I’ve always been a reader. Some of my earliest memories involve books. Every wall of my childhood home was lined with shelves overflowing with big, colorfully bound books. Our house looked more like a library than the suburban Ranch style home that it was. My mother insisted that we kids not only read, but that we read well. We were always encouraged to read books that would challenge our understanding and force us to think in new ways. It wasn’t always easy wrapping my mind around some of the more esoteric subjects that some writers developed, and it sometimes took more than one reading to finally understand the book, but I just couldn’t give up on a book. I wouldn’t let it whip me. I’m not so hard on myself these days. I understand that not every writer appeals to everyone. I’ve learned to be more selective with my choices and in the end it has increased my reading enjoyment. For the last few months I’ve be obsessed with reading gay novels. Mostly romance. This is a new genre for me because for the longest time I wouldn’t allow myself to read them, I thought they were trashy, poorly written, and beneath my stature as a elite reader. Pretty snobbish, huh.
Well I was wrong. Not all gay novels are trashy and poorly written. Some are, and that’s fine, I just need to learn how to pick the good ones, the ones I’d like, and pass over the bad ones. One thing that did surprise me in this genre is finding out that there are a lot of straight female writers who write gay – man on man fiction. I stumbled across this when I finished reading Bareback, by Chris Owen. I liked the book so much that I wanted to find out more about the author. After doing a Google search I was surprised to find out that Bareback, a gay cowboy love story with some of the hottest man on man sex scenes that I’ve ever read was written by a woman. I was flabbergasted, and a little put off. I couldn’t see how a woman could understand a gay mans psyche so well and write such compelling sex scenes, and yet here it was. It just never occurred to me that the author was a woman. Well done Chris. Bareback is one of the best books I’ve read in quite a while. I enjoyed her writing so much that I’ve ordered two other books of hers, 911, and Adagio. I know I won’t be disappointed. This is a good example of why I enjoy reading so much, there is always something new to be learned. I like having my eyes opened.

Ciao