A Mini-Guide to LGBT books to take to the beach in 2012

When you hit the beach this season, don't forget to bring a good book. Here are our picks for Summer 2012's hottest LGBT titles.

Lunatic Fringe
Lesbian fans of the male-dominated lycanthrope myth will appreciate author Allison Moon's take on the genre with her new novel, Lunatic Fringe, a paranormal tale where strong female characters play rough, fight hard, and satisfy their animal instincts under the canopy of a moonlit sky. When protagonist Lexie Clarion starts college in a rural Oregon town, she's quickly adopted by a group of radical lesbian separatists known as the Pack who make it their mission to put an end to the menacing wolf attacks. But when Lexie discovers that she's a werewolf herself during a night of passionate sex with a mysterious woman (who's also a wolf), she's forced to hide her secret to avoid the ire of the fur-hungry ladies.

Concierge Confidential: The Secrets of Serving Champagne Bitches and Caviar Queens
Author Michael Fazio may have provided white-glove service to his high-end clientele while working as a concierge, but that doesn't mean he didn't get his hands dirty. In this revealing, eyebrow-raising anthology of sorts, Fazio dishes on what went down at Manhattan's Intercontinental Hotel as he fulfilled the extravagant, WTF requests of its guests, like purchasing antique Russian swords at a moment's notice and filling a bathtub with Godiva chocolates for a romantic anniversary evening. Fazio, who co-authored the book with Michael Malice, also delves into his past as a Hollywood P.A., a steppingstone that left more than a bitter taste in his mouth for celebs that include Rosie Perez and Salma Hayek. Yep, he names names.

Grrl Alex: A Personal Journey to a Transgender Identity
Even without the book, author Alex Drummond makes a bold statement about transgender identity in his feminine attire and full beard: He's her own person, and (s)he will not conform [her words, not ours]. And so goes this look into the author's life that chronicles a transgender journey from age 4 to the present. Drummond, a psychotherapist, also delves into transgender theory with a few chapters that detail research into cognitive behavior. A deeply moving personal narrative, Grrl Alex is a must-read for anyone who's questioning their own gender identity.

Benediction
In his debut novel Benediction, author Jim Arnold heads straight for the heart with a story of love and loss. Ben, a successful actor, beds hot-to-trot neighbor Jake while simultaneously enjoying a friends-with-benefits relationship with Latin lothario Eric. Life couldn't be better. But, of course, all good things must come to an end. Ben is blindsided by a prostate cancer diagnosis that sends him into a tailspin just as he's about to embark on a festival tour to promote his new movie. As Ben struggles to fight for his life, he also realizes that the old saying is trueâ┚¬â€everything happens for a reason.

The Miles
This brand new title from author Robert Lennon hits the ground runningâ┚¬â€pun intended. The Miles follows Liam Walker, a day-in-day-out drone unsatisfied with his job at the same magazine, life in a drab apartment, and an inability to forge a long-term romantic relationship, who decides to make a major lifestyle change. As he commits himself to preparing for the New York City Marathon after joining a running club whose members impact his life in ways he didn't expect, Liam begins to understand that there's a congruency between figurative and literal romances, heartaches, rivalries, and injuries, both on and off the track.

Scandalous!: 50 Shocking Events You Should Know About
If E!, VH1, or truTV ever pull the plug on their sensational Sunday-afternoon specials like the 10 Most Shocking Hollywood Divorces (an oxymoron if there ever was one) or the 40 Most Shocking Hip-Hop Moments,  Scandalous!: 50 Shocking Events You Should Know About
will dull the pain of guilty-pleasure withdrawal with more than 200 pages of salacious stories that include the invention of the Ponzi scheme, the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, that time Lana Turner's daughter murdered her mom's boyfriend, the whacking of Nancy Kerrigan, and Monica Lewinsky-gate, among many other oh-no-they-di'nt moments in history. An easily digestible book packed with photos, quotes and other tidbits of eyebrow-raising information, Scandalous! is marketed as teen lit but it's perfect for a beach-going gay who lives for the drama.

But This Is Different
Fans of the show â┚¬ËœLost' and lovers of historical fiction will find themselves engrossed in this tour-de-force new novel from author Mary Walker Baron. Forty years ago, a womanâ┚¬â€who natives of a South Pacific island call Mereâ┚¬â€seemed to appear out of thin air. Her whereabouts have been hidden from the rest of the world for the past four decades, but the peaceful existence of Mere and her people is threatened when a letter arrives that causes Mere to question the commitments and promises that have defined her life. A brilliant reimagining of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, But This Is Different explores the range of emotions of what it means to truly love, and ultimately lose, those individuals who make forever imprints on our hearts.

The Best Workout is â┚¬Å”Sexâ┚¬Â: A Gay Guide to Your Ideal Marriage
Is there a better way to spend an afternoon on the scorching sand among scantily clad beachgoers than to peruse a book about sex? We think not. But The Best Workout is â┚¬Å”Sexâ┚¬Â by co-authors and real-life partners Alvin and Antonio Lopez-Woods isn't about sex in the carnal sense. Rather, it's a look into what it takes to make a marriage work this day in age by focusing on the positive qualities of each individual in the relationship to help build strong, long-lasting emotional and mental connections. Ideal for devoted couples committed to creating an atmosphere of love and respect in and out of the bedroom.

Kamikaze Boys
Too often, committed couples are viewed as â┚¬Å”boring.â┚¬Â But that's not the case in Jay Bell's new book.  David and Connor are an awesome team. They're loyal to a fault, and that's where the story comes in. It's the world around this couple that's the problem, and when somebody or something threatens the person you love, you react. Naturally this leads to all sorts of trouble, which gives us our conflict and makes for one hell of a story.

Gaga Feminism
Believe it or not, Lady Gaga is deeper than any of us originally thought, In J. Jack Halberstam's new book, he makes sense of the tectonic cultural shifts that have transformed gender and sexual politics in the last few decadesâ┚¬â€with a focus on Lady Gaga. Using the superstar as a guideâ┚¬â€and mixing in edge and witâ┚¬â€the book navigates the reader througha new vision of feminism and invites us to envision the world in which gender is blurred and we all â┚¬Å”go Gaga.â┚¬Â This is one book that goes beyond gender in a way few others have.