John wants to start a discussion :)

[Mariah Roze]

[John]

Yeah, I'm still navigating the Goodreads groups, and don't know all the ins and outs yet. I'm still trying to figure out how to add discussions to a folder.

Anyway, I was curious to know if anyone could recommend some good books featuring main characters who are Genderqueer or Genderfluid. I've read The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin, Orlando by Virginia Woolf and Imago by Octavia Butler- which all have fantasy or scifi versions of genderfluid individuals- and I'd like to find more books like that in speculative or regular fiction.

I know the terms genderfluid and genderqueer can be a bit confusing. By genderfluid, I mean a character who slips back and forth between being male, female or sometimes in between or neither.

By genderqueer, I mean a character who does not fit neatly into either the traditional male or female genders. They may display aspects of both genders or possibly not fit into any gender category.

Part of the reason I ask- beyond the simple matter of wanting to better understand the experiences of genderfluid and genderqueer people- is I'm working on a character for a future series of stories who is genderfluid, and I wanted to get a better handle on writing a character like hir.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

I haven't read it, but I heard about this book:

Middlesex

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

And Annabel

[Mariah Roze]

I heard Middlesex is really good! Maybe we could read it as a group one month too :)

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

I'd love that!

: )

[David - proud Gleeman in Branwen's adventuring party]

John wrote: "Yeah, I'm still navigating the Goodreads groups, and don't know all the ins and outs yet. I'm still trying to figure out how to add discussions to a folder.

Anyway, I was curious to know if anyone..."

John, if you like graphic novels, The Invisibles, Vol. 1: Say You Want a Revolution features a transgender shaman named Lord Fanny who is a lot of fun to read about. Also, Peter Milligan's criminally underrated Infinity Inc., Vol. 1: Luthor's Monsters featured a male character who transformed into a female whenever he changed into his superpowered alter-ego. I highly recommend both series!

[John]

Thanks guys! These all look interesting. I'll check them out.

[Mariah Roze]

This just went through my newsfeed today!!

Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman

[MaWhit]

Every Day is a YA book where the narrator wakes up in a different body every day (male, female, transgender, etc), and identifies as no particular gender.

Boy Meets Boy is another YA book. The narrator is gay, but there is a prominent supporting member who is transgender.

Lock In is a sci-fi where the narrator is never identified as male or female, and is unable to use his/her biological body.

[Mariah Roze]

Whitney wrote: "Every Day is a YA book where the narrator wakes up in a different body every day (male, female, transgender, etc), and identifies as no particular gender.

[book:Boy Meets Boy|23228..."

I loved Boy Meets Boy!

And Every Day sounds super interesting!! We should read that in here!

[Margo]

Golden Boy is the story of a trangender person. Not really well written, but I enjoyed it on audio.

[MaWhit]

Symptoms of Being Human has a genderfluid main character.

[Megan]

I just finished Vermilion, a steam punk western with a gender fluid Chinese-American protagonist. It's pretty good, and there were supporting characters who were gay or gender fluid too.

[Shomeret]

Megan wrote: "I just finished Vermilion, a steam punk western with a gender fluid Chinese-American protagonist. It's pretty good, and there were supporting characters who were gay or gender fluid too."

It's Vermilion by Molly Tanzer, right?