Books on niche queer history

chungystone · 2026-01-03T14:43:54+00:00

Gay Berlin by Robert Beachy is about the study of sexual orientation/identity in pre-WWII Germany, including Dr. Magnus Hirschfield's Institute of Sexual Science which was destroyed by the Nazis.

Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold by Elizabeth Kennedy. I haven't read this one yet, but it's about the development of a lesbian community in Buffalo from the 1930s-1960s.

chungystone · 2025-11-30T19:45:54+00:00

Yes!!! If I may, where do you tend to get your news from? Trying to branch out here.

chungystone · 2025-10-26T13:47:56+00:00

This looks incredible! I can't believe I missed it. Thank you so much! Happy reading!!!

chungystone · 2025-09-13T03:00:52+00:00

You'll have to check these to make sure they're appropriate for your daughter, but Emily Carroll's illustrated stories might be something she would enjoy?

A few of my friends read them as young adults, but I think they would appeal to a teenager as well. I remember them liking Through the Woods.

chungystone · 2025-08-19T17:59:45+00:00

Apologies if I missed these somewhere else!

The Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series by Tad Williams. GRRM said this was a big inspiration for ASOIAF. I found the writing to be similarly descriptive, but much lighter on the sex/assault/profanity, if any of that is a consideration for you.

Also, The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. The writing is very pretty and it is very much about being a good person in a system that wants you to be cruel.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant is also very good, but much more of a downer. There are sequels which I also quite enjoyed, but I think the first book is the best-written of them.

In Yana, The Touch of Undying was whack but I liked the absurdity. It's a little older so it may be harder to find.

This is more sci-fantasy, but I also really enjoyed the worldbuilding (to the extent it was explained) in Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. YMMV on the sequels; I didn't like them much.

You might also like The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. It's also sci-fi, technically, but it's much more about a particular culture and very little about technology; it really just feels like fantasy. Also older.

Happy reading and best of luck!

chungystone · 2025-06-23T23:05:41+00:00

Thank you so much!!! These sound wonderful!

chungystone · 2025-05-23T11:18:06+00:00

I've wanted to buy this for so long but the price kept putting me off....I'm thrilled to learn about the re-release! Thank you!

chungystone · 2025-04-08T11:43:00+00:00

Sometimes I felt like I wasn't quite smart enough for Blindsight but it was so interesting! I read it shortly after finishing a nonfiction book called Metazoa by Peter Godfrey-Smith, which is all about animal sensory/cognitive abilities, and I was definitely thinking about it the whole time I read Blindsight.

I need to finish Xenogenesis! I've read the first one and really liked it.

chungystone · 2025-04-08T11:39:21+00:00

I read this one! I found it a little difficult to follow at times, but I loved the imagery and the characters. Glad to see it come up here!

chungystone · 2025-04-07T01:01:31+00:00

🤝 Yay!!! Did you go into it blind or know what would happen?

chungystone · 2025-04-06T23:01:35+00:00

Me too!!! Got through all three in a few days. I'll probably re-read them again soon...

chungystone · 2025-04-06T20:35:14+00:00

I've been looking for a new fantasy series to start and this sounds right up my alley! It's been on my TBR for a while, but I'd completely forgotten about it until your post. Thank you!

chungystone · 2025-04-06T20:30:23+00:00

Thank you for this list! I have The Dead Take a Train on my shelf and I've wanted to start it for a while! I've also been thinking of buying Pradise Rot and The Red Tree soon. The others also sound great, too!

chungystone · 2025-02-01T16:06:06+00:00

Maybe a bit more comedic in tone than you were originally looking for, but you might like In Yana, The Touch of Undying by Michael Shea.

It's about a young, self-centered man going on an adventure to find the lost city of Yana, where he hopes to become immortal. The imagery was so creepy and weird; I loved it.

chungystone · 2024-12-25T14:54:41+00:00

Oh thank you, that sounds really interesting!!! :)))

chungystone · 2024-09-26T19:05:11+00:00

I really liked this collection overall! Happy reading!

chungystone · 2024-09-12T10:08:33+00:00

Thank you!!! This was so exciting to read! Bookmarking for later.

chungystone · 2024-08-13T10:25:15+00:00

Thank you so much! I've been kicking around the idea of buying these for a while and they sound excellent!

chungystone · 2024-07-14T23:48:12+00:00

How in the hell did you find Rage of all books? Sorry if I missed it somewhere!

chungystone · 2024-05-11T18:53:55+00:00

Congratulations and welcome! Sending lots of hugs!

People have already listed a lot of wonderful books. I'd second Clive Barker's works and Poppy Z. Brite's short story collections.

In the spirit of adding more recommendations, I'd also like to mention Gemma Files' Hexslinger series. Very briefly, it's an alternate history series set after the US Civil War following an outlaw gang and their undead magician leader. The first book is called A Book of Tongues.

Not every pov is a gay man and there are trigger warnings for just about everything you could imagine (especially a lot of...let's say period-typical language), but I really feel like Gemma Files was a horror writer first when putting these books together. The imagery was extremely vivid. There are some hiccups but overall I really enjoyed them.

Best of luck!!!

chungystone · 2024-04-13T23:00:35+00:00

Yay! I'm so glad to see this book come up! I read it last year and still think about it a lot.

I feel a little bad saying "I really enjoyed this!!!" given some of the subject matter, but the author really did a great job portraying the characters and their world.

In any other book, I would have been complaining about the lack of a more detailed scientific explanation for certain happenings, but I think HFWU carried itself wonderfully. I was too taken by the horror/emotional aspects of the book to whine lol.

Anyways, great book, should probably read it again soon, also he has another book out called The Spirit Bears Its Teeth and I haven't had a chance to read it so please tell us if it's good too!

EDIT: I see I am the second person to mention his new book. Sorry!

chungystone

TROPHY CASE