The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth
Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade by Justin Spring
Faith & Fidelity by Tere Michaels
The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed by Judy Shepard
Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution by David Carter
Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle
Promises by Marie Sexton
A Great Unrecorded History: A New Life of E. M. Forster by Wendy Moffat
At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream: Misadventures in Search of the Simple Life by Wade Rouse
A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski
Strings Attached by Nick Nolan
October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Leslea Newman
Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright
Me by Ricky Martin
Lessons in Love by Charlie Cochrane
Where's My Wand?: One Boy's Magical Triumph over Alienation and Shag Carpeting by Eric Poole
Muscling Through by J.L. Merrow
Love Drugged by James Klise
A Better Place by Mark A. Roeder
Life Lessons by Kaje Harper
Keeping Promise Rock by Amy Lane
Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States (Queer Action/Queer Ideas Book) by Joey Mogul
Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States by Andrea J. Ritchie
Dirty Laundry: A Tucker Springs Novel by Heidi Cullinan
Probation by Tom Mendicino
Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America by Nathaniel Frank
With or Without You by Brian Farrey
Frat Boy and Toppy (Theta Alpha Gamma) by Anne Tenino
Latakia by JF Smith
Will by Maria Boyd
Life After Joe by Harper Fox
God vs. Gay?: The Religious Case for Equality (Queer Action / Queer Ideas) by Jay Michaelson
The Third God (The Stone Dance of the Chameleon) by Ricardo Pinto
The Curtis Reincarnation by Zathyn Priest
Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens by Kathy Belge
God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage (Vintage) by Gene Robinson
Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation by Simon LeVay
Bound by Honor (Men of Honor) by SE Jakes
Money Boy by Paul Yee
Dogged Pursuit: How a Rescue Dog Rescued Me by Robert Rodi
The Cranberry Hush: A Novel by Ben Monopoli
The Less-Dead by April Lurie
The Island by Lisa Henry
This journal is friends only. This entry was originally posted at http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4425783.html. If you are not friends on this journal, Please comment there using OpenID.