(Part 3) Top products from r/gaybros

I'm a fan of Vidal, but he isn't at his best in the City and the Pillar - Myra Breckinridge or Duluth would be better choices.

Also, I think these, all of which came out in the last 6 months or so, would be worth considering:

The Snow Queen
by Michael Cunningham
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374266328/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

"Cunningham’s elegant and haunting new novel examines the complex dynamics among a couple and a brother. In this configuration, Barrett Meeks, a poetically minded man in his late thirties who has just been dumped by his most recent boyfriend via text message, shares a Brooklyn apartment with Tyler, his older musician-bartender brother, and Beth, Tyler’s great love."

Satin Island
by Tom McCarthy
http://www.amazon.com/Satin-Island-novel-Tom-McCarthy/dp/0307593959

"U., a “corporate anthropologist,” is tasked with writing the Great Report, an all-encompassing ethnographic document that would sum up our era. Yet at every turn, he feels himself overwhelmed by the ubiquity of data, lost in buffer zones, wandering through crowds of apparitions, willing them to coalesce into symbols that can be translated into some kind of account that makes sense. As he begins to wonder if the Great Report might remain a shapeless, oozing plasma, his senses are startled awake by a dream of an apocalyptic cityscape."

Dear Thief
by Samantha Harvey
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937894460/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

“A story about a long friendship and the betrayals that tore it apart, this thoughtful meditation, interspersed with reflections on philosophy, religion, and poetry, is about the passages of time, the accumulation of memory, and the hard-won wisdom of aging.” —Library Journal

[the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Amazing-Adventures-Kavalier-Clay/dp/0312282990) is one of my all time favorites. one of the main characters realizes he's gay later in the book. I always thought it was a very honest and realistic portrayal, and a very thoughtful addition to an already great book.

Someone already suggested it, but I'd like to restate House of Leaves. Though perhaps it's not a good vacation book because it will suck you in and it's kind of a dark book.

The Xanth and Apprentice Adept series by Piers Anthony are really quick reads; they're corny as shit fantasy for teenage boys, but they got me through some rough years so I'll always have a spot for them. Also on the fantasy side, check out Hyperion.

On the nonfiction side: Stiff and Salt were both awesome. I've read a bunch of other books by the author of Stiff, and they're all worth it--she's very accessible and funny, but also serious and respectful of the topics.

• Neil Degrasse Tyson - He makes science fun
  
• John Hopfield - He made the Hopfield Neural Network, which is potent for remote sensing.
  
• Bernard Sklar - He wrote this astounding book. I've been able to apply many of the topics in the book to my spinning lasers.
  
  There's more, but I do have to get back to writing a paper.
  edit: Used amazing twice, got rid of both instances, it's a milquetoast adjective.

I've just have 1 book that I want to finish this summer, though I have a backlog of several hundred I'd like to read at some point. The Six Sigma Handbook It isn't exactly the most entertaining read (it is interesting), but how often is technical writing entertaining (some of his mistakes are amusing at least).

Assisted Loving: True Tales of Double Dating with My Dad https://www.amazon.com/dp/006137413X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_MxcLAbZ6HYEF1

Daniel Mendelsohn in his review/essay The Man Behind the Curtain brought up some issues with Boswell's translations and conclusions. It's worth reading and can be found in his book How Beautiful It Is And How Easily It Can Be Broken: Essays.

pinata Gay Pride Pullover Hoodie Unisex 3D Digital Sweatshirt Cool Hooded Plus Size https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJ5TDQD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_5Z.oDbBJJP270

Username/Name: blackmetallic

Location: NJ/NYC, but I'm visiting Chicago for a week, so hang out with me!

Age: 25

Favourite book ever: Hmm... I hate to pick a YA novel but this book is pretty important to me: The Man Without A Face

Pics: Oldie but a goody: Paul Weller and Me

Gay novels tend to read like soft core porn. The best books focus at the problem at hand and then look at the antagonists and protagonists as a tool that is used.

Most romance novels flip this, the antagonists and protagonists are the centre of the story and their love is what is causing the problem. Therein lies the problem with a gay novel. The problem is usually some sort of forbidden love, or lost love, or something along those lines.

That all being said, these two books I've found straddled the lines between. Both are coming of age stories, but they're both pretty decent overall.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Learned-Snap-Coming-Age/dp/0142002992

(On second thought this one is about exactly what I was mentioning being wrong with gay novels.)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Trouble-Boy-Tom-Dolby/dp/0758206178

Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton. He was my favorite Founding Father when I started, and is even more so now.

I’m sorry to hear that, OP. You’re going to have a lot of emotions as you process all of this, and it’s ok to let them come, feel them and then let them go. I read a book after a loss called The Grief Recovery Handbook, which was super helpful. If you like to read, I would suggest it for you.

The Grief Recovery Handbook

David Carter's "Stonewall" would be my suggestion. Very readable, well researched, and gives one not only a clear vision of a pivotal event in gay history (rather than the cartoonish version that's been passed around or recounted elsewhere), but also why things needed to change.

Robopocalypse.

Also watch out for the movie in 2014.

Patti Smith's "Just Kids":
https://www.amazon.com/Just-Kids-Patti-Smith/dp/0060936223

I am currently reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. I am not sure what I am going to read next but I have a whole bookcase to decide with.

Good read.

I read this book many years ago and in one of the essays he starts off stating, in effect, that the most prejudiced people against any minority are members of that minority. It was a bombshell in my brain at the time but I've experienced that to be true. Among gays, racial minorities, religious groups, etc., the most venomous and vociferous prejudice will come from those inside the group, not outside.