Thwacknatten Fragglekrang is fluent in Jibberesh! ([info]fayanora) wrote in [info]gender_petition,
@ 2007-06-08 13:15:00
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Current mood: curious

Hope this is allowed
I hope asking for book suggestions is allowed. If not, feel free to delete this.

Recently read "The Bermudez Triangle" by Maureen Johnson because of the controversy. And WOW! I don't usually read conventional fiction (in fact, I think the only other books in that genre I've ever read before TBT by MJ was "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov and "To Kill A Mockingbird." I usually read scifi and fantasy), but I'm definetely interested now. I'm even WRITING conventional fiction now.

Obviously, I'm going to be reading more Maureen Johnson books. But I want to explore other possibilities as well. So here is my request: If you know any good conventional fiction titles, let me know in the comments. Please include title, author, and a short synopsis AND/OR a link to the book on Amazon if you would please. :-)
      I'm especially interested in the following:

* YA fiction, since the characters in my Lolita Leigh Smith series won't be getting older than 18 anytime soon.

* Fiction with GLBT content (Yes, even "romance" that is GLBT)

* Controversial titles (Bermudez Triangle, Lolita, etc.)

* "Experimental" conventional fiction. Stuff that does new and weird things. Maybe even crosses genres or skirts the edges of other genres.

Bonus points for combining those!

Thanks in advance!

X-posted at [info]gsa_lj, [info]adultchild, and [info]ageplay


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[info]ls56
2007-06-08 06:12 pm UTC (link)
What is the controversy around "The Bermudez Triangle?"

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[info]fayanora
2007-06-08 06:53 pm UTC (link)
It was banned from a couple libraries because parents didn't like the fact that it was about friends (both girls) dating each other.

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[info]giantessmess
2007-06-09 01:01 am UTC (link)
god. What is up with this book banning business? It happened with The Geography Club too, right?

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the details and the complexity.

queer YA fiction you've probably already heard of.

Deliver Us from Evie - M.E. Kerr
Anything by Julie Ann Peters - Luna, Keeping You a Secret, Between Mum and Jo, Define Normal.
Kissing Kate by Laura Myracle (spl?)
Girl Walking Backwards by Bett Williams (one of my all-time favourites)
Empress of the world - Sara Ryan
Rose of No Man's land - Michelle Tea

There's more, but I can't think of it off the top of my head. (can you tell I'm writing a queer YA novel?)

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[info]giantessmess
2007-06-09 01:04 am UTC (link)
and a more helpful comm for this (since I think this one's mostly dead) is maybe [info]yalitlovers or [info]queergirlsbooks

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[info]worlds_child
2007-06-09 11:36 am UTC (link)
Hey miss,
Could you lend me any of these?

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[info]kittydoll82
2007-06-09 02:04 am UTC (link)
"Am I Blue?" is a great anthology of GLBT YA short stories. Some are fantasy, and some are conventional.

"Annie on my Mind" is a classic YA GLBT conventional fiction novel.

(And since you're a fantasy fan, I highly reccomend Lynn Flewelling, who writes gay and gender-bending fantasy.)

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[info]fayanora
2007-06-15 07:18 pm UTC (link)
Thanks everybody!

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[info]ironmysandwich
2007-06-09 02:55 am UTC (link)
Boy Meets Boy is a good YA queer book that's almost reality-based fantasy...if that makes sense.

Also, Rubyfruit Jungle is a classic lesbian novel. Not YA, but might as well be as it's short and easy to read.

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[info]hulamoth
2007-06-09 03:30 am UTC (link)
Maurice by EMForester - not YA, but simple, and agh, so adorable. It was made into a movie with Hugh Grant.


Almost anything by Mary Renault. I'm a little bit biased on that part - she's my favorite author - but she does[did] ridiculously good historical fiction with homosexual and bisexual characters. Of course, she would claim that it wasn't "queer" fiction, it was just fiction. And that's why I love her. You'll probably want to look at The Last of the Wine, The Mask of Apollo, and the first two books of Alexander trilogy (Fire From Heaven, The Persian Boy). She wrote two modern novels with prominent gay relationships, The Charioteer - men, and The Middle Mist (also known as The Friendly Young Ladies). The psychology is a little off; it borrows heavily from Freud in terms of explaining the origins of sexuality, but the actual characterizations are superb.

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[info]worlds_child
2007-06-09 12:43 pm UTC (link)
No idea what you mean by conventional and that will almost definitely be reflected in the follow recommendations
but !
Here's some popular titles I've really enjoyed:

Fiction with GLBT content.
The Monkey's Mask - Dorothy Porter (poetry, but don't be scared)
Exquisite Corpse – Poppy Z Brite (who is an ex horror writer author subscribed to this community)

Controversial titles.
Fear and Loathing in Vas Lagas - Hunters S Thompson
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flubert.
ii: Dystopian novels. (I love these)
Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margret Atwood.

Experimental*.
Automated Alice - Jeff Noon
In The Lake of the Woods - Tim O'Brien
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
Easily the most confronting thing I've ever read. And I stumbled on Paroxysm Press when I was 14.

Plays.
Speaking In Tongues - Andrew Bovell

...that's all for now.

*and by this I just mean they approach story-telling or their genre a little differently.

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