Best Gay Books

AfterElton recently polled their reads on what they thought the best gay books ever written were. They released the results of the 50 Best Gay Books a couple of weeks ago and I've been thinking about the books the AE readers chose. It's a really interesting list and I was surprised that I'd read just under half of the choices. I've read a lot of gay themed books in the past decade or so and I really thought I'd have read more of the picks.

So, in addition to adding several books to my To Read list, the poll has also inspired me to do my own list, though I'm going to limit it to Top 10 and unlike the AfterElton poll, my list is fiction only.

I may do another list in the near future on best gay non-fiction, but for now I'm sticking to literature. I was happy to see that all but two of my own top ten made it on to the AfterElton poll somewhere.

My own personal top ten best gay books, always subject to change, is currently as follows:

1. At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill. This came in at number 4 in the AfterElton poll, but it is hands down my own personal favorite. It's so beautifully written and such a moving story. It also places the love story at its center against a very unique backdrop.

2. Maurice by E.M. Forster. I feel like this was in exactly the right spot in the AfterElton poll. Forster was one of the greatest writers of the past century and this was his one overtly gay novel, something that couldn't even be published until after his death. Best of all, it's a beautiful story.

3. The Tales of the City series as a whole, by Armistead Maupin. I already touched on my feelings about these books a bit the other day. The first book came in at number 1 in the AfterElton poll.

4. The Object of My Affection, by Stephen MacCauley. I love MacCauley's writing and have read all of his novels, but this one holds a very special place in my heart because it is the first gay love story I ever read. It's also very different from the Paul Rudd/Jennifer Aniston film version, which I enjoy as a completely separate animal altogether. None of MacCauley's books made the Top 50 in the poll which really shocks me.

5. Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman. This was number 13 on the AfterElton poll and I really think it rates higher than that. This is just an incredibly intense, passionate book.

6. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood. This was way down at number 32 in the poll and I was honestly just glad to see it on the list at all. This is a modern classic in every sense of the word. It should be read by everyone, regardless of their sexuality.

7. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst, another book I think was in exactly the right place in the poll results. I was tempted to fill out the entire end of the list with Hollinghurst books. He's an author who has yet to disappoint me. This book is certainly his most well known (in addition to winning the Booker Prize it was also made into a mini-series in Britain) and arguably his best, but everything he's written has been pretty damn amazing. His novel The Swimming Pool Library also made the AE poll, at number 15.

8. A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunnignham. This was at number 9 on the AfterElton Poll. If you've seen the Colin Farrell film version, forget it completely and read the infinitely better book. I should note that The Hours would rank above this on my list if I considered it a gay book. It made the AE poll at number 35, but I don't think the gay characters in the book are really the main focus so for me it doesn't belong on this list. I'm probably nitpicking, but there we are.

9. The Lost Language of Cranes by David Leavitt. This is another of my favorite authors and though I think his short stories are among the best I've ever read, this is his best work by far. It made the AE list at number 27.

10. Leave Myself Behind by Bart Yates. This one didn't make the poll at all. In thinking about what I'd put on my own list, this one immediately came to mind. I've loved all three of the novels that Yates has published so far, but his first was the one that moved me the most. Like a lot of gay themed novels these days, it's a story of coming of age and coming out, but it's by far the best I've read in that genre.

There we have it. A very hard list to make, but I've had fun doing it. Of course, if I was to make the same list a year from now, it would probably look completely different.