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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: Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin

Sin and salvation in 1930s Harlem.

African-American writers, Black writers, Classics, Fiction, New York, Novel, US

Review: Only Sound Remains by Hossein Asgari

Intrigue in pre-Revolution Iran.

Adelaide, Australian, Contemporary, Fiction, Historical, Iran, Islam, Novel, Poetry

Review: Hospital by Sanya Rushdi (translated by Arunava Sinha)

‘Can people hear me think? Let them.’

Australian, Contemporary, Mental illness, Novel, Stella Prize

The Art and Ethics of Jeffrey Smart

A life of art.

19, Art, Australian, History, LGBTIQ, Memoir, Nonfiction, Painting, queer, Queer history

Review: The House Of The Spirits by Isabel Allende (translated by Magda Bogin)

A haunted house of a country.

Chile, Classics, Fiction, Magic realism, Novel, South America, Translation

Review: The Swift Dark Tide by Katia Ariel

The costs and compromises of desire.

Australian, LGBTIQ, Memoir, Nonfiction, queer, Stella Prize

Review: Beloved by Toni Morrison

The power of words.

Black writers, Fiction, Historical, Nobel Laureate, Novel, Slavery, US

Review: Feast by Emily O’Grady

Grotesque and decadent.

Australian, Contemporary, Fiction, Novel, Scotland, Stella Prize

Review: Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor

The lesbian answer to Ned Kelly.

1930s, Australian, Fiction, Historical, LGBTIQ, Novel, queer, Sydney

Review: Abandon Every Hope by Hayley Singer

Why don’t we speak or think of what happens in abattoirs and slaughterhouses?

Animals, Australian, Essays, Ethics, Nonfiction, Stella Prize

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