14 Transgender Book Recommendations for
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- Опубликовано: 20 мар 2023
- For the month of April, my friend @CestKevvie and I are hosting the #transgirlapril readathon! Here are some book recommendations to help you plan your reading list.
More trans books: booksandbao.com/transgender-s...
More non-binary books: booksandbao.com/non-binary-bo...
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* aggressively adds every book to Amazon wishlist *
Have just fallen in love with your channel over the past year. Wanted to suggest folks look up Indigenous Two Spirit authors, especially those of us who are living on stolen lands
I took better notes during this video than I did in all of my time at university.
Love your work Willow.
Haha that’s awesome 😊
lol me too!
Excited to join in on another readathon that supports the trans community! Also love the book recommendations, I will definitely be adding those to my tbr list. Have a great day ❤️🏳️⚧️
I’m reading Light From Uncommon Stars right now! If only it was April I’d have a head start 😂 Excited to take part 🥰
The Transgender Issue is a must-read for cis allies imo, even for those outside of the UK. It was incredibly tough to read as a trans person - I knew a lot of what she was discussing already, and it was hard to see it laid out in such starkness (hard, but important) - but I'm so grateful and relieved that I did, and that she wrote it. Now I know that if any cis people ask me "how can I help be a good ally?" I can slap that book down in front of them and tell them to start there.
Also, it's gotta be said, I always reach for my reading journal and pen as your vids are loading now, because I know I'm absolutely going to be bulking up my TBR yet again 📝😅
Thanks! I threw this on my Kobo so fast I got whiplash.
Yay, love these recs and can't wait for April. Thank you for being here ♡
🥹🥹🥹💜💜💜
Willow, thank you sooo much for this amazing book list!! 💜
As my personal commemoration of International Women's Day, I sat down and read I'm Afraid of Men, by Vivek Shraya. And like you said, it is soo relatable. I loved it.
Your video is the universe telling me to get started with these books! I've had some of them on my TBR for a while now! 🥰
Thank youuuuu 💟
I've been building my list for for trans girl April ever since your last video and so excited you made this one. I just put all of these books on my list, which may be a bit ambitious, but will try to read as many as I can. The only one I've already read is Detransition, Baby. Variations is now at the top of my list, I literally made a note to find a book like this like a week ago. It's exactly what I was looking for, so thank you so much for the recommendation!
I want to read more books with trans and non-binary characters and representation. So that is for this video - my Goodreads Want to Read list has grown yet again 😩This Is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel is btw an EXCELLENT book dealing with issues of trans identity in school aged people. It really got me thinking.
P.s: on a complete side note- Willow, that nail polish colour suits you perfectly
Nettleback sounds like so much fun. Great recs all around, I'll be hunting for some of these soon!
I'm now contemplating re-reading Nettleblack for this challenge and I only finished it end of Feb or start of March. And this could finally be the opportunity to get myself in gear to read Tell Me I'm Worthless. Had it on my tbr for so long
I'm gonna read Nettleblack in April for this readathon! Earlier this year I read Fairest by Meredith Talusan and an anthology called Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity and it's edited by Micah Rajunov and Scott Duane. They are both good. Also gonna use this as an opportunity to read How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler and Jeremy C. Shipp's new book The Merry Dredgers once my preorder arrives in April, as well as some of the books from this video and your articles. I wrote down my own list of books I want to read but I already know I won't get to them all in one month. I'm not going to beat myself up for that though! 😊
yes! I'm so glad to hear your recs for this readathon, thanks!
thank you!! i believe i only have three books by trans authors (two by poc) so i *really* appreciate having these to add to my physical tbr 🫡💗 i love your mind and soul 🫶🏼 thank you for uploading videos
Very excited for this readathon! I appreciate all your recommendations here and on your website. My pile of possibilities is full of books from lists on your site 😊 Cheers!
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Thank you so much for your recs!!! Can't wait to read it all!! 🥰🥰🥰
Thank you for the great recs! So excited for this readathon! Work has been so busy lately I've been saving this video for when I had some time to watch and make a proper TBR :) So many great books to choose from. I also really want to read "Hell Followed With Us".
I read the manga when you talked about it on the other video. I cried a lot, it was so so beautiful. Adding lots of the books here for my list! Great video as always!
I really loved transitional, it was so well written! Wow Variations sounds so good! Great video, read a few of these and the ones I have are fantastic 😊
Didn't nobody give a shit about what happened to Carlotta sounds incredible!! So listening to the audiobook of that one!
I love how many of these are from authors that I've never heard of. Time to go start placing holds my library!
Hi Willow😁! This is an incredible list- thanks a zillion for it! I'm coupling books for TransGirlApril Reathon with PeopleApril Readathon -both of which will be running simultaneously this April & looking forward for both to begin! 😁😁😁👍👍👍
Just wanted to say that when I saw this video I added Light From Uncommon Stars to my TBR and I finished it yesterday, thanks for the recommendation!!
Try #2: For this month I have been reading uh, every Lily Seabrooke novel starting with the Port Andrea series. Seabrooke is somewhat well known because her most famous book Fake It features 🎉 a trans protag 🎉, but she has like at least 30 other books, some of which aren't even romances. I know romance as a genre kind of gets shoved aside A LOT, but the average Lily Seabrooke novel is pretty good, without qualifiers. They have a certain type of outlook that takes their fluffy, soft gay antics from being cheesy to genuinely enjoyable and affecting, I think. Pretty sure she's the only out-n-proud trans woman writing romance atm, which is lame.
I just recently--- I think two books ago--- read "Didn't Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta", and I will be very interested in your opinion. As you say, not many people seem to be talking about it. I had to get it on an interlibrary loan. I heard about it on the channel "Supposedly Fun" (Greg, the host, mentions and links your channel on occasion). I liked the book, especially the voice and how it goes from third person to introspective first person commentary even mid-sentence. And it is a powerful statement not only of being transgender and transitioning in prison, but of our screwed up parole system here in America, and how prison in this country is never about rehabilitation. I must say, I like the UK cover you held up much more the cover here in the states.
Thanks for all the recommendations!
I've never heard of nettleblack so that's just been put on April's TBR 🖤
Thank you for this! I was looking for some good recommendations! 😊
I really like this Bingo prompt because it highlights that there's more to trans literature than "just" memoirs.
Of course those are an integral part of trans literature but there's so much more beyond that
Most trans literature I knew and knew of consisted of memoirs but this project changed that very effectively!!
I'm starting a new job in April (yay!) which means I'm not sure how much I'll be able to participate in this readathon (boo!) but hoping to get to at least one book. Loved I'm Afraid of Men and also Shraya's fiction book The Subtweet.
Congrats on the new job! And I agree, The Subtweet was great :)
Light from uncommon stars and The trans-gender issue I have on my wish list, great to hear they are your recs too, they are being bumped up 💜📚
Fab list, thanks for all these recommendations/ideas! The list of books by non-binary authors you’ve created and linked to is super helpful too. Love the sound of Nettleblack - that’s definitely going on my TBR for #TransGirlApril. Am spoiled for choice really, am very excited for the readathon! It’s going to be a busy month! 🙂
Thank you so much for the fantastic book recommendations!
Thanks for so many great recommendations! A few of these were on my radar/TBR, but there’s quite a few new ones here too.
I’m really hoping to get to To Strip the Flesh as the translator is also trans!
Yup, not to gloat but Tristan is a friend 😇
@@WillowTalksBooks that’s so cool!!!
Thank you for this! First vid I’ve found of yours. Just subscribed 😊
I swear to god Willow, every time I watch one of your videos my tbr gets longer 😅
😇
Really looking forward to this Readathon!
Thank you for a great list. I'm a really slow reader so I won't get to read many books in April, but I do aim to read more widely throughout the year and I guess that is what this tag is about. I'm hoping to read Freshwater by Emezi, but that is dependent on the library system, but I've written down a couple of your suggestions. I did have Darryl on my list but it might be a bit hard hitting. Have you read it? Thanks again.
Perfekt. Me too. And I am ordering Artbooks, LN and now more.
Definitely gonna pick up The Arena of the Unwell, thanks for all you do :)
😊
So excited for this!
Thank you for the recommendations. Aloha.
I already have "Nettleblack" and "Tell me I'm worthless", I have to check if the manga got edited here in France. I got some yet unread Sabrina Calvo's books so I can add those to April reads.
Great recs thank you ❤
I have 'The Arena of the Unwell' on my stack already, but that's a few more gone on the wishlist now.
Did you ever read/review 'Confessions of the Fox' by Jordy Rosenberg? Just curious about your opinion of it.
I haven’t read that but you’re not the first to mention it! So I’ll check it out :)
Non-fiction by a trans man: What Becomes You, co-written by Aaron Raz Link and his mother Hilda Raz. Aaron is a genuinely fascinating, complex, insightful guy, and he gets a lot of it from his mother. I think is the best piece of trans man memoir I’ve read so far, though being from 2007 inevitably means some shifts and developments in usage and perspective. (I’d love a second edition. Must nudge our mutual friend.)
Fiction by a non-binary trans man: No Man Of Woman Born. This is a fantasy short story collection with a pair of dynamite hooks. First, each story is about a character who’s trans or genderqueer in a different way. Second, none of them suffers because of their gender identity. They face civil wars, human and monstrous invasions, and other troubles, but being who and what they are is never the problem. It’s kind of a comfort food re-read for when the world has me down.
Ooh I really need to read Transitional!! Nettleblack sounds really good! I love that you've got several recommendations that I've never heard of before. Tell Me I'm Worthless is another one I've been dying to read, I just haven't found a copy yet. Ooh I've read I'm Afraid of Men! Really good! Hold up- the Carlotta book is written by a cis person?? Real disappointed to hear that...
Hey! Want to make sure you know about the gorgeous book of essays by Lars Horn called Voice of the Fish, Trans Girl Suicide Museum by Hannah Baer, and Faltas by Cecilia Gentili.
Thanks so much!
Almost April :)
Thanks for a great list of books! Have you read The Seep by Chana Porter? It's a really unique speculative fiction featuring a trans woman protagonist.
Yesssss The Seep is super fun and wonderfully strange!
Is there a graphic anywhere to screen shot? To fill in and add to our stories, to spread the word? I've looked all over Instagram, can't find it. Or is it not meant to be "physically used". lol Please post one so we can spread the love!! I mean... who doesn't love a graphic it fill in lol
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amazing video, i loved it, slayyyyy
have you heard of the #TransRightsReadathon happening on social media this week? :)
edit: i’m starting off with “black on both sides: a racial history of trans identity” and “red x” by david demchuk!!
I have! This week I’m busy doing a secret thing so I haven’t been able to participate 😶
the manga recommendation sounds interesting I'll definitely check it out. thanks 👍🏻
I’ve got a full video on it if you’re interested :)
@@WillowTalksBooks now I'm even more intrigued, I'll definitely be reading this in april. have a wonderful day.
Great list!
A book that I would add is Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg, who is a trans man. It's about a burnt out and depressed academic who uncovers what purports to be the long lost memoirs of Jack Sheppard and reveals him to be a trans man.
Oh fun!!!
Also, I'm new to your channel. So cool all that you do. I noticed you read a lot of Japanese lit. I do too. For the disability readathon I'm looking for a Japanese book that focuses on disability, chronic illness, or mental health. Do you know of any? The internet isn't very helpful on this topic. Thanks. :)
For a Japanese book about mental health I’d recommend Solo Dance by Li Kotomi. It’s also queer. She’s a Taiwanese author who lives in Japan and wrote it in Japanese. It was translated into English by my friend Arthur :)
@@WillowTalksBooks Thank you! That sounds amazing.
I liked Gender Failure by Rae Spoon and Ivan Coyote.
Also the swiss (german) book Blutbuche by Kim de l'Horizon.
All non binary.
would you review ponyboy by eliot duncan?
It’s on my radar
They play drag queen bingo in my city. It's probably the only way bingo is tolerable.
As a trans person I'm so excited for this. I'm so ready. Thank you for some recommendations.
You are beautiful❤
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Another Trans Manga is Boys Run the Riot! It's a short 4 volume series, and I thought it was done wonderfully. Would love to hear what you think about it! 😊
It’s been on my TBR for months!
@@WillowTalksBooks I truly loved it, and I think this is the perfect time! 🤓
Can you give me the author, it might have diffrent tittle in French so it will be easier to find in the manga library.
@@Nixx0912 Keito Gaku
@@Shaegeeksout Many thanks 😊
One like away from 500 likes! Wish I could’ve been the 500th
Holy shit, it's fucking Manhunt. If a book ever needed a several-paragraph content warning, there it is. I ditched it at the first graphic rape scene, because fuck.
I hate how many of the transfemme things in this video I've read already; sometimes I think that I, myself, am genuinely ahead as far as cataloguing transfemme fiction. I have a lot!
Since it's in the video, Willow, what's your take on the frankly aggressive amount of self-hate and borderline torture porn in Light From Uncommon Stars? I actually finally couldn't stomach it, and dropped it right before it finished. I just didn't care about what was going on with the characters(Shizuka and Lan's portions are so small) up against Katrina suffering constantly and not doing anything but hating herself internally. I really wanted to like Light, because I'd read Aoki's short in The Collection, but damn bitch.
I liked it
@@WillowTalksBooks It's pretty interesting that Light from Uncommon Stars is pretty dang popular, probably as much as Nevada at least, but pressing people for their views on the book(especially if I'm asking about the relentless self hatred) typically doesn't go well, I tend to get silence. I find it interesting because Light is one of the more down-on-itself transfemme works I've read, easily ahead of Lifetime Between Us(Diana Morland) and Maxine Wore Black(Nora Olsen), but it's not something anyone talks about. Usually I just put this down to The Cis being The Cis, or indeed the fact that trying to discuss books online is like drawing blood from a stone.
It's also possible that I'm making some sort of horrific social faux pas and not even realising it, just by asking this, that could be the case. I also didn't think Light was that good a book in general, even outside the obnoxious self-loathing, but I also can't seem to get chatter started about that, either. I know it's generally illegal to criticize books anyway, but still...
@@marrieddyke I wouldn't go as far as to call it akin to torture porn. No one, not the characters or the author, seems to revel in Katrina's self-hate, nor do I see the reader being encouraged to do so.
Rather her self-hate seemed like a learned reaction turned automatic almost preemptive act. Something that isn't easily challenged, especially seeing as she lived in a more sheltered bubble for most of the book after Shizuka takes her in.
Actually, to me personally, her self-hate didn't have that big of an impact because in its description it was so blatantly plain -maybe less so at the beginning.
While I was reading the book, I knew I was supposed to feel like her self-hatred was this debilitating omnipresent, all consuming (oftentimes enragingly static) thing, but the way it was written, the way the lived experience of it was written made it feel so clear cut and off-the-shelf that it failed to connect with me on a deeper level, one where I could've percieved it as appalling.
Granted, I do struggle to empathize on an emotional level when it comes to pain ..and maybe just in general, so there's that ^^''
I don't see anyting wrong with you trying to discuss these parts of the book. However, I could imagine your frankness may cause some people to shy away ;)
Imo the book definitely wasn't perfect, but I liked reading it nonetheless.
What exactly is this 'The Cis being the Cis' connection you see between more down-on-itself (also would love a synonym for that to help my non native speaking understanding) transfemme works and the unwillingness to discuss certain parts of those works?
@@kami5264 Firstly, I greatly appreciate you entertaining my bullshit. But uh, I suppose I don't disagree with what you've written necessarily... I just felt like the plot kept bashing Katrina over the head with awful shit, like constantly. Nothing good at all happens to her without something equally absolutely terrible to counterbalance it. Frankly, with some books the Trans Self Hate gets numb for me, but Light From Uncommon Stars just started hurting. By the time the big 80% reveal-thing rolled around, I just wanted the book to goddamn stop torturing her. I also felt like she wasn't really moving as a character, enragingly static, and that the Lan/Shizuka subplot was a total waste of time and underbaked.
In this context, what I mean is that The Cis® mostly just praise the book blindly without any discussion of the overwhelming amount of transphobia it carries, and that kind of weirds me out. It's a pretty heavy book, I feel, to be slinging about without *any* discussion of that. (It also has a shockingly dim view of large parts of the queer community, I think) I'm guessing that they feel like it's beyond them to talk about, the same way almost nobody criticises Nevada by Imogen Binnie.
I’m sorry… YOU’VE NEVER PLAYED BINGO?! This needs rectifying ASAP
Oh babe, I’m not sure it will be
Thanks for the heads up. I now know 14 books not to read.😂😂😂
You’re not supposed to air your ignorance and idiocy for everyone else to see, hon 😬
Exactly