Crossing the Lines: The Story of Three Homosexual New Zealand Soldiers in WWII by Brent Coutts

$50.00 NZD

Category: NZ History/Society

In Crossing the Lines, Brent Coutts brings to light the previously untold history of New Zealand homosexual soldiers in World War II, drawing on the experiences of ordinary men who lived through extraordinary times. At the centre of the story are New Zealand soldiers Harold Robinson, Ralph Dyer and Doug las Morison, who shared a queer identity and love of performance. Through their roles as female impersonators in Kiwi concert parties in the Pacific and Egypt they found a place to live as gay men within the military forces, boosting the morale of personnel in the Pacific Campaign and, along the way, falling in love with some of the men they met. Crossing the Lines is a richly illustrated account that follows the men from their formative pre-war lives, through the difficult wartime years to their experiences living in a postwar London where they embraced the many new possibilities available. It is a story of strong friendships, the search for love and belonging as homosexuals within the military and civilian worlds, and the creation of the foundation of the queer community today. ...Show more

To Be a Gay Man by Will Young

$25.00 NZD

$40.00 (37% off)

Category: Biography

In To Be a Gay Man, Will Young speaks out about gay shame, revealing the impact it had on his own life, how he learned to deal with it, and how he can now truthfully say he is gay and happy. We know Will as a multi-platinum recording artist, Olivier-nominee, and the first winner of the Idol franchise. But his story began long before his first audition. Looking back on a world where growing up being called gay was the ultimate insult and coming out after a lifetime of hiding his sexuality, Will explores the long-lasting impact repressing his true self has had. As Will's own story demonstrates, internalised shame in childhood increases the risk of developing low self-worth, and even self-disgust, leading to destructive behaviours in adult life. Will revisits the darkest extremes he has been to, sharing his vulnerabilities, his regrets, tracing his own navigation through it all and showing the way for others who might have felt alone in the same experience. Here you will find a friend, champion and mentor, breaking taboos with frank honesty, and offering invaluable practical advice on overcoming the difficult issues too often faced within the LGBTQ+ community. ...Show more

Nigel and Derek by Nigel Owens

$25.00 NZD

Category: Biography

Stories from on and off the pitch by two legendary Welsh referees.

Dear Oliver by Peter Wells

$40.00 NZD

Category: NZ Biographies

When writer and historian Peter Wells found a cache of family letters amongst his elderly mother's effects, he realised that he had the means of retracing the history of a not-untypical family swept out to New Zealand during the great nineteenth-century human diaspora from Britain. His family experience d the war against Te Kooti, the Boer War, the Napier earthquake of 1931 and the Depression. They rose from servant status to thecomforts of the middle class. There was army desertion, suicide, adultery, AIDS, secrets and lies. There was also success, prosperity and social status. In digging deep into their stories, examining letters from the past and writing a letter to the future, Peter Wells constructs a novel and striking way to view the history of Pakeha New Zealanders. ...Show more

Hello Darkness by Peter Wells

$40.00 NZD

Category: Biography

It's now a year exactly since my urologist told me I had an aggressive cancer that was incurable. I was rushed into hospital and thus began a year of chemotherapy, radiation and all the ups and downs of a sickness that arrived in my life with the noise and terror of an old fashioned train. During that t ime I wrote about my experience on my Iphone, on Facebook, and I received in return an explosion of aroha on that most cynical of mediums - the internet. There was advice, commentary, encouragement, accompaniment. The posts became the basis for Hello Darkness. I made something out of nothing if near-death experiences can be said to be nothing. I learnt a lot. I am a different ... ...Show more

Rainbow Revolutionaries by Sarah Prager

$35.00 NZD

Category: Biography

*A Junior Library Guild Selection* This groundbreaking, pop-culture-infused LGBTQ+ biography collection takes readers on an eye-opening journey through the lives of fifty influential queer figures who have made a mark on every century of human existence. Rainbow Revolutionaries brings to life the vibran t histories of fifty pioneering LGBTQ+ people from around the world. Through Sarah Prager's (Queer, There, and Everywhere) short, engaging bios, readers can delve into the lives of Wen of Han, a Chinese emperor who loved his boyfriend as much as his people, Martine Rothblatt, a trans woman who's helping engineer the robots of tomorrow, and so many more! This book is a celebration of the many ways these heroes have made a difference and will inspire young readers to make a difference, too. Featuring an introduction, timeline, and glossary, this must-have biography collection is the perfect read during Pride month and all year round. Biographies include: Adam Rippon, Alan L. Hart, Alan Turing, Albert Cashier, Alberto Santos-Dumont, Alexander the Great, Al-Hakam II, Alvin Ailey, Bayard Rustin, Benjamin Banneker, Billie Jean King, Chevalier d'Éon, Christina of Sweden, Christine Jorgensen, Cleve Jones, Ellen DeGeneres, Francisco Manicongo, Frida Kahlo, Frieda Belinfante, Georgina Beyer, Gilbert Baker, Glenn Burke, Greta Garbo, Harvey Milk, James Baldwin, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, José Sarria, Josephine Baker, Juana Inés de la Cruz, Julie d'Aubigny, Lili Elbe, Ma Rainey, Magnus Hirschfeld, Manvendra Singh Gohil, Marsha P. Johnson, Martine Rothblatt, Maryam Khatoon Molkara, Natalie Clifford Barney, Navtej Johar, Nzinga, Pauli Murray, Renée Richards, Rudolf Nureyev, Sally Ride, Simon Nkoli, Stormé DeLarverie, Sylvia Rivera, Tshepo Ricki Kgositau, Wen of Han, We'Wha  ...Show more

Pride & Joy: LGBTQ Artists, Icons and Everyday Heroes by Kathleen Archambeau

$15.00 NZD

$30.00 (50% off)

Category: Non-Fiction

Stories of success, happiness and hope from the LGBT community Stories that comprise the best of LGBT history Pride and Joy: LGBTQ Artists, Icons and Everyday Heroes tells the stories of queer citizens of the world living OUT and proud happy, fulfilling, successful lives. Diverse and global. Famous and unsung. There is a story here for everyone in the LGBT community who has ever questioned their sexual orientation or gender identity, or discovered it. Discover LGBT community stories that will stir you and reveal: why Tony Kushner quit cello and how Colm Toibin found his voice. why Emma Donoghue calls her experience a fluke and the best advice Bill T. Jones got was from his mother. how being an inaugural poet changed Richard Blanco's life and how Ugandan activist "LongJones" escaped death threats and gained asylum. Award-winning writer and longtime LGBTQ activist Kathleen Archambeau tells the untold stories from diverse LGBT community voices around the corner or around the world. Not like the depressing, sinister, shadowy stories of the past, this book highlights queer people living open, happy, fulfilling and successful lives. Be inspired by LGBT community stories that celebrate the human spirit: Be emboldened by the bravery of a Uruguayan author who was rejected by her immediate family even as she began a family of her own. - Be inspired by the audacity to fight for justice that motivates National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell, a Mormon who grew up in Utah. - Learn how two couples transcend time and distance to finally be together and how one NBA sports executive summoned the courage to come out. - Discover the message of love from the first openly lesbian United Methodist Church Bishop. - Learn the secrets of successful OUT IBM executive based in London and the rewards of Ballroom Basix founder in Harlem. - See how the Maori philosophy of whānau guided the MP who won marriage rights in New Zealand and how high expectations overcame disability and bullying for an acclaimed mezzo-soprano. - Know how the Armenian Genocide and family tensions impacted a professional violinist and composer. Pride & Joy is a window into the LGBTQ community for straight friends, allies, parents and families of this finally emerging marginalized group. There's hope that, in the words of Dan Savage, "It Gets Better" for: - the transgender choreographer and dancer who continues to break rules and enlighten audiences to the Dutch singer, songwriter and independent theater producer who breaks down stereotypes. - the Russian emigre award-winning computer scientist to the Chinese folk dancer. - the founder of an award-winning smoking cessation program to the California Political Director of the Obama re-election campaign. - and, for Entrepreneurs and gay dads, ballroom dancers and Hungarian activists on neo-Nazi "hit lists." ...Show more

A Dutiful Boy - A Gay, Muslim Memoir by Mohsin Zaidi

$25.00 NZD

$37.00 (32% off)

Category: Biography

A coming of age memoir about growing up queer in a strict Muslim household. Like Educated with a modern British context. Mohsin grew up in a deprived pocket of east London; his family was close-knit but very religiously conservative. From a young age Mohsin felt different but in a home where being gay was inconceivable he also felt very alone. Outside of home Mohsin went to a failing inner city school where gang violence was a fact of life. As he grew up life didn't seem to offer teenage Mohsin any choices: he was disenfranchised as a poor, brown boy, and he was isolated from his family as a closet gay Muslim. However Mohsin had incredible drive and he used education as a way out of his home life and to throw himself into a new kind of life. He became the first person from his school to go to Oxford University and there he found the freedom to come out to his friends. But Oxford was a whole different world with its own huge challenges and Mohsin found himself increasingly conflicted. It came to a head when Mohsin went back to visit his parents only to be confronted by his father and a witchdoctor he'd invited to 'cure' Mohsin. Although Mohsin's story takes harrowing turns it is full of life and humour, and it ends inspiringly. Through his irrepressible spirit Mohsin breaks through emotional and social barriers and in the end he even finds acceptance from his family. Now Mohsin is a top criminal barrister who fights large-scale cases on a daily basis. Having faced battles growing up, he truly understands the importance of justice as a way of life. ...Show more

Hudson & Halls: The food of love by Drayton Joanne

$50.00 NZD

Category: NZ Biographies

Hudson & Halls: The food of love is more than just a love story, though a love story it certainly is. It is a tale of two television chefs who helped change the bedrock bad attitudes of a nation in the 1970s and 80s to that unspoken thing - homosexuality. Peter Hudson and David Halls became reluctan t role models for a 'don't ask, don't tell' generation of gay men and women who lived by omission. They were also captains of a culinary revolution that saw the overthrow of Aunty Daisy and Betty Crocker and the beginnings of Pacific-rich, Asian-styled international cuisine. Their drinking, bitching and bickering on screen, their spontaneous unchoreographed movements across the stage that left cameras and startled production staff exposed broke taboos and melted formalities. They captivated an unlikely bunch of viewers, from middle-aged matrons to bush-shirted blokes. Hudson and Halls were pioneers of celebrity television as we know it today: the naughty, not-quite-normal boys next door who rocketed to stardom on untrained talent and a dream. When Peter Hudson became seriously ill with prostate cancer, David Halls was inconsolable. What remained unchanged through it all was their abiding love for each other. In this riveting, fast-paced and meticulously researched book, New York Times bestselling author Joanne Drayton celebrates the legacy of the unforgettable Hudson and Halls. ...Show more

Out! - How to Be Your Authentic Self by Miles McKenna

$45.00 NZD

Category: Biography

The ultimate coming out survival guide by queer and trans activist--and social media superstar--Miles McKenna Activist Miles McKenna came out on his YouTube channel in 2017, documenting his transition to help other teens navigate their identities and take charge of their own coming-out stories. From th at wisdom comes Out , the ultimate coming-out survival guide. Find validation, inspiration, and support for your questions big and small--whether you're exploring your identity or seeking to understand the experience of an awesome queer person in your life. ...Show more

Farther & Wilder: The Lost Weekends and Literary Dreams of Charles Jackson by Blake Bailey

$35.00 NZD

Category: Biography

Charles Jackson's novel The Lost Weekend --the story of five disastrous days in the life of an alcoholic--was published in 1944 to triumphant success. Although he tried to escape its legacy, Jackson is often remembered only as the author of this thinly veiled autobiography. In Farther & Wilder, the award-winning biographer of Richard Yates and John Cheever goes deeper, exploring Jackson's life--from growing up in the scandal-plagued village of Newark, New York, to a career in Hollywood and friendships with everyone from Judy Garland and Billy Wilder to Thomas Mann and Mary McCarthy. This is the fascinating biography of a writer whose life and work encapsulated what it meant to be an addict and a closeted homosexual in mid-century America, and who was far ahead of his time in bringing these forbidden subjects into the popular discourse. ...Show more

Proud: My Autobiography by Gareth Thomas

$28.00 NZD

Category: Biography

This Book is Winner Of British Sports Book Awards Sports Book Of the Year. Short-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. Gareth Thomas had it all. He was a national hero, a sporting icon. He was a leader of men, captain of Wales and the British Lions. To him, rugby was an expression o f cultural identity, a sacred code. It was no mere ball game. It gave him everything, except the freedom to be himself. This is the story of a man with a secret that was slowly killing him. Something that might devastate not only his own life but the lives of his wife, family, friends and team-mates. The only place where he could find any refuge from the pain and guilt of the lie he was living was on the pitch, playing the sport he loved. But all his success didn't make the strain of hiding who he really was go away. His fear that telling the truth about his sexuality would lose him everything he loved almost sent him over the edge. The deceit ended when Gareth became the world's most prominent athlete to come out as a gay man. His gesture has strengthened strangers, and given him a fresh perspective. Gareth's inspiring and moving story transcends the world of sport to tell a universal truth about feeling like an outsider, and facing up to who you really are. ...Show more