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Books

Best Nonfiction

Gay Life & Culture: A World History, edited by Robert Aldrich — This 2006 book caught our eye for its sheer comprehensiveness. It's a 384-page survey of all things gay, from ancient Sumeria to the present day. Editor Robert Aldrich compiled essays from leading scholars in GLBT studies and juxtaposed their text with an extensive selection of beautiful images. It's a gorgeous and thought-provoking gay history lesson. And is it just us, or does that Dutch guy on the cover look just like Joseph Fiennes?

Best Fiction

My Lucky Star, by Joe Keenan — Author Joe Keenan spent almost a decade as a writer and producer for the TV show Frasier. But before devoting his humorous genius to that effort, he penned two farcical novels: Blue Heaven (1988) and Putting on the Ritz (1991). These novels featured down-on-their-luck heroes Philip, Gilbert and Claire. In My Lucky Star, the characters head to Hollywood for a series of further misadventures. Sure, it's light and fluffy, but it will also have you laughing out loud. If you loved the witty banter between Niles and Frasier Crane, then you'll love this book.

Worst in Print

The Confession, by Jim McGreevey — The former New Jersey governor's memoir may be of interest to those with a keen historical interest in the minutiae of Garden State politics. But for the rest of us, there's not much to recommend it. The ghostwritten project seems almost ham-handed in its attempt to justify McGreevey's transgressions and hold him out as a sort of martyred hero. Alas, McGreevey is no hero. He's an opportunist. But for the Golan Cipel scandal that forced his hand, McGreevey would never have come forward as a gay man, and he'd still be cheating on his wife.

  Music

Favorite Gay Artist: Rufus Wainwright — Rufus gets our vote for sheer chutzpah alone. What other gay male artist would even attempt to recreate Judy Garland's legendary concert at Carnegie Hall? And what other gay male artists could actually pull it off to wild acclaim? You can check out a brief clip of Wainwright in concert here.

Favorite Group: Scissor Sisters — The band's sophomore effort, Ta Dah, proves these glam rockers weren't simply a one-trick pony. The first single from the album, “I Don't Feel Like Dancing,” ironically makes one desperately want to dance. And is frontman Jake Shears positively dreamy or what? You can check out our recent interview with Shears here.

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: Nemesis Rising — These Ken-doll-cute twins (Jacob is the blond, Joshua the brunette) have their own reality show on Logo. It's a bit of a train wreck (like all the best reality shows), but it's also mesmerizing. And their first single, “No. 1 in Heaven,” is actually very catchy — sort of a throwback to Erasure's sound in the late '80s.

Best Cultural Trend

Shows That Let Gay Men Kiss — Brothers & Sisters and Cold Case both showed gay men could share passionate, even sexual, kisses, and the sky would not fall. Hats off to both shows for not trumpeting the fact ahead of time.

Worst Cultural Trend

The Only Thing That Should Be Lanced Is a Boil — Lance Bass' boyfriend Reichen Lehmkuhl coined the term “lancing” to describe what happens when a blogger publishes rumors, innuendo and private photos in order to force a celebrity to acknowledge he is gay. We wholeheartedly applaud celebrities coming out, but we hope “lancing” is a term only used in the doctor's office.

And Finally, the Just Desserts Award goes to Ted Haggard, and the We Wish They Were Straight Award is a tie: Mark Foley and Jim McGreevey.

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