Favorite Books, Good Reads & Recommendations (Compiled)

[Guest seeker]

surely, we have read many books and there can be a handful that triggered our mind. perhaps, our lives have changed and the pattern of our thoughts are being reflected from the insight reading them.

here, my objective is about sharing that knowledge that you have found in your favourite book. we don't have to give the synopsis but just the title and the author.

mine -- the one that i usually recommend friends to pick up:- The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield.

cheers.

[Guest Dyslexic Poet]

surely, we have read many books and there can be a handful that triggered our mind.  perhaps, our lives have changed and the pattern of our thoughts are being reflected from the insight reading them.

here, my objective is about sharing that knowledge that you have found in your favourite book.  we don't have to give the synopsis but just the title and the author.

mine -- the one that i usually recommend friends to pick up:-  The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield.

cheers.

What about The Celestine Prophecy "spoke" to you? Can you elaborate in brief?

Dsylexic Poet

[Guest seeker]

to me, this book expands the concepts about life. what i constantly remember from this book is about synchronicity of events and life's coincidences. it widens my understanding that life is a series of stable phases within an unstable phases - but everything is an open opportunity, which reinvent our existence and forcing us to expand the concept towards life.

every page is telling me the phase of my life .. whether i am in a block or have moved on.

[Golfnut]

My all time favourite book is Watership Down by Richard Adams.

I first read it in 1974 or 1975 when I was in secondary school and I waited eagerly for the animated film which was shown here in 1978. Over the years, I must have re-read the book at least 5 times, each time after reading it, lending it away to friends or relatives and never seeing it again. I always kept buying the book again when I chance upon it at second hand book stores but it I have not seen it for a couple of years now.

This book remains a classic till today and as I understand it, it is compulsory reading for English Literature class at some American high schools.

Although the story is about a group of rabbits escaping from the tyranny of a dictatorship, it is rather appealing and you will see yourself immersed in their adventure to be free.

Below is the wikipedia link to the book. Spoilers included. Ebay still has lots of this book used if you need to buy it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watership_down

[inkjet]

i love the animal farm.

[Guest loner]

My all time favourite book is Watership Down by Richard Adams.

I first read it in 1974 or 1975 when I was in secondary school and I waited eagerly for the animated film which was shown here in 1978. Over the years, I must have re-read the book at least 5 times, each time after reading it, lending it away to friends or relatives and never seeing it again. I always kept buying the book again when I chance upon it at second hand book stores but it I have not seen it for a couple of years now.

This book remains a classic till today and as I understand it, it is compulsory reading for English Literature class at some American high schools.

Although the story is about a group of rabbits escaping from the tyranny of a dictatorship, it is rather appealing and you will see yourself immersed in their adventure to be free.

Below is the wikipedia link to the book. Spoilers included. Ebay still has lots of this book used if you need to buy it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watership_down

yah i remember the song by art garfunkel

BRIGHT EYES

from the soundtrack watership down but i never get to read the book...................

cheers

[Guest Guest_rusty]

the life of pi by yann martel.

definitely one of the best books i have come across.

about life and its beautiful ironies.

gonna be made into a movie by m shyamalan.

read it b4 he butchers the book..

[Guest Guest]

"Escape from Paradise" Out of stocks!!!

[maturemedium]

Tibetan Book of the Living and the Dying

[Guest seeker]

Tibetan Book of the Living and the Dying

you might want to continue searching/enriching from this book to listening to The Pathways to Mastership by Jonathan Parker.'

[starbright]

Rebecca Makkai wrote a book called The Borrower, which chronicles the relationship between a librarian and a 10 year old patron who turns to her out of confusion about his sexuality. Their adventures take them around the country on a journey which proves both comic and moving.

In the video below, she is reaching out to lonely, confused kids everywhere, offering them solace in the form of books.

Pass this on to everyone you know -- because they probably know a struggling kid who needs it.

[starbright]

Rebecca's Reading List:

For Younger Readers

Boy Meets Boy

by David Levithan

Absolutely, Positively Not...

by David LaRochelle

Rainbow Boys

by Alex Sanchez

For Older Readers

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

by Michael Chabon

Oranges are not the only fruit

by Jeanette Winterson

Middlesex

by Jeffrey Eugenides

Naked

by David Sedaris

Me Talk Pretty One Day

by David Sedaris

The Essential Dykes to watch out for

by Alison Bechdel

The Object of my affection

by Stephen McCauley

The Dream of a Common Language: Poems 1974-1977

by Adrienne Rich

A Shropshire Lad and other poems

by A. E. Housman

Edited August 13, 2011 by starbright

[PaterTenebrarum]

When I was younger, I used to read a lot of David Leavitt. Books like The Lost Language of Cranes, A Place Ive Never Been, etc.

Read Alan Hollinghurst's the Swimming Pool Library. Found it so-so. Attmepted to read his other works and got bored to tears.

Also enjoyed Maupin's Tales from the City saga.

I have also read a fair bit of gay humour.

Really like Joe Keenan's first two books, Blue Heaven and Putting on the Ritz. His third book, though, was disappointing.

I also like comic strips like Eric Orner's Ethan Green as well as Chelsea Boys by Glen Hanson and Alan Neuwirth.

I do think for every ten gay books out in the market, nine are rubbish. As a rule of thumb, I usually avoid books which feature bare muscled male torsos, or gorgeous men on the cover. Those kinds of books usually hide really bad writing and atrocious storylines. One of the worst books Ive ever read was Every Man for Himself. It was bad. How bad? BAAAADDDDD...

Occasionally, I do like the occasional campy books which I usually read on long flights. Trashy uber camp ones like The Valley of the Dolls, the Love Machine as well as other so-bad-it's-good tomes by Jacqueline Susann.

On a more serious note, I also enjoy Proust and de Sade. Pity I dont understand French so have to make do with the translated versions.

Edited August 13, 2011 by PaterTenebrarum

[cityhallguy]

I collected and read novels written by Michael Thomas Ford.

Books as follows;

Last Summer

Full Circle

Changes Tides

Looking For It

What We Remember

The Road Home

[Guest Erotictales]

Yup. David Leavitt's books almost all have a homosexual protagonist. He was the first gay writer I've read, and in terms of prose skill he's pretty advanced. Some of his are:

While England Sleeps

The Lost Language of Cranes

The Page Turner

Family Dancing

Equal Affections

Arkansas.

For something different, you can try Jonathan Kellerman's Dr. Alex Delaware psychothrillers. Delaware isn't gay in the stories, but his long time investigation partner, Milo Sturgis is. And Milo is far from being the gay stereotype. (Gruffy giant of a detective with a jewish surgeon long time boyfriend)

Larry Kramer also has one notorious book. Faggots.

Agreed with PeterTenebrarum too. Hollinghurst can bore you to tears. He almost bored me into comatose.

[PaterTenebrarum]

Yup. David Leavitt's books almost all have a homosexual protagonist. He was the first gay writer I've read, and in terms of prose skill he's pretty advanced. Some of his are:

While England Sleeps

The Lost Language of Cranes

The Page Turner

Family Dancing

Equal Affections

Arkansas.

For something different, you can try Jonathan Kellerman's Dr. Alex Delaware psychothrillers. Delaware isn't gay in the stories, but his long time investigation partner, Milo Sturgis is. And Milo is far from being the gay stereotype. (Gruffy giant of a detective with a jewish surgeon long time boyfriend)

Larry Kramer also has one notorious book. Faggots.

Agreed with PeterTenebrarum too. Hollinghurst can bore you to tears. He almost bored me into comatose.

Ha! Am glad somebody feels that same way abt Hollinghurst! I mentioned it once to some intellectual gay guys and they shot me a look so nasty that you would have thought I had fisted their father in front of them.

I like Edmund White too.

A true confession, I also enjoy gay murder mysteries! I read Grant Michaels (the protagonist is a crime-solving hairdresser!) and Nathan Aldyne, among others.

Also thoroughly enjoy non-gay fiction authors who write beautiful prose like Ishiguro, Colette and Marguerite Duras.

I love this line from Duras' The Lover.

" Everyone says you were beautiful when you were young, but I want to tell you I think you're more beautiful now than then. Rather than your face as a young woman, I prefer your face as it is now. Ravaged."

*swoon*

[Guest Starbright]

Alan Hollinghurst is the odds-on favorite for The Stranger's Child in this year's Booker Prize. I do agree that his books are hard to plough through.

I much prefer Amistad Maupin for his clean crisp dialogue and Patrick Gale for his positive gay characters.

Christopher Rice, son of Anne Rice, writes a series of thrillers featuring gay men!

[PaterTenebrarum]

Alan Hollinghurst is the odds-on favorite for The Stranger's Child in this year's Booker Prize. I do agree that his books are hard to plough through.

I much prefer Amistad Maupin for his clean crisp dialogue and Patrick Gale for his positive gay characters.

Christopher Rice, son of Anne Rice, writes a series of thrillers featuring gay men!

Hollinghurst is sort of like Salman Rushdie to a lesser extent. Boring, boring boring! With the exception of Haroun and the Sea of Stories, I TRIED to read the Satanic Verses and others but could not get past the first few pages. And still people rave about how good Rushdie is. Could it be a case of the emperor's new clothes? I know Im not dumb. But perhaps Im not smart enough to "get" Rushdie. Ditto fo V Woolf.

Edited August 13, 2011 by PaterTenebrarum

[starbright]

Hollinghurst and Rushdie belong to the category of writers much admired but not read. I usually go for writers who appeal to the heart, not so much the intellect. Writers I like include Kazuo Ishiguo, Michael Cunningham, Haruki Murakami, Ann Patchett, Alice Hoffman, Anne Tyler and David Mitchell.

[steppenwolf]

Do check out Felice Picano if you have the chance.

[Guest Starbright]

Sounds interesting. Thanks for the recommendation!

[Guest Erotictales]

Hollinghurst and Rushdie belong to the category of writers much admired but not read. I usually go for writers who appeal to the heart, not so much the intellect. Writers I like include Kazuo Ishiguo, Michael Cunningham, Haruki Murakami, Ann Patchett, Alice Hoffman, Anne Tyler and David Mitchell.

Murakami is good, although you have to get used to some of his imageries. David Mitchell is lauded to be a successor of sorts. I find him pleasant to read, but sometimes, he falls into the same trappings as writers like James Clavell when he describes Asian cultures and people. (He could be downright inaccurate too).

One other author I do like very much, and sorry, not LGBT but notedly neutral, is Ursala Leguin. Fantasy and Sci Fi stuff, but very subtle, very clean. Gives you a warm, dreamy feeling that can also get very emotional.

[Guest Erotictales]

Hollinghurst is sort of like Salman Rushdie to a lesser extent. Boring, boring boring! With the exception of Haroun and the Sea of Stories, I TRIED to read the Satanic Verses and others but could not get past the first few pages. And still people rave about how good Rushdie is. Could it be a case of the emperor's new clothes? I know Im not dumb. But perhaps Im not smart enough to "get" Rushdie. Ditto fo V Woolf.

I've always suspect some of these folks have not read the actual novels at all. Rather, they familiarize themselves with the synopsis and pretend they did.

[PaterTenebrarum]

I've always suspect some of these folks have not read the actual novels at all. Rather, they familiarize themselves with the synopsis and pretend they did.

Ha! Like that pretentious twat I met once who said that he read (and understood) James Joyce's Ulysses and he read it in one week. Funnily enough, he had no recollection who the Blooms were. Anywho, some books are as enjoyable as picking lint of a sock, ie, not very.

I also like reading children's fantasy. People always talk abt H. Potter. U know who's better than Rowling? Jonathan Stroud who wrote the Bartimaeus books. They are good! In Stroud's books, magicians do not perform actual magic. Instead, they rely on servants, like Djinn, etc to do their bidding. THe stronger the magician, the stronger the entity he/she can control.

I also thoroughly enjoy Walter Moers especially Captain Bluebear.

Edited August 13, 2011 by PaterTenebrarum

[PaterTenebrarum]

Hollinghurst and Rushdie belong to the category of writers much admired but not read. I usually go for writers who appeal to the heart, not so much the intellect. Writers I like include Kazuo Ishiguo, Michael Cunningham, Haruki Murakami, Ann Patchett, Alice Hoffman, Anne Tyler and David Mitchell.

ooooo...Ishiguro! I really like Artist of the Floating World. Beautiful prose. I prefer it to Remains of the Day.

Ive also read Vikram Seth's a Suitable Boy. The book is 1000+ pages long but if you havent read it, I suggest you do. It's easy to read and is lush lush lush.

[Guest skeptic]

may i know where these books can be found? i need books to read and i'm very interested in these. thanks in advance.

[PaterTenebrarum]

Kinokuniya, Borders. etc.

[starbright]

may i know where these books can be found? i need books to read and i'm very interested in these. thanks in advance.

@Skeptic: Many of the books mentioned can be found in the public library. As for the gay titles, you can try your luck at Prologue@ION Orchard. You can also buy e-books from Kobo which you can then read via their iPhone or iPad app.

[starbright]

Ha! Like that pretentious twat I met once who said that he read (and understood) James Joyce's Ulysses and he read it in one week. Funnily enough, he had no recollection who the Blooms were. Anywho, some books are as enjoyable as picking lint of a sock, ie, not very.

I also like reading children's fantasy. People always talk abt H. Potter. U know who's better than Rowling? Jonathan Stroud who wrote the Bartimaeus books. They are good! In Stroud's books, magicians do not perform actual magic. Instead, they rely on servants, like Djinn, etc to do their bidding. THe stronger the magician, the stronger the entity he/she can control.

I also thoroughly enjoy Walter Moers especially Captain Bluebear.

I too like Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus series, especially all the hilarious footnotes! Walter Moers' books have a dreamy quality to them as if you landed in a foreign land to visit for a while.

You might like to try Cornelia Funke's InkHeart series for their melancholic feel; Michael Scott's The Magician - The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series which are simply better mythology books than Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series.

My favourite are Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games series. Very dark and gritty. Read them before the movie come out next March. Most movie adaptations are crap!

[Guest rhys]

I collect and read novels by Bart Yates; they are good.

Willam J Mann is not bad too.

John Connolly's novels have a gay couple in them; I collect his books too.

[robin]

may i know where these books can be found? i need books to read and i'm very interested in these. thanks in advance.

These books are very limited and expensive in Singapore, average $20+ to $30+. If you happen to go bangkok Siam Paragon, you can find it there at the Kino bookshop at half the price ($10+). Each time when I was there, I will get 10-20 books. It does cover my airfare ;P

[starbright]

These books are very limited and expensive in Singapore, average $20+ to $30+. If you happen to go bangkok Siam Paragon, you can find it there at the Kino bookshop at half the price ($10+). Each time when I was there, I will get 10-20 books. It does cover my airfare ;P

Thanks for the tip. Another place to look for LGBT resources is Pelangi Pride Centre. Click here for the link.

[Guest guest]

was thinking of buying this book: http://rainbowartspr...by-g-l-eduardo/

Dis(closure) by G. L. Eduardo.

looks interesting.. anyone read this before??

[starbright]

Quotes from Patrick Gale's books:

Rough Music

The novels she liked to read, when she still reads novels, tended to end with a couple declaring their love for each other. As though that constituted all that was needful for a happy future. Few romantic novels began at that point, then proceeded, because romance was all about overcoming obstacles, not hard work, but the truth of the matter was that love was a burden and from the moment someone said they loved you, they were under an obligation constantly to prove the truth of what they had said, and you were under the possibly greater one of proving worthy of so much ardent demonstration.

Notes from an Exhibition

He knew he was a man and should start acting and thinking like one and would probably never lose his virginity until he did but he was so lacking in romantic role models that he tended to think of himself as a sort of sulky, Forster heroine, waiting to have her proud reserve shattered with a forthright kiss in a field of violets.

[Avecinfuser]

Gay authors that I've read so far:

David Leavitt- Lost Language of Cranes

Paul Monette- Afterlife, Borrowed Time

Fenton Johnson- Geography of the Heart

Timothy Conigrave- Holding the Man

Rudi van Dantzig- For A Lost Soldier

All very good read, just some of them are quite tragic and depressing with very cliche ending.

[untried]

nifty the best

[Guest Erotictales]

Avec, you've read For A Lost Soldier? That one is sensitive. :whistle: There's a movie made from it, considered to be very.....

[IamAlex]

Are there any e-books version of the a/m books??

[Avecinfuser]

Avec, you've read For A Lost Soldier? That one is sensitive. :whistle: There's a movie made from it, considered to be very.....

Yep I've seen the movie too....but I guess controversy was what mainly spurred me to read the book as well. But if you really look at it, it's really a love story between 2 males, despite the vast age gap. Isn't Lolita by Nabokov which I've also read the same thing?

Edited August 17, 2011 by Avecinfuser

[doncoin]

I enjoy reading Michael Cunningham. The Hours, Home at the End of the World, Flesh & Blood...

[Avecinfuser]

I enjoy reading Michael Cunningham. The Hours, Home at the End of the World, Flesh & Blood...

Is Michael Cunningham gay? I've read The Hours and seen the movie, both I've enjoyed immensely

[starbright]

Is Michael Cunningham gay? I've read The Hours and seen the movie, both I've enjoyed immensely

Yes, Michael Cunningham is gay and has been in a relationship with a psychoanalyst Ken Corbett for 24 years.

His latest book, By Nightfall, is about a middle-aged man falling in love with his drug addict brother-in-law.

Click the link to read an article about Michael Cunningham and how he sees his role as a novelist.

[Guest gg]

Any Gay books written in Chinese that we can purchase in Singapore or on line.

[starbright]

Any Gay books written in Chinese that we can purchase in Singapore or on line.

Been trying to source for the Chinese text version of Beijing Story (the original text of Lan Yu) but couldn't find it.

Here's the link to the English translation of Beijing Story. Enjoy

[Guest FattChoy88]

What's the equivalent of iBook for android phones? Thanks.

[PaterTenebrarum]

Am not really a fan of M Cunningham. Though he is among the better gay fiction writers.

I like M. Atwood. The Handmaid's tale is one of my favourite books.

I also like reading loooonnggg thick books that are easy to read like Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Mmmm..

[starbright]

What's the equivalent of iBook for android phones? Thanks.

Kobo works on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Palm Pre.

Click here for more details.

[starbright]

Am not really a fan of M Cunningham. Though he is among the better gay fiction writers.

I like M. Atwood. The Handmaid's tale is one of my favourite books.

I also like reading loooonnggg thick books that are easy to read like Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Mmmm..

Haha. Read Suzanna Clarke but was disappointed by the ending.

If you like gloomy fantasy books, you might like Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind.

The follow-up, The Angel's Game is not as good though.

[Guest Erotictales]

Pater: We seem to have same tastes. I like Atwood too. You know that they are doing Handmaid's Tale for A levels in JCs?

Recently been trying to read some Chuck Palahniuk. Hard core stuff requiring strong stomach. But, he can be insightful.

[PaterTenebrarum]

Starb: yea. Jonathan S's ending was a bit of a letdown but I read the book for Ms Clarke's prose which flowed so beautifully.

erotict: Ive read some Chuck P's works. They are ok. If you like him, you may want to try Brett Easton Ellis who wrote Less Than Zero, the Informers, etc. IMHO, his works however, went down the toilet with American Psycho.

If you have an iron-clad stomach read Marquis de Sade. I recommend Juliette, Justine and of course, the 120 Days of Sodom. Pasolini made a movie based on 120 Days of Sodom. But the book is much, much worse.

You can also try Octave Mirbeau's Torture Garden and Guillaume Apollinaire's Les Onze Mille Verges.

Also, Georges Bataille's Story of the Eye.

Edited August 19, 2011 by PaterTenebrarum