Looking for book recs!

[effex]

Does anyone have any recs for good lesbian/queer women romance? Or mysteries? I've got a craving and I don't want to resort to my mom's stash of Lynn Kurland/Loretta Chase/Etc. They never satisfy, you know?

Things I've tried and didn't like: Radclyffe's work, Laurie R. King's work, Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer, Stay.

Things I've tried and liked: Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith, the Jane Bond books, a bunch (comparatively speaking) of SFF that doesn't quite apply.

I am also open to femslash fic recs (outside of Devil Wear's Prada fandom)!

When I'm rich and famous I'm going to spend my time writing trashy lesbian romances, just so they'll exist.

Comments

[happydork]

I'll be watching the comments here closely for recs. :)

[effex]

[nods] I'm camped out in my inbox with fingers crossed. If it exists someone 'round these parts must know, right?

[brewsternorth]

I have no idea, but good luck. I too wouldn't mind finding some fiction with L/Q characters that tells a good story.

[shanejayell]

You liked Jane Bond, have you tried the Cherry Aimless books by her? The style is a parody of the old Nancy Drew books, but with lesbians. Very funny.

*thinks*

I'll check my bookmarks and get back to you.

[effex]

I keep meaning too! They sound immensely entertaining and have that lesbians + mysteries (+hilarity) thing going...

Thank you!

[shanejayell]

Do you mind reading books online?

Melissa Good's Dar & Kerry stories are quite good.
http://www.merwolf.com/ffiction.html#dk
It's sorta uber-Xena, but done in a way you don't have to have seen the show.

Madam President is another good Uber Xena too.
http://www.ausxip.com/fanfic13/mp.html

[antisoppist]

Just wandering by via Network. No good on romance but for mysteries:

Barbara Wilson? I read them in the UK in the 1980s and early 90s when they were published by Virago and the Women's Press. The Pam Nilsen ones are set in the US and are a bit more earnest than the Cassandra Reilly ones. The latter are funny and feature a globetrotting translator detective. I'd start with Gaudi Afternoon (set in Barcelona).

Also Val McDermid's Lindsay Gordon mysteries, again from the 1990s.

[effex]

Oooh. These all sound fantastic, I'll try tracking them down. Thank you!

[zvi]

I like the Celeano series by Jane Lynch, but I don't know if that's some of your unsuccessful sci fi or not. It's a pre-industrial lost colony planet with no men and a rigid religious structure. The novels are generally about rebels.

[effex]

[tries googling] Do you mean the Celaeno series by Jane Fletcher? I haven't read them but they look good, thanks for the rec!

[zvi]

Yep, those are the ones!

[woldy]

For fic, I recommend language_escapes St Trinians stories. Some of them are femslash & some are female-centred gen, but they're all awesome.

I don't read much fiction, but some friends of mine set themselves the task of reading all the lesbian fiction to be found in Vancouver libraries & there was a lot, including Gerri Hill's stories. I don't know where you're based, but some local libraries & queer organizations have LGBTQ book suggestions.

[effex]

Thanks for the link to language_escapes! I need to put St Trinians on my watch-list.

I browse various organizations's LGBT recommendation lists fairly regularly, but their tastes seldom line up with my own. My local library is in the middle of the gayborhood and very queer friendly, though, so it wouldn't hurt to ask...

[carmilla]

I'd recommend J. M. Redmann's Micky Knight books - they're pretty decent mysteries in the hard-boiled PI vein with a lesbian protagonist.

If you're in the mood for a really long fantasy series with interesting worldbuilding, political satire and a central lesbian romance, I'd highly recommend Women on Fire. (Link goes to the homepage; if you want the novels you need to email the author and ask for a copy.)