BOOKS.

It's truly a joyous season for gay and lesbian readers. From fun fluff to weighty stuff, every gift's a winner

FICTION

[1] LETHAL SEDUCTION By Jackie Collins (Simon & Schuster, $26) Collins, the queen of Tinsel-town smut, is back again with another romp through the glamour trash pile. This one stars Madison Castelli, the heroine of Collins's L.A. Connections series, who must fend off ex-lovers, a shadowy father, mid the mob. What's more, literature's first-ever Native American lesbian detective, Kimm Florian, makes her witty debut.

[2] CIRCA 2000: GAY FICTION AT THE MILLENNIUM Edited by Robert Drake and Terry Wolverton (Alyson, $14.95) The people who brought you the His and Hers anthologies present this blend of genre-defying writings by both prominent and nascent gay authors. The book was completed despite the brutal gay bashing and ongoing rehabilitation of co-editor Drake.

TAKE OUT: QUEER WRITING FROM ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICA Edited by Quang Bao and Hanya Yanagihara with Timothy Liu (Temple University Press, $22.95 paperback) Edited by two guiding lights of New York's Asian American Writers' Workshop, this exuberant anthology of visual, literary, and performance pieces showcases the rich culture of queer Asian-Americans right now.

[3] BIRD-EYES By Madelyn. Arnold (St. Martin's, $12.95) Sort of a lesbian Girl, Interrupted, this novel is set in 1963, when 16-year-old Latisha in placed in a mental hospital for simply being "a threat to society." There, she and her new friend, Anna, slowly and methodically rebel against their oppressors. Defiant and moving.

4 BLONDES By Candace Bushnell (Atlanltic Monthly Press, $24) The Sex and the City author dishes up another tale of four ladies in insular Manhattan and their sordid escapades. These characters come from a darker perspective than their fictional HBO sisters. But the vicarious gay thrills remain top-notch.

VALENCIA By Michelle Tea (Seal Press, $13) Saddle up and get behind this no-holds-barred Gen X author who scoops up grrritty chunks of San Francisco grrrl-dyke life and delivers them to your door. A born storyteller.

NONFICTION

[4] SECRET PLACES: MY LIFE IN NEW YORK AND NEW GUINEA By Tobias Schneebaum (University of Wisconsin Press, $24.95) Gay anthropologists--who knew? Schneebaum takes us into the exotic world of the Asmat region in Indonesian New Guinea, with vivid accounts of his years with these remote people, juxta-posed with his own history in AIDS-ridden New York.

[5] IN THE ARMS OF AFRICA: THE LIFE OF COLIN M. TURNBULL By Roy Richard Grinker (St. Martin's Press, $27.95) Another adventurer, Turnbull turned his passion for African Pygmy culture into world-renowned expertise. His open and intense 30-year relationship with an African-American man ended when the man died of AIDS complications, as Turnbull would six years later. Turnbull's vibrant life and love make for soul-stirring reading.

[6] LEFTOUT: THE POLITICS OF EXCLUSION/ESSAYS/1964-1999 By Martin Duberman (Basic Books, $30) No one can say that Duberman is not prolific: Over the past four decades he has written or edited 19 books. The intellectual yet accessible essays of Left Out chronicle the passages of the gay rights movement, with interesting updated reflections on his writings and how society has shifted over time.

MY DANGEROUS DESIRES: A QUEER GIRL DREAMING HER WAY HOME By Amber L. Hollibaugh (Duke University Press, $17.95) On the flip side is Hollibaugh's proudly white-trash, working-class My Dangerous Desires, with thoughts on being an incest-surviving ex-hooker high-femme dyke. Her essays, spanning 20 years, read like a radical, captivating autobiography.

[7] REVOLUTIONARY VOICES: A MULTICULTURAL QUEER YOUTH ANTHOLOGY Edited by Amy Sonnie (Alyson Books, $11.95) A spunky, splashy collection of queer-youth reflections in the forms of art, poetry, journals, and essays. Far from staid, these eclectic voices are uniform in their vitality and unbridled optimism.

HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES: 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Written by Leslea Newman, illustrated by Diana Souza (Alyson Wonderland, $10.95) How this sweet and simple children's story ever became embroiled in controversy is a testament to the political ridiculousness of the late 20th century, This anniversary issue includes notes by the author (who says she was called at one point the most dangerous writer in America).

WHAT IF SOMEONE I KNOW IS GAY? By Eric Marcus (Price Stern Sloan, $4.99) When your cousin's 6-year-old wants to know why some girls like girls and some guys like guys, this volume gives a handy and age-appropriate FAQ (facts about queers), Veteran gay social historian Marcus writes with his customary charm.