In the Bisexual Literature category, there was a tie!
In One Person(M) by John Irving. “John Irving’s new novel is a glorious ode to sexual difference, a poignant story of a life that no reader will be able to forget, a book that no one else could have written. Utterly contemporary and topical in its themes, In One Person grapples with the mysteries of identity and the multiple tragedies of the AIDS epidemic, and with everything that has changed in our sexual life over the last 50 years and everything that still needs to. It’s also one of Irving’s most sincere and human novels, a book imbued on every page with a spirit of openness that expands and challenges the reader’s world.” publisher
and
My Awesome Place: the autobiography of Cheryl B(M) by Cheryl Burke. “A rare authentic glimpse into the electrifying arts scene of New York City’s East Village during the vibrant 1990s, My Awesome Place is the chronicle of a movement through the eyes of one young woman working to cultivate her voice while making peace with her difficult and often abusive family.” publisher
Gay General Fiction
Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club(M) byBenjamin Alire Saenz. “Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s stories reveal how all borders—real, imagined, sexual, human, the line between dark and light, addict and straight—entangle those who live on either side. Take, for instance, the Kentucky Club on Avenida Juárez two blocks south of the Rio Grande. It’s a touchstone for each of Sáenz’s stories. His characters walk by, they might go in for a drink or to score, or they might just stay there for a while and let their story be told. Sáenz knows that the Kentucky Club, like special watering holes in all cities, is the contrary to borders. It welcomes Spanish and English, Mexicans and gringos, poor and rich, gay and straight, drug addicts and drunks, laughter and sadness, and even despair. It’s a place of rich history and good drinks and cold beer and a long polished mahogany bar. Some days it smells like piss. “I’m going home to the other side.” That’s a strange statement, but you hear it all the time at the Kentucky Club.” publisher
Lesbian General Fiction
The World We Found: a novel(M) by Thrity Umrigar. “University students in late 1970s Bombay, Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta were inseparable. Spirited and unconventional, they challenged authority and fought for a better world. But much has changed in the thirty years since those heady days. Following different paths, the quartet has drifted apart, and the day-to-day demands of work and family have tempered the revolutionary fervor they shared. Then comes devastating news: Armaiti, who moved to America, is dying and wants to see the old friends she left behind. For Laleh, reunion is a bittersweet reminder of unfulfilled dreams and unspoken guilt. For Kavita, it is an admission of forbidden passion. For Nishta, it is the end of self-delusion and the promise of freedom from a bitter fundamentalist husband. As for Armaiti, it is an act of acceptance, of letting go on her own terms even if her ex-husband and daughter do not understand her choices. In the course of their journey to reconnect, Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta must confront the truths of their lives – acknowledge long-held regrets, face painful secrets and hidden desires, and reconcile their idealistic past and their compromised present.” publisher
