Sunday, December 5, 2010

GLBT Reading Challenge Wrap-Up

When I signed up for the GLBT Challenge, I hoped to read not just more books with GLBT characters/authors in general, but in particular, I was looking for YA books that would fit these categories.  I think I did fairly well on that this year.  I signed up at the lambda level, which was four books, but I ended up reading seven.  Here's my list: 

- Ash by Malinda Lo
- Luna by Julie Anne Peters
- Libyrinth by Pearl North
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
- Wildthorn by Jane Eagland
- Room by Emma Donoghue
- A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

Of the seven, Room was definitely my favorite, though there are no GLBT characters and I didn't know Donoghue was a lesbian until after I had read the book.  A Room of One's Own was a close second, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson was my favorite of the YA.

Although I found I mostly had to actively seek out books with GLBT protagonists, I was happy to see a number of books I read positively portrayed GLBT secondary characters.  I didn't count these books towards the challenge, but they include:

- Zombies vs. Unicorns  by various authors
- The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
- The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
- The Ask and the Answer and Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness 

I'm definitely glad I did this challenge, though I'll admit I put more time into searching for books in the beginning of the year than in the end.  I spent a significant amount of time in the beginning looking for GLBT fantasy/sci-fi, but had a hard time finding much.  It's something I'll continue to keep an eye out for. 

2 comments:

  1. Congrats, hon - I came to the challenge late, so I just wrapped things up yesterday.

    For the 2011 edition I've set myself a goal of reading at least 5 books from age groups and genres that I wouldn't normally read. Ash and Luna have been in my to-read pile for a while now, so I think I'll start there.

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  2. I really like the idea of reading from different age groups and genres. I read almost all YA for the challenge this year(which was my goal), but now I regret not having worked in more adult authors. It would be nice to try some nonfiction too. Some ideas for next year!

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