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  That Other Realm of Freedom by Barry Nonweiler, originally published in 1983, takes place over a 6 year period in the early 1970's. The book centers on Simon Palmer, a young Scottish man trying to figure out where he fits as a gay man in the early 70's. As the story opens 19 year old Simon is living with friends in Glasgow and in the early stages of coming out. After a couple less than satisfying experiences he moves to London in search of more freedom. While the opportunities fo...

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  I came across this while browsing thru some other books and was immediately intrigued. Published in 1969, it seems to be recognized as the first mainstream novel in the gay YA/teen genre. It's certainly chaste by today's standards, but worth a read for anyone interested in the historical aspect of gay fiction.

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  What They Always Tell Us by Martin Wilson is a story of two brothers, how they grew apart and how they came back together. The catalyst for the story has already taken place when the book opens as we learn that several months previously 16 year old Alex Donaldson ingested a quantity of Pine-Sol while at a party. As the story develops we learn the reasons for this are largely due to feelings of isolation as a result of growing confusion over his sexuality. James is totally in the dark about all t...

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  https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025/dec/05/gay-sheep-fashion-show-rainbow-wool

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  A sign of the times?

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  I found Strange Bedfellows by Rob Byrnes to be a very entertaining novel. Grant Lambert and Chase LaMarca are partners in life and crime. As life partners they've done pretty well, having been together for 18 years. As partners in crime they may leave a bit to be desired. In this story the boys are hired to retrieve an embarrassing photo that a political candidate posted on twitter.(Let's just say the photo left nothing to the imagination) Despite a few snafus they manage to carr...

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  My son came and asked me what’s gays? I said they are men who love other men. Then he asked me what’s penetrating gays? I hesitated and asked him where he heard about that. He said it's right here in the book I'm reading for school. "He stared at me with a penetrating gaze." I handed him the leash and said the dog needs to be walked.

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  The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis was pretty intense. 17 year old Evan Panos has almost gotten used to the mental abuse his religious fanatic mother doles out on a regular basis, but not knowing when she will go off the deep end and become physically violent is something else. Her conviction that his friends at school are an evil influence only adds to the sense of walking a tightrope when Evan develops feelings for another boy in class. When an incident at school brings everyt...

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  I came across Yeled Tov by Daniel M. Jaffe while reading an article the author wrote about his approach to writing. Set in the 1970's, the story focuses on Jake Stein during his final year of high school and first year at Princeton as he struggles with his attraction to men and how that conflicts with his Jewish faith. It struck a chord with me having spent 12 years in Catholic school and hearing that I was intrinsically disordered.(not that I even knew what it meant, although it sounded...

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  The Days of Bluegrass Love by Edward van de Vendel revolves around the relationship between Tycho Zeling and Oliver Kjelsberg. Tycho, from the Netherlands, and Oliver, from Norway, have both been engaged as camp counselors at a summer camp in Tennessee. They meet in the Amsterdam airport while waiting for their flight to the U.S. and immediately hit it off. Once at camp it soon becomes clear they will be more than just friends. When things go public Oliver seems more comfortable being out, but...

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  The end of the world has been postponed for two weeks. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

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  Comfort and Joy by Jim Grimsley centers around Ford McKinney, a pediatric resident at a major hospital in Atlanta, and Dan Crell who works in administration at the same facility. Ford is from an old established Savannah family, and is following in his father's footsteps as a doctor. The last thing he needs is to fall in love with a man, but that's exactly what happens when he hears Dan singing at a hospital Christmas concert. The story then shifts from the present to a series of...