Poll

So, people who nominated these books, why do you recommend them? Tell us about them!

Not a nominator, but I did read the likely BoM winner, Stoner McTavish, a long time ago when I was still very new to lesfic--and I remember greatly enjoying it. The only one on this list that sounds dubious to me is Lesbian Juices (really . . .). A lot of distinguished woman poets were/are gay--if it's poetry, I'd rather be reading Elizabeth Bishop or Marilyn Hacker.

I nominated blacker than blue because I read the first one and I liked. Also or it comes out January 14 I think

I go for Idaho Code cause I want something light-hearted this month after crying so much last month.

Is that the first book of two? For some reason i think its part of a series

I just checked and it looks like it is. From Hell to Breakfast is the second one

You're super handy, Jenny!

I nominated Stoner McTavish because it's sweet, and funny, and has a lovely central pairing. There's also a real nostalgia to this book for me. It was my first introduction to lesfic (aside from online fan fic) and I still remember standing in front of an entire shelf of books in Gay's The Word, feeling a little overwhelmed that there were actually LESBIAN books out there.

The entire series is well worth reading, as is Solitaire and Brahms, a standalone by Sarah Dreher. With so many lesfics nowadays, it'd be nice to read one that was a bit of a trailblazer.

I nominated Snow Falls, as you can't usually go wrong with Gerri Hill. Stoner is a good book..yes I agree with Cari..memories from when read years ago.

handy list..just added to my "to read list"..Idaho code, first grave on the right, adaptation, are you my mother..all sound good.

Hi everyone I am new to the group and I wanted to say hello. A couple of these books are on my to read list, so I voted for one that was not. If my vote is not the book it will for sure be added to my to read list.

I love Stoner McTavish. I've also read The Idaho Code which was entertaining enough - I was a bit disappointed because it wasn't as funny as the author had been in person - my expectations had been a bit too high. And Are You My Mother? is on the shelf right now waiting to be read.

My nomination this month for "Book that's not going to win but which I want to spread the word about anyway" is The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, the Finnish author/artist of the Moomin books, who lived much of her life on a tiny island where she and her girlfriend were the only inhabitants. When she got fed up of Moomins she wrote a few novels for adults, of which The Summer Book is the best known and most loved. (And, handily for those rushed for time, it's really short!)

The world of publishing seems to be flooded with straight erotica and what little lesbian erotica out there is often not even written by lesbians. Lesbian Juices is a volume of love poetry from the heart and not simply about sex. I was a little nervous about nominating my own book but was encouraged to do so by the group. Many of these poems I have written over a period of years, charting great joy and pain and feedback from those who enjoyed the book is that they are sensual, seductive, erotic, moving and often spiritual. They are influenced by many great poets, especially metaphysical poets such as John Donne in their aim to create a unique moment in time, in this case between two women.

Thanks , Leni--didn't mean to put down your contribution, I'm just an old curmudgeon (I've been waiting years to be able to say that without any irony whatsoever).

Ha, ha Mary, thanks. I guess if the book did not ruffle a few feathers it would not be worth voting for. See if you still feel like a curmudgeon when you have read it ;)

Incidently I voted for First Grave on the Right as I like the genre and it sounds like at original twist on the theme for light-hearted reading. Did not seem fair to vote for my own book!

I think I nominated Idaho Code via the hangout the other day. I just finished reading it, so if it should win, I'd be ahead of the game for once. :-) I did enjoy it and found it quite funny, although not in the laugh-out-loud way I had hoped when reading the reviews. I would definitely read more from Joan Opyr.

That said, I actually voted for Stoner McTavish because mysteries are my favorites!

In case anyone plans to get addicted to Stoner McTavish here is a list of all books in the series:
Stoner McTavish (1985)
Something Shady (1986)
Gray Magic (1987)
Otherworld (1993)
Bad Company (1995)
Shaman's Moon (1998)
Love Murders (unpublished)

I am trying to find an amazon seller that has all of them used, since I couldn't find one with all of them available in ebook.

I nominated Stoner McTavish because I haven't read it in a while. I read Snow Fall and enjoyed it but I would have nominated Keepers of the Cave.

I've never heard of Love Murders. A quick google seems to come up with nothing but the title. I wonder if Sarah Dreher died before she got to finish it. We have all the others. I think we read the entire series in about a week!

Is it funny, or also depressing? Some mystery/detective stories tend to be depressing.

I found another one on Amazon called A Captive In Time. Unfortunately it didn't make it into the wikipedia list. I have no idea where to place it. Cari, can you help?

I gave up on my order. I ended up with 15€ for the books and 18€ for shipping. I gave up, will complain for three days and then end up ordering it ;-)

All this Stoner talk makes me want to read that instead

Looks like you don't have a choice.

Someone answer on the depressing factor quick, so I can order on Amazon. Let the 18 Euros for shipping be damned!

If you have to grade the depressing factor on a scale of ten, how much does it get? I am not getting a whole depressive series!

It's not depressing, quit panicking! I think Captive is number 4 but we're not home at the mo to check. That one's sort of an uber fic set in the wild west and it's one of my faves of the whole series.

Bought them. All! In German, which was easier and cheaper.

I changed my vote hoping others would follow. Maybe two books this month? Snow Falls just needs four more votes. Come on peoples!!

Went to Amazon to see about ordering the paperback of Stoner McTavish... Says usually ships in 1 to 2 months.

Since it looks like it's going to win, I'll probably end up ordering one from Half Price Books. Here's a link of all available. Loads in the UK.

http://www.hpbmarketplace.com/booksea...

It's not depressing, quit panicking! I think Captive is number 4 but we're not home at the mo to check. That one's sort of an uber fic set in the wild west and it's one of my faves of the whole series.

Bugger, I actually wrote this hours ago and it didn't post - sorry alena.

It posted. I saw it a little while ago. You're safe.

I have the first two of Stoner McTavish books. Sitting on one my shelves. Happy New year by the way. I will most likely read a couple of them.

Cheri wrote: "It posted. I saw it a little while ago. You're safe."

Phew. I was trying to prevent an alena NY Eve meltdown ;-)

Found the ebooks available from the publisher:

http://newvictoria.com/index.php?page...

Hope that helps. They're $6.95 each. There are loads available from amazon marketplace as well - new or second hand which should ship faster than buying directly from amazon. I think we use the Marketplace more than we use amazon itself.

And Captive in Time is number four in the series. Time to dust off our copy of Stoner...

Happy New Year everyone :-)

Happy New Year!

Thanks Cari. I saw your post as soon as you made it and ordered all seven books right after that.

I am sad that Sarah Dreher died last year, getting a signed copy will be so much harder!

Jenny wrote: "I changed my vote hoping others would follow. Maybe two books this month? Snow Falls just needs four more votes. Come on peoples!!"

Just read all seven Stoner books!

Happy New Year!

I have added A Captive in Time to the wikipedia listing, and corrected its publication date on its goodreads listing. It is the fourth, and was published fourth.

Alena wrote: "Happy New Year!

Thanks Cari. I saw your post as soon as you made it and ordered all seven books right after that.

Oh my, I hope you like the bloody things! Apparently, she's very popular in Germany.

I am sad that Sarah Dreher died last year, getting a signed copy will be so much..."

Hard if not impossible, I fear. Unless you buy a signed copy from somewhere, but I suspect that won't be the same, eh?

Ferox - are you drunk with power after your first time editing WikiP?!

Yay for ebooks! Thanks, Cari!

Yay! Stoner McTavish for the win! I'm like Cari - read this years ago as one of the first "lesbian" novels I came across and fell hopelessly in love with Stoner. :)

If it brings Megan back to the discussion, I'll happily read it. As a matter of fact, I'll go buy the ebook now just to get it started!

Megan wrote: "Yay! Stoner McTavish for the win!

I know! I put it forward but never expected it to come out on top :-)

I'm like Cari - read this years ago as one of the first "lesbian" novels I came across and fell hopelessly in love with Stoner. :)"

Aww, I think it's hard not to love Stoner, she's so sweet and vulnerable. Looking forward to a reread, it's been ages since I read it cover to cover (I flick through the series every now and again - pick out all my favourite scenes for a comfort read.)

Happy you're happy with the ebooks, Cheri. I hope the formatting's okay with them.

I'm so happy that you found eboks Cari!!

Ebooks. Haha

Just checked the ebooks and they only use PDF which isn't always a joy to read. I think I may be up for a paperback this time around. Oddly, I'm sort of looking forward to reading a hard copy.

Off to locate one!

Are they convertible?

They are but PDFs convert terribly and the formatting gets messed up.

It also looked like this PDF is locked so you'd have to have a DRM stripper in order to convert it.

The publishers seem to be v small and old-fashioned, not quite got the hang of e-anything yet. The link to them on Sarah Dreher's wiki page was dead (I've added a real one). I guess there's no one to chase these things up for her.

Damn. I guess I will get the paperbacks then.

I ordered one from Half Price Books for .99 and $3.99 shipping. Was a deal!

Is it the one with the ugly cover or the one with the really ugly cover?