HOT SUMMER READS
DANIEL HARDING – Gay Man Talking: All the Conversations We Never Had
This book is about what happens after gay men come out of the closet. Our gay identity matters to our personal development, our relationship with parents, siblings, friends, straight men, and bullies but equally determines how we continue to discover and redefine ourselves post-coming out.
In a witty, conversational tone, journalist and news producer Harding chronicles his relationships with various people throughout his life and also features interviews with other gay men, influential figures, and insights from behavioural expert Judi James.
We may not always have good relationships with other people or even ourselves but, as Harding asserts, it’s the relationships around us that make us who we are now as modern gay men. And it’s time to revisit these relationships and the conversations we might assume were no longer necessary to become healthier and happier. – Hendri
BETHAN ROBERTS
– My Policeman
This 2012 novel has found a new readership thanks to the new Amazon film adaptation starring Harry Styles.
The novel was inspired by the relationship EM Forster enjoyed with his long-time companion, Bob Buckingham, a policeman who was married. But take note of the word inspired. Roberts has taken the famous love triangle, retained the policeman as the central figure, but changed almost everything else – the names, the setting, and especially aspects of the gay character.
The story is mostly set in 1950s Brighton and is narrated by the pair who are vying for the policeman’s affection:
Marion the schoolteacher and Patrick, the cultured older gay man. Yet despite never hearing directly from Tom, the policeman, we get a very strong sense of his dilemmas, desires, ambitions and limitations. This is a very moving story of thwarted love, deftly told against an atmospheric period setting. – Graeme
TRIXIE MATTEL AND KATYA
ZAMOLODCHIKOVA – Working Girls: Trixie And Katya’s Guide To Professional Womanhood This duo were among the first to get a book out to capitalise on their Drag Race fame and Trixie And Katya’s Guide To Modern Womanhood taught us everything we needed to know about beauty and homemaking.
Now they’re back with a companion guide to help us succeed in the professional world. Between them, Trixie and Katya have had hundreds of jobs, from cigar store salesman (Trixie) to hooker (Katya), and they show you how to transfer skills successfully across a wide range of employment settings from blue- and white-collar positions to the underground economy (Mafia hench-person, drug dealer, professional gambler).
Illustrated throughout with helpful pie charts and diagrams, there are also stunning images of the authors dressing to impress in every workplace. There is also a field guide to the types of co-workers you may encounter from The Office Slut to The Oversharer and a look at GirlBosses from Miranda Priestley to RuPaul. – Graeme
RYAN O’CONNELL
– Just By Looking At Him Meet Eliott, a TV writer living his perfect life with a perfectly penised, handsome boyfriend. Yet, behind the pictureperfect relationship, Eliott is insecure and can’t help questioning the authenticity of every loving action of his boyfriend.
Having felt invisible sexually in their relationship for a long time due to his cerebral palsy, Eliott decides to find someone who can see him as a “body” and love him for his flaws and disability. Enter River, a witty and hot sex worker who turns Eliott’s life completely upside down… But this leads Eliott to see what is missing, not only in his relationship but also within himself as a queer person with a disability.
A love letter to all who are striving to discover who we really are, this novel is a testament to queerness and disability where both can be erotic and liberating and inseparable. – Hendri
ADAM SILVERA
– The First To Die At The End This prequel to the bestselling They Both Die At The End delivers another heart-breaking love story between two young gay men.
Invented by the tech entrepreneur Joaquin Rosa, Death-Cast is a company that claims to be able to predict someone’s death on the day it will occur. Soon after arriving in New York from Arizona to escape his homophobic parents, Valentino receives a phone call from DeathCast, telling him that he will die soon. As he grapples with the shocking news, a terrible gun attack suddenly happens not far from him and Valentino is saved by Orion. Although he always believes that he’s going to die prematurely due to his heart condition, Orion has never received a call from Death-Cast.
Having fallen instantly in love with Valentino, Orion decides to spend time together with him as his Last-Friend.
Readers don’t have to read They Both Die At The End to enjoy this novel; this book stands on its own and unfolds a chilling dystopian universe where someone’s death can be accurately predicted by technology. – Hendri
MORE: The Bookshop Darlinghurst specialises in LGBTIQ books. Tel: (02) 9331 1103. Email: info@thebookshop.com.au.
Web: thebookshop.com.au.
Visit: 207 Oxford Street, Sydney.