Koncocoo

Best Gay Fiction

Call Me by Your Name: A Novel
An Instant Classic and One of the Great Love Stories of Our Time. Elio—17, extremely well-read, sensitive and the son of a prominent expatriate professor—finds himself troublingly attracted to this year's visiting resident scholar, recruited by his father from an American university. Their shared literary interests and Jewishness help impart a sense of intimacy, and when they do consummate their passion in Oliver's room, they call each other by the other's name. What begins as a casual friendship develops into a passionate yet clandestine affair, and the last chapters fast-forward through Elio's life to a reunion with Oliver decades later.
Reviews
"Set in 1988 and on the Italian Riviera, which adds to the charm and appeal of the novel, Call Me By Your Name is narrated by and tells the story of a seventeen-year-old American-Italian-Jewish youth, Elio Perlman, and his six-week, summer love affair with Oliver Ulliva, a university professor who is seven years older than Elio and who has been selected to live in Elio’s parents’ home as a guest “resident” while finishing a manuscript for publication as part of the parents’ way of aiding budding writers. Much of the first half of Call Me By Your Name has a “stream of consciousness” feeling to it as Elio, a very precocious and intelligent but shy young man, defies his better intuitions and finds himself more and more attracted to Oliver. By time both Elio and the reader are aware of Oliver’s true feelings toward the younger man, a new sense of urgency, an even greater feeling of sensuality and eroticism, and a more intense atmosphere of anxiety and impending doom enters the story—all of it exquisitely captured by Aciman’s exquisitely accomplished writing."
"An Achingly Beautiful Prose of Art. Winner of the 20th Lambda Literary Award. Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman. Is an Ethereal Masterpiece; A Mythical Gem of Queerdom. The Novel exudes the Transformative Power of Words, Language, and Imagery. with Disarming Clarity & Volatile Poignancy. The After Effects of this book is perfectly encapsulated. By the Immortal Words of Elio to Oliver. "All That Remains is Dreammaking and Strange Remembrance" pg199. The Audiobook narration by Armie Hammer is Eargasm Heaven!!"
"You felt like you were 17 again and feeling all those emotions of someone being the most important thing in the world to you."
"Looking forward to the movie."
"A bit slow at parts."
"I wanted to read the book before watching the movie, but somehow it never happened."
"Such a sweet and rewarding story about true love and friendship."
"Easy read!"
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Last Call
Opening Last Call together, a bar tucked away in the small town of Heartsville, PA seemed a natural progression—even if it makes it harder to live with the secret longing they’ve always had for each other. Hoping to score an easy buck and a place to sleep, unemployed circus roadie Emery Woods chooses Last Call to run a few bets and enjoy a decent beer before moving on.
Reviews
"Blown away by the compelling stories of these men."
"Quinn and Gray took him in and helped him establish a life, one hat included the two of them."
"I love reading m/m books."
"I loved everything about this story."
"Quinn, Gray and Emery held my heart through the whole book and I just had to know what happened to them next."
"I love m/m ... it’s the only thing I read and this book did not disappoint."
"I do not usually read m/m/m romances, but I automatically buy Felice Stevens books."
"I'm hoping that this story becomes a series, there is so much to explore with the The Last Call."
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On Davis Row
Nearing the end of a suspended jail sentence should unlock a brighter future for CJ Davis, only the chip on his shoulder is as hard to shift as his bad reputation. She has pretty, pretty boys who live in her head, who don’t let her sleep at night unless she gives them life with words. She used to think having people in her head talking to her was weird, until one day she happened across other writers who told her it was normal.
Reviews
"The story of a dysfunctional family, no mother, father, and brothers in prison, one son trying to make a solid life for himself but faced with a disability that got him in trouble with the law."
"I love the writing created by this author and once again I'm left reeling from a major book hangover."
"CJ and Noah had me captivated from the start."
"I recommend this, but found it a bit sweet for my taste."
"Love love love this one!"
"I have read and I loved Spencer Cohen series, Switched, Imago and Red Dirt Series, 65 Hours & Weight of it all too... She has a way of making you connect with her characters!"
"This author always makes me laugh, cry and want to murder or hit someone."
"The 2 main characters had chemistry and the supporting characters fit perfectly into this story."
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Best Gay & Lesbian

Call Me by Your Name: A Novel
An Instant Classic and One of the Great Love Stories of Our Time. Elio—17, extremely well-read, sensitive and the son of a prominent expatriate professor—finds himself troublingly attracted to this year's visiting resident scholar, recruited by his father from an American university. Their shared literary interests and Jewishness help impart a sense of intimacy, and when they do consummate their passion in Oliver's room, they call each other by the other's name. What begins as a casual friendship develops into a passionate yet clandestine affair, and the last chapters fast-forward through Elio's life to a reunion with Oliver decades later.
Reviews
"Set in 1988 and on the Italian Riviera, which adds to the charm and appeal of the novel, Call Me By Your Name is narrated by and tells the story of a seventeen-year-old American-Italian-Jewish youth, Elio Perlman, and his six-week, summer love affair with Oliver Ulliva, a university professor who is seven years older than Elio and who has been selected to live in Elio’s parents’ home as a guest “resident” while finishing a manuscript for publication as part of the parents’ way of aiding budding writers. Much of the first half of Call Me By Your Name has a “stream of consciousness” feeling to it as Elio, a very precocious and intelligent but shy young man, defies his better intuitions and finds himself more and more attracted to Oliver. By time both Elio and the reader are aware of Oliver’s true feelings toward the younger man, a new sense of urgency, an even greater feeling of sensuality and eroticism, and a more intense atmosphere of anxiety and impending doom enters the story—all of it exquisitely captured by Aciman’s exquisitely accomplished writing."
"An Achingly Beautiful Prose of Art. Winner of the 20th Lambda Literary Award. Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman. Is an Ethereal Masterpiece; A Mythical Gem of Queerdom. The Novel exudes the Transformative Power of Words, Language, and Imagery. with Disarming Clarity & Volatile Poignancy. The After Effects of this book is perfectly encapsulated. By the Immortal Words of Elio to Oliver. "All That Remains is Dreammaking and Strange Remembrance" pg199. The Audiobook narration by Armie Hammer is Eargasm Heaven!!"
"You felt like you were 17 again and feeling all those emotions of someone being the most important thing in the world to you."
"Looking forward to the movie."
"A bit slow at parts."
"I wanted to read the book before watching the movie, but somehow it never happened."
"Such a sweet and rewarding story about true love and friendship."
"Easy read!"
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Best Gay & Lesbian Romance

Call Me by Your Name: A Novel
Now a Major Motion Picture from Director Luca Guadagnino, Starring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, and Written by Three Time Academy Award Nominee James Ivory. A USA Today Bestseller. A Los Angeles Times Bestseller. A Vulture Book Club Pick. An Instant Classic and One of the Great Love Stories of Our Time Andre Aciman's Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents’ cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Elio—17, extremely well-read, sensitive and the son of a prominent expatriate professor—finds himself troublingly attracted to this year's visiting resident scholar, recruited by his father from an American university. Their shared literary interests and Jewishness help impart a sense of intimacy, and when they do consummate their passion in Oliver's room, they call each other by the other's name.
Reviews
"Set in 1988 and on the Italian Riviera, which adds to the charm and appeal of the novel, Call Me By Your Name is narrated by and tells the story of a seventeen-year-old American-Italian-Jewish youth, Elio Perlman, and his six-week, summer love affair with Oliver Ulliva, a university professor who is seven years older than Elio and who has been selected to live in Elio’s parents’ home as a guest “resident” while finishing a manuscript for publication as part of the parents’ way of aiding budding writers. Much of the first half of Call Me By Your Name has a “stream of consciousness” feeling to it as Elio, a very precocious and intelligent but shy young man, defies his better intuitions and finds himself more and more attracted to Oliver. By time both Elio and the reader are aware of Oliver’s true feelings toward the younger man, a new sense of urgency, an even greater feeling of sensuality and eroticism, and a more intense atmosphere of anxiety and impending doom enters the story—all of it exquisitely captured by Aciman’s exquisitely accomplished writing."
"An Achingly Beautiful Prose of Art. Winner of the 20th Lambda Literary Award. Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman. Is an Ethereal Masterpiece; A Mythical Gem of Queerdom. The Novel exudes the Transformative Power of Words, Language, and Imagery. with Disarming Clarity & Volatile Poignancy. The After Effects of this book is perfectly encapsulated. By the Immortal Words of Elio to Oliver. "All That Remains is Dreammaking and Strange Remembrance" pg199. The Audiobook narration by Armie Hammer is Eargasm Heaven!!"
"You felt like you were 17 again and feeling all those emotions of someone being the most important thing in the world to you."
"Looking forward to the movie."
"A bit slow at parts."
"I wanted to read the book before watching the movie, but somehow it never happened."
"Such a sweet and rewarding story about true love and friendship."
"Easy read!"
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Best LGBT Literary Fiction

A Little Life: A Novel
Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he’ll not only be unable to overcome—but that will define his life forever. Here is an epic study of trauma and friendship written with such intelligence and depth of perception that it will be one of the benchmarks against which all other novels that broach those subjects (and they are legion) will be measured.” —Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal. "With her sensitivity to everything from the emotional nuance to the play of light inside a subway car, Yanagihara is superb at capturing the radiant moments of beauty, warmth and kindness that help redeem the bad stuff. “… A Little Life becomes a surprisingly subversive novel—one that uses the middle-class trappings of naturalistic fiction to deliver an unsettling meditation on sexual abuse, suffering, and the difficulties of recovery. "This exquisite, unsettling novel follows four male friends from their meeting as students at a prestigious Northeastern college through young adulthood and into middle age.... The book shifts from a generational portrait to something darker and more tender: an examination of the depths of human cruelty, counterbalanced by the restorative powers of friendship." If [Yanagihara's] assured 2013 debut, The People in the Trees , a dark allegory of Western hubris, put her on the literary map, her massive new novel...signals the arrival of a major new voice in fiction." "[The] book has so much richness in it—great big passages of beautiful prose, unforgettable characters, and shrewd insights into art and ambition and friendship and forgiveness." "Through insightful detail and her decade-by-decade examination of these people’s lives, Yanagihara has drawn a deeply realized character study that inspires as much as devastates. This book made me realize how merciful most fiction really is, even at its darkest, and it's a testament to Yanagihara's ability that she can take such ugly material and make it beautiful. " A Little Life floats all sorts of troubling questions about the responsibility of the individual to those nearest and dearest and the sometime futility of playing brother’s keeper. By the time the characters reach their 50s and the story arrives at its moving conclusion, readers will be attached and find them very hard to forget."
Reviews
"Overall, I found it to be an engrossing read; I felt for the characters, I thought it was well written (though not fabulous or outstanding, but decently done, very little purple prose, which I appreciate), and it generated a lot of response from me. It follows these people for more than three decades, but at the very outset, in their youth, they have cell phones and modern technology, so I'm assuming the novel takes you into the 2040s, which is awkward. Also the treatment of queer issues and how society views homosexuality seems very modern but doesn't evolve as the time goes on. Child trafficking exists; there are many, many incidents of an authoritative figure--a coach, a doctor, a family member, whoever--taking advantage of young children, sometimes abusing them for years; pedophilic rings do exist, even in America; and of course abuses committed by members in organizations such as the Catholic Church have occurred and continue to occur (and be covered up). We certainly don't like to face the long-lasting consequences; we the public think everything is OK when the pervert goes to jail or whatever, we revel when these bad guys get their comeuppance, but the psychological scarring and warped worldview of the victims continues for the rest of their life. I'm reading this book, particularly the difficult "Dear Comrade" section, and thinking, "My god, life is so unfair! I think "The Postman", with its discussion of the law and debate between Jude and Harold, is probably the most enlightening as to what the book is really about. Second, the criticism of the book as tragedy porn is somewhat mirrored in the novel, as artist JB makes a successful career in his paintings, particularly those of Jude. Is Yanagihara just toying with the emotions of the reader, just piling on the pain in an overwrought manner to elicit a cheap response? Do you believe that these photographs are not tragedy porn because their raw, visceral subjects provide commentary on greater societal and political issues? At a candlelight vigil, one of my friends was in a small group mourning the loss of a dorm-mate, when a cameraman came by, lowered the boom mike into their circle, and recorded their crying. Gun massacres are headline news, of course, as was the Vietnam war and the photo of the African child--does that make it okay? I'm not looking to pick an argument, I merely think this is a topic worth exploring, and every person is going to have their own red lines on the issue. I won't name them, to avoid spoilers, but the book does have some happy moments among all the tragedy; and Jude is blessed with some amazing friends (we should all be so lucky for that!). This book had me squirming and crying at some parts, and laughing and smiling at others, but ultimately it gave me a lot of food for thought, and I appreciate that."
"One of the most powerful and disturbing books I have ever read!"
"At first, the book is wonderful."
"You feel their struggles and their pain and feel part of the story."
"What little the author divulges about Jude comes in minute-tease-like-morsels and so I found myself not reading, but racing through this novel to find out about his mysterious past."
"Anytime I hear of an abused person I will think back on this book."
"It is the story of how we are each influenced by every one of our life experiences, good and bad, and it is a story of ravaging child sexual abuse and the damage that does."
"It was written very well, but was a difficult subject and at times hard to get through because of the subject matter."
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Best LGBT Mystery

Something to Dye For (Curl Up and Dye Mysteries, #2)
Josh comes face-to-face with a painful reminder of his past just when he’s ready to acknowledge that his feelings for Gabe go way beyond liking the man.
Reviews
"This book is a true sequel and picks up where book one left off, so yes you need to read book one, Dyeing to be Loved , and read them in order. This story is just as full of passion, mystery, happiness, and sexy times as book one and the chemistry between Gabe and Josh continues to grow and burn like an inferno."
"I was very surprised by the first book in this series, especially since it was touted as being a romance between two men who could not be more different types of gays: The buff, burly detective Gabe and the lithe, smooth and somewhat flighty beauty stylist Josh."
"Absolutely loved this continuing romance of Gabe and Josh!"
"Because this is the second book in this series, all the characters have been established, and Gabe and Josh have already had their bumps and miscommunication in getting together, so this book felt like it flowed so much better."
"And this was so much more than just 'more' We got Josh coming alive in this book."
"On to the next book...."
"Josh's character is still wary of Gabe and continues to question his sincerity but tiptoes closer and closer to someone he doesn't want to be without."
"I'm not a fan of books that continue with the same characters, as they tend to be dragged out, but this set is amazing! but the story between Josh and Gabe is fabulous enough to keep me wanting more!"
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Best Two-Hour LGBT Short Reads

Eight Nights in December: Gay Holiday Romance
Orphaned Lucas figures spending the holidays with his obnoxious roommate’s family in New York City is better than staying alone on campus upstate. This gay holiday romance from Keira Andrews features secret trysts, new adult angst, spinning the dreidel, and of course a happy ending. "Eight Nights in December is a story of being true to yourself, the miracle of love, and the acceptance of family." "A touching story about loss, love and being brave enough to be true to yourself.... As these two come together they will melt your screen as they melt your heart."
Reviews
"This novella had everything: holiday angst, a virgin, a sexually experienced yet closeted guy, a loving family, a jerkwad brother who turns out to be more than what he seems, and above all, the true meaning of the holiday season: love and togetherness. Nate is gay, but he's in the closet to his family."
"Having grown up with Jewish friends and having the privilege of being included during the Jewish Holidays, I was happy to be pulled into a wonderful holiday story."
"This was a great holiday story."
"Great easy and light read with all the heart a holiday book could desire... so many twists and turns... not the first book i have read from this author and by far not the last..."
"I enjoyed this book I can t wait to read more from this author."
"As others have mentioned, I too really enjoyed reading a Hanukkah themed story."
"There are so many reasons I LOVED this book, first is because as an Israeli and Jew I always like reading about Jewish characters, and in a sea of red, green and everything Christmas it’s a nice refreshing change to read a Hanukkah story with the same holiday vibe."
"When he’s invited to spend the holiday season with his college roommate Sam’s family he figures it’s better than being alone. When Lucas is caught in the trap he’s mortified but Nate soon clears things up and the two of them begin enjoying a holiday fling. A novella length book works well for me because I love being able to finish a story in one evening and this was one I didn’t want to put down. 😊) I have several longer books by Keira Andrews on my to-be-read (TBR) list and I’m looking forward to reading more of her work."
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Best 90-Minute LGBT Short Reads

Hope Is the Thing with Feathers (2017 Advent Calendar - Stocking Stuffers)
Fifty-six-year-old Samuel Phipps is all alone on his small farm in the Ozarks, with nothing but a menagerie of chickens, pheasants, turkeys, and other birds as company—which is just the way he likes it.
Reviews
"Hope can be a fleeting thing until you have something to hope for."
"The book is actually filled with a humorous, charming holiday theme and a rare feature for romance stories; two mature, seasoned men as the main characters. Strong character building and a nuanced Ozark setting is remarkably good for such a short novella, but that’s only to be expected from the talented Mr. Witt."
"4 ½ Stars. Short Story: Hope is the Thing With Feathers. Author: Brandon Witt. Publisher: Dreamspinner Press. Series: Dreamspinner Advent Calendar 2017. Genre: Contemporary Romance. Release: Nov 30 2017. Rated: Mature. Length: 51 Pages. Ahhhh so fun, in this ohhh to short story!! Our “Free Spirir” Raymond Webber who is 67, a flower child, loving no clothes and a joint or two to relax is going to be quite a culture shoch to our Grinch."
"Raymond and Samuel meet under unfortunate circumstances, but Raymond likes what he sees in Samuel and pursues him. Samuel can help ground Raymond, and Raymond brings Samuel a renewed interest in doing more than going through the motions of life."
"Raymond Webber is horrified when he discovers he has inadvertently hurt Samuel, one of the few older gay men in El Dorado in the Ozarks. The story is told entirely in Samuel’s point of view, so I was able to see how he processes the world around him. When Wesley Ryan (from the book Then the Stars Fall), comes to drop off feed and cookies, Samuel sees that he does, in fact, have connections with the community. Raymond has to try to get back into Samuel’s good books and, as they say, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach."
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Best 45-Minute Romance Short Reads

The Stable Girl: Bred by a Stallion (The Emperor's Stallions Book 1)
The warning was to stay away--far away--from the Emperor's Stables during the hours of darkness.
Reviews
"Enjoyed the story and details of what was the background story."
"Really enjoyed this, I just wish all 3 books were out since I finished the first 2."
"Im just not into girls being done by horses..."
"Curiosity will almost always get you into trouble at one point or another in your life."
"I really enjoyed this book the story was great it had me grip from the first chapter and I cannot wait to read the second book."
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