Just before each summer, PGN hits the books. No, we don’t go back to school. We scour our bookshelves, contact publishers and call friends. We narrow down our choices, then read. We read fluff, heady books (of both sorts), fantasy, romance and poetry, then report back. Here’s what we are reading this year, and what you might enjoy too.

Advanced Elvis Course

CA Conrad

Nonfiction

This book really would have benefited from having some pictures.

Openly gay Philadelphia author and Elvis fanatic CA Conrad takes the reader on his own rambling and borderline psychotic pilgrimage to Graceland and Memphis with this loosely connected series of vignettes, poems and observations.

Really, someone should have hired John Waters and a film crew to follow Conrad around on this trip.

It’s hard to tell whether Conrad is taking the piss with his salivating fellow Elvis enthusiasts or cosigning their oftentimes-creepy level of devotion to the legendary performer. For instance, there’s the old and sickly woman who plucked grass from Elvis’ grave because, she said, he misses his home and she could give it to him when she sees him in heaven.

Wow. You would think a real fan would bring him some Vicodin or a meat-lover’s pizza. But grass from his own grave?

Then there are the locals that Conrad runs into from time to time who think a gay, vegetarian Elvis fan has the same level of wonder as meeting a real live unicorn. But those are balanced out by the group of women that Conrad falls in with that encourages him to try to sneak a guy into Elvis’ bedroom for a romp.

At times, things get really weird. Conrad has a fantasy about sleeping naked next to Elvis in bed, wearing a body condom. Then there’s a pagan gathering involving an Elvis shrine and a surprise display of bestiality that one can only hope was a hallucination from eating too many fried peanut-butter and banana sandwiches.

If you like Elvis, white trash or unintentional Southern gothic horror, your ship has come in with this book.

— Larry Nichols

Best Gay Romance 2009

Edited by Richard Labonte

Fiction

Any collection with “best” in the title is usually a safe bet, and this compilation of 18 short stories is a winner. And isn’t it true that variety is the spice of life? “Best Gay Romance 2009” is a great book to have handy for those times this summer when you want to savor a few minutes of high-quality storytelling.

The opening short, “One” by T. Hitman, is a story of two men finding each other in an unlikely workplace and sets the bar for the stories that follow. Vic Bach’s “Kindred Souls” shows that there is still the possibility of finding Mr. Right through the want ads, and “Coming Back to Me” by Simon Sheppard is a gem of a story of two men who have to lose each other to realize that they belong together. Three exceptional stories of learning to love someone new after becoming single are “What We Leave Behind” by Shanna Germain, “Chiaroscuro” by Jay Mandal and “Starting Over” by Sam Sommer.

The final story in this anthology, “The Forrest of Suicides,” is poignant and chilling at the same time. In it, one man is waiting for a loved one to arrive and the mirror story is what is happening to that man that keeps him from arriving. It is a gripping tale that demands an immediate second reading for full effect.

In any of the story narratives, whether about losing the love of one’s life, finding the love of one’s life or recalling the person we will remember the rest of our life, this collection will certainly remind the reader that love and romance are what make life.

— Scott A. Drake

Blue Boy

By Rakesh Satyal

Fiction

Blue Boy focuses on the adventures of Kiran, a sixth-grade Indian-American boy living in Cincinnati circa 1992, stuck between his traditional immigrant Hindu parents and the social hell of being an outcast at school.

Add into the mix that Kiran is really into wearing his mother’s makeup, dolls, the pop divas of the day (Whitney, Mariah, Janet, etc.) and trying to show everybody up in the school talent show, and you pretty much get the idea of the social minefield he has to tap-dance through every day.

In his debut novel, Satyal makes you want to root for Kiran, whose life is loosely based on his own. Kiran is smart enough to know he is smarter and way more fabulous than most, but not streetwise enough to know when his classmates are setting him up to look like a fool.

It helps that Kiran is likable, because you need to be on his side to motor through many of the particulars of the book, which goes into great detail about almost everything and everyone, no matter how small a role they play. At one point, he goes into excruciating detail about the minutiae of being at the mall, spending more time describing the landscape of kiosks and the food court than discussing the mission at hand: securing a porn magazine from the local book store without his mother finding out.

It turns out to be a pretty comical caper, and that kind of offbeat juvenile exploit fuels interest in Kiran’s story.

“Blue Boy” reads like an early-’90s “Wonder Years” for the gay Hindu set, but it is also entertaining for anyone who felt out of place in his or her youth.

— L.N.

Death of a Dying Man

By J. M. Redmann

Mystery

Lesbian detective Micky Knight returns in “Death of a Dying Man,” an engaging mystery set in New Orleans. Damon LaChance hires Micky to find the daughter he hopes to meet before his hepatitis C and HIV kill him. Damon even changed his will to generously benefit her. Of course, one of Damon’s friends or lovers is angered enough by this to attempt murder. As Micky investigates who would kill a man about to die, she is assisted by Shannon — an unwelcome and attractive but brash and smart journalist. “Death of a Dying Man” shows Micky knows how to rattle cages and work a case — getting suspects to reveal more about themselves than they intend to tell her.

Redmann knows how to create sexual tension in the smartass cracks Micky and Shannon exchange before bonding, and she provides a tangibly humid New Orleans atmosphere. Yet as good as Micky is in crime-solving, she doesn’t recognize the signs of a developing hurricane. The second half of “Death of a Dying Man” focuses on Katrina and its aftermath. Alas, Redmann’s well-written novel wrestles with telling both stories. The effects of the storm prove to be more interesting than the whodunnit that precedes it.

— Gary M. Kramer

Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division

By Jon Ginoli

Autobiography

“Deflowered” is the story of Pansy Division told from the point of view of band founder and frontman Ginoli. It is also queer rock’s answer to some of the more famous band tell-alls out there.

Granted, the pioneering gay-punk band never reached the highest levels of rock-star fame — and the corresponding levels of debauchery found in similarly styled books by Aero-smith or Motley Crüe. But there is enough sex, drugs and loud music to go around and keep readers entertained.

Ginoli writes candidly about his life and the band’s humble beginnings. They found a small but receptive and loyal audience, thanks to the window of opportunity the grunge movement afforded them. They rode that wave, flying the flag for gay rock musicians and opening for superstars like Green Day along the way.

It’s fun to follow the band’s world travel, especially when Ginoli takes some well-deserved jabs at Blink-182, Bon Jovi and Limp Bizkit. And it’s wrenching to see the band’s fortunes take a dip as boy bands and rap-metal took over in the late 1990s and our heroes have to figure out how to survive as a group.

Beyond the road stories, Ginoli paints a vivid picture of gay culture from the ’80s-’90s, which he oftentimes found frustrating. Punk-rock culture wasn’t quite ready for an out-and-proud pop-punk band and gay culture wasn’t quite ready for a gay band that played rock or had overtly sexual lyrics.

“Deflowered” is definitely a book that should be plucked off the shelves.

— L.N.

Drama Queers!

By Frank Anthony Polito

Fiction Drama Queers!” is the 1980s version of “High School Musical” — only with characters who are a bit more overtly gay.

Polito’s novel follows the senior year of Brad Dayton, an aspiring actor struggling to break out of the confines of his small Michigan town and make it big on the stage. On top of the typical high-school stresses — college applications, after-school jobs and parental clashes — Brad’s also struggling with his sexuality. While he’s accepted that he’s gay, he’s still trying to find the “right moment” to share this news with his loved ones. The one friend he did come out to distanced himself from Brad, perhaps to alleviate suspicion about his own questionable sexuality, and Brad finds himself delving into several new romantic endeavors on his own without counsel from his friends or family.

“Drama Queers!” is a comedic, coming-of-age story that allows the reader to trace Brad’s gradual maturity as he muddles through teen angst to reconcile his own identity and goals. The novel is written from the first-person perspective, and takes on an almost diary-like fashion as Brad candidly dishes about his latest crushes and other teen turmoil.

The book is saturated with 1980s culture, each chapter previewed by lyrics from an ’80s song and with Brad’s frequent tangents about television, music and movie icons from the decade. And while such references may resonate with the over-30 crowd, this population might tire of the teen soap-opera nature of the novel. If you can get accustomed to Brad’s recurrent gushing and exaggerated use of words like “sooo” and “like,” his unrest is endearing and engaging and has the ability to transport the reader to days when the future was wide open and the present was all that mattered.

— Jen Colletta

The Ethical Slut (Second Edition)

By Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy

Nonfiction

Originally published in 1997, this now-classic guide to polyamory and open relationships has a newly updated edition. Largely rewritten and reorganized by the original authors, it now includes short, practical exercises useful for exploring the emotional minefield that can arise from making the decision to open things up. It also has a spiffy new cover.

Presented in clear, matter-of-fact language, largely free of the new-age spirituality too frequently found in other resources of this type, “The Ethical Slut” is the go-to guide for anyone considering an alternate relationship model. Included are guidelines for different sorts of open relationships, strategies for dealing with jealousy, the ever-practical section on group-sex etiquette and a newly updated and expanded resource guide.

Long considered the definitive text on the subject, “The Ethical Slut” just got that much better. For anyone out there feeling that life has more to offer than monogamy, this book should be your first step. Hey, if it’s good enough for Margaret Cho, right?

— P. Alexander Butler

False Colors

Alex Beecroft

M/M historical romance

“False Colors,” the second in a series of English historical gay romances published locally, is an engrossing tale that takes place in the English navy during the 1700s.

Set almost entirely at sea, the newly appointed captain of the Meteor, John Cavendish, finds himself locked in a moral battle with some dark feelings about his well-liked lieutenant, Alfie Donwell. Sea battles, port raids and life at sea bring the men close, but when Donwell finally makes a move on the captain, the result is not good. The two end up serving separately and have to come to grips with their now-lost friendship.

The fast-paced and involving “False Colors” captures the essence of maritime life with stronger structure than its predecessor “Transgressions” and with more action and direction.

Additionally, Beecroft does an excellent job of drawing the reader into the characters’ emotional conflicts.

For anyone who enjoys gay romance novels, both “False Colors” and “Transgressions” should be worthwhile. And, as they are independent stories, feel free to read “False Colors” first.

This fall, “Tangled Web” and “Lover’s Knot” will continue the series.

— S.A.D.

Fist of the Spider Woman: Tales of Fear and Queer Desire

Edited by Amber Dawn

Short stories

There are some delightfully good stories to be found in this collection of horror from a queer feminine perspective, and far beyond the clichéd roles of women in horror as hapless victims or villainous she-devils.

The poetry and vampire stories contained here are perfunctory enough, like Fiona Zedde’s “Every Dark Desire.” The intense power struggle between two supernatural beings ends exactly how you think it will, and you get the sense that genre is too well-trodden to find anything particularly earth-shattering.

It’s the stories that shake things up a bit that really deliver. Megan Milks’ “Slug” is a perfect mix of crazy sexual tension, genderfuck and H.P. Lovecraft-inspired freakish horror. Body horror is also a theme in “Crabby,” but this story is far more entrenched in real life and kind of comical to boot. Kristyn Dunnion’s “Homeland” is almost an homage to Alfred Hitchcock, as a homicidal lesbian hustler gets the tables turned on her in spectacular fashion by her would-be victim.

Some anthologies make the mistake of boring the reader with repetitive storylines, but “Fist of the Spider Woman” presents a pleasant variety of styles and voices that makes it an enjoyable and sometimes spine-tingling read.

— L.N.

Hollywood Bohemians

By Brett Abrams

Nonfiction

Although today’s Hollywood is decidedly different than it was in the early 20th century, one thing has remained true: Sex sells.

Abrams’ “Hollywood Bohemians” explores the growth of Hollywood between 1917-41, examining how some in the film industry challenged societal conceptions of gender. This fueled not only social change, but also Hollywood’s reputation as a place where sexual inhibition is not only uncommon but unexpected. Abrams’ work investigates how novels, films and mass media of the time gave extensive attention not only to gays and lesbians, but also to other such “bohemians” as cross-dressers, effeminate males, butch females, adulterers and others who strayed from the accepted gender concepts of the era.

“Hollywood Bohemians” provides an extensively researched analysis of the history of Hollywood, tracing how sexuality became the ingrained component of the movie industry that it is today. The book details the evolving Hollywood culture — from the movie sets to the nightspots to the parties — focusing on the gender expectations within those environments and how the wave of bohemians drastically changed that landscape. Abrams highlights such stars as Tallulah Bankhead, Clark Gable, William Randolph Hearst, Cary Grant and Greta Garbo, performers whose carefree perceptions of sex and sexuality — and the manner in which their lives were portrayed in the media — paved the way for the increasing risqué nature of Hollywood.

Abrams’ work is written in a way that proffers plentiful scholarly research but also taps into the public’s continued desire to uncover all facets of Hollywood stars’ private lives. It would make an excellent addition to a film-history course, but is also an insightful and intriguing read for anyone bedazzled by the sexual abandon in the American movie industry.

— J.C.

A Human Eye

Adrienne Rich

Critical essays

In this collection, “A Human Eye: Essays on Art in Society, 1997-2008,” Rich has compiled 13 essays and lectures in which she examines topics ranging from the translation of Iraqi poetry (and what is lost in translation) to James Baldwin’s influence on the poet’s own work and civil rights in America.

Rich’s writings reveal her deep intelligence and the rigor with which she has considered art and its ability to reflect — and change — society.

In “Iraqi Poetry Today,” Rich evaluates how the translation of poetry is essential, yet fraught with difficulties. For the author, poetry is “unmistakably human as the human face, yet varied as faces are” and gives insight into other cultures not gained through other media or literature. In her analysis of several Iraqi poems, she considers the language the translators chose, wondering if syntax, tonalities and word choice ring true. And despite her criticisms of the language, she guesses: “Is this or that poem actually more remarkable than translation can suggest? Is it, in translation, bound, like Prometheus, on the rock of language and cultural references?”

In “‘Candidates for My Love’: Three Gay and Lesbian Poets,” Rich dissects how out poets became activists in the 1960s and ’70s by the sheer act of self-definition. To illustrate her point, she considers poems by Walt Whitman, Robert Duncan and Judy Grahn, looking at how the very act of owning and writing about sexuality breaks with tradition. And, while she states, “There is no ‘progress’ — political or otherwise — in poetry — only riffs, echoes, of many poems and poets speaking into the future and back toward the past,” the poems of these three make it apparent that poetry marks society’s progress.

— Sarah Blazucki

Ice Song

Kristen Imani Kasai

Science fiction/fantasy

Kasai wastes no time setting up the action in “Ice Song,” the intriguing fantasy world she has created.

Sorykah is an engineer on an ice-drilling submarine that spends months at a stretch mining fossil water, a non-addictive substance found deep in the planet’s southern pole areas. She chose the job to stay in the good graces of The Company and to draw attention away from the fact that she is a Trader, a being able to switch genders suddenly.

Traders have a number of difficulties in the world. The genders have no memory of who they are or what they did while they were switched. Also, traders are seen as objects of desire or revulsion by society at large and usually find themselves hunted or persecuted once their true nature is discovered.

Complicating things is the fact that Sorykah has two children who are also Traders and, when they mysteriously disappear, it is up to Sorykah and her male alter ego, Soryk, to find them.

“Ice Song” touches on social and environmental issues, such as the global impact of The Company, and the emergence of wild and sometimes-horrific genetic mutations in the population play out around Sorykah’s search for her children.

“Ice Song” is definitely a compelling read, largely due to the fact that Sorykah is such a well-developed character. She has an equally intense and complex sense of love and resentment for her children. And the fact that she exists between the world of humans and the mutants is also a source of conflict for her character.

“Ice Song” is a near-perfect combination of fantasy, great storytelling and social commentary.

— L.N.

Lake Overturn

By Vestal McIntyre

Fiction

This astonishing novel — a great big captivating, multi-character drama set in Eula, Idaho — has McIntyre juggling a half-dozen intersecting plots and people with extraordinary grace. The story spirals out from a junior-high-school science-fair project about the title phenomenon. Enrique and Gene are budding queers and trailer-park neighbors with single mothers. As they work on their project, other narratives ebb and flow. What connects Eulans is not just their location or their despair, but their emotions: Everyone aches for inappropriate or unrequited love. McIntyre provides remarkable details that reveal individual truths. From a description of how a woman cleans a house to Enrique’s “experiment” that leads Gene to physically explore his lust for Enrique’s brother, readers get inside the minds of these characters.

The lies they tell are even more intriguing. Wanda, a junkie who wants to be a surrogate mother, has two unbelievable speeches that are quite striking.

“Lake Overturn” also includes some fantastic imagery. One character is described as smelling like “neglected laundry,” while another shuts off her emotions “like unused rooms.” McIntyre so deeply invests himself and readers into his characters that it is a shame when “Lake Overturn” ends — especially since this otherwise fantastic book fumbles its conclusion.

— G.M.K.

Likewise

By Ariel Schrag

Graphic novel

In her two previous autobiographical comics, “Awkward and Definition” and “Potential,” Schrag depicted her first three years of high school; the latest installment, “Likewise,” picks up the story of her senior year.

The longest of the three, Schrag painstakingly documents her parents’ post-divorce relationship, her obsession with her ex-girlfriend and her first visit to Good Vibrations to buy her first dildo.

Through both dialogue and graphics, Schrag details her teenaged angst nearly to the point of oversaturation. Recurring themes that she delves deeply into are her obsession with her ex-girlfriend, documenting (literally) everything for the comic and coming to terms with her sexual orientation. While the latter deserves careful self-reflection and observation, Schrag’s focus on the former two becomes tedious, particularly when she uses her drawing style to demonstrate her depression and lapses into stream-of-consciousness dialogue. While the first two novels were engaging, this installment comes across as heavy-handed and self-obsessed.

— S.B.

MemoraBEALEia

By Walter Newkirk

Nonfiction

Most people who know anything about “Little Edie” Beale gained their knowledge from the 90-minute documentary “Grey Gardens,” first released in theaters in 1976.

In the film, Little Edie appears as a somewhat-eccentric recluse who never gets out from under the dysfunctional relationship with her mother, Big Edie Beale.

The film gained notoriety because Big Edie was the sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ father, “Black Jack” Bouvier, making Little Edie Jackie’s first cousin.

People were fascinated by the apparent differences between the two cousins — Jackie so sophisticated and independent, Edie so dizzy and co-dependent.

In this new book by Newkirk, who met the Beales shortly after the film debuted and became good friends with Little Edie, Newkirk recounts touching anecdotes of a friendship that spanned 25 years.

Interspersed in the narrative are photos of numerous letters written by Little Edie, snapshots of her at various events and news clips covering her life after the documentary.

Newkirk does an admirable job of developing Little Edie into a real-life person, not the caricature that emerged from “Grey Gardens.” She is shown to be a woman of intelligence and compassion with a flair for writing, much like her famous cousin.

For anyone interested in a more realistic portrayal of the Beales, particularly Little Edie, this book is a must-read.

— Timothy Cwiek

Object of Desire

William J. Mann

Fiction

Mann has created an outstanding world of love, lust, loss, friendship, families and fortune through nearly 30 years and both coasts of the U.S. with his sixth novel, “Object of Desire.”

Danny Fortunato of East Hartford, Conn., now lives in Palm Springs with his English professor husband of 20 years, Frank Wilson. But the journey from being a skinny, shy boy in high school to a mature, masculine artist takes him through West Hollywood and nights of dancing on a box for tips from ogling and groping men and scores of, well, scores. Mann uses these locations in the first three chapters to create the framework for the rest of the book and, from that point on, interweaves them like gold and silk threads on a loom.

It was Danny’s 14th birthday back in East Hartford when his sister Becky went missing. Danny doesn’t tell anyone that he knows Becky was with Chipper the afternoon she disappeared because he has his own crush on him. Eventually, Becky’s disappearance drives his mother insane, his father to drink and Danny to California. There, Danny’s acting career doesn’t work out and, while club dancing, he spies Frank, a man he wants desperately. Completely taken by this man 14 years his senior, Danny moves in with him shortly thereafter.

In present-day Palm Springs, Danny is now celebrating his 41st birthday with his best friend Randall when a man across the room captivates him. Kelly becomes the object of his desire much like Frank had 21 years previously in West Hollywood. But Danny becomes obsessed with Kelly much like his mother had with Becky, and even his open relationship with Frank reaches the breaking point.

As all of Danny’s pasts catch up with the present, everything eventually becomes extraordinarily and inextricably fused. In the end, there are resolutions, revelations and some things that remain unresolved, for the reader to muse later.

Read this book. And then read it again in the winter or next summer to absorb all of the subtleties that Mann has so giftedly and generously written.

— S.A.D.

One Last Kiss

By Mary Wilbon

Fiction

Murder, prostitution and politics collide in “One Last Kiss,” which follows a lesbian detective on the trail of a murderer who claimed the life of her first love.

Detective Cassandra Slick, who left the New Jersey Police Department at the behest of her high-society partner, Laura, finds herself back on the case when Gloria Roxley, a prostitute who lends her talents to some of New Jersey’s most high-powered politicians, is brutally murdered. Cassandra’s former adversary, homophobic Detective Tom Brandeal, is implicated in the killing, and Cassandra and Laura set off to track down the details of Gloria’s life and death. Their investigation plunges them into the thick of New Jersey politics and police corruption, and proves that justice may not always be served best in court.

“One Last Kiss” is a quick read, perfect for an afternoon on the beach. It’s the type of novel that encourages readers to don their own detective badges to try to solve a murder, as well as several other killings that occur in the story, before Cassandra does. The plot’s quick progression does require a bit of imagination to fill in some of the lacking character development, but the endless twists and turns keep the story exciting and continually surprising. There’s even a cameo appearance by “gay American” former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey. Who can beat that?

— J.C.

Our Life in Gardens

Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd

Nonfiction

Partners Eck and Winterrowd have crafted a lovely and engaging book, mapping their life through their garden — how their relationship has changed and grown, even as their garden has changed and grown — and serving as a garden primer.

The authors label each chapter with a gardening term or plant name, accompanied by a botanical illustration, framing a story about their garden (or life) or about the particular term at hand. For instance, in the chapter “Native Groundcover,” Eck and Winterrowd write about their favorite groundcover, pachysandra, giving background on the plant, its biological name and preferred growing conditions.

In the chapter “The Pergola Walk,” the authors tell of how they came to have such a feature in their garden, tracing it back to a vacation on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, and what plants grace the walk now, all the while writing vivid descriptions of the plants, the garden and their experiences.

While each chapter addresses a separate topic, taken together they paint a colorful picture of the joy the authors receive from their garden — and inspire garden envy in the reader. What could be a dry garden story is instead rich and lush, like a beautiful garden, attractive to gardeners and non-gardeners alike.

— S.B.

Pre-Gay LA: A Social History of the Movement for Homosexual Rights

C. Todd White

Reference

New York City claims the 1969 Stonewall riots as the origins of the gay-rights movement in America, even though gay-rights protests had been going on for years in Philadelphia. Now, White has produced “Pre-Gay LA” as the epicenter, detailing the origins of Mattachine, ONE Incorporated, the Homosexual Information Center and the Institute for the Study of Human Resources beginning in the late 1940s. One can only expect a treatise on late-Victorian-era underground movements followed by the Roman bathhouse writings to pre-date this latest gay-movement carbon dating.

White uses the HIC archives and interviews to create a tediously thorough background into early southern California publications and organizations to promote gay rights. Minutes from some Mattachine and ONE meetings are not light reading, nor engrossing to say the least, but there is lot of information packed into these 226 pages of text and 32 pages of appendices, notes, references and index.

Hardcore history buffs, political-science students and curious others should at least check it out as a shelf-sitting reference tool. Insomniacs: We have a winner!

— S.A.D.

Santa Olivia

By Jacqueline Carey

Fantasy

Carey takes a well-deserved break from the erotic alternate history adventures of her Kushiel’s Legacy series to deliver this tale about a group of orphans in a plague-ridden, near-future no-man’s-land border town.

The daughter of a genetically engineered super soldier, Loup Garron initially hides her gifts from her fellow orphans, but eventually assumes the mantle of the town’s patron saint, Santa Olivia, to dispense vigilante justice upon the military regime that controls the town.

A coming-of-age story for an unusual young woman, as well as a bold reinterpretation of superhero storytelling, “Santa Olivia” succeeds on many levels. At a brisk 341 pages, the novel is about half the size of Carey’s more mythic doorstoppers, but contains all the strengths for which she is well-regarded: a strong female protagonist, excellent characterization, big-action sequences and a love story that is both pulse-quickening and heartbreaking.

“Santa Olivia” is a perfect piece of summer escapism, but in the final analysis, it is nothing short of a parable about learning to live without fear — and having the courage to allow your heart to do the same.

— P.A.B.

The Slow Fix

By Ivan E. Coyote

Memoir/Short stories

Canadian storyteller Coyote’s “The Slow Fix” provides an insightful look at just how ingrained gender expectations are in our society. The dozens of stories included in the book are largely autobiographical and detail everything from her childhood to her spoken-word performances at high schools to her relationships with different women. Threaded throughout all of the stories, however, is Coyote’s subtle challenge of gender stereotypes.

Coyote describes numerous instances in which her gender ambiguity has led to puzzled and sometimes-panicked reactions from landlords, fellow public-restroom patrons and airplane seatmates, resulting in often humorous, and sometimes painful, interactions. Throughout the book, Coyote is unapologetic about her gender identity: She doesn’t try to label herself or even express frustration that others don’t understand her sexuality. Coyote’s identification is not an issue for her, and her writing exhibits an unwavering confidence and self-awareness that is refreshing.

“The Slow Fix” would be especially advantageous for LGBT and questioning youth. In many of the stories, Coyote describes her hesitance to perform at conservative high schools but nevertheless doesn’t turn down these invitations, as she seeks to demonstrate to the LGBT youth in these student bodies that they, too, can overcome any marginalization. Just as she strives to inspire LGBT youth during her speaking engagements, “The Slow Fix” also demonstrates for readers that one’s potential does not have to be curtailed by societal expectations of gender.

— J.C.

Speak Low: Poems

By Carl Phillips

Thom Gunn Selected Poems

Edited by August Kleinzahler

Poetry

The poems in Phillips’ “Speak Low” are intimate but not necessarily romantic. Phillips’ best pieces in this collection provide vivid, sensual images of the body. In “Now in Our Most Ordinary Voices,” he artfully describes the “shadowland” of penetrating bodies. In “Directions from Here,” the warmth of a sleeping boy touching himself is palpable. Likewise, the aroma of a man (and rough sex) is conjured in “Distortion.”

“Speak Low” also features figures from “The Iliad” and history — Hadrian falls in love with a boy in “Night Song” — but these poems may be more satisfying for readers who understand all the classic references.

Gunn’s poetry is no less elegant. Gunn uses couplets and rhyming schemes, fancy words (like “seeled” and “adventuring”) as well as repetition to create stanzas that echo and sing. His “Song for a Camera” for Robert Mapplethorpe uses imagery that reveals how a writer — and by extension, a photographer — work. An ode to the snail is captivating, as are many of his nature poems — especially “Hawk and Tamer” and “Lights among Redwoods.” This anthology collects several works throughout Gunn’s career, but even when he’s moody or intense — “Touch,” “The Bed” and “Three” — he captures emotion and feeling beautifully, brilliantly.

— G.M.K.

Straight Lies

Rob Byrnes

Fiction

“Straight Lies” has quirky, shallow characters and a few odd plot twists that leave the reader with a feeling that is part satisfying, part “Huh?”

The story revolves around a poor-quality videotape of a man having sex in a hot tub with a woman. Not just any man, but movie actor Romeo Romero, who made his millions by “courageously and selflessly” outing himself years earlier. The tape is inadvertently left in a cab and found by someone else — and that’s when the conniving starts. The finder wants to sell it to a tabloid for drinking money. The original owner wants it back to blackmail the actor. The actor wants the tape to protect his identity. The tabloid editor wants it to blackmail Romero and then expose him anyway.

Partners Grant and Chase cook up a totally hare-brained idea to set up Romero and make a new tape, and the craziness accelerates like a car flying off the side of a mountain.

The reader quickly catches on to the rhythm of action vs. happenstance in this story of con artists, thieves, actors, agents and unwilling partners, and can mentally play along with the author in guessing what happens next. Guessing correctly doesn’t earn points or win prizes, but it makes sense to engage in the implausible story as much as possible to stay interested.

Byrnes is not trying for the great American novel here — just something to pass the time by the pool, on the sand or waiting for a life event. To that end, he succeeds. But if you need complex characters, believable dialogue and a tightly written story with less “Huh?” move on.

— S.A.D.

Transgressions

Erastes

M/M historical romance

A local Philadelphia publisher is releasing four gay historical romance novels this year, with “Transgressions” as the first in the series. The backdrop of the English Civil War in the 1640s lends the story richness in living and social conditions, as well as in the religious and political beliefs of the era.

The story centers around David, blacksmith Jacob Caverly’s son, and Caverly’s Puritan apprentice Jonathan. David and Jonathan spend some memorable months working and playing together and seemingly fall in love, even though it is considered a mortal sin at that time.

When David is accused by one of the local girls of seducing and taking advantage of her as a way to force a marriage that she wants, David slips out into the night to join the army and Jonathan goes another path toward rediscovery and introspection. Over the course of seven years, David and Jonathan weave through other men and locations, searching for what they once had and maybe still want.

Not a tightly written narrative, the stilted language of the day dost detract from the story at times and the romantic encounters are occasionally unremarkable, but overall it holds the reader’s attention. This is a nice, light summer read for the beach or a day by the pool.

— S.A.D.

Ugly Man

By Dennis Cooper

Short stories

Cooper likes to shock and awe. The unapologetic stories in his collection “Ugly Man” do both. The first piece, “Jerk,” has a character fistfucking a boy who was just beaten to death. The paragraph-long story “Santa Clause vs. Johnny Crawford” is about incestuous sexual abuse. Obviously, “Ugly Man” is not for the faint of heart — or for the beach.

Yet one can’t dismiss Cooper’s work just for being off-putting. Some of his tales are dazzling — “The Anal Retentive Line Editor” is a highly amusing deconstruction and pornographic story by an editor who places himself in the writer’s life-narrative. Other highlights include two stories that are simply lists — “The Worst (1960-1971)” and “The Fifteen Worst Russian Gay Porn Web Sites.”

However, entries like “The Boy on the Far Left” or “The Noll Dynasty” seem more like doodles, or unfinished ideas. It’s one thing to want to know what happens next to the would-be lovers in the riveting “Oliver Twink,” but it’s another to not care about the characters in “The Brainiacs” or “The Hostage Drama.” Cooper is often disturbingly clever, but overall the stories in “Ugly Man” are either too strong or too short.

— G.M.K.

Verge

By Z. Egloff

Fiction

A recovering alcoholic/former homewrecker and a do-gooder nun might not fit the typical Ellen/Portia mold, but Egloff’s “Verge” has readers rooting for the dubious twosome throughout their rollercoaster of a relationship.

Claire McMinn has always had a way with women, but when her binge drinking leads her to the bed of her professor’s wife, her dreams of becoming a filmmaker are on the brink of disaster. Claire commits herself to getting sober and creates her own 12-step program — which precludes all sexual contact — to get her life and her career goals back on track.

When Claire dives into a filming project at a local community center, however, she finds one unlikely subject that piques her attention: Sister Hillary, a young, appealing “woman religious” to whom Claire finds herself immediately attracted. Their friendship evolves from the initial sexual spark — which threatens both Claire’s no-sex policy and Sister Hillary’s vow of celibacy — to a deeper connection that allows both to explore how their pasts have shaped the paths they’ve taken and led them to one another.

Egloff’s tale seamlessly flows through the stages of Claire and Sister Hillary’s relationship, allowing the reader to pick up on the subtle sexual frustrations and the emotional sufferings that both women unwittingly share. The prose is a perfect fusion of description and dialogue, moving the action at a realistic pace while still providing a well-detailed context and explanation for the characters’ motives.

“Verge” is a story that highlights both the good and bad within each of us, and demonstrates how one’s happy ending can be a bit different — and even more valuable — than originally conceived.

— J.C.