Archive

2010 Year in Review: Books

2010 was a banner year for lesbian-themed books, which is great news considering the publishing industry has gone through a lot of changes. Longtime LGBT book publishers Alyson Books has announced it will sell books online only, and has kept several of their purchased manuscripts from being published, including Crossfire by Staceyann Chin and 100 Butches from Elisha Lim.

We lost Jill Johnson, author of Lesbian Nation, Mary Daly (Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism) and poet Laura Hershey, but we also saw many first-time authors publish their own spectacular pieces of work in several different genres, all adding something to the lesbian canon.

Lesbian presses like Cleis, Arsenal Pulp, Bywater and Boldstrokes Books have continued to be successful in their respective areas of expertise (erotica anthologies; fiction and shot stories; romance; lesbian crime and mysteries, respectively) and we continue to be an active reading community. Our participation in making lesbian-penned books best sellers is only more incentive for publishers and agents to publish the books we want to read and for writers to feel they aren’t able to include out gay characters or be out themselves, as history has shown that some have felt the need to shy away from.

Here’s an overview of what happened with lesbian lit in 2010.

Best Sellers

Stieg Larsson‘s Millenium Trilogy continued to rank highly on the New York Times‘s Best Sellers List, largely in part because the film adaptations were released in theaters this year. The Girl with the Hornet’s Nest was finally made available in the U.S., giving it an added boost in sales. The books follow bisexual hacker Lisbeth Salander, who engages in relations with her on-and-off girlfriend Miriam Wu. Lisbeth has been seen as one of the strongest and most important female characters of the last century, if not ever, and the fact that she’s comfortable in her sexuality just makes her that much cooler.

Lesbian author Emma Donoghue published two books this year. The first was Inseparable, an in-depth history of lesbian relationships in literature. It’s a comprehensive account of even the smallest and earliest signs of female-on-female eroticism. Following that was something completely different: The best-selling novel, Room. The book continues to sell incredibly well and be included on Best of The Year Lists, including The New York Times‘.

Portia DeGeneres‘s telling memoir, Unbearable Lightness, was also a NYT best seller, debuting at #3 in November. The book chronicles Portia’s eating disorder and struggle to come out as a young actress while she worked on Ally McBeal. Written without a ghostwriter, Portia’s words are striking and give readers a honest and revealing look into her otherwise very private life. Her highly publicized press tour included interviews with Oprah Winfrey and her wife, Ellen.

Also on the Times Best of list was Joan Schenkar‘s biography, The Talented Miss Highsmith. Schenkar is a lesbian herself, and the insightful, well-written biography delves into Highsmith’s sexuality as much as it does her work as a mystery writer. Joan also contributed an introduction to this year’s The Highsmith Reader, a collection of Highsmith’s best short stories and novels, including her only lesbian-themed work ever, The Price of Salt.

Patricia Cornwell‘s latest Kay Scarpetta offering, Port Mortuary, continues to keep her one of the top best-selling crime writers in America. It was also announced this year that her fictional heroine would come to life on film, played by Angelina Jolie.

One of the year’s best selling graphic novels was Batwoman: Elegy. Greg Rucka‘s reworking of the lesbian superhero came complete with an intro from fan Rachel Maddow. Issue #0 followed this winter, both issues having received high praise from inside the comic and lesbian communities.

Memoirs

When country singer Chely Wright came out this year, it came accompanied by an album, Lifted Off the Ground, and memoir, Like Me. The book received fair reviews and was well-received by gay readers, but was also speculated to be one of the reason’s Chely decided to come out, as it garnered her more publicity and more money. But fans stood by her, appreciating her bare-all approach and LGBT activism that has followed.

Stanford University professor/accomplished essayist Terry Castle‘s The Professor and Other Writings was one of Amazon’s Top 10 Gay and Lesbian Books in 2010. The collection of essays includes Castle’s witty reflections on her friendship with Susan Sontag, her tryst with her college professor, and other musings on pop culture.

New York Times food writer Kim Severson published Spoon Fed, a memoir about her life as a lesbian, foodie and recovering alcoholic. The poignant stories include lessons she’s learned from famous female chefs, including Rachael Ray.

And while journalist Helena Andrews is not gay herself, her memoir Bitch is the New Black chronicled her life as a single black woman, including her relationship with her out lesbian mother. The book has been optioned to be made into a film by ShondaLand Productions (production company of Shonda Rhimes) in 2010, and Helena appeared with her mother on CNN to discuss issues related to gay parents and their children.

Several other great memoirs were published this year, including Hammer: Making Movies out of Sex and Life by Barbara Hammer; Girl in Need of a Tourniquet (Merri Lisa Johnson), She Looks Just Like You (Amie Klempnauer Miller), Missed Her by (Ivan Coyote) and From Robe to Robe (Martha E. Bellinger).

Collections

The Seal Press anthology Dear John I Love Jane struck a chord with women of all sexualities this year. The publisher also put out Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation, an updated version of the Kate Bornstein mainfesto but including younger voices and a co-editor, S.Bear Bergman; as well as Let’s Get This Straight: The Ultimate Handbook for Youth with LGBTQ Parents from COLAGE and Tina Fakhrid-Deen. Sadly, that last book was never more desperately needed than in 2010.

And for comic lovers, The Art of Jaime Hernandez: The Secrets of Life and Death gives an inside look at the artist’s conception of Love & Rockets and its lesbian character Hopey. The intro is provided by Alison Bechdel, who also wrote an essay for Travels in a Gay Nation. The book of travel writing featured several well-known and respected lesbians like Dorothy Allison, Tammy Baldwin, Lillian Faderman and Urvashi Vaid.

In music-related books, Girls to the Front, Sara Marcus‘ history of the riot grrrl movement and queer youth’s involvement in it; and Pink Noises, essays from women (including a few lesbians) who work with electronic music and equipment, Todd Oldham‘s book all about Joan Jett and Best Music Writing 2010 including a piece on The Gossip from Michelle Tea.

Fiction

Malena Watrous‘s debut novel If You Follow Me was on the list of The Guardian‘s Best Books of 2010, and it surely was. The plot followed a lesbian couple who moved to Japan together to teach English in their schools. While their relationship unravels, Watrous’ writing keeps readers engaged and hoping the protagonist can find a way to feel less alone while navigating her way through the small, foreign town.

Best selling author/book reviewer Joyce Manard penned The Good Daughters this year, which featured a lesbian character central to the plot. It’s about families and living parallel lives with others you share small connections with.

Two novels greatly inspired by the writers’ actual lives were also two of the best pieces from gay women this year. Michelle Cliff‘s Into the Interior and Eileen MylesInferno pull from the women’s lives (Michelle as a Jamaican woman who moves to the States and engages in several sexual relationships with women and men; Eileen as a young poet who discovers her lesbianism once she moves to New York City). While their writing couldn’t be more different, both were the most exciting and eccentric pieces of writing from 2010.

Lesbian author Val McDermid‘s Fever of the Bone was her 23rd novel and it did just as well as her previous 22. It became one of the top mystery novels of the year, putting her next to Patricia Cornwell as a dominator in the genre.

In the horror genre, Stephen King put a gay female the center of one of his stories in Full Dark, No Stars. Unfortunately, she turns out to be a little crazed, but aren’t all of his characters?

Monica Nolan‘s Bobby Blanchard, Lesbian Gym Teacher brought pulp back in a big way. The tongue-in-cheek novella was a throw-back to a time when stories of lesbian lust were set in the stereotypical lesbian plotlines.

Other offerings about bisexual/gay women this year include The Big Bang Symphony, Sub Rosa, Days of Grace, Girl Unwrapped, Another Life Together by Elaine Beale, Taking Flight by Laurel Mills, and Homeschooling by Carol Guess.

Looking Forward

In 2011, there are several notable books to keep an eye out for, including Times Two from Antigone Rising‘s Kristen Henderson with musings on falling in love with co-author Sarah Ellis and their journey into joint motherhood. Also, The L Life: Extraordinary Lesbians Making a Difference by Erin McHugh, which celebrates the lives of gay women like cover girls Jane Lynch, Kate Clinton and Alison Bechdel.

Just like in other areas of art and culture, women of all sexualities are interested in good stories and thought-provoking information, penned as entertaining as possible. 2011 can only build from the progress of this year, or else it will be severely lacking in substance just plain good writing.

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button