February is LGBT history month and in order to celebrate we've put together a few titles that show the history, lives and experiences reflected within a wide a variety of literature, both non-fiction and fiction. The books range from stories of love to stories of friendship, from family relationships to gender identity to the history of LGBT.
These are just some of the LGBT books we have available within East Lothian Libraries. Please feel free to search and browse the
catalogue for many more titles.
Release by Patrick Ness
A startling and tender novel about how to let yourself love and set yourself free by Patrick Ness, the twice Carnegie Medal-winning author of A Monster Calls. Today will change Adam Thorn's life. Between his religious family, unpleasant boss and his ex-boyfriend, the bindings of his world are coming undone. And way across town, a ghost has risen from the lake. Is there time for Adam to find his release?
This book is available as an eBook via
Borrowbox or available in a variety of our branches.
How not to be a boy by Robert Webb
Looking back over his life, from schoolboy crushes (on girls and boys) to discovering the power of making people laugh (in the Cambridge Footlights with David Mitchell), and from losing his beloved mother to becoming a husband and father, Robert Webb considers the absurd expectations boys and men have thrust upon them at every stage of life. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this book explores the relationships that made Robert who he is as a man, the lessons we learn as sons and daughters, and the understanding that sometimes you aren't the Luke Skywalker of your life - you're actually Darth Vader.
The Madonna of Bolton by Matt Cain
Charlie Matthews' love story begins in a pebble-dashed house in suburban Bolton, at a time when most little boys want to grow up to be Michael Jackson, and girls want to be Princess Di. Remembering the Green Cross Code and getting out of football are the most important things in his life - until Auntie Jan - who everyone says looks like the blonde one out of Bananarama - gives him a gift that will last a lifetime: a seven-inch single called 'Lucky Star.' On his 9th birthday, Charlie discovers Madonna, and falls in love. And his obsession sees him through some tough times in life: being persecuted at school; fitting in at a posh university; a glamorous career in London; finding boyfriends; getting rid of boyfriends; growing up; and family heartbreak.
I'll give you the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Jude and her twin Noah were incredibly close – until a tragedy drove them apart, and now they are barely speaking. Then Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy as well as a captivating new mentor, both of whom may just need her as much as she needs them. What the twins don't realize is that each of them has only half the story and if they can just find their way back to one another, they have a chance to remake their world.
This book is also available in
branch or as an ebook via
Borrowbox.
Beyond Magenta: Transgender teens speak out by Susan Kuklin
Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults and used her considerable skills to represent them thoughtfully and respectfully before, during, and after their personal acknowledgment of gender identity. Portraits, family photographs and candid images grace the pages, augmenting the emotional and physical journey each youth has taken.
Good as you: from prejudice to pride: 30 years of gay Britain by Paul Flynn
'Good As You' is the 30 year history of British gay culture - from the identification of the HIV virus in 1984, through Manchester's self-selection as Britain's gay capital, to Eastenders' Colin and Barry's first primetime televised gay kiss and the real-time romance of Elton John and David Furnish's eventual marriage. Including candid interviews from major protagonists such as Kylie, Russell T. Davies and Holly Johnson, as well as the relative unknowns crucial to the gay community, Flynn charts the fight for equality both front of stage and in the wings.
Trans: a Memoir by Juliet Jacques
In July 2012, aged 30, Juliet Jacques underwent sex reassignment surgery and felt for the first time that her body matched the person she felt she had been since childhood. Through university and then in a series of dead-end clerical jobs, Jacques felt out of place with her surroundings, and with who she really was. Living in Brighton, trying to launch a career as a writer, she navigates the hostilities and misunderstandings of growing up in a time where the mainstream media fail to acknowledge transgender identity. Yet through films, music, politics and football she begins to find herself, and starts the process of transition. Through her memoir, Jacques interweaves the narrative with powerful explorations of many of the major debates surrounding trans: the uses of life writing, the relationship with feminism, and the 'before and after' images that illustrated so many articles & documentaries.
The Art of being Normal by Lisa Williamson by Lisa Williamson
David is funny and quirky and has always felt different from other people - but he also has a huge secret that only his two best friends know. Ever since he can remember, he has felt like a girl trapped in the body of a boy
Girls Hearts Girl by Lucy Sutcliffe
In 2010, at 17, Lucy Sutcliffe began an online friendship with Kaelyn, a young veterinary student from Michigan. Within months, they began a long distance relationship, finally meeting in the summer of 2011. Lucy's video montage of their first week spent together in Saint Kitts, which she posted to the couple's YouTube channel, was the first in a series of films documenting their long-distance relationship. Funny, tender and candid, the films attracted them a vast online following. Now, for the first time, Lucy's writing about the incredible personal journey she's been on; from never quite wanting the fairy-tale of Prince Charming to realising she was gay at the age of 14, through three years of self-denial to finally coming out to friends and family, to meeting her American girlfriend Kaelyn
'Good As You' is the 30 year history of British gay culture - from the identification of the HIV virus in 1984, through Manchester's self-selection as Britain's gay capital, to Eastenders' Colin and Barry's first primetime televised gay kiss and the real-time romance of Elton John and David Furnish's eventual marriage. Including candid interviews from major protagonists such as Kylie, Russell T. Davies and Holly Johnson, as well as the relative unknowns crucial to the gay community, Flynn charts the fight for equality both front of stage and in the wings. 
The Art of being Normal by Lisa Williamson by Lisa Williamson 
