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LGBT Library - Books and Movies

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    #32
    Annasopra
    Registered Users Posts: 41,065 ✭✭✭✭Annasopra


    Freiheit wrote: »
    Any suggestions for such? I'm deliberately excluding T despite being T myself because I've got about 20 such books already and need no more. I'm actually interested in establishing a book club at home and while I'm well endowned with 't' titles,I'm much less so with lgb,obviously there is frequent overlaps.

    Just to let you know I merged this with 2 older threads

    It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

    Terry Pratchet



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    #33
    Moon Indigo
    Registered Users Posts: 285 ✭✭Moon Indigo


    I am a mature student (so poor:P) and on placement in Dublin so am up and down each day. Can anyone recommend the best and cheapest place to buy/rent good lesbian themed books? I read 'the sealed letter' its okay but after reading Emma's other books would not highly recommend it. To me seemed like a Sarah Waters novel written in the style of Emma Donoghue. If anyone has read it they may understand what I mean. :D


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    #34
    baby and crumble
    Registered Users Posts: 8,512 ✭✭✭baby and crumble


    Not a great selection in the shops tbh. Chapters down on Parnell St is generally good for 2nd hand books, and I know they have an LGBT section, but what kind of stuff is there these days I don't know. You're better off getting yourself an o2 debit card, and heading to amazon...


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    #35
    Annasopra
    Registered Users Posts: 41,065 ✭✭✭✭Annasopra


    baby and crumble wrote: »
    Not a great selection in the shops tbh. Chapters down on Parnell St is generally good for 2nd hand books, and I know they have an LGBT section, but what kind of stuff is there these days I don't know. You're better off getting yourself an o2 debit card, and heading to amazon...

    or try Ilac library

    It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

    Terry Pratchet



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    #36
    Irish Aris
    Registered Users Posts: 5,064 ✭✭✭Irish Aris


    baby and crumble wrote: »
    Not a great selection in the shops tbh. Chapters down on Parnell St is generally good for 2nd hand books, and I know they have an LGBT section, but what kind of stuff is there these days I don't know. You're better off getting yourself an o2 debit card, and heading to amazon...

    I've been to chapters couple of weeks ago. The LGBT section is not very big, me thinks. Just 2 or 3 shelves. It has fiction, erotica, some essays and coffee table books, but not a very big variety.
    I agree with you about the O2 money card. Amazon has many things, also using Foyles (London based bookstore), they have many books as well.

    As for reading, Alan Hollinghurst is always a good choice for me. The Swimming Pool Library and the Line of Beauty are great books.
    Also I would recommend
    -Torn in pieces by Duygu Asena (she was from Turkey, died of cancer couple of years ago)
    -At Swim Two Boys by Jamie O Neill (read it years ago, I thought it was very touching)
    -A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood.

    I have more unread books ata home, so I will let you know if something good comes up.


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    #37
    Baldlydrawnboy
    Registered Users Posts: 29 ✭Baldlydrawnboy


    at swim two boys is great, and if you've not checked out the tales of the city then they're an absolute must read - light hearted, very zeitgeisty, but brilliantly written. i vaguely remember watching a tv adaptation as a teenager but keep going back to reread the books because they're just so easy to dip in and out of! also colm toibin's love in a dark time is a very interesting read, picked it up for two quid in 2nd hand bookshop and it's defo worth a read if you come across it!


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    #38
    Freiheit
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,783 ✭✭✭Freiheit


    Can anyone recommend a book that contains individual experiences of being gay? ideally a compilation that I could order from Amazon?. Danke
    F:)


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    #39
    L.Jenkins
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 19,240 Mod ✭✭✭✭L.Jenkins


    http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/185607...dir_mdp_mobile


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    #40
    Freiheit
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,783 ✭✭✭Freiheit


    Thanks,that's a very expensive book though,too expensive for me E22 plus postage...too much,any others?


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    #41
    wonderfulname
    Registered Users Posts: 3,943 ✭✭✭wonderfulname


    If you're in Dublin get it in ye olde library.


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    #42
    Plek Trum
    Registered Users Posts: 1,075 ✭✭✭Plek Trum


    I second (thrid - fourth?) Sarah Walters and Emma Donoghue - well written and enjoyable, certainly kept me company on occasions when I was sorting myself out ;0) For those of you more inclined to the easier route, many of their books have been made into drama's available on DVD.

    If any of you enjoy a look at lesbian culture in the past, I read two very good books, real life stories. The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (also available on DVD)
    http://www.play.com/Search.html?searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&searchstring=the+secret+diaries+of+Miss+Anne+Lister

    and also 'The Ladies of Llangollen'. http://www.play.com/Search.html?searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&searchstring=the+ladies+of+llangollen

    I find www.play.com can be great for LGBT books at a good price, free p&p too.
    Nice thread ;0)


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    #43
    kiwipower
    Registered Users Posts: 802 ✭✭✭kiwipower


    I have recently acquired a Kindle. Just wondering can anyone advise on good ebook sites for LGBT ebooks? (especially one that bills in euros) Amazon is doing my nut in, the search function is crap for isolating the good ebooks!


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    #44
    LegacyUser
    Registered Users Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭LegacyUser


    kiwipower wrote: »
    I have recently acquired a Kindle. Just wondering can anyone advise on good ebook sites for LGBT ebooks? (especially one that bills in euros) Amazon is doing my nut in, the search function is crap for isolating the good ebooks!

    Isolating good ebooks is an art forum that can take several months or longer to learn, there are so many and it's very easy not to see the forest for the trees. Worth checking some blogs and forums for ebook readers as they are much better at getting rec's then relying on amazon reviews or ratings and alot of them have annual awards lists that are worth checking out.

    What types of LGBT books are you looking for? Worth finding publishers that publish stuff you like and check their websites, alot of them sell ebooks direct via their own websites for cheaper. You'll have to dig through alot of smut and bad romance on the likes of amazon - most of it written by straight women for other straight women but there are a few gems in there [highly rec A Strong and Sudden Thaw by R W Day - it's nothing like the amazon description for it and I really enjoyed it] and also some books actually written *shock* by Gay people lol

    If you do want some romance or smut I rec http://www.bookstrand.com/ It's in dollars but usually cheaper then amazon. Also TLA url]http://www.tlavideo.com[/url who do alot of LGBT movie releases have a ebook section on their website - I find them a bit more expensive but worth looking through their lists and rec's and then finding them on amazon or bookstrand for cheaper.


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    #45
    floggg
    Registered Users Posts: 5,821 ✭✭✭floggg


    It seems any "gay" books I've seen are either smutty erotic fiction, tales of the "good ole days" before AIDS and decency or biographies of the older generation.

    Can anybody recommend any more recent good gay books - fiction or non-fiction which aren't just about sex and would more reflect the modern gay (male)* experience?

    * nothing against L, B or T, it's just not really of as much interest to me personally.


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    #46
    LegacyUser
    Registered Users Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭LegacyUser


    floggg wrote: »
    It seems any "gay" books I've seen are either smutty erotic fiction, tales of the "good ole days" before AIDS and decency or biographies of the older generation.

    Can anybody recommend any more recent good gay books - fiction or non-fiction which aren't just about sex and would more reflect the modern gay (male)* experience?

    * nothing against L, B or T, it's just not really of as much interest to me personally.

    There is a good list here of 100 Gay novels - http://www.elisarolle.com/ramblings/top_100_gay_novels.htm

    Most have links to a review by the blog owner which are better then most of the amazon descriptions - it's a mixed bag so some smut in there I'm afraid but there are some gems


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    #47
    Irish Aris
    Registered Users Posts: 5,064 ✭✭✭Irish Aris


    I've recently read Jim Grimsley's Comfort and Joy.
    Does very well for light reading, but because it explores the connection of the two main male characters with their families, I also found it a bit thought provoking
    (spoiler: one guy's family is accepting the couple, the other's not)


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    #48
    periodictable
    Closed Accounts Posts: 931 ✭✭✭periodictable


    A boy's own story by Edmund White
    Heaven's coast by Mark Doty
    Blackwater Lighouse by Colm Toibin
    Naked by David Sedaris
    Sexual Outlaw by John Rechy
    Maurice by EM Forster
    The Hours by Michael Cunningham
    Before night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas
    The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren
    And anything by Alan Hollinghurst, Derek Jarman, Tony Kushner,David Leavitt, Gore Vidal,Lorca, Susan Sontag, Randy Shilts, Larry Kramer, Susan Sontag,Walt Whitman, Sarah Shulman,Wilde, Coward.....


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    #49
    steel_spine
    Closed Accounts Posts: 401 ✭✭steel_spine


    Can anyone recommend any good sci-fi/fantasy books in this vein? I have to read a lot of serious stuff for uni and I read a lot of science books, so I like to maintain some total escapism for my downtime. I''m not really into fluffy erotica/trashy romance type books, I prefer something with a captivating world.
    Seem to be difficult genres to find any LGBT stuff in.


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    #50
    kiwipower
    Registered Users Posts: 802 ✭✭✭kiwipower


    steel_spine wrote: »
    Can anyone recommend any good sci-fi/fantasy books in this vein? I have to read a lot of serious stuff for uni and I read a lot of science books, so I like to maintain some total escapism for my downtime. I''m not really into fluffy erotica/trashy romance type books, I prefer something with a captivating world.
    Seem to be difficult genres to find any LGBT stuff in.

    Not really sure if you would classify them as LGBT, but Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series is a brilliant Fantasy based in what is now modern day France, with a religion based around prostution as part of the plot. There is an openness to all Sexuality with sex scenes of Homosexal and Heterosexual nature through out. Can be a bit fluffy erotica/trashy but I enjoy that about it.


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    #51
    lazorgirl
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭lazorgirl


    In One Person, John Irving -main character is Billy Abbot, portrays issues of sexual identity, bisexuality, cross dressing and politics of gender identity in an interesting way. long book but worth the read
    The Song of Achilles -Madeline Miller; mainstream soft read but really enjoyed how she explored the sexual & spiritual relationship between Patroclus & Achilles


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    #52
    fillefatale
    Registered Users Posts: 2,225 ✭✭✭fillefatale


    I really wish there was a Women's Library, like they have in Glasgow (21 years old this year!) and London.


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    #53
    LegacyUser
    Registered Users Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭LegacyUser


    steel_spine wrote: »
    Can anyone recommend any good sci-fi/fantasy books in this vein? I have to read a lot of serious stuff for uni and I read a lot of science books, so I like to maintain some total escapism for my downtime. I''m not really into fluffy erotica/trashy romance type books, I prefer something with a captivating world.
    Seem to be difficult genres to find any LGBT stuff in.

    The Child Garden by Geoff Ryman.

    The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin.

    Triton by Samuel R. Delaney.


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    #54
    lazorgirl
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭lazorgirl


    just finished reading Emma O Donoghues new book of short stories Astray. the last story What Remains has lgbt theme; a beautiful moving story of 2 sculptors Queenie & Florence and how the couple are divided not by space but by Queenies dementia and how Florence tries to bridge that distance by way of their love and memory. florences attempt to make some sense of what their long shared life of love amounts to, really touched me.

    also dipping in and out again of Lisa Diamonds Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Womens Love & Desire; it is academic but an interesting look at the vast spectrum of women's sexuality. not one to get the juices flowing though.


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    #55
    L.Jenkins
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 19,240 Mod ✭✭✭✭L.Jenkins


    The only books I've read so far, with an LGBT theme, would have to be Whipping Girl by Julia Serano and His Name is Rebecca by Rebecca Da Havalland. By very good books, but Rebeccas book seemed to hit close to home.

    At the moment, I'm reading Insurgent, sequel to Divergent. Both very good books. Have a few left on my shelf to read before I buy new ones :D K-PAX, Blaze by Stephen King and The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins.


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    #56
    g_dublin
    Registered Users Posts: 19 ✭g_dublin


    I have read it about five million times, but "How I Learned to Snap" by Kirk Read really brightens up a rainy day. It's a coming-out story and at times the book made me absolutely laugh out loud. Highly recommended.


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    #57
    castrolracing
    Registered Users Posts: 45 ✭castrolracing


    Hey everyone. Just said I'd start a thread on gay themed movies and books. I'd be interested in any suggestions you may have on good stories in book or movie form. Its easy to get porn movies, magazines and books but it can be difficult enough to find decent real life stories and books that actually tell a story.

    I just finished reading a book called "The Velvet Rage", written by Alan Downs. It's basically about coming to terms with your sexuality and feeling good about yourself. I'd highly recomend it. The author is a gay psychologist, and in it he tells about his own life and about some of his patients stories of just being gay and coming to terms with it in "a straight mans world". I found some of the stories and depictions in it to be very like my own.

    Anyone into watching gay themed movies? "Prayers For Bobby", is well worth a watch. It's based on a true story about a young guy growing up in the USA in a strictly catholic family. His mother does everything she can to try and "cure him", of being gay. Tragically Bobby takes his own life. It's a very sad but real story. I'm sure similar tragic events have taken place in Ireland.

    2 other movies I've watched recently are "Defying Gravity", and "Shelter". Not true stories but they could be anyone's story in fairness. They are about getting involved in relationships and coming to terms with and coming out as gay.

    Anyone any comments on these or any other recommendations?


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    #58
    Rick_
    Registered Users Posts: 2,610 ✭✭✭Rick_


    Some gay movies worth watching:-

    Beautiful Thing
    Weekend
    Get Real
    To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar
    Patrik, Aged 1.5
    Latter Days
    Milk
    Priscilla - Queen Of The Desert
    Philadelphia
    The Broken Hearts Club
    Brokeback Mountain (probably the most well known of them all!)


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    #59
    castrolracing
    Registered Users Posts: 45 ✭castrolracing


    I had forgotten about "Beautiful Thing", indeed its a good movie too. Ill check out the others. Thanks.


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    #60
    Annasopra
    Registered Users Posts: 41,065 ✭✭✭✭Annasopra


    castrolracing wrote: »

    Anyone any comments on these or any other recommendations?

    I've merged your thread with a previous thread

    It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

    Terry Pratchet



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    #61
    periodictable
    Closed Accounts Posts: 931 ✭✭✭periodictable


    Keep the Lights On http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2011953/
    We Were Here http://wewereherefilm.com/
    Clapham Junction http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1043903/
    Juste une question d'amour http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0231844/
    Eyes Wide Open http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1424327/
    The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveras http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479506/
    Little Ashes http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104083/?ref_=sr_1
    Yossi and Jagger http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0334754/?ref_=sr_1
    Yossi http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1934269/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
    Steam:The Turkish Bath http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119248/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4
    Bear Cub http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359045/?ref_=sr_1
    Third Man out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446051/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

    The last movie is one of 4 about a gay private eye, set in recent times but in a 40's style.
    Some of the above are available at The Outhouse.


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