I remember in my early teen years I was all about the fantasy/sci-fi/romance lol But then came that day when I discovered a lesbian novel and from then on out, my tastes evolved I guess and I just never felt "satisfied" reading a straight book. I don't know why, I just developed a distaste for books that weren't lesbian books.

Something I recently realized was that I was ALWAYS sort of attracted to the idea of the really butch/stud lesbian. I liked it when there was a dominant woman. Then I stumbled across certain books where women dressed up as men. They didn't necessarily identify as men but they didn't necessarily identify as women either. Now these were not "trans" books. They were always in the lesbian section and geared towards lesbians.

Now I just try and read everything. Although I'm trying to take away the stigma of reading a "straight" book. When I say straight I mean straight romance though. I do enjoy reading classic literature. My latest is Dracula! Which I really need to finish. It's a good book!

Too bad there aren't too many trans books out there. Oh and for anyone that's interested in books with gender play like I mentioned above...here are the links to some of my favorites!
http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Guardian-Legends-Ithyria-Shannon/dp/1933110368/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344178773&sr=8-1&keywords=sword+of+the+guardian

http://www.amazon.com/Backwards-Oregon-Jae/dp/1934889318/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344178798&sr=1-1&keywords=backwards+to+oregon

http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Pearl-Catherine-Friend/dp/1933110767/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344178824&sr=1-1&keywords=the+spanish+pearl
Mind you that these are geared towards lesbian. But still! Before identifying as trans, there was something so exciting about a woman in a man's role, even if it was because they had no other choice. Something to look at!

Only read a handful of LGBT related books and none in recent years; always about gay boys/men though.

I used to love Star Wars books, hard sci fi (especially Vernor Vinge), young detective novels like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.  I didn't read much while in college, I was too busy reading stuff for class.  Since graduating, I've rediscovered my love of mysteries and suspense novels.  Agatha Christie is my main author now.   

I used to read pretty much everything, but stopped when I was busy with other things like school, then about a year ago I started reading again but only really non-fiction stuff, biographies and lots of accounts of working as a paramedic/doctor as that was what my dad was always reading (his dream job is to be a paramedic but as he's in his forties he's not in a position to go to university and train to be one).  I've just discovered the A Song of Ice and Fire series (the TV series is Game of Thrones) and I'm currently halfway through the second book.

Mostly historical books. Its my area of study, so I find myself mostly attracted to those types. I'm reading one on economic history that ends with the credit crisis in the 80s/90s in Asia. I tend to lean toward intellectual/ideological, economic, political and occasionally social/cultural history. Although, I do read fiction very occasionally and if I am out of history books. (I'm not counting things like Harry Potter, LoTR, or other books that are widely read)


...Wow. I guess I kinda boring.    At least I earned my sweater vest

I read a little bit of everything. My favorite diversion is science fiction. I read the classics to "enlighten myself" and to be able to say that I've read them. It's really impressive to be able to say that I've actually read War and Peace with some people. Actually, that was a line item in my bucket list. I did enjoy the book. I like ancient history, especially where it covers religion. I like science non-fiction. It's where I get some of the best ideas for my writing. I used to love reading how-to books... mostly about how to build stuff.  I also like "action" books. Nelson Demille is my favorite author in this category. Science fiction is my mainstay. Ben Bova is one of my favorites in this genre.

I typically read about a hundred books a year. I love books. They are far better than any movie or television program. They are cheap and take me away anywhere I want to go.

I love realistic fiction, vampire novels (but no sex/romance please! I like my vampires sophisticated and deadly.  ), time travel novels, and stuff like that. I'm not much into fantasy, but there are a few I like. I do also read some sci-fi. I've been reading some classics lately; so far I've read Dracula, The Time Machine, and The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Basically, as long as it's fiction and there's little to no sex or romance, I'm there. I read a ton.

To give you an idea, my two favorite books are Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements and Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice.

Quote from: Cindi Jones on August 05, 2012, 08:45:44 PM
I typically read about a hundred books a year. I love books. They are far better than any movie or television program. They are cheap and take me away anywhere I want to go.

Thats me! I stopped watching TV years ago.

Hetero-Romantic novels written before 1990.

Harry Potter. :-)
And non-fiction. Depends what my interests are at the moment. Right now I am reading a book re: Steve Jobs and a trans book. I have definitely read a lot of those lately. Right now reading something called, "As Nature Made Him". The Trans center has a lending library of books and a handful of videos. I've already read 6 or so books out of the library.




Oh yeah and a nod to the Kindle. I *love* my Kindle!!


--Jay Jay

With the job that I'm working right now, I ride in the car an average of probably 4 or 5 hours a day, so I do a lot of reading. I go through a book around every 2 or 3 days, reading anything I can get my hands on. I also have a horrible memory, so I'm on the 7th or 8th reading of some books, because I always forget details, and I'm entranced by the authors style again and again. My favorite authors right now are Robin Hobb, Barb and J.C. Hendee, and Rick Riordan. I just finished all of Amanda Hocking's books, because I was curious, but her writing style became more basic and undeveloped the more that I read...

I am a huge nerd.

I've read most LGBT books that I could find in my area, plus a few more, and I took an LGBT Lit class at my college, which had an interesting line up of novels.

Non-fiction. History, law, medicine, geology, random college textbooks, things like that. The older it is, the more boring it is, the better.

A lot of different stuff. Read a lot of history, mythology and queer/trans related books. I also like fantasy and a bit of sci-fi. Fiction in general, usually with some kind of mystery to it. These days its mostly trans/queer related stuff, though. I just finished reading the Millennium trilogy and liked it quite a bit.

Alex Sanchez has a bunch of books geared towards homosexuals. In one the the books (Rainbow Road, I think?) There is a trans girl.
I tend to try reading anything with words, but if it's obviously written by some two-bit bigoted hackjob, I choose something else. I'm currently reading a book on authentic Victorian dressmaking techniques

Science fiction and some fantasy, some mystery novels, basically stuff that indulges my lust for escapism. Currently in love with Michael Moorcock's Elric novels and A Song Of Ice And Fire by George R. R. Martin.

I have never written about this before because it's so mortifying. Let's say you were a lifelong bookworm and defined a great deal of your self, your identity, even your character, by your love of books. You chose a profession based on your love of books and language. And then, let's say, you had a catastrophic brain injury and found that you didn't like to read anymore. How would you feel? How would you redefine yourself? Would you even be willing to?

Just so the pre-T guys know, I think it's possible for T to change your brain so much that you don't care much about reading anymore. Maybe this is just an "adolescent" phase I'm going through--younger boys as well as teenage boys do have certain reading issues--but I don't like fiction anymore AT ALL, and I can barely read nonfiction if I force myself.

It's like...I don't even see the point of fiction anymore, and I have no patience with it. I can get through short stories if I have to, but I don't enjoy them. I don't even like biography and autobiography anymore, perhaps because many of those books are structured a lot like novels and have a recognizable story arc.

I have a much better experience with nonfiction in general; however, the thought of reading a whole book, any book, seems like such a trial now. I can do it if I have to, but I find all sorts of excuses not to. Frankly, I don't want to read anything that is more than a few pages long. Fortunately, my students' essays are usually in the range of 500-1500 words, depending on the class.

I am still grieving over this peculiar change in my life. I have lost an important--no, an absolutely ESSENTIAL--aspect of who I am, who I was. I feel as if I'm not me anymore. I was a reader, a serious reader, a bookworm, a collector. Now I have these books, probably thousands of them, and I frequently think of simply getting rid of most of them. They are not important anymore. They are just taking up space.

And, yes, I see the ridiculous irony of being an English professor who doesn't like to read.