Braun, Jan Guenther. Somewhere Else. Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring, 2008.
A friend who knows that I like Stephen Beachy recommended this to me; apparently it’s another Mennonite novel dealing with queer issues. I will read it as soon as I have time, hopefully by the end of the week.
Califia, Pat. Public Sex: The Culture of Radical Sex. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Cleis, 2000.
I’ve been reading as much as I can about BDSM lately for an essay I’m working on, and Califia’s work has attained “classic” status in the field, which is why I bought this book. I’ve already begun reading it, and while some of it is dated, it still has some very relevant ideas. The dated stuff is interesting, too, and even encouraging in a way because it shows how much progress has been made in the past decade in the area of LGBT rights and sexual freedom in general.
Both of these books were bought via amazon.com, but both came from bookstores from outside of the U.S., which is worth noting. The Califia came from the U.K. (I forget where exactly, because I already threw away the packing slip and packaging), and the Braun came from Russell Books in Victoria, British Columbia. Hurray for independent bookstores, even if they are forced to rely on amazon to sell their wares.
Daniel Shank Cruz 