Published Gay Novels

[jdmotion]

Hi everyone I've been reading a lot of gay themes novels. I wanted to know what everyone else is reading if they are reading off course. I just read the painting of porcupine city by Ben Monopoli and the seasons series by Jay Bell. I absolutely loved them all. I read a lot of the stories here and would love to own a few in hardcover to add to my collection. I am very partial to Comicality's stories and would love to own a hard cover copy. What are your favorites? Do you read Ebooks, paperback or hard cover?

[Allan]

Loved the Seasons series as well - have read them multiples times over.

 

"The Cranberry Hush" by Ben Monopoli - my favorite book of his.

 

By JF Smith:

"Latakia" - all the feels

"The Last Day of Summer" - this is actually a spin off of FOtFotE.

"Falling Off the Face of the Earth" - kind of a slow burn, but worth reading if you want insight into Cory's back story from "The Last Day of Summer".

 

"Given the Circumstances" by Brad Vance 

"Tigers and Devils" by Sean Kennedy

 

"Hot Head" by Damon Suede - this one's way more on the m/m romance side, but I had to add one. Plus, they're firefighters...

 

On here I've been fond of Comicality and DomLuka (recommend Desert Dropping) so far. I've only really just started breaking into the stories on this site, but the stories I listed I've read at least twice each - they're not listed in any particular order.

 

Enjoy

[Kitt]

I think I may go look for some of those stories.

 

As for reading here on GA there are tons and tons of good stuff, but My favorites are Mark Arbour, Man Ramblings, Sasha Distan, and Cole Matthews, in no particular order.  That's a 4 way tie for first place and too many competing for second to list!

[joann414]

I agree with Kitt.  Lots of good writers.  I would recommend all that's on her list plus Andrew Gordon, Valkyrie, CassieQ, Renee Stevens, and Cia.  There's actually too many to try and single them out.  I know a few that just have a couple of stories but are great writers. As far as published books, Andrew Gordon's Grand Master is great. 

[jdmotion]

Allan Cranberry hush is my next. I also read all of Dom lukas stories too i am partial to desert dropping as well. I will look into those other stories as well.

[Cia]

I read just about anything I can get my hands on. I find, however, that the rising availability of eBooks in the MM genre has spoiled me for online fiction. I want the same level of quality, even though I know that is unrealistic. And unfortunately, I often enjoy the stories I get to read to approve in the mod queue, but just don't have the time on-site to keep up with them once authors are beyond the system. I do have favorited stories and authors on my profile though.

 

Oh, and as for your original question, at this point I really prefer to read on my kindle. It's small, light, and goes everywhere with me.

[craftingmom]

I enjoy reading on my tablet, so therefore I prefer ebooks. I buy tons from Amazon. I'm listed as Avid Reader, there so you can actually look at books I've rated if you want ideas. if you have genre you prefer, we could offer more specific ideas: like cop,fbi,firemen, werewolves/shifter, highschool drama, scifi, slave, contemporary, historical, etc....

[sacollinsauthor]

Hello All! 

 

New to this site (and am about to release my first full length (205K word) epic) and found this forum topic to be interesting enough to me to introduce and post:

 

There are a few on my must have list - 

 

Recently - TJ Klune's "Into this River I Drown" is at the top of my recent discovery list. (Actually ANYTHING by him is on my must read list).

 

Classically (cause I am an older cat who was around back in the 70's when these books were quite the controversial releases in the day) - 

 

Gordon Merrick's The Lord Won't Mind (which is part of a trilogy)  [sidebar: Gordon Merrick's work was only in out of print for the longest time and now has finally been released in ebook format for the first time - if you'd like to read from our forebears of modern gay literature he's definitely one to pick up on - Lord Won't Mind was released in the early 70's.]

John Rechy's - The Sexual Outlaw and Numbers   -  Two books that are gritty, brutally honest takes on urban gay life. One of them is fiction (Numbers) the other is more of a sexual documentary, 

 

These men (Rechy and Merrick) I credit with saving my young gay boy life in the 70's when I didn't think I had anything to look forward to by way of happiness. High school was hell what with bullying and taunts coming at me - Merrick and Rechy were my go-to's when I needed to lick wounds and say to myself that there was a world out there for me if I could just get through to graduation. Those books were in my backpack every damned day of my high school years. They were my gay boy bibles. A primer of what could be after the hell of school. And it did get better. 

 

So, for what it's worth, these are my recommendations (though I will say that I love the Jay Bell series too). 

[Ron]

Yeah, I found Merrick, back in the day. I remember buying the books at a chain store at my local mall and hoping no one I knew would happen to walk in at the wrong time. I hated that insecure facet of my life. I could be who I was, but not in public and that aspect was awful.

[Nephylim]

My favourites off the top of my head are 

 

Omorphi by Cody Kennedy. It's a borderline YA with themes of recovery from abuse and is a great adventure.

 

The Statue by Zathyn Priest which should be a must read for young people and explores issues around mental health and the nature of love. It's a light read but is so profound it astonished me

 

Also by Zathyn Priest The Curtis Reincarnation which is about a melting down rock star who is so cute I want to put him in my pocket and cuddle like a kitten and his Amara books which are about...unusual vampires and weres.

 

Lucius' Bite by K-Lee Kline  has it all - shifters, witches, gypsies

 

Vassily the Beautiful by Angel Martinez is based on a Russian Fairy Tale and I LOVED Babba Yagga Its an unusual tale of constructs and a dystopian world that is awesome

 

'Alex' and 'The Shed' by Dianne Hartsock are my current raves. They're not for the feint hearted and border on horror...well no I guess they cross the border because there are some quite vividly gruesome scenes.

 

I'm totally fangirling on all these books, so you should enjoy at least some of them Between them there are a lot of genres and styles

[MarcW]

Hi everyone I've been reading a lot of gay themes novels. I wanted to know what everyone else is reading if they are reading off course. I just read the painting of porcupine city by Ben Monopoli and the seasons series by Jay Bell. I absolutely loved them all. I read a lot of the stories here and would love to own a few in hardcover to add to my collection. I am very partial to Comicality's stories and would love to own a hard cover copy. What are your favorites? Do you read Ebooks, paperback or hard cover?

Comicality has 2 hard back collections - called "The Shack Collections" (volume 1 & 2) - i got my copies from lulu.com which is US based (but ships anywhere )  http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=comicality&categoryId=200020

[Kitt]

Cia was right - most of us did not address the question of ebook, paperback or hard cover.

 

You can always do like I do - get the ebook (they are usually fairly inexpensive) then if you like them enough pick up a "real" copy for the library. I find it much better than looking for a place to donate the tons of books I didn't enjoy quite well enough to warrant dusting them frequently.

[JamesSavik]

<comment removed ==> blog @ https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/blog/38/entry-14966-gay-novels/

[rec]

These from Nick Witherspoon's web site.

 

The entirely satisfying coming-of-age novel Now is the Hour, by Tom Spanbauer; Under This Cowboy's Hat, a short story anthology edited by Rob Knight; The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks by Josh Lanyon; a quick overview of the series Mahu, Mahu Surfer, Mahu Fire, and Mahu Vice by Neil Plakcy featuring the gay detective Kimo Kanapa'aka; and a review of the marvellous and thoughtful  Bareback by Kit Whitfield which is not at all about what you think it's about but is nevertheless most apposite to gay-shaded men and women.

 

In addition, I recommend I.G. Hayes Map of the Harbor Islands as well as other mysteries by Josh Lanyon.

[WestcliffWriter]

It goes without saying - Anything Domluka did has to be on my list.

[jdmotion]

I read mostly on my iphone. I find i like the portability of it.

[Ron]

I read mostly on my iPad - stories on GA and through the Kindle app - and only occasionally on my computer as far as the electronics are concerned. I also read bound books.

Edited November 10, 2014 by Ron

[Cole Matthews]

I'm biased by my love of the site so I suggest writers here. But otherwise I like Joseph Hansen, John Morgan Wilson, Christopher Bram, Nathan Aldyne and Armistead Maupin. It depends on what you like.

[MarcW]

thanks for the tips guys ... now will fill my kindle / book shelves (not that there's much room on them anyway - notice how most "modern" homes don't seem to have book shelves in every nook & cranny - or even just from 1 wall to another)  - mine sort of run all over the place & end up with piles of books all over the floor, desk, stairs, there's way too many to read in 1 lifetime ... i think i'm classified as a hoarder in some things  

[TMcCallahan]

Oh Lover, if you're classified as a hoarder you should see our new place. "The House That Love Built" is home to seven bisexual artists of one kind or another. We have one room of nothing but comics and graphic novels. Had my privileges rescinded just the other day for rolling a kerosene heater in there. Flammable, you know. 

 

If we ever did have a fire we'd all perish in the towering inferno of swirling words.

 

As for gay novels, I nominate "Like People in History" by Felice Picano (my favorite book ever) and "The Golden Boy" by James Kenneth Melson.

 

So vivid. 

 

Kisses All -

Tux

[Caz Pedroso]

I agree with Kitt.  Lots of good writers.  I would recommend all that's on her list plus Andrew Gordon, Valkyrie, CassieQ, Renee Stevens, and Cia.  There's actually too many to try and single them out.  I know a few that just have a couple of stories but are great writers. As far as published books, Andrew Gordon's Grand Master is great.

 

I usually read on my phone or iPad and so i read online (GA or literotica) or Kindle books.

 

As for published works I have Grand Master (great book and can't wait for the sequel) I also have and would recommend Cia's Pricolici, MA Church/Julie Hayes' Be My Alien/ Be My Human. Plus there are many others I could list but my fingers would drop off.

[zaf89]

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (of The Poisonwood Bible fame) is a beautifully written literary historical novel with a gay main character, though his gayness isn't really central to the plot (but in a way, it is). It's a great look at homosexuality during the 1950s/McCarthy era, among other things. I highly recommend it.

[SolarMaxx]

"The Secret Life of Billy Chase" & "Savage Moon" -- by comicality

"The Ordinary Us" & "Desert Dropping" -- by DomLuka

"Riding Lessons" series -- by Andrew Todd

"Charlie" by Hamen Cheese

Edited November 17, 2014 by SolarMaxx