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Fiction
Nonfiction
Memoir and Biography
Fiction
 Bad Girls, Alex McAuley
(MTV Books): Sixteen-year-old Anna Wheeler’s conservative Christian
parents don’t like the fact that she smokes pot and has sex with her
boyfriend, so they send her to Camp Archstone, a boot camp for troubled
teens, located on isolated Andros Island in the Bahamas. You know what
that means: cliques, violence and the token lesbian (Erica, a
short-haired, tattooed girl with an attitude). Published by MTV Books, Bad Girls reads like it was written by committee. Every dozen pages or so there’s a mention of Hilary Duff or The O.C., which is just plain weird. Don’t read Bad Girls for good writing; read it for the cheese factor. (www.simonsays.com) — Malinda Lo
 Hostage to Murder, VL McDermid (Bywater Books): Award-winning Scottish crime writer Val McDermid returns to the series that launched her literary career in Hostage to Murder,
the long-awaited sixth novel featuring journalist-turned-sleuth Lindsay
Gordon. Lindsay returns to Glasgow with her partner, Sophie, feeling a
bit lost as she tries to re-start her career as a journalist after
several years of teaching in Northern California. But she quickly finds
herself embroiled in an investigation complete with kidnapping, the IRA
and a sexy young colleague who gives Sophie a run for her money. Though
Lindsay is also forced to deal with a somewhat tiresome lesbian
pregnancy storyline that erupts in clichéd dyke drama, Hostage is still a satisfying page turner from one of crime fiction’s masters. (www.bywaterbooks.com) — ML
 Going Home to a Landscape: Writings by Filipinas, ed. Marianne Villanueva and Virginia Cerenio
(Calyx Books): This anthology of fiction, memoir and poetry by
Filipinas examines the nature of place — something that is central for
a people who have been colonized and displaced by successive rulers for
centuries. Though none of the pieces focus on a particularly lesbian
perspective, the experience of locating personal identity within a
shifting geography (the Philippines, Asia, the United States) resonates
with queer readers. For Filipina readers the collected stories and
poems about change, cultural history and memory are particularly
valuable. (www.proaxis.com/~calyx) — ML
 Erik & Isabelle Sophomore Year at Foresthill High, Kim Wallace (Foglight
Press): Two best queer friends Isabelle and Erik are a year older and a
year wiser in this second book of Kim Wallace’s groundbreaking series
for gay and lesbian youth. Lesbian teen Isabelle propels her town
towards tolerance, but the book is still angsty and unforgettable,
presenting images of a new breed of queer teens (www.foglightpress.com) — Diane Anderson-Minshall
Nonfiction
 Sex Tips & Tales From Women Who Dare, ed. Jo-Anne Baker (Hunter
House): With essays from some of today’s top women writers including
quite a few queer girls (Susie Bright, Carol Queen and Aussie Kimberly
O’Sullivan), this collection touches on everything from gender-bending,
performance art and pornography to celibacy, spirituality and D/S
relationships. With pieces on dyke issues scattered throughout, it also
includes a chapter titled “Women With Women” containing a riveting
selection of author comments on lesbians and sex. The stories are at
once personal, touching, emotional and humorous. (www.hunterhouse.com) — Laura K. Cucullu
 Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution, David Carter
(St. Martin’s Griffin): Carter tackles queer history’s most notorious
moment, the Stonewall riots, and delves deep into the facts and myths
that have surrounded the raid, the subsequent riots and the inn at the
center of it all. Did Judy Garland’s funeral depress the general mood
to the point of violence? Was the manager of the Stonewall Inn
blackmailing customers, himself protected only because he held
incriminating photos of J. Edgar Hoover? Carver seeks to answer these
questions and more in this insightful and exhaustive look at one of
those moments we all think we know about, including sources never
before interviewed. (www.stmartins.com) — LKC
 The Little Secret That Can Change Your Life, Joann Davis (Conari
Press): Using Lily Tomlin’s line, “If you win the rat race, you’re
still a rat,” this little gem is a reminder that success is still all
in how you look at it. (www.conari.com) — LKC
 Party Like a Rock Star Even When You’re Poor as Dirt, Camper English
(Alyson Books): Well-written and freakin’ hysterical, gay
flibbertigibbet English’s how-to on everything from club hopping to
bargain shopping offers plenty of tips that are sure to work, and a few
completely outrageous ones that are at least good for a laugh. (Or
maybe a public laugh at the expense of the fool who tries it — I’ve
known a lot of bar staff who aren’t too thrilled when their customers
try to bargain the cover charge or lie about knowing the owner). (www.alyson.com) — LKC
Retro Baking, Maureen Fischer (Collectors Press): Full of
adorable 1950s-style illustrations and artery-clogging goodness, this
cookbook yearns for a simpler time, when perhaps the thought of “Salmon
Pie” or “Aunt Patty’s Meal-in-One Pork Bake” was perhaps more
acceptable. Vegans: you’ve been warned. (www.collectorspress.com) — Catherine Plato
 Friends Are Everything, BJ Gallagher (Conari
Press): A funny and endearing collection of true stories, poetry and
quotes from women about those friends we all have in our lives (you
know — the ones you owe your sanity to), it’s sappy and sweet in all
the right ways. (www.conari.com) — LKC
 The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality, Shire Hite (Seven
Stories Press): First published in 1976, this study is a collection of
answers to a survey designed by psychosexual behavior scholar Shire
Hite. The 58 questions on the survey cover everything from masturbation
techniques to the intersection of sexuality and politics, and the
respondents run the gamut of age, experience and sexual orientation.
Hite provides an analysis of the replies, debunks dated myths and
reassures you that the anonymous woman sitting next to you has a mind
just as dirty as your own. (www.sevenstories.com) — CP
 The Asian Mystique, Sheridan Prasso
(PublicAffairs)
Like so many academic writers before her, Prasso counters the
long-standing stereotype that those outside of Eastern culture view
Asian women as submissive geisha darlings. However, Prasso, a former Business Week Asia
editor and current advisor to the Asia Society’s Social Issues Program,
writes with authority. Prasso presents an objective view of the people
of Asia, tracing the roots of Asian stereotypes in American cinema and
history, then complements this analysis with a reality check of the
current state of Asia. (www.publicaffairsbooks.com) — Jocelyn Voo
 Man With Farm Seeks Woman With Tractor, Laura Schaefer (Thunder’s
Mouth Press): Some swear by them, many laugh at them, but after 300
years, personal ads are still going strong and Schaefer offers a
compelling range of history told through the public persona that’s sold
in the personals, as well as some hilarious clips about those who’ve
placed or answered them. (www.thundersmouth.com) — LKC
 Visual Habits: Nuns, Feminism, and Postwar Popular Culture, Rebecca Sullivan
(University of Toronto Press): Think those demure old women sporting
rosary beads did nothing for the state of modern feminism? Think again,
sister! Sullivan shows us just how radical it was to skip the domestic
consumerist fantasy of the 1950s to pursue a life of spiritual
devotion, and directs us to images aplenty of badass nuns in popular
media. (www.utpublishing.com) — CP
 Paint it Black, Voltaire
(Weiser): Move over Martha, the spooky kids are here to show you how to
be fashionably dark in house and home. Maybe you never wanted to know
how to spiderweb your PT Cruiser, but you’ve pondered the best way to
make cheap shelving for your toys and figurines. Voltaire, the author
of What Is Goth? and Paint it Black: A Guide to Gothic Homemaking,
will teach you both and more — including the ins and outs of black
lights, black weddings, graveyard cakes and gluegun tips a home-ec
teacher would be proud of — in this hilarious how-to. (www.weiserbooks.com) — LKC
Memoir and Biography
 She’s Got Next, Melissa King (Houghton
Mifflin): A passionate basketball player during her youth and young
adult years, King sees the game as fulfillment in her life. As an
adult, King’s playing turns to coaching, and her memoir exposes more
than what the eyes can see in a crosstown pickup game. It’s the nuances
of the sport, the psychology of the players, and the meaning of the
sport that interests King. All of these things make for a memoir that
isn’t just about basketball or for young readers — it’s about taking
risks, being independent and learning about yourself from personal
interactions with others. (www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com) — JV
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