5 Good Things: Books on LGBTQ+ Stories
AFTERNOON HOURS OF A HERMIT by Patrick Cottrell * $21.95 (hardcover)
Comedic and thrilling neo-noir whodunit novel about Dan Moran, a Korean adoptee in his 40’s and a trans writer. The story takes place five years after the death of his younger brother. One day be receives an envelope with a childhood photo of his brother. Dan returns to his family in Milwaukee for his brother's memorial, triggering a series of unsettling encounters that probe how we see ourselves versus how others perceive us.
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde $9.53 (paperback)
The fact that Oscar Wilde only wrote one novel, it was that which the world then and now has revered him as wildly brave for being openly gay during a time in England when it was illegal. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a gothic-philosophical novel about a young man who trades in his soul for eternal youth and beauty. His friend Basil Hallward paints his portrait which reflect his moral corruption while he stays physically unchanged. As decades past, the painting changes having to endure all of Dorian’s misdeeds and hedonism, thus becoming a reflection of Dorian’s true character.
THE GIRL YOU THINK YOU SEE by J.J. Lily $10.99 (paperback)
A trans-romance novel set in Boston’s liberal arts academic scene, exploring the courage it takes to see and be seen within your truest identity. Jamie is a grad student from London who becomes enamored by Celeste and her snappy sense of humor. Their friendship grows quickly and one night finds Celeste sharing with Jamie that she is trans.
HOMBRECITO by SANTIAGO JOSE SANCHEZ * $17.71 - sale (paperback)
A young immigrant’s queer coming of age story grappling with his complex relationship between his mother and his motherland. His mother takes him and his brother from Colombia to America, leaving their absent father behind but essentially disappearing herself once they get to Miami where she works as a waitress (while back home she was a doctor). The boy embraces his queer identity and new home but not without a sense of deep loss. He and his mother’s relationship are fraught and later in life he moves to New York. His mother invites him to travel back to Colombia with her to visit family, where he then tries to reunite with his estranged father, his homeland and even his own mother whose own deep secrets expose her complex ambivalence and fierce love.
GIOVANNI’S ROOM by James Baldwin $24 sale (hardcover)
Quietly devastating and emotionally intense, the story centers on love, identity, shame, such an unforgettable read. In the 1950’s David is an American man in Paris who begins a passionate affair with Giovanni while engaged to Hella, there begins a torrid love triangle.
