Sunday, December 26, 2010

2010 LGBT: Favorite Books & Authors

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We are having a snow storm/blizzard today, so we missed having a "white Christmas" by one day! I've been reading and enjoying my days off... relaxing mainly. I hope you are all doing the same after the holidays. Since there is less than a week left to the year, I decided to go ahead and begin recapping 2010 and am beginning with a sub-genre that I love.

2010 was an interesting year for me when it comes to LGBT. I didn't read as many M/M Romance books as I did last year even though I have books galore in my TBR pile! However, that's not to say I didn't read LGBT, I did! Plenty. But, I seemed to have veered in a different direction and read more speculative fiction -- fantasy, horror -- mysteries and anthologies/collections. Of course I also read romance and erotica, how could I not, and those categories are also represented here. I love the fact that LGBT has it all! So, it shouldn't be a surprise that I've included all those categories on my list of favorite authors and works this year.

Sandra McDonald - LGBT Speculative Fiction

Sandra McDonald wrote one of my favorite speculative fiction books of 2010. Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories was a new 2010 release by Lethe Press Books. This is a book that stayed with me after I turned that last page. As a matter of fact I truly couldn't put it away and re-read it almost immediately. I loved the fantasy world, the unique characters, plus the circumstances that McDonald created for this collection of stories. 

As an interesting aside, and unrelated to LGBT, this year I also enjoyed the first book in McDonald's Sci-Fi/Fantasy series, The Outback Stars (another genre I love!), so you know this is an author that I will definitely look for in the future.

Other Favorites:
Timothy Lambert and R.D. Cochrane - LGBT Romance

In the LGBT romance category there's no question that I have one favorite this year, and that's an anthology. If you visit my blog regularly, you might have noticed the February LOVE blitz that occurred around here for Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction edited by Timothy Lambert and R.D. CochraneThis book was a 2009 release by Cleis Press that I read in 2010. There are short stories by different authors with different styles of writing, but I can tell you this much, I loved it so much that I read it and re-read it for three full months, from January through March. And, I still go back to the book and read certain stories every so often.

So it's tough to choose one author as a favorite here. I loved them ALL. Instead in this category, I'm choosing the editors for putting together an amazing group of writers and stories: Timothy J. Lambert and R.D. Cochrane.

Other favorites:
Josh Lanyon - M/M Romance Mysteries

And who else would I mention in this category, but the Andrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon? Talk about addiction! I became so addicted to this series that I read and re-read these books over and over again during what I termed my Adrien English Obsessive Cycle. After that, well... I've tried to read as many of Mr. Lanyon's books as possible, both TBR reads and new releases. And still, I can't say that I've been disappointed.

My other absolute favorite book in this category is also by Mr. Lanyon: Somebody Killed His Editor: Holmes and Moriarity, Book 1. There are still more than a few books in that TBR, but you know that I'll get to them in 2011.

Adrien English Mysteries - 2007/2009 Loose ID LLC
Somebody Killed His Editor: Holmes and Moriarity - 2009 Samhain Publishing, Ltd

Gavin Atlas - LGBT Erotica

In this category my top read this year was another 2010 new release by Lethe Press BooksThe Boy Can't Help It: Sensual Stories of Young Bottoms by Gavin Atlas. This was an excellent collection of Mr. Atlas' works, featuring erotic fantasies and highlighting his writing style. And, although I read a few other anthologies, and single books in this category that were good or excellent, this is the book that stayed with me throughout the year. There are still single stories in this book that I revisit from time to time. ;P

Other Favorites:
Who were your favorite LGBT authors of 2010? How about your favorite books?

13 comments:

  1. I'm noticing a lot of love for Lethe Press!

    I love it when everyone starts writing their best of the year posts, and you've piqued my interest with a few of these.

    And oh Adrien... I am very tempted to do a re-read.

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  2. LOL, Li! I noticed that myself while I was putting this post together. As I mentioned above, I got into "speculative fiction" this year, and Lethe Press has some excellent titles and authors in their catalogue. Some were authors I've been wanting to try and others I'd read before but had new releases through this publisher. I kept going back looking for more. :)

    And Adrien? I know how you feel! I've become a compulsive Adrien re-reader... lol!

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  3. Somebody Killed His Editor: Holmes and Moriarity, Book 1

    You have your credit card ready for the sequel, right? It comes out tomorrow. :D

    Angie

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  4. Ohhh Angie, All She Wrote has ALREADY been preordered. I'm more than ready, lol! Are you? ;P

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  5. I'll be travelling home tomorrow :( but I'll jump in and grab it tomorrow night or Wednesday. [grin] I love these characters, and I'm so glad Josh is making it a series. [beam]

    Angie

    PS -- please ignore the e-mail; I hit the wrong [Reply] button. :P

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  6. I've read a lot of LGBT books this year. I too went through an Adrien English 'Obsessive Cycle' and am currently in a Jordan Castillo Price PsyCop 'Obsessive Cycle' ATM :)

    I've also discovered James Buchanan...and Harper Fox :) I think this has been the LGBT year for me *grin*

    Sorry to hear about all the snow. It is 25 degrees Celsuis here, so quite warm, but if it helps it's raining ATM (very good for my garden :)

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  7. Very nice choices! Love Lanyon, of course and will definitely be getting All She Wrote when it comes out - I adored the first book.

    A Strong and Sudden Thaw was another fav of mine that you mentioned. I have Vintage - I'll actually have to read that soon. ;P

    Fool For Love - writing it down. Need to get it after a rec like that.

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  8. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I keep seeing reports of all the snow in your area. You can send some our way. My kids would love it! LOL

    I did get Vintage after reading your review. Now to find the time to read it. :)

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  9. Angie, I knew YOU weren't going to miss this book. I was ecstatic when I heard there was a sequel coming out too. You know how much I love Kit! Let's see how much trouble he gets into. ;P

    Orannia, that's wonderful! I've read a bit of JCP, but must get to the PsyCop series, it just sounds soooo good. Love James Buchanan (she's up on my list too), and Harper Fox was also one of those authors I'll be following up on in the future. Enjoy your Summer! I'm in for a bit of a messy commute this morning.

    Thanks Tracy. A Strong and Sudden Thaw was a close second for me... loved that book. And, I hope you enjoy Vintage and Fool for Love! You have some good reading ahead of you. :)

    Leslie, I did have a good Christmas! That snow storm was quite a surprise. We had a day off work, and were snowbound for quite a while yesterday. But it was a good time. :) I hope you enjoy Vintage, once you get to it. It's such an interesting book and so well written. :D

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  10. I am flattered that so many Lethe titles made your list. I am sure the authors would be thrilled to know (they may be too shy to thank you).

    And so many copies of VINTAGE!! Oh, my... again, I am grateful you liked my little novel so much to recommend it.

    I hope that in 2011, Lethe releases more titles you enjoy.

    Have a wonderful holiday!

    xoxox

    Steve

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  11. Steve, thanks for stopping by. All those authors (you included), brought me many hours of reading enjoyment this year. It was my pleasure to read the books.

    As for Lethe Press, as I said on my answer to Li above, the list of titles on the catalogue is quite impressive and I couldn't stop from returning to look for more. There is still much there I would love to explore. :) I wish you all the best in 2011! :D

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  12. I pretty much stuck to tried and true authors for e this year in m/m. Loved all the Lanyons I read, of course.

    2011 will hopefully be the year I branch out a bit more. I always get great recs, and then never follow through. But they reall still starred in my GReader. So, someday...

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  13. Lori, I pretty much stuck to M/M Romance those first two years after I began reading the genre. :) But after a while, I needed to explore and loved getting out there and reading other sub-genres within LGBT. Now I still love my romances, plus the new sub-genres I'm exploring. :D I'm doing it sloowwwwly.

    This is where I recommend anthologies, if you want to have a taste of that writing style first: Fool for Love (Romance), Country Boys: Wild Gay Erotica includes some fantastic writers, (you can check it out in My Reviews page). :D Enjoy!

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