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Are you looking for books by trans and non-binary people, to learn more about their experiences and to celebrate their achievements & creativity? Well here& #39;s a 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread">of books from my TBR pile. (Sadly haven& #39;t had the energy to do as much reviewing this year as I& #39;d hoped.)
Let& #39;s start with a couple that I have actually reviewed, so you& #39;ve got something longer to read while I& #39;m pulling the rest of this thread together. Here& #39;s "Trans in Britain: Our Journey From the Shadows", a non-fiction anthology edited by Christine Burns. https://mixedupinclassics.wordpress.com/2020/11/20/trans-britain-burns/">https://mixedupinclassics.wordpress.com/2020/11/2...
And here& #39;s a review of Janet Mock& #39;s first autobiography, "Redefining Realness", in which she talks about her childhood, her transition and the importance of considering intersections of race and class as part of trans experiences: https://mixedupinclassics.wordpress.com/2020/11/13/redefining-realness-mock/">https://mixedupinclassics.wordpress.com/2020/11/1...
"Non-binary lives: An anthology of intersecting identities", edited by Jos Twist, Ben Vincent, Meg-John Barker and Kat Gupta, is similar to "Trans in Britain" (above) but focusing just on NB identities. With 30 chapters, it showcases a wide range of very different experiences.
In their book "Unicorn: The Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen", Amrou Al-Kadhi - also known as Glamrou - talks about their identity as a queer non-binary Iraqi growing up in the UK (including their education at Eton), their drag career, and their changing relationship to Islam.
Juliet Jacques& #39; 2015 book, simply entitled "Trans: A Memoir", emphasises the music, books and movies which helped her to understand her gender identity, and what it means to be a trans woman in the public eye as a journalist; the book arose in part from a Guardian column.
Shout-out at this point to the Cambridge LGBTQ+ book-club which I& #39;ve attended virtually a few times, and which brought Juliet Jacques& #39; book onto my radar - these spaces are vital! Here are some reflections from the discussion that they had about her book: https://cambridgelgbtbookclub.com/our-books/december-2020?rq=Jacques">https://cambridgelgbtbookclub.com/our-books...
Another memoir: "Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out and Finding My Place", by Jackson Bird. Jackson already had a reputation as a prominent YouTuber when he came out as a trans man; his book combines an honest account of his experiences with explanations of key trans rights issues.
I know folk don& #39;t always have the capacity for long-form non-academic reading, and Jackson& #39;s YouTube channel is a great alternative format for learning about what it means to be a trans man. Plus you get to hear and see his joy on-screen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLq_zR8_U4k">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
I think this is the final non-fiction book in my TBR: "Trans Like Me: A Journey for All of Us" by CN Lester. This book includes personal experiences, but primarily explores and unpacks common attacks on trans people, such as conversion therapy, bathroom bills & radical feminism.
On to fiction then. I read "An Unkindness of Ghosts" by Rivers Solomon before I started by review blog (will re-read and review at some point), so I can tell you that it is AMAZING but also painful. It& #39;s a sci-fi book set on a spaceship modelled on the antebellum South.
"Cemetery Boys" by Aiden Thomas is a queer YA fantasy novel about a trans teen in LA who tries to prove to his family that he& #39;s a man by finding the ghost of his murdered cousin before the Día de Muertos - but accidentally summons the ghost of a classmate instead.
In "Queen of the Conquered", a secondary-world fantasy (the first in a series) heavily influenced by the Caribbean islands, Kacen Callender offers the story of Sigourney Rose, last survivor of a noble family who seeks revenge against the colonisers & enslavers who killed them.
"If I Was Your Girl", by Meredith Russo, is a YA book about Amanda, a young trans girl negotiating life at a new school, and exploring teenage romance, while worrying about how her new friends will react when they find out that she& #39;s trans.
"Freshwater", by non-binary Igbo & Tamil author Akwaeke Emezi, follows the story of an ogbanje (an Igbo spirit, often malevolent, born into a human body); it explores how the spirit complicates and upsets the life of the human host Ada when she moves to the USA.
Canadian author Jia Qing Wilson-Yang& #39;s debut novel, "Small Beauty", won the 2017 Lamba Literary Award for Transgender Fiction; it& #39;s about Mei, a trans woman dealing with grief after the death of her cousin, navigating racism and transphobia, and exploring queer family history.
Finally, "Jonny Appleseed" by Oji-Cree author Joshua Whitehead [NB: not trans; see next tweet], is about a Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer "glitter princess" and sex worker living in the big city who is preparing to return to the rez for his stepfather& #39;s funeral.
![Finally, "Jonny Appleseed" by Oji-Cree author Joshua Whitehead [NB: not trans; see next tweet], is about a Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer "glitter princess" and sex worker living in the big city who is preparing to return to the rez for his stepfather& #39;s funeral.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E0LhS1_XsAIYSGF.jpg "Finally, \"Jonny Appleseed\" by Oji-Cree author Joshua Whitehead [NB: not trans; see next tweet], is about a Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer \"glitter princess\" and sex worker living in the big city who is preparing to return to the rez for his stepfather& #39;s funeral.")
Joshua Whitehead is Two-Spirit, an identity which is often falsely considered equivalent to "Western" concepts of being trans or non-binary. Whitehead is *not* trans (see below), but included here as a reminder to look beyond colonial gender binaries. https://www.tiahouse.ca/joshua-whitehead-why-im-withdrawing-from-my-lambda-literary-award-nomination/">https://www.tiahouse.ca/joshua-wh...
I& #39;ll end with a plug for some independent bookshops in the UK that you can support if you& #39;d like to buy some of these books. I& #39;ve made purchases from websites of the following queer bookshops: @TypeLeeds @CategoryIsBooks @gaystheword @PortalBookshop @Lighthousebks @QueerLitUK
It& #39;s only a small thing, but I hope this thread has given you ideas to add to your own shelves. As a cis gay man, I believe that the fight for trans rights is the most pressing LGBT+ issue in the UK, and I want to stand with and support trans people in academia & beyond. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❤" title="Rotes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Rotes Herz">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❤" title="Rotes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Rotes Herz">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❤" title="Rotes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Rotes Herz">
