Richard Labonté's Ten Best Fiction, Nonfiction of 2011

The best-read gay man in North America announced his favorite books of the year: Leading Richard Labonté's fiction list, alphabetically by title, is Colm Tóibín’s The Empty Family [Kindle]. The other nine books are six titles by men, including novels by Matthew Gallway The Metropolis Case [Kindle] and Dennis Cooper The Marbled Swarm, and story collections from T. Leland Love/Imperfect [Kindle] and Lonely Christopher The Mechanics of Homosexual Intercourse [Kindle]. The three standouts by women are Nina Revoyr's Wingshooters [Kindle], Sally Bellerose's The Girls Club [Kindle], and Laurie Weeks' East Village extravaganza Zipper Mouth [Kindle]. 

Notably absent is a novel that argues gay literature is the heart of English culture, Alan Hollinghurst’s The Stranger's Child [Kindle].

The nonfiction list is marvelously eclectic from porn (Halsted Plays Himself) to poets (Nocturnal Omissions) to memoirs by Jane Lynch and Justin Bond (Tango: My Childhood, Backwards and in High Heels).