Category Archives: Reccomended Reads
Gerber Hart LGBT Library book sale Saturday April 26 – 27
Hundreds of boxes, thousands of books have been donated to Gerber/Hart making this year’s book sale bigger and better than ever! Hardcover books are $2 and paperbacks are $1 and everyone is invited to bring shopping bags and friends and have a blast!
We will have LGBT and non-LGBT books of all genres (including: Anthropology & Sociology, Art, Bisexuality, Business, Children’s Literature, Drama, Fiction, Food, Foreign Language, Gardening, Gay, Gay Fiction, Gay Art, Gay, Gender, Health & Fitness, Heterosexuality, Humor, Lesbian, Lesbian Fiction, LGBT Non-Fiction, Male Erotica, Math & Science, Music / CD / Vinyl, Odds & Ends, Pets, Philosophy, Poetry, Politics, Reference, Religion, Science Fiction, Self-Help, Sexuality, Youth Non-Fiction, videos and music, and even a few book cases for sale.
Chicago House will be on site Saturday, April 26, from 12pm-6pm to provide book sale attendees an opportunity to receive a free rapid HIV test.
Free parking is available in the lot adjacent to the 6500 North Clark Street bulding. Bus routes #36 Broadway and #151 Sheridan start and end at the turnaround across the street. The #36 Clark Street bus going north stops directly across the street, the #36 going south stops in front of the police station next to Gerber/Hart.
Chicago LGBTQ Services Directory Now Live!
LGBT Rights Activist Urvashi Vaid in Chicago April 3
Longtime
LGBT rights advocate Urvashi Vaid will be in Chicago Wed., April 3 for a
free event at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted.
and sign copies
of her new book, Irresistible Revolution: Confronting Race, Class, and the Assumptions of LGBT Politics.
This is her only public program in Chicago.
The event will start at 7 p.m. and is co-hosted by Center on Halsted, the Community Media Workshop; Ellen Stone Belic Institute for Women & Gender in Arts & Media, Columbia College Chicago; and Windy City Times newspaper. Women & Children First Bookstore will have books for sale at the event.
From
one of the nation’s best-known social justice leaders and community
activists comes a strategic and informed argument about the pitfalls of
limited political vision, and the benefits of an agenda that
encompasses, yet moves beyond, equality.
The
LGBT movement is on one of the most active, contested, and engaging
social movements in the world. This optimistic book challenges advocates
for LGBT rights in the U.S. to aspire beyond the narrow framework of
equality. It outlines a more substantive politics with race, class, and
gender at its foundation, and suggests that such a politics will produce
greater and more meaningful change for a larger number of people.
Irresistible Revolution
is intended for a broad and general audience. The book turns an
experienced and thoughtful lens onto many common controversies,
rhetoric, and strategic questions that face contemporary social change
movements: pursuit of broad or narrow agendas, integration of economic
and racial justice, integrating sexual orientation and gender identity
in human rights frameworks, the persistence of sexism, the dilemmas of
bipartisanship, and the challenge of seeing beyond the short term to
secure gains made for the long run.
RSVP: To make a reservation, contact Tom Elliott at telliott@centeronhalsted.org or 773-472-6469
BOOKS: To purchase and/or reserve your copies call Women & Children First Bookstore at 773-769-9299 or visit www.womenandchildrenfirst.com. Guests
are encouraged to reserve copies or prepay to ensure an adequate number
of books. Reserved copies and a limited number of additional copies
will be available at the event.
SHY TOWN GIRLS Series of Books By Local Authors

A group of four women authors
in Chicago were looking to share their best tips on
the collaborative publishing process with you!
Four Shy Girls
Four Big Dreams
One Awesome City
Novel 1 in the Shy-Town Girls 4- Book Series
When beautiful, but shy 24-year-old, Bobbie Bertucci, arrives at her
new digs, an elegant brownstone in Chicago’s historic Gold Coast
neighborhood, she has no idea what her new life will be like. Between
balancing her job as a modeling agent and escaping a bad relationship,
she’s hit rock bottom.
But things change when she moves into the same building as her close
friend Meryl. Additionally, her two new twenty-something roommates, Ivy
and Ella, help bring Bobbie out of her shell. Barbara, landlady and
mother-hen of the house, watches out for the girls while sharing sage
advice.
Bobbie, Meryl, Ivy, and Ella, all variations of shy girls, brave the
city of Chicago together, forming a powerful bond of friendship. Their
nighttime roof deck conversations over glasses of wine instigate
laughter and even some tears.
Bobbie takes a bold step to redesign her life completely to ensure
she doesn’t fall into the romantic trap she fell into before. But
there’s a new suitor in the picture, and she will have to decide between
an old flame or a new one, taking a risk, something hard for any
girl–even harder for a shy girl.
writing and creating a technique that you can learn to use yourself or
with other writing partners.
Listen to a recent interview
with all four authors to learn how we got started on down this writing
path. We hope you’ll gain some valuable insights on writing, publishing
and marketing your own books and products. You’ll get to know each
author individually as we’ll write from our own perspectives and share
our own experiences.
Feel free to contact us for collaboration and speaking opportunities, to talk to your book club or just a drop us a line to say hello!
Sign up now to get free updates on that latest publishing techniques and best practices for writing!”
Boystown Mystery Series Continues with Book 4

Are you familiar with the Boystown Mystery Series of books, which takes place in Chicago during the early 1980s?
Marshall Thornton is an award-winning novelist, playwright
and screenwriter living in Long Beach, California. But he spent a number of years, living in Chicago. He is best known for the Boystown
detective series, which recently received an honorable mention in the 2011
Rainbow Awards. Book 4, A Time For Secrets, will come out in just a couple weeks.
In the first full-length novel of the Boystown series, A Time For Secrets, it’s late
summer 1982 and private detective Nick Nowak is asked to find a retired
gentleman’s long lost lover.
Instead, he finds himself embroiled in a decades old murder connected
to the man who wants to be Chicago’s next mayor. Meanwhile, an
ambitious young reporter develops a friendship with Nick’s lover Bert,
making Nick wonder exactly what where their relationship may be heading.
The previous titles –
Boystown: Three Nick Nowak Mysteries
A former police officer turned private investigator, Nick Nowak is
haunted by his abrupt departure from the department, as well as the
traumatic end of his relationship with librarian Daniel Laverty. In
these three stories set in Chicago during the early eighties, Nick
locates a missing young man for a mysterious client, solves a case of
arson at a popular nightspot, and goes undercover to prove a dramatic
suicide was actually murder.
When he isn’t detecting, and sometimes when
he is, Nick moves through a series of casual relationships. But his
long suppressed romantic side surfaces when he meets Detective Bert
Harker. Will he give love another chance? Or, will he continue to bury
himself in the arms of strangers? Stories include Little Boy Found,
Little Boy Burned, and Little Boy Fallen.
Boystown 2: Three More Nick Nowak Mysteries
In the second Boystown collection, Chicago private investigator Nick
Nowak finds himself involved with a young man who murdered his
stepfather but refuses to assist in his own defense. He’s hired to find
the murderer of a dead porno star, and, in a case that traps him between
the two men he loves, searching for a serial killer’s only living
victim. Set in the second half of 1981, Nick’s stories see him juggling
his deepening relationship with Detective Bert Harker against the return
of his ex, Daniel Laverty. Which man will he choose? And will he be
able to make any sort of choice at all? Stories include Little Boy
Silent, Little Boy Blond and Little Boy Loved.
Boystown 3: Two Nick Nowak Novellas
Private Investigator Nick Nowak is back in two novella length mysteries
set in Chicago during the early 1980s. In Little Boy Boom, Nick’s car
explodes when a thief attempts to steal it. Realizing the bomb was meant
for him, Nick sets out to discover who wants him dead only to find that
the list of possible suspects is longer than he’d like. When he begins
to run out of suspects he wonders if the bomb was truly meant for him.
In Little Boy Tenor, Nick is asked to find the murderer of a church
choir’s star tenor, while at the same time his friend Ross asks him to
find out the truth behind his lover, Earl Silver’s mysterious death. As
he juggles the two cases, he becomes increasingly disturbed by what he
learns.
Check out Marshalls blog too!
Barack Obama Book By Chicago’s Hermene Hartman

How cool is this?
Fund this new book, The Barack Book, for a $25 pledge, and you get a copy of the book, when it comes in November!
It’s like putting your order in advance now – and helping bring this very awesome book to the marketplace.
In
2012 many books will be published on President Obama as he comes up for
reelection.
Chicago’s Hermene
Hartman, Bob Starks, and Derrick Baker have a unique perspective on the
man. They were there from the beginning. And Barack is their friend.
As
the long-time publisher of N’DIGO, a weekly targeted at Chicago’s black
middle class, Hartman was the first to cover the young, black Chicagoan
rising in the political ranks. First he was her friend, then he became
an Illinois senator, and then the President Obama we all know today.
Hartman and colleagues Starks and Baker recognized the political
potential of Mr. Obama early on and since 2003 have covered him from a
unique black Chicago perspective.
If
you have supported Obama from the beginning, now is your chance to
remain involved in spreading the man’s worldwide significance via The Barack Book.
Getting
books published or movies made is a tough business these days. Artists
and writers are taking it upon themselves, to get their own seed money,
to bring their products to the marketplace.
This trio of writers are using Kickstarter to fund the creation of The Barack Book
and need your involvement to help cement President Obama’s legacy.
They have less than 3 weeks to raise the $15,000 needed to get this
project off this ground. And if you pledge $25 – you will get a copy of
the hardcover book, when it comes out this November. If you can pledge
more, there are even more incentives!
Please help fund this very important book from Chicago, on Barack Obama.
Dan Savage and Terry Miller Read in Chicago March 23
Equality Illinois,
the State’s largest organization advocating for full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (“LGBT”) people, is pleased to partner with Unabridged Bookstore to bring Dan Savage and Terry Miller to Chicago to read, discuss, and sign their newest book, IT GETS BETTER, based on the immensely popular web video series.
Come see why millions of people have taken to this positive and touching message for LGBT youth.
This event is free and open to the public.
Dan Savage and Terry Miller Read, Discuss, and Sign IT GETS BETTER
Wednesday, March 23 at 7:00pm
Nettelhorst Elementary School 3252 N Broadway Chicago, IL 60657
Equality Illinois was founded to secure, protect and defend the civil rights of lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender Illinoisans. It is one of the Midwest’s largest gay civil rights organizations.
BestGayChicago.com
Eat Right Get Fit with the Trainers from World Gym Chicago
Many gay men are obsessed with their body image.
American men spend over-
•$4 billion a year on exercise equipment and health club memberships
•$3 billion on grooming aids and fragrances
•$800 million on hair transplants
•$1 BILLION on male cosmetic surgery procedures, procedures such as pectoral implants, chin surgery, and penis enlargement and procedures such as liposuction and rhinoplasty (nose jobs).
A Playgirl centerfold model of 1976 would need to shed 12 lbs of fat and gain 27 lbs of muscle to be a centerfold of today! OK- we get – many of us are obsessed!
But if you have a desire for a great body – what are you doing about it? And do you know what you are doing?
Are you eating sensible and healthy??
I can’t tell you how many guys I see at the gym, spending as much as 2 hours a pop working out – then eating garbage food.
Or my favorite, the guy who is on a treadmill with his coffee in one hand and his cell phone in the other!
You have to eat right. It’s about learning to control caloric intake throughout the year, in addition to working out. It is a lifestyle adaption, and many people don’t follow through or don’t have the knowledge to make the right decisions.
We could write pages and pages of nutritional tips – and that’s what well do in coming months, so this is just the tip of the iceberg. Some of the trainers at World Gym of Chicago on Montrose shared their thoughts and expertise and a few tips.
I like World Gym because of its comfortable atmosphere. The owner says, “World Gym is not a “health club”, but a gym dedicated to the improvement and maintenance of our members’ health and fitness.
Our philosophy is not to enroll hundreds of new members, induced to sign up by an endless string of “special offers”…but to build a strong base of loyal members and work hard to earn that loyalty in continuum. We have found that this philosophy has created an environment where men and women of all ages, from the “just getting started” to the “top athlete,” all exercise in a comfortable, non-frantic atmosphere. We are a result producing, not stress producing, gym.”
So here we go – 5 quick tips and pointers –BASIC RULE #1: Our body weight is determined by the amount of energy that we take in as food and the amount of energy we expend in the activities of our day.
In basic terms, you can not eat more than you expend. OR you must burn more than eat. And you have to make healthy choices when you eat. You can’t consume buckets of sugar and fat and expect to get lean and build muscle.
When it comes to Protein; Drink whey protein 20 minutes before a meal. The Minnesota Applied Research Center in Minneapolis found that the protein consumption caused a much greater loss in body fat than the placebo. The whey protein maintains blood sugar levels, which decreases appetite. And, the protein provides the building blocks your body needs to recover from your exercise program.
You can have TOO MUCH protein. The next time you urinate, take a gander into the toilet bowl. I’m serious.
Now tell me if your urine is bubbly and has a frothy consistency. Like beer.
If you’ve been supplementing your diet with protein in line with a bodybuilding routine, I’m going to bet you that chances are, you have bubbly urine. Now what does bubbly urine imply? proteinuria.
Proteinuria is a medical condition whereby too much protein is ingested for the body to utilize. The kidneys then work overtime to filter out this excess protein, and out it goes through your urine. Excess protein = bubbly urine.
2. Go nutty for nuts. Nuts are high in calories and fat – so it might seem strange that they’re a great weight release food. But they are. Researchers from Purdue University found that nuts are high in nutrients and antioxidants, that they help prevent degenerative diseases and that they are linked to reduced body fat. Nuts prevent hunger (consume a handful before going out to eat!), and they take a long time – and lots of energy – to digest. This research is providing new support for the caveman diet – which holds that we should eat nuts, berries, vegetables, lean meats, etc. – just like our ancestors.
3. Green tea is a fat loss miracle. Research from Maastricht University in Holland is making me a green tea believer. Green tea promotes weight release, weight maintenance, improved blood sugar regulation and even decreases abdominal fat! Of course, green tea doesn’t do it alone – you need to combine it with a comprehensive exercise and nutrition program.
4. SUGAR. Eat foods that are low on the gylcemic index. The glycemic index measures how fast certain foods increase blood sugars. Foods like white bread are very high on the index, and foods like whole grains are ranked much lower. Those foods that are high on the index seem to trigger fat storage – though researchers aren’t quite sure why. Here’s a list of how some of the most common foods rank .
5. SLEEP. Poor sleep = increased abdominal fat. Researchers from Wake Forest embarked on a multi-year study and found that too little – or too much – sleep led to increased risk of obesity and abdominal fat. 6 – 7 hours a night was found to be ideal.
THANKS to the trainers at
World Gym of Chicago !
With 7 locations!
Some recommended reads:
Writer Joseph Erbentraut says Who Needs Boystown?
Yesterday on Huffington Post, writer Joseph Erbentraut asked WHO NEEDS BOYSTOWN?
It sounds like he has only lived here a couple years yet has become part of the bitter-jaded crowd.
He says, “When I first moved to Chicago, I was convinced the neighborhood would emanate a strange sort of gay magic – a combination of diversity, social justice and acceptance unlike anything I’d ever experienced in my rural Wisconsin upbringing.
Two years later, those expectations I once had for the city-designated hub of Chicago’s LGBT community are surely naive, if not delusional. While Boystown offers the largest concentration of queer-centric spaces, the area’s overflow of saccarine gayness has had an increasingly sour, if watered down, taste.”
Gays are EVERYWHERE. You are right in that comment Joseph. We are in every neighborhood, all over the city now. 25 years ago, there was a much higher concentration of gays living right in Boystown. And yes, the gays made it nice, and the straights moved in as times changed. Like so many gayborhoods around the country. So you were silly and naive to think the neighborhood would emanate a strange sort of gay magic – a combination of diversity, social justice and acceptance unlike anything I’d ever experienced in my rural Wisconsin upbringing. – I am sure you can admit, it’s better than rural Wisconsin!
What Boystown IS these days, is a central meeting place for the LGBT community. A collection of bars, nightclubs and restaurants for the LGBT community to come to. Sure while there are plenty of diverse and gay welcoming bars EVERYWHERE, from Bucktown to Uptown, I prefer to spend my money in a gay owned gay bar and be with mostly gay people, instead of hanging out with a straighter crowd of a gay welcoming place. We do need Boystown. We do need a central hub of gayness.
To each his own Joseph. I hope you find what you are looking for.
Read the full article WHO NEEDS BOYSTOWN
Michael Snell
Derrick Sorles
Best Gay Chicago
Gay Dating Tip – The One Exercise That’ll Help You Meet Gay Men

Meeting with gay attractive men
and striking up a conversation is probably not easy for a lot of you gay men who are just starting their relationship in this particular direction. Although, for some gay men, talking to another man and being completely comfortable enough to attract attention may not be as easy as it sounds, and you may require some help. We’ll unload some burden off your shoulder by telling you that you can make it possible and even enjoyable for yourself and in your area, it won’t be that hard to find the right guy for yourself. But of course, like anything else in life, meeting gay men will require some tips and a lot of skill.
Firstly, to build the self-confidence and demeanor that you are lacking, you need to set a few goals for yourself. For instance, you can mentally tell yourself what you hope to achieve when you set out to meet gay men one evening, whether you’re looking to make a friend or looking for a much serious relationship. Then, since you will be aware of exactly what your weaknesses are, you can focus on curbing them and bringing out the qualities of yourself that truly make you who you are. Setting such goals can truly boost the self-confidence you need to meet gay men.
But let us warn you; do not in any way, set up unreasonable goals for yourself. You know yourself the best and you know exactly what you can achieve as far as meeting gay men is concerned. You also need to keep track of what exactly you want to achieve and then, set realistic goals for yourself. If you go out to a gay bar, you may expect to meet a nice guy but don’t be bent upon meeting one and finding what you want in him.
It is always a good idea to be talkative, not talkative in an annoying way but in a charming and alluring manner that brings out your personality. Make an effort to talk freely with all men, whether you like them or not and try to make your best impression on just anyone, whether in a bar or in a party. Getting yourself to talk easily and naturally is perhaps, the easiest and biggest way to meet gay men and find the one you’re attracted to.
To be better at picking up gay men and more importantly, the ones you are attracted to, being quiet and reserved is the worst thing you can do. Taking interest in everything, making light conversation with anyone and taking an interest in everyone’s concerns is something that attracts all gay men and using that can help you attract men to yourself. Such conversational and communication techniques can be much important and perhaps even more than your clothes and hair when trying to meet attractive gay men. Remember, that there are men interested in you and it is you who has to bring yourself to their attention in the most charming manner.
Author Bio
Richard Jacobs is a chief editor since early 2007, and he currently works for www.myduiattorney.org. A webiste that helps you to find the right DUI attorney, you can search for a Cincinnati DUI Lawyers or Arizona DUI online, anytime!
Tommy Hensel Presents Invisible Armor – Protecting Personal Energy
Do you ever feel drained after being around a certain person or in a particular place?
Is there someone in your life who has decided that you are their personal doormat?
Ever feel ‘just plain bad’ for no discernible reason?
If the answer to any of these questions was “YES,” then you are in need of “Invisible Armor.” With simple yet powerful techniques created by author Tommy Hensel, you will learn how to block the negative energies around you, pull in the positive and to manifest those things you need to live your life more joyfully.
Invisible Armor: Protecting Your Personal Energy helps you develop the skills to identify your personal energy, focus and direct that energy, clarify your personal boundaries, create energetic protection, enforce your new boundaries . . . and much more!
The original book and CD were created and published in 1999. Now, author Tommy Hensel has taken a decade of working with clients and used that experience to refine, revise and expand the original text.
The downloadable e-book version of “Invisible Armor: Protecting Your Personal Energy” and for a limited time, copies of the CD “Creating Your Personal Energy,” are now available.
Tommy Hensel, author of “Invisible Armor: Protecting Your Personal Energy” is available for bothindividual coaching and group training in the techniques from the book and CD. Working one-on-one with the client, Tommy will help them assess the state of their personal energy. Together, they will then develop a focused, practical plan to cleanse, shield and protect their energy.
A current resident of Chicago, Tommy Hensel was formerly a 10-year resident of the Seacoast region of New Hampshire. He originally hails from South Carolina and has spent time as a resident of Florida, North Carolina, DC, Pennsylvania and Maine.
Tommy works as an actor, director, singer and cabaret artist as well as a spiritual coach and counselor, Feng Shui consultant and hands-on healer. He has worked with hundreds of people both privately and in workshops to transform their lives using the techniques described in his book Invisible Armor: Protecting Your Personal Energy. He is also one of the creators and teachers of the Wei Chi Healing™ system of hands-on healing.
Join the Facebook FanPage
Visit Invisible Armor
Tommy Hensel Presents Invisible Armor – Protecting Personal Energy
Do you ever feel drained after being around a certain person or in a particular place?
Is there someone in your life who has decided that you are their personal doormat?
Ever feel ‘just plain bad’ for no discernible reason?
If the answer to any of these questions was “YES,” then you are in need of “Invisible Armor.” With simple yet powerful techniques created by author Tommy Hensel, you will learn how to block the negative energies around you, pull in the positive and to manifest those things you need to live your life more joyfully.
Invisible Armor: Protecting Your Personal Energy helps you develop the skills to identify your personal energy, focus and direct that energy, clarify your personal boundaries, create energetic protection, enforce your new boundaries . . . and much more!
The original book and CD were created and published in 1999. Now, author Tommy Hensel has taken a decade of working with clients and used that experience to refine, revise and expand the original text.
The downloadable e-book version of “Invisible Armor: Protecting Your Personal Energy” and for a limited time, copies of the CD “Creating Your Personal Energy,” are now available.
Tommy Hensel, author of “Invisible Armor: Protecting Your Personal Energy” is available for bothindividual coaching and group training in the techniques from the book and CD. Working one-on-one with the client, Tommy will help them assess the state of their personal energy. Together, they will then develop a focused, practical plan to cleanse, shield and protect their energy.
A current resident of Chicago, Tommy Hensel was formerly a 10-year resident of the Seacoast region of New Hampshire. He originally hails from South Carolina and has spent time as a resident of Florida, North Carolina, DC, Pennsylvania and Maine.
Tommy works as an actor, director, singer and cabaret artist as well as a spiritual coach and counselor, Feng Shui consultant and hands-on healer. He has worked with hundreds of people both privately and in workshops to transform their lives using the techniques described in his book Invisible Armor: Protecting Your Personal Energy. He is also one of the creators and teachers of the Wei Chi Healing™ system of hands-on healing.
Join the Facebook FanPage
Visit Invisible Armor