Best Transgender books you've read or would recommend reading

[Me the Girl]

You know, I did read Orlando in college.  I certainly was interested in the transition the character goes through, but otherwise I don't know that I got much out of it. 

[Alissa16]

I would like to find a new.. Tg fantasy, magic, adventure novel of some length.. And of course in good taste..
Hmmm asking for a little too much??

[graspthesanity]

Trumpet by Jackie Kay is frankly the best novel about trans men in my opinion.

It's obviously debatable because trans men are erased by the lesbian community, but The Well of Loneliness openly states that Stephen is a trans man and it made me accept myself, so yes, The Well of Loneliness.

[MacG]

I'm interested in these books, but at the moment would like to locate some fiction/memoirs with trans boys/men.
Great topic. I'll check out Trumpet.

[Arch]

The Well of Loneliness openly states that Stephen is a trans man

I don't remember this point at all. Are you sure you aren't confusing Well with another book?

[skin]

Reading Trumpet right now in my gender theory class. It is constructed a little weird but the story is great.

[graspthesanity]

I don't remember this point at all. Are you sure you aren't confusing Well with another book?

I was looking through because until I came out it was something I heavily identified with and now as a trans man I'm not too comfortable with the whole "screw men, I'm a better choice" paragraphs but I ended up thinking it over a lot. But remember the scene where Stephen's dad left books with definitions of invert and etc? By the dictionary definition "masculine soul with a female bosum" as specifically attracted to other women. You could argue that they were putting it, but... male soul? Heh, I have a male soul. Also it's arguable but the whole story has the whole "Stephen was a man" with the name, the raising and that's what Stephen felt comfortable in and didn't understand what couldn't Stephen give. In general Stephen feels alienated from being a woman and struggles in all aspects with gender. Also Radclyffe Hall went by John and dressed as a man. So it kind of falls under history's usual "lived as a man, identified as a man" LESBIAN FOR SURE, so I'd shamelessly cross Hall out of women.

[rachel89]

Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein is my current transgender read. She kind of takes a more non-binary perspective on gender which has helped me calm down a little bit when I get a little frustrated that I'm not femme enough.

[kal]

How about "Some Assembly Required: The Not-So-Secret Life of a Transgender Teen" ?

[Cynobyte]

Anyone read a fictional story "charlotts wings"?  It bothers me to this day for some reason;)

[Lady Smith]

Anyone read a fictional story "charlotte's wings"?  It bothers me to this day for some reason;)

Do you mean 'Winged' by Jenn Reese?  It's only a short fictional piece of writing, but very good IMHO.  http://www.strangehorizons.com/2003/20030303/winged.shtml

[Cynobyte]

I was wrong again, it was "Charlotte's feathers" by Mathew Fish.  I was soo positive of the name:(  meds are starting to warp memory.  Thanks for asking, ill check into the other story when I wake..  this time I looked at the face of the ebook to make sure..

Im going to mess up one of these days and do something stupid like " you know that president that did a really good job?"  And then say something stupid like Bush:(  good thing people check up on me:)  I dont want to make that mistake!  Tnx

[Swayallday]

Not neccesarily all related to TV/TG/TS alone.

-> "Revolution from Within" - Gloria Steinem

->Sandra Bern "The Lenses of Gender": She sees femininity and masculinity not as opposite poles on a continuum but rather as parallel-running sets of traits. According to her you're neither completely feminine or masculine, you have a little of both or a lot of both. The androgynous person will exhibit high levels of so-called male characteristics (independence, autonomy, dominance) and at the same time feminine traits (warmth, awareness of others' feelings, expression).

Articles by:
Stephanie Tolan
http://www.stephanietolan.com/

Ellen Winner
http://www.ellenwinner.com/

This
http://www.shb-info.org/sexbrain.html

The actual concept of "Gender Roles" was first noted in literature from John Money (David Reimer) with various excerpts in the 50's.
(I am not saying they weren't apparent in earlier history)
If you have any papers from the middle eastern Golden Age, Medieval times and up to 1800's Europe/America, ANY Eastern or Slavic culture revolving gender roles (or the lack thereof) PLEASE do share!

http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/web/show/id=5020921/langid=42
Centre for Gender and Diversity

I'll see if I can dig up more, i've read a lot but I supressed/forgot a lot the past decade.

*adds whipping girl to ever-growing list of must-reads*

[rachel89]

Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, an the Rest of us by Kate Bornstein. Her writings have helped me chill the f*ck out on multiple occasions, and is probably part of the reason why I am still here today.

[Lady Smith]

Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, an the Rest of us by Kate Bornstein. Her writings have helped me chill the f*ck out on multiple occasions, and is probably part of the reason why I am still here today.

Thanks Rachel, I'll check her books out when I get paid next week.

[Threads]

It's been mentioned a few times but I just want to throw in some more positive words for Whipping Girl. It's a very good read for anybody in my opinion.

I've added a fair amount of the other books mentioned in here to my read list and hope to get around to them soon.

[Nicodeme]

I must be an outlier. I couldn't stand Gender Outlaws. I felt...fetishized.

EDIT:

You know, I did read Orlando in college.  I certainly was interested in the transition the character goes through, but otherwise I don't know that I got much out of it.

The movie is MUCH better than the book, IMO. They take a few liberties with the timeline and put more emphasis on the transgender angle than the bisexual angle (the book is ultimately a bisexual narrative), but I think they ultimately improved upon it. Made it much more digestible and accessible.

[KarenD112]

I read an excellent kindle ebook on Amazon.com that includes transgender relationships.  The title is "Meet the Sullivans: A Roller Coaster of a Ride!" by Robert F. Johnson II

It is one of the best transgender ebooks that I have ever read, and I would highly recommend reading it. 

[yulia306]

I have written seven fictions about HIJRA, the third gender of India and recently published a non-fiction book to share my experience/knowledge about HIJRA. If I may I would like to recommend the non-fiction book to you.

Title: Transgendered People of India
Subtitle: Forsaken Tributaries
ASIN: B01606CRPS

[Gianna2014]

Transparent By Cris Beam
Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
A Murder Over A Girl By Ken Corbett