GLBT Challenge 2010

Welcome to the GLBT Challenge 2010!

The Challenge that Dare Not Speak its Name...

Rules/Guidelines:

The basic idea of this challenge is to read books about GLBT topics and/or by GLBT authors.

The challenge runs year-round, and there will be three levels of participation:

• Lambda Level: Read 4 books.
• Pink Triangle Level: Read 8 books.
• Rainbow Level: Read 12 or more books.

You don't need to choose your books right away, and they can change at any time. Overlaps with other challenges are fine.

In January, I will put up a post for you to leave links to your reviews, if you like. Those links can help serve as a reference for others. That will also be how I track participants for prize drawings.

Prizes! There will be prizes, both for this main challenge and for various mini-challenges throughout the year. Keep an eye on the blog for details.

Sign up using Mr. Linky below (please link directly to your post about the challenge).



Feel free to use either of the buttons above, designed by Jason.
Background image on the second button thanks to Claudio Bindella, courtesy of Flickr.

Radcliff Hall & Censorship

Amanda from A Bookshelf Monstrosity brought this news article to my attention. Apparently today in literature history, the first lesbian novel, The Well of Loneliness by Radcliff Hall, was judged in British Courts as obscene. The article is very interesting, all about the authors who tried to defend the book and keep it from being censored.

About the Blog

Welcome to LGBT Reading, the blog for all those who like reading and writing about LGBT (related) books. This blog is mainly about our annual Reading Challenge, but it's also a place for general information, discussion and enjoyment of queer books and authors.

The reading challenge originated with Amanda from The Zen Leaf in 2009, under the name the Challenge that Dare Not Speak its Name! In the 2011, Amanda passed it over to Christina from Reading Thru The Night who then asked Natazzz from For The Roses to be her co-host. As of August 2011, the blog is mainly run by Natazzz.

Natazzz is a blogger by night and an assistant professor by day. She's the former editor and writer for European lesbian entertainment website eurOut.org, and her current online contributions include book blog Book after book and gay comic website the Rainbow Duo.

We try to update this blog regularly, but because we do this next to our days jobs, it might sometimes take a while. If you would like to be a part of our growing community please contact Natazzz via email or Twitter. We would love to have guest bloggers.

Special thanks to the following for helping with the blog:

Jen from MultiGenre Fan

Prize Bucket

Below is the list of prizes that winners are eligible for. Some are GLBT-related, some aren't. Any and all donations to the prize bucket are greatly appreciated!

Note: Prizes that have been selected already are crossed out.

Bookish/other stuff:

Mini-journals (pack of 2)
Journal (donated by Lu)
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (DVD)

Books:
Books are a mix of adult, YA, juvenile, fiction, nonfiction, new, gently used, GLBT themed, GLBT authors, non-GLBT books, modern books, and classics. They are here alphabetically by author.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (Vol 1), by M.T. Anderson
Naomi & Ely, by Rachael Cohn and David Levithan
The Other Woman, by Colette
Swish, by Joel Derfner (donated by the author)
Gay Haiku, by Joel Derfner (donated by the author)
The Screwed Up Life of Charlie the Second, by Drew Ferguson (donated by Chris)
The Mariposa Club, Rigoberta Gonzalez (donated by Jodie)
Nothing Pink, by Mark Hardy (donated by Andrea)
Ash, by Malinda Lo
Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
Twelve Long Months, by Brian Malloy (donated by Andrea)
Magic and Misery, by Peter Marino (donated by the author) **US Address only
The Painted Veil, by WS Maugham
Empress Orchid, by Anchee Min
Another Faust (ARC), by Daniel and Dina Nayeri
How I Life Now, by Meg Rosoff

What they Always Tell Us, by Martin Wilson (donated by Jodie)
Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf

Resources

Below are a few resources for GLBT literature. If you have further suggestions, please feel free to contact me, or leave a comment!

• Wikipedia - GLBT authors
• Famous GLB People in History
• GLBT Literature
• Lambda Literary Award winners
• Lambda Award Winners & Nominees for science fiction, fantasy, and horror
• GLBTQ Literature
• GLBT Fantasy
• GLBT Book Reviews
• College Reading List
• ALA Rainbow List
• GLBT-related Graphic Novels

Challenges 2009

Here are the links to the GLBT Challenge for 2009:

• Sign Up
• Reviews
• Completed Lists

College reading list

Jeanne from Necromancy Never Pays provides her sophomore-level university class with the following list of GLBT literature. She is sharing it here as an additional resource for those looking for books.

SF and Fantasy:

Isaac Asimov, The Gods Themselves
Octavia Butler, Xenogenesis (Dawn, Adulthood Rites, Imago)
Arthur C. Clarke, The Songs of Distant Earth
Samuel R. Delany, Trouble on Triton
Ursula K. LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness
Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment
Joan Slonczewski, A Door Into Ocean
Theodore Sturgeon, Venus Plus X

Young Adult:

Francesca Lia Block, Dangerous Angels
Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex
David Levithan, Boy Meets Boy
Lauren McLaughlin, Cycler, Re-Cycler

Classic Novels:

Nick Alexander, Fifty Reasons to Say Goodbye
James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room
E.M. Forster, Maurice
L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between
Andrew Holleran, Dancer from the Dance
Alan Hollinghurt, The Swimming-Pool Library, The Line of Beauty
David Leavitt, The Lost Language of Cranes
Thomas Mann, Death in Venice
Manuel Puig, Kiss of the Spider-Woman
Edmund White, A Boy’s Own Story
Virginia Woolf, Orlando

Plays:

Moises Kaufman, The Laramie Project
Tony Kushner, Angels in America
Martin Sherman, Bent
Peter Gill, Mean Tears

Poets:

Walt Whitman
Audre Lord
Frank O'Hara