Ladies! I love this post so much! I agree with all your choices! Tatiana, I need to read more of your books. I have a huge pile of Sarah Waters' books I need to get through. Catie, I LOVED Brooklyn, Burning because of this aspect.
I honestly have never heard the word "shipped" in that context until Rey used it yesterday. Now I've heard it three times. Is this the new fetch? OMG, I feel old.
Do it! Do it! Start with Fingersmith, Jo.
I'll recommend Melissa Scott for GLBT characters. Point of Hopes and Point of Dreams, along with incredible, very dense worldbuilding, has a very sweet G romance. Her SF (although some of the cyberpunk is now outdated) is excellent.
Love the lists! I am always on the lookout for good LGBT novels, and like Tatiana, I prefer those to feature characters who "just happen to be gay".
One of my favourite LGBT books (and also favourite in general) is What They Always Tell Us by Martin Wilson, a story of two brothers who have grown apart. I've also been eying Bill Konigsberg's Out of the Pocket, but there are so little reviews out there.
I definitely want to try Sarah Walters, Brooklyn Burning and maybe the Hex Hall series (sorry, love triangle is a big turn-off).
Nice post, ladies! I think this is such a great idea and I'm all for reading more books like these. I was going to suggest Gone, gone, gone by Hannah Moskowitz but I see Catie included it, yay!
Such a wonderful idea, ladies! My favorite three are Suicide Notes, Brooklyn, Burning and Gone, Gone Gone by Hannah Moskowitz.
Gone, Gone, Gone is such a special little book because, like Tatiana said, it isn't didactic or message-driven. It's just a warm story about two boys.
I need to read My Most Excellent Year soon.
I LOVE this post and the books listed.
I love this post ladies! You've listed so many books that I've read and loved, or have been wanting to read for some time. I'm of total agreement with Tatiana in that I prefer books that feature LGBT characters, but don't necessarily focus on their issues. I feel the issue books may be necessary, but much like African Americans, I'm sure the community would like to see themselves reflected in more books that aren't 'issue' books zeroing in on the potential trails of their communities.
Rachel Hawkins IS writing a spin off series of Hex Hall, but she hasn't said yet who it will focus on. Maybe Jenna, but unfortunately, I kind of doubt it. My bet's on a smaller character that was introduced in the third novel.
One of my absolute favorite reads this year has been The Miseducation of Cameron Post, which did deal with some LGBT issues of the lesbian main character, but I felt was more of a coming of age story that anyone could relate to.
"I feel the issue books may be necessary, but much like African Americans, I'm sure the community would like to see themselves reflected in more books that aren't 'issue' books zeroing in on the potential trails of their communities."
So agree, Heidi. I feel like I am already familiar with gay "issue," etc. I have compassion for their difficulties and have some understanding of them. And now I would rather see the minority characters as just people and not as representatives of their respective "issues."
@Tatiana--for "vastly entertaining fiction that consistently features lesbian heroines" try Nicola Griffith, either her Aud series or her sf (Ammonite, Slow River), depending on what you like. Or both. They're all excellent.