Malinda Lo
Blog
Jan 4, 2011
2011 New Year’s Reading Resolutions
About this time last year, I made some reading resolutions for 2010. I enjoyed the experiment so much that I thought I’d do it again! So here are my reading resolutions for 2011:
I will read the following four novels, and when I have read them, I will blog about them.
Obviously I will read more than four novels in total, but I’m resolving to read these specific four. Why? Because over the past couple of years as I read more and more young adult fiction, I’ve realized that my media consumption has become extremely heterocentric. Back when I was working at AfterEllen, most everything I read/watched/listened to was made by, for, or about lesbians and bisexual women. Plus I lived in San Francisco! Talk about a gay bubble. Well, that bubble has burst, and now I predominantly read books written by and about straight people, and I hardly watch TV anymore (except for Top Chef) because I don’t have time.1 Oh, and I moved out of San Francisco. (Sob!)
What this boils down to is: I miss lesbians. So I’m going to read about them in these four books:
- The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith — Everybody knows that Highsmith wrote The Talented Mr. Ripley, but this novel, originally published in 1952, is one of the first novels in which two women fall in love with each other and have a happy ending. It also involves a road trip and a private investigator, all of which sounds totally awesome to me. I already bought my own copy and I can’t wait to read it.
- Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden — Yes, it’s true, I have never read this groundbreaking young adult lesbian novel! However, I bought a hardcover copy of it at a San Francisco Public Library book sale a couple of years ago and it’s been staring at me ever since. This will be the year that I finally understand why Annie is on her mind!
- The IHOP Papers by Ali Liebegott — I wanted to read a contemporary novel written by and about lesbians, and Liebegott’s is not only contemporary, it’s set in San Francisco. For a while, I considered reading Michelle Tea’s Valencia, but that’s technically a memoir, and I’d like to focus on fiction here. Also, there’s this cover (see right), which is so quintessentially butch-sexy that I cannot resist it. Wristcuffs, tattoos, coffee. I’m there.
- Orlando by Virginia Woolf — The only Woolf I’ve read is A Room of One’s Own (and honestly, I don’t really remember it — maybe I should read it again?), and I’ve always wanted to read more of her work. Orlando isn’t explicitly a lesbian novel, but everybody knows that the character Orlando is based on Woolf’s lover, Vita Sackville-West. This, combined with the gender switching, has always intrigued me. Plus, after I read it I can watch the movie starring Tilda Swinton. Sold!
There you have it. My 2011 reading resolutions. What are you looking forward to reading this year?
- I also realized that given a choice, I rarely choose to watch TV shows simply because there are lesbians in them. Maybe because most of those shows are made by Ilene Chaiken. [↩]
After reading these novels you’ll be able to get your card updated.
Thanks for letting me know about Annie on my Mind, I always like to know about groundbreaking lit for all groups.
Would your need to read these books be less, if there were more YA novels by Lesbian authors or with Lesbian characters? Or is part of the urge coming from wanting to read more adult fiction.
Now *I* want to read all these books too, especially THE PRICE OF SALT. As if my TBR pile wasn’t huge enough! Could I possibly recommend another book to you, by the way? You may already have read it, but it’s a High Fantasy (I notice you’ve not listed any here) by N.K. Jemisin called THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS. It’s an utterly heartbreaking, exquisitely written book that I *can’t* stop thinking about, and it really plays around with gender stereotypes and definitions of sexuality, and has a truly compelling woman of colour as the main character. If you get a chance, please give it a go.
You have picked some classics. I recommend adding one from the best new writers: Jill Malone, whose A Field Guide to Deception won the 2010 Lambda award, and another classic from the great Jane Rule. Both of these writers make complexity an art.
I loved the IHOP Papers when I read it! I have to admit that I haven’t read Annie On My Mind either, so that is going on my To-Read list too, along with some of the suggestions in the other comments. Thank you!
Haha! Yes maybe it’s time for a renewal.
I think I was drawn to reading these because, yes, I do want to read more adult fiction. I love YA, but I need a break every once in a while.
I’ve heard such great things about THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS. I definitely want to read it! It’s on my radar for sure.
I have *your* book on my TBR list for nearly the same reasons! The IHOP papers cover is so striking.
Thanks for the recommendations!
You’re welcome!
I wonder if straight readers get it (the cover). Do they think they’re a man’s hands? Or a biker’s?
Oh, good. I completely fell in love with Yeine and I bet you will too.
Oh I love “Annie on My Mind” so much. It’s dated, but a beautiful love story. I just read and ARC of “Huntress” my co-worker brought back from YALSA and it is WONDERFUL. Will you write more books set in this world you’ve created?
Great choices! You’ll read “Annie on my Mind” in a few hours – it is that effortless and wonderful. It really captures the feeling of first love with a woman (or in this case, girl). My gf gave it to me as a Christmas gift about a year into our relationship, and that’s when I knew she was a keeper. We’ve now been together almost 8
Also, last year I read “The Blue Place” by Nicola Griffith. It’s a great adult lesbian mystery/crime novel…especially if you like butch characters
Happy New Year Malinda!
Annie On My Mind is adorable. I really look forward to your review. There is a scandalous subplot involving illicit ear-piercing! But other than that and the ending, it didn’t actually feel that dated to me. There’s something timeless about two teenage girls falling in love…
The Price of Salt is on my to-read list too. I recently read ME Kerr’s Spring Fire, also from 1952, and although it had a publisher-mandated unhappy ending, the story itself felt very real and exciting.
I wish i could make lesbian book resolutions, but as i am a gay teenager in a small english village who spends any money she has on music, i don’t need to resolve to read lesbian fiction. It just takes considerable resolve to find it. Annie on my mind has been on my booklist for a while now.
However after seeing your reading resolutions last year, i have made some of my own. The books I intend to read are:
1984 by George Orwell
The Coral Island by R M Ballantyne
Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Oooh! They’re not exactly classics or anything, but if you get the chance, read anything by Ivan Coyote. She. Is. Incredible. Really an old-fashioned kitchen-table storyteller.
Great choices!
The price of salt was one of the first lesbian books I ever read. I picked it up from the library by accident, and I was very pleasantly surprised.
u did a page on me.i loved it.get in touch with me please