LGBT: 2013 Favorite Reads & Authors

Happy New Year everyone!! It's time to take a look back at the LGBT books that made the past year memorable. Overall, 2013 was a great reading year for me. As always, my list of favorite reads is based on books read and reviewed during the year, and graded A (5.0) or A-/B+ (4.5). This time around, however, I've included 2013 releases, as well as a few previously released books that are too good to ignore. These are the stories that spoke to me throughout the year.

Desire: Tales of New Orleans by William Sterling Walker
Gay Fiction: (2012, Chelsea Station Editions)
William Sterling Walker's collection of short stories set in a pre-Katrina New Orleans is one of those books where everything, from the characters to the setting and from the writing to the subject matter, comes together perfectly into one unforgettable package. Walker's ability to make time, place, and characters come alive is uncanny. I've re-read passages, single, and various stories from this collection repeatedly after my first go round -- Desire, Aubade, Menuetto, Fin de Siècle -- and keep the book handy. I cannot recommend this collection enough.

Red-Inked Retablos by Rigoberto Gonzalez
Creative Non-Fiction: (2013, The University of Arizona Press)
In Red-Inked Retablos, Rigoberto Gonzalez invites readers to contemplation and activism. He speaks with authority and passion from the many viewpoints that make up his life experiences -- the Latino, the gay man, the writer, the teacher, the activist -- but, most importantly he speaks from the heart. I read this book in February 2013 and referred to it several times throughout the year. A memorable and highly recommended read.

In His Secret Life by Mel Bossa 
Bisexual/Gay Romance: (2013, Bold Strokes Books)
Mel Bossa writes beautiful romances filled with conflicted gay and bisexual males in pursuit of understanding, self-awareness, and love. I love her LGBT romances, and in 2013 she did it again with In His Secret Life where Bossa again displays her talents for creating three dimensional characters and a complex, memorable romance by tackling a controversial love affair between a married bisexual man and single gay man further complicated by family ties.

Boystown #5: Murder Book by Marshall Thornton
Mystery: (2013, MLR Press)
Set in Chicago at the beginning of the 1980's, the Nick Nowack Mystery series by Marshall Thornton is gritty and makes an impact on the reader with more than just the great mysteries. Throughout the series, it is Nick's personal life -- sexual exploits and romantic interests -- that slowly become the ongoing source of tension for the reader. Thornton takes the readers back to the 80's and keeps them there with his no nonsense writing style and magnificent central character. Time for Secrets #4 (2012, MLR Press) and Murder Book #5 are both favorite reads, but I highly recommend the entire series!

Death by Silver by Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold
Fantasy: (2013, Lethe Press)
Scott & Griswold's world-building is a combination of high magic and Victorian morals in a quasi-recognizable London. Death by Silver is an excellent blend of fantasy and mystery with steampunk elements. The romance in the making between the two main characters and their inner conflicts, however, give this novel a perfect emotional touch, as do the secondary characters and gray areas that these two authors explore throughout the story.

Dust Devil on a Quiet Street by Richard Bowes 
Fantasy/Speculative Fiction: (2013, Lethe Press)
In 2013, I read three books by Richard Bowes including his collection of fairy tales The Queen, The Cambion and Seven Others (2013, Aqueduct Press) and When Angels Fight (2013, Fairwood Press). I reviewed two of the three books, but enjoyed and recommend them all. Dust Devil on a Quiet Street is a fantastic compilation of short stories that are organically blended into one book or one story. Bowes' knowledge and love of New York City and the intimacy of thought found in his narrative are fantastic. This book is categorized as a fantasy, yet I am still fascinated by the fact that at times it is impossible to tell where truth ends and fiction begins. Richard Bowes is that talented.

Light by 'Nathan Burgoine
SFF/Romance/Suspense: (2013, Bold Strokes Books)
We all need heroes in our lives, even reluctant heroes who hide their light are welcome! Burgoine is a multi-talented author who successfully creates short stories within different LGBT sub-genres such as speculative fiction, romance and gay fiction. His debut full-length novel Light makes it to my list of favorite reads as one of the most enjoyable books read in 2013. This action/adventure, superhero, romance suspense yarn is tough to place into one of those little boxes or categories, what is not difficult to do is love it. It is fun, entertaining, and absorbing with a memorable central character and a grounded, focused central gay theme. Light now resides on my "reread" shelf.

Best Gay Stories 2013 ed. Steve Berman
Anthology--Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction: (2013, Lethe Press)
Best Gay Stories 2013 is undoubtedly my favorite anthology of the year. Steve Berman compiled 20 amazing fiction and creative non-fiction pieces by 20 equally fantastic authors, some already well known to me and others not at all. I read many collections and anthologies during a single year and was greatly surprised to read one excellent piece after another in this anthology, each with a different theme highly relevant to today's gay man -- young and not so young -- some embracing recent history and others dealing with the here and now.

Favorite Short Stories: I chose the following short stories from favorite single author collections and anthologies rated A (5.0) and A-/B+ (4.5).  I'm sort of cheating since the books, as well as the short stories, are highly recommended in their entirety.

"Things I Can't Tell My Father"
"Ice Water"
The Silent Hustler by Sean Meriwether (2009, Lethe Press)

"Boy"
"Between Us"
The Rest of Us: Stories by Guy Mark Foster (2013, Lethe Press)

"Light and Dark" by Damon Shaw
"The Third State" by Lee Thomas
"The Origin of the Fiend" by Hal Duncan
The Lavender Menace: Tales of Queer Villainy! ed. by Tom Cardamone (2013, Northwest Press) 

"Sic Him Hellhound! Kill! Kill!" by Hal Duncan
"A Strange Form of Life" by Laird Barron
Wilde Stories 2013: The Year's Best Gay Speculative Fiction ed. Steve Berman (2013, Lethe Press)

Review: Death by Silver by Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold

Death by Silver by Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold is a fantasy mystery with an unquestionable steampunk flavor that does not overwhelm the world-building, yet offers enough magic and subtle details to give this story set in a recognizable Victorian London, a very distinct atmosphere. There is quite a lot to enjoy in this well executed fantasy mystery with its delicious twists and turns, red herrings, murders by magic, personal struggles and a question of the heart.

The story begins when metaphysician Ned Mathey's newly established practice is hired by well-known banker Mr. Edgar Nevett to cleanse his family silver of ancient or modern curses. Ned hesitates as soon as he realizes that Mr. Nevett is Victor Nevett's father, the prefect who bullied him and others throughout his years in boarding school. Nevertheless, Ned accepts the commission and finds that the silver is clean of enchantment.

Unfortunately a few days later, Mr. Edgar Nevett is found in his study murdered by an enchanted silver candlestick. Soon thereafter, Victor Nevett himself offers to hire Ned to solve the murder. Ned accepts reluctantly, after all business is business and his name and reputation as a metaphysician must be cleared. With the aid of his assistant Ms. Frost, Ned and closest school friend and sometimes lover Private Detective Julian Lynes rush to solve a murder, a burglary, and the mystery of the enchanted silver candlestick. Ned and Julian face danger, old and new foes, struggle to come to terms with painful past experiences and with feelings they may or may not have for each other.

The absorbing mystery drives the plot in Death by Silver as Scott and Griswold keep clues and details coming at a fast pace with well-executed red herrings, twists and turns. The mystery is well integrated with the world-building and the relationship struggle taking place between the characters. Most importantly, none of the characters in Death by Silver, including the villain(s), fall into the black and white category. Instead, they all display strengths and human frailty. Scott and Griswold effectively explore gray areas and the humanity of their characters through Ned and Julian's perspectives.

The fantasy details are organically incorporated into the world-building throughout the story and make sense from the beginning. For example, details such as a recognizable London as the setting with true to time Victorian morals, behavior, and lifestyle, are subtly blended in with magic, enchantments, automata-building salesmen, alternate institutions, laws, some rather interesting flora, and religious beliefs.

However, the hearts of this story are our main characters and narrators Ned and Julian. The story is narrated from their alternating first point of view perspectives. As a result, Scott and Griswold give the reader an in-depth look into both characters that include personal history, intimate thoughts, fears, and feelings. They also give an excellent view of secondary characters and different perspectives of the unfolding plot. The shifts in point of view flow well as do the intermittent flashbacks employed to show the characters' pertinent past experiences with bullies at boarding school.

The extent of the bullying episodes is revealed slowly and blends in with the mystery, as Julian and Ned confront personal fears and consequences of those boarding school days while working closely with the man who bullied them. Also slowly integrated are our main characters' depth of feelings and insecurities as they circle each other and wonder where their relationship stands. This is not the main focus of the story, still, I love Ned and Julian's "friends and lovers to romance-in-the-making" conflict.

I loved everything about Death by Silver -- the world-building and excellent atmosphere, the characters and their personal struggles, the twisty well-paced plot and the delicious romantic relationship-building elements, all the way to the great ending. I just hope that Scott and Griswold are planning a series because these characters and world are begging for one! Highly enjoyed and recommended.

Category: Fantasy/Mystery - LGBT
Publisher: Lethe Press (ARC for review)
Upcoming Release Date: May 25, 2013
Grade: A

Visit Melissa Scott at Goodreads, and Amy Griswold at her LJ page or Goodreads.