Beach book bingo

Back Where He Started by Jay Quinn (Alyson, $24.95)
Dumped by his husband--for a younger woman, no less--Chris moves to a Southern beach town where he's reintroduced to the joy of life and the love of a hunky man.

Beneath the Skin: The Collected Essays of John Rechy (Carroll and Graf, $15)
Novelist Rechy has long been a go-to guy for thoughtful pieces on a variety of topics, including Anita Bryant, Vietnam vets, and sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.

The Boys in the Brownstone by Kevin Scott (Haworth, $22.95)
A "gentlemen's" bar on Manhattan's upper east side is the setting for this satisfying first novel.

Cavalcade of Boys Vol. 1, 2, and 3 by Tim Fish (Poison, $14 each)
The comic books tracking the romantic travails of Tighe, Tommy, and the rest are finally collected in durable paperbacks.

Deliver Me From Nowhere by Tennessee Jones (Soft Skull, $12)
These stories by the talented trans man spin off tales from Springsteen's classic Nebraska.

The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, the Music, the '70s in San Francisco by Joshua Gamson (Henry Holt, $26)
The cross-dressing diva looms mighty real in this raucously entertaining biography of the disco queen and his era.

Front Row: Anna Wintour--The Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue's Editor in Chief by Jerry Oppenheimer (St. Martin's, $24.95)
Oppenheimer lets fly on the wicked Wintour, who has shaped style with her imperious reign at Vogue.

Gay Haiku by Joel Derfner (Broadway, $12.95)
The Harvard grad spins out more than 100 witty queer poems such as: "My seventh birthday / I weep at Barbie's Dream House. / How could you not know?" Hilarious.

A House Is Not a Home: A B-Boy Blues Novel by James Earl Hardy (Amistad, $22.95)
Mitchell the buppie and Raheim the homeboy get their sixth and final outing in the hot, hot series.

Mother of Sorrows by Richard McCann (Pantheon, $20)
A deft collection of intertwined short stories by a much-admired Washington, D.C., writer, it charts growing up gay in the Eisenhower era.

The Rivals: Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova by Johnette Howard (Broadway, $24.95)
The award-winning sportswriter brings a great rivalry to life amid the backdrop of gay rights, Title IX, and the fall of communism.

Sex Camp by Brian McNaught (AuthorHouse, $25.45)
A novelized account of the true goings-on at a healing annual sexuality retreat at a church in upstate New York. Good--and good for you too.

A Son Called Gabriel by Damian McNicholl (CDS, $22.95)
A coming-of-queer-age set in Northern Ireland in the '60s and '70s. Gabriel isn't sure about his sexuality, but he knows he's shite at football, and that isn't good.

The Tragedy of Miss Geneva Flowers by Joe Babcock (Closet Case, $15.95)
This novel--following a queer 16-year-old hero's struggles in Catholic school in Minneapolis--was self-published by a then-teenage author, won a whopping award, and is republished here.

The Underminer: The Best Friend Who Casually Destroys Your Life by Mike Albo with Virginia Heffernan (Bloomsbury USA, $19.95)
Haven't heard of this book about the pal who pricks your balloon? Gosh, we thought you were so well-read.

What The L? by Kate Clinton (Carroll and Graf, $14.95)
One of our favorite stand-up comics (and columnists) weighs in with hilarious new and collected pieces, many first published in The Advocate.

Whores of Lost Atlantis by Charles Busch (Carroll and Graf, $14.95)
Expanded and reissued, Busch's first novel displays the promise he's been fulfilling ever since.

With or Without You by Lauren Sanders (Akashic, $14.95)
Baby dyke Lillian is in jail for murdering her favorite female soap star. Now there's time to wonder why. From the author of Kamikaze Lust.

You Are Not the One by Vestal McIntyre (Carroll and Graf, $13.95)
Iowa clarity meets gay irony in these quirky tales.

Finally, get serious:

The Tragedy of Today's Gays by Larry Kramer (Tarcher/ Penguin, $9.95)
If the sun doesn't burn you, this copy of Kramer's blistering '04 speech at New York City's Cooper Union will. Take a stand while lying out.