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The Library Is Open

A blog about books and writing, through rainbow-tinted glasses. Every book gets a gay rating.

  • About
  • Reviews
    • Fiction
      • Contemporary
      • Classics
    • Nonfiction
      • Essays
    • Poetry
  • Certified gay
  • Gay stuff

Author: James Whitmore

I am a writer based in Melbourne. I’m interested in nature and the environment, and queer books.

Review: In The Woods by Tana French

A twisty, effective crime novel.

Crime, Fiction, Irish, Novel

Review: At Night All Blood Is Black by David Diop (translated by Anna Moschovakis)

A potent depiction of war.

Contemporary, Fiction, France, Senegal, War, World War I

Review: The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey

A grim, aching study of women’s guilt and men’s rage.

Australian, Contemporary, Fiction

Review: The Essential Emily Dickinson (selected by Joyce Carol Oates)

Strange, precise and elusive poetry.

America, Emily Dickinson, Poetry, US

Review: Things I Don’t Want To Know by Deborah Levy

Deborah Levy concisely summarises what makes her own writing so compelling.

British, Female writers, Memoir, Nonfiction, South Africa, UK

Review: China Room by Sunjeev Sahota

A slight but full novel set in 1920s and 1990s Punjab.

1920s, British, Contemporary, Fiction, India, Novel, Racism, UK

Review: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

There’s something haunted and occult about this otherwise godly classic.

Charlotte Brontë, Classics, England, Jane Eyre, UK

Review: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

A potent depiction of friendship.

Contemporary, Fiction, Italy, Novel

Review: Winepress by Gabriela Mistral (translated by Ursula K. Le Guin)

Poetry that is elemental, grief-stricken, unearthly.

Chile, Gabriela Mistral, Nobel Laureate, Poetry

Review: The Other Half Of You by Michael Mohammad Ahmad

A bracing read about modern masculinity.

Arabic writing, Australian, Contemporary, Fiction, Novel

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