Congrats to the 2014 Rainbow Award Winners

Best LGBT Anthology / Collection
♥ Rainbow Briefs (edited by Kira Harp) was the first runner up. A lovely YA LGBT anthology of stories taken from the Goodreads Young Adult LGBT Books Group, I had the chance to review this back in May. Designing Sam and In Unexpected Places both has a trans aspect.


Best LGBT Erotica
♥ Breaking Free by Cat Grant took first place, and it was well deserved! It was one of the sexiest, most beautiful, most emotionally powerful books I have read in a very long time - a fantastic story, beautifully told, with such a realistic, positive approach to gender, sex, and love.

 

Best LGBT Visual Arts & Photography
♥ d.r.a.g. by Christopher Logan was the second runner up. For such a beautiful book that so quickly disappeared from shelves due to a publishing collapse, I'm so glad it got a second chance at life, and is garnering some attention.


Best Bisexual General Fiction
♥ Cythera by Jo Graham was the first runner up. I thought the bisexual aspect could have been more deeply explored, but I loved the world building, especially the creation of different cultures.

 

Best Transgender Debut
♥ If We Shadows by D.E. Atwood took first place this year. While the plot seemed a bit forced to me, with the magical element an awkward plot device, the trans element was handled very well (and portrayed positively).


Best Transgender Fiction
♥ If We Shadows by D.E. Atwood took first place here as well.
♥ Beloved Pilgrim by Christopher Hawthorne Moss was the first runner up. This was an exciting story, well-paced, with solid writing throughout, and I loved that the idea of a woman masquerading as a knight was done from a gender identity standpoint (rather than one of convenience).
♥ Cevin’s Deadly Sin by Sally Bosco was the second runner up, but easily my favorite. Such a wonderful story about an adolescent cross-dresser, with no confusion, doubts, or angst attached.
♥ His Fair Lady by Kimberly Gardner was the third runner up. This was a lovely story, with strong characters, a believable romance, and (most importantly) a carefully handled question of gender.
♥ Collected by Solar Harris was the fourth runner, but probably my favorite (next to Cevin's Deadly Sin). It was a very well-written book that demonstrated great imagination and erotic ingenuity.

 

Best Transgender Non Fiction
♥ Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders by Diane & Jacob Anderson-Minshall was the first runner up here, but probably the book I'm most interested in reading myself.


Best Transgender Book
♥ If We Shadow by D.E. Atwood once again took first place here.
♥ Babette: The Many Lives, Two Deaths and Double Kidnapping of Dr. Ellsworth by Ross Eliot was the first runner up. I've read the cover blurb, but I'm not clear on where the trans element lies with this one.
♥ Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders by Diane & Jacob Anderson-Minshall was the second runner up here.
♥ Beloved Pilgrim by Christopher Hawthorne Moss was the third runner up here.
♥ Cevin’s Deadly Sin by Sally Bosco slips down to fourth runner up, but I'm just happy to see it getting some attention.

see all the winners here