In the flood of anti-trans legislation, bans of trans books, and other recent news stories, it’s nice to see a positive way to fight back. Sim Kern, author of Depart, Depart! and Seeds for the Swarm, is hosting a Trans Rights Readathon next week! Read on for more details and some trans book recommendations!
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This week, I want to spotlight The Okra Project. They offer meals to Black trans people experiencing food insecurity. You can help out at their donate page.
Bookish Goods
Protect Trans Kids Pin by
TheNoelleShack
I’ve featured a Protect Trans Kids shirt here before, but this pin lets you transfer that message to every outfit! $13
New Releases
Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo (Sapphic Science Fiction)
From the author of Summer Sons, this novella is a sci-fi exploration of humanity and what it means to be in community with non-human animals. She uses a neurological link to interface with one of the last wild wolves, seeing — and smelling, and tasting — the world as they do. She quickly becomes so obsessed with this feeling that it threatens to destroy everything: her health, her relationship with her wife, and even the wolf whose mind she is invading.
Walking Practice by Dolki Min, translated by Victoria Caudle (Queer Horror)
A shapeshifting alien crash lands on Earth, and they soon find that humans make for delicious prey. They learn to use dating apps to lure people in. When one person escapes, though, the chase turns into an existential crisis about what Earth has changed them into, and how to feed this insatiable hunger. First published in Korean, this looks like a skin-crawling, weird, and thought-provoking horror read. It’s also illustrated!
Blue Hunger by Viola Di Grado, translated by Jamie Richards (Queer Fiction)
Brother and Sister Enter the Forest by Richard Mirabella (Queer Fiction)
Chrysalis by Anuja Varghese (Queer Short Stories)
Eight Strings by Margaret DeRosia (Sapphic Crossdressing Historical Fiction)
Daughters of Nantucket by Julie Gerstenblatt (Sapphic Historical Fiction)
A Manual for How to Love Us: Stories by Erin Slaughter (Queer Short Stories)
Lucky in Lace by Melissa Brayden (F/F Romance)
Made for Her by Carsen Taite (F/F Romantic Suspence)
The Balance of Fates (Fate and Legacy #1) by Raquel Raelynn (F/F Paranormal Romance)
I Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love by Minta Suzumaru (BL Romance)
Thousand Autumns: Qian Qiu, Vol. 1 by Meng Xi Shi and illustrated by Me.Mimo (BL Wuxia Novel)
The Dragon’s Betrothed, Vol. 1 by Meguru Hinohara (M/M Fantasy Manga)
Synthetic Jungle: Poems by Michael Chang (Nonbinary Poetry)
God Themselves by Jae Nichelle (Queer Poetry)
Dismantling Everyday Discrimination: Microaggressions Toward LGBTQ People by Kevin Leo Yabut Nadal (LGBTQ Nonfiction)
For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
Next week is the Trans Rights Readathon, and you should sign up! You just read trans books and fundraise for the trans organization (or individual) of your choice. For instance, you might pledge $10 per book you finish that week, or you might get some friends to promise to donate a certain amount per pages read. You can make it your own!
Not a fast reader? Not a problem! Here are a couple of trans graphic memoirs that will make great additions to your readathon TBR, since graphic memoirs/novels are usually quicker to get through.
Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure by Lewis Hancox
In this YA graphic memoir, Lewis revisits his teenage self as he grew up a closeted trans guy in 2000s UK. While he tries to tell his past self why she (the pronouns used for his past self) is having such a hard time and what comes next, his teen self isn’t yet ready to hear the truth. Content warnings for transphobia and homophobia.
Death Threat by Vivek Shraya and illustrated by Ness Lee
Vivek Shraya, author of I’m Afraid of Men, The Subtweet, and more, discusses in this graphic memoir the disturbing transphobic hate mail she began receiving in 2017. This is only 60 pages, but this surreal and satirical slim book packs a punch. Content warning for violent transphobia.
All the Links Fit to Click
40 Debut Books by Transgender and Non-Binary Authors to Add to Your 2023 TBR
Banned Author George M. Johnson on Censorship and Silence
Olivia: An Oft-Overlooked Lesbian Novel
Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst got a starred review from Publishers Weekly.
That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.
Happy reading!
Danika