Favourite transgender themed books?

[DriftingCrow]

The Last Time I Wore a Dress: A Memoir by Daphne Schoinski (though I think it's Dylan now).It's about a girl who was put in a mental institution for being an "inappropriate female." In the institutions, they made her wear make-up, tried to teach her to walk like a girl, etc. Interesting read.

[DeeperThanSwords]

Trumpet, by Jackie Kay.

[muffinpants]

I guess The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling would count.  It's a fantasy book about a king who kills all his female relatives, as it is supposed to be a queen on the throne.  There are two twins born, a boy and a girl.  The daughter has a spell put on her to look like the boy, and the son is killed in her place.  He then haunts her throughout her life as she is raised in his place.  Eventually she finds out that she is a girl and saves the kingdom, and they all live happily ever after.  It's a fairly good book.

One of my very favorite trilogies. I wish flewelling had written more with these characters and continued their story line... I like her nightrunner series, but I liked the tamir trilogy better :/

[Mohini]

I have been reading Chaz Bono's book, "Transition: The Story of How I Became A Man," and that has been an interesting read thus far!

[big kim]

I want what i want by Geoff Brown was the only fiction I can remember reading,it was made  into a film with Anne Heywood playing Roy/Wendy in the early 70s. My story by Caroline (Tula) Cossey was a good non fiction book though I think she was intersex rather than transexual

[JohnnieRamona]

Whipping Girl by Julia Serano- It's pretty much my bible/manifesto.

[Nyri]

Eon and its sequel, Eona.  These are fictitious books that you may find in the teen or young adult fantasy section of your bookstore.  I loved these books so much that I couldn't put them down once I started reading them.  While gender isn't the whole theme of the books, there is a lot to do with gender roles, being transgender, being forced to be someone you're not, forbidden love and more.  The author is amazing, too.  I picked up the first book on a whim, and had finished it and bought the next one by the next day.

The main character (Eona) is living as a male, despite being female.  She's a very strong protagonist, and a wonderful portrayal of women not being weak or incapable.  It is by necessity that she is living as male, not by her choice.

Another prominent character in the books is a two spirit woman (Lady Della).  The second book, especially has a lot to do with her.  She's really a great character, full of depth. 

[kaylagirl0806]

Almost perfect by Brian Katcher

[Joan]

Can I add The House of Sleep by Jonathan Coe?

It's fiction rather than biography, and one of the characters is a very sympathetically drawn mtf transsexual.

It's also riotously abs-stretchingly funny in places, and I definitely recommend it

[RB.]

The original playbook of Hedwig and the Angry Inch by John Cameron Mitchell & Stephen Trask, both for its examination of trangendered themes, (though I maintain Hedwig isn't actually transgendered) and for its brilliant narrative structure.

[Kaelin]

Wandering Son may be the new standard for TG manga, since it's got more to do with down-to-earth issues rather than the usual body-change or male-in-a-dress slapstick, nor is it a sexually-driven work.  In the usual contemporary Japanese way, there's a decent amount of ambiguity in certain characters' identities (especially in the early going).

[Caleb18]

I am actually surprised that no one has mentioned Refuse by Elliott DeLine. It is my first and only transgender themed book. I am in love with it because I feel like I think very similar to the way that the protagonists think.
Here is a quotation:
"Nowadays, I believe sex only tames us. It is just another activity where we
lose ourselves; where we surrender our individuality for approval. We grow
insecure and needy. We compare ourselves to what we are told is sexy; we
begin to believe our various body parts are too big or too small and we beat
ourselves up over it. We seek in our reflections that which will please others,
not what pleases us. We begin to do everything in order to attract a mate.
Graduate school, business classes, indie rock bands, writing novels: all done
for love- for sex. Marriage is a supposed assurance of it. The very nature of
copulation ensures we act out our petty roles, whether hetero or homo. As far
as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as harmony between two human
beings- especially not physically. Sex is a means to possess one another, like
objects, and my interest in being owned is about as strong as my desire to own
someone else. Far too much concentration involved. Far too much
responsibility."

[AdamMLP]

I've only read Sacred Country by Rose Tremain. Darn book almost outed me when I left it lying around and someone read the blurb. It's a good read though, if slightly depressing, I could be biassed as it's set pretty much where I grew up.

[Vera]

If you like sci-fi, Sad Robot Stories by Mason Johnson has a very brief trans theme in it at one point, but it was handled so beautifully. It's a free download from CCLaP if you have an e-reader.

For Today I Am a Boy by Kim Fu is due out in a couple of weeks (I was fortunate enough to get an advance copy). It's a fictional coming of age story that reads like a memoir. Cliche-free and does a good job making the main character's transgenderism a quiet unfolding over the course of his childhood.

Not trans, but if anyone is interested in a novel with an intersex protagonist, Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin was amazing. Gut-wrenching, incredible, with really complex and multi-dimensional characters (definitely a character-driven novel).

[allisonsteph]

Some books that I have enjoyed:

The Transgender Guidebook by Anne Bodecker

101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens Freaks and Other Outlaws by Kate Bornstein

Transgender Emergence by Arlene Istar Lev

Whipping Girl by Julia Serano

Transitions - A Guide to Transitioning for Transexuals and Their Families by Mara Christine Drummond

She's Not There by Jennifer Finney Boylan

She's Not the Man I Married by Helen Boyd

[Batty/Nattie]

I've just picked up a copy of "the Danish Girl" by David Erbershoff hopefully I'll get to it sometime this week.

[Miss_Bungle1991]

"The New Girl" & "The Ole Switcheroo".

Two Get Along Gang fanfics in a long running series. One introduces a porcupine transchick and the other involves a Halloween party where everyone swaps gender roles.

[JasperStatik]

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children
I Am J

(Sorry, I am unsure of the authors. However I am sure these two have been posted about already on here.)

[ForceMustang]

Thanks everybody, i was just looking for something to read! I'll just have to wait for the first two i've ordered (Man Enough and Beautiful Music for Ugly Children) to arrive!

Sorry no new book to had to the list yet

[MikaylaGC]

I have to say "Transparent by Cris Beam" was so good to me at least (I can relate to alot of things in that book esp when I was a teen)that I thought right I'm going to buy that....I couldnt find it anywhere in Australia so I had to order it from the USA, took 5 weeks to get here but I'm happy now, it came yesterday! 
I so love Christine from that book, she gave me alotta inspiration.