“Red X” – a tale of queerness and horror, as men go missing from Toronto’s gay village

posted Tuesday, August 31, 2021

by: Bryen Dunn in Books

Men are disappearing from Toronto’s gay village. They’re the marginalized, the vulnerable. One by one, stalked and vanished, they leave behind small circles of baffled, frightened friends. Against the shifting backdrop of homophobia throughout the decades, from the HIV/AIDS crisis and riots against raids to gentrification and police brutality, the survivors face inaction from the […]

Read more

Jordan Tannahill’s “The Listeners” tackles family dynamics

posted Tuesday, August 17, 2021

by: Bryen Dunn in Books

A propulsive literary page-turner about a family torn apart by a mother’s obsession with a sound that no one else can hear One night, while lying in bed next to her husband, Claire Devon suddenly hears a low hum. This innocuous sound, which no one else in the house can hear, has no obvious source […]

Read more

Beneath The Streets – English thriller, with politicians, police, and prostitutes

posted Saturday, July 17, 2021

by: Bryen Dunn in Books

It is February 1976, and the naked corpse of a young rent boy is fished out of a pond on Hampstead Heath. Since the police don’t seem to care, twenty-year-old Tommy Wildeblood – himself a former ‘Dilly boy’ prostitute – finds himself investigating. Dodging murderous Soho hoodlums and the agents of a more sinister power, […]

Read more

How We Do Family – Canadian Memoir on LGBTQ Parenthood

posted Tuesday, June 29, 2021

by: Bryen Dunn in Books

 How We Do Family: From Adoption to Trans Pregnancy, What We Learned about Love and LGBTQ Parenthood by Canadian author, Trystan Reese. You may remember Trystan as “the pregnant man” in 2017 when the story of his family’s pregnancy journey gained international media attention. On June 8th—just in time for Pride Month—the Vancouver native is releasing […]

Read more

After Francesco – heartfelt story of a man dealing with loss during the 1980s AIDS crisis

posted Monday, June 28, 2021

by: Bryen Dunn in Books

Acclaimed author Brian Malloy brings insight, humour, and the authenticity of his own experiences as a member of the AIDS generation to this universal story of love and loss set in New York City and Minneapolis at the peak of the 1980s AIDS crisis. Published on the 40th anniversary of the disease’s first reported cases, After […]

Read more

“Without” – True Story Of An Arab Transgender Man’s Search For Belonging

posted Thursday, June 24, 2021

by: Bryen Dunn in Books

While some countries accept transsexuality, most of Arab countries are yet to do so. “Without”, by Younis Alakhzami, is a frank and sensitive account of a man searching for belonging as someone he feels he is not. “Without” tells a story of searching for belonging both in the world and within your own skin. Born […]

Read more

When You Get A Chance – two cousins take a road trip to Toronto for Pride

posted Monday, June 21, 2021

by: Bryen Dunn in Books

From award-winning Canadian authors Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson comes a heart-warming tale of two cousins on a road trip to Toronto for the Pride Celebrations. WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE is a contemporary YA novel, perfect for readers looking for a story of friendship and family. As kids, Mark and his cousin Talia spent many happy summers […]

Read more

Queercore – Queer Punk Media Subculture – a look back at queer Toronto in the 1980s

posted Friday, June 18, 2021

by: Bryen Dunn in Books

Queercore is a queer and punk trans media movement that was instigated in 1980s Toronto via the pages of the underground fanzine (“zine”) J.D.s. Authored by G.B. Jones and Bruce LaBruce, J.D.s. declared “civil war” on the punk and gay and lesbian mainstreams, consolidating a subculture of like-minded filmmakers, zinesters, musicians and performers situated in pointed opposition […]

Read more

Bath Haus – a thrilling mystery that begins in a gay bathhouse

posted Tuesday, June 15, 2021

by: Bryen Dunn in Books

Bath Haus is the story about Oliver Park, a recovering addict from Indiana, who finally has everything he ever wanted: sobriety and a loving, wealthy partner in Nathan, a prominent DC trauma surgeon. Despite their difference in age and disparate backgrounds, they’ve made a perfect life together. With everything to lose, Oliver shouldn’t be visiting […]

Read more

“Shockadelica” Combines an LGBTQ Horror Novel with Chilling Music

posted Monday, June 14, 2021

by: Bryen Dunn in Books

Conspiracy Theories and Supernatural Legends Create a Contemporary Story of Fear and Prejudice When you can read a novel while listening to songs written by one of the characters, you know you’re in unusual territory. That’s what author Jon O’Bergh offers with his latest novel Shockadelica and an album by the Bone Man titled Box of Bones. Both […]

Read more