#17 Read a memoir written by someone who is trans or nonbinary

[Rebecca]

I am eagerly awaiting Please Miss: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Penis
Grace E. Lavery , so I know what I'm planning on reading!

[Bonnie G.]

Though it is a brilliant title it is not a memoir. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

[Rebecca]

I'm pretty sure it is. The blurb on the uk cover calls it a memoir, and I thought when Grace announced it she called it a memoir. What genre would you call it?

[Rebecca]

ok it does sound like it is playing with the conventions of memoir but I'm counting it :)

[Jessica]

I wanted to read She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan, but my library doesn't have it. Found I could get an inter-library loan of her book Stuck in the Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders instead.

[Tricia]

I'm considering these:
Time Is the Thing a Body Moves Through
Conundrum
Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More

If anybody has read these, let me know what you thought. :)

[ekr]

Hey there… I’m trans and HATE trans memoirs. They’re so alienating to me. Can anyone recommend trans life writing where transness itself isn’t the focus? Or where a cis readership isn’t even imagined (let alone the audience)? (Bonus points if it’s by a trans or nb person of color.)

For other folks, I highly recommend Vivek Shraya’s I’m Afraid of Men.

[Karen]

Tricia wrote: "I'm considering these:
Time Is the Thing a Body Moves Through
Conundrum
Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More

If an..."

I am also planning on Conundrum by Jan Morris.

[Kayleigh]

rae wrote: "Hey there… I’m trans and HATE trans memoirs. They’re so alienating to me. Can anyone recommend trans life writing where transness itself isn’t the focus? Or where a cis readership isn’t even imagin..."

I haven't read it yet, but I am planning to read for this prompt What About the Rest of Your Life by Sung Yim, who is non-binary. As I haven't read it yet, I can't say for sure whether their non-binary identity is or isn't a main focus, but from what I have seen in reviews it is more about family, trauma, and "the recovery narrative through the immigrant's lens" which suggests it is not.

[Bonnie G.]

Rebecca wrote: "I'm pretty sure it is. The blurb on the uk cover calls it a memoir, and I thought when Grace announced it she called it a memoir. What genre would you call it?"

Sorry, I thought it was autofiction, but I must have gotten that wrong!

[Rebecca]

Bonnie G. wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I'm pretty sure it is. The blurb on the uk cover calls it a memoir, and I thought when Grace announced it she called it a memoir. What genre would you call it?"

Sorry, I thought it..."

Ah, that's fair. The description does not help with that.

[Luci]

I highly recommend Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout by Laura Jane Grace. Against Me is awesome and her solo stuff (especially what she made during the pandemic) is amazing.

[Janet]

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir

[Brittany]

Luci wrote: "I highly recommend Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout by Laura Jane Grace. Against Me is awesome and her solo stuff (especially what she made during ..."

Would also recommend. Read it a couple of years ago and I loved it! I have All Boys Aren't Blue on my TBR so that’s what I’m planning on for this year.

[Rebecca]

Nonbinary: A Memoir

[Leslie (updates on SG)]

I recently read Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity, which may work for this prompt, but it's a series of essays.

Thankfully, one of the contributors has a full-length memoir, Leaving Normal. If that doesn't work, I may read Fairest or the YA graphic memoir Gender Queer.

[Mandie]

Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love by Jonathan Van Ness is wonderful.

For those who have read that, I'm patiently awaiting their new book Love That Story.

[Serendipity]

I loved George Johnson’s Boy’s Aren’t Blue so will probably go for We Are Not Broken.

[Maura]

Leslie Ann wrote: "I recently read Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity, which may work for this prompt, but it's a series of essays.

Thankfully, one of the contributors has a full-length memo..."

Gender Queer fulfills three prompts at once! I read it this year so can't use it, but highly recommend it.
Prompts it fills:
- this one
- main character who is asexual or aromantic
- nonfiction YA comic

[Amy J.]

All Boys Aren't Blue

[Sherri]

In 2020 I read Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs byJennifer Finney Boylan. It was really good. Funny story about buying the book. Not the haha funny kind of story My library didn’t have the book in any form. I ended up going in a major chain book store. I searched the whole store several times for a LGBT section & gave up. I went to the help desk thinking they would point out the area & help me find the book. There wasn’t a LGBT section. We found the book in the pet section.

[Tricia]

Maura wrote: "Leslie Ann wrote: "I recently read Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity, which may work for this prompt, but it's a series of essays.

Thankfully, one of the contributors has..."

Thanks for the suggestion - definitely adding Gender Queer to my list!

[Dani]

Probably going for Super Late Bloomer: My Early Days in Transition as I follow Julia on social media and I’m a big fan

[Ilana]

My bookstore recommended Dead Senthuran by Akwaeke Emezi so I’m going with that

[Leanne]

Going for Black Boy Out of Time for this one

[Linda]

There is a new memoir coming out in May:
This Body I Wore by Diana Goetsch

[Ron]

Well this one is not written by someone who is trans or nonbinary but it is written about someone who is so I would think that would work too:

Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family

[Heather]

Ivan Coyote's Tomboy Survival Guide is fantastic. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

[Kate]

rae wrote: "Hey there… I’m trans and HATE trans memoirs. They’re so alienating to me. Can anyone recommend trans life writing where transness itself isn’t the focus? Or where a cis readership isn’t even imagin..."

Tricia wrote: "I'm considering these:
Time Is the Thing a Body Moves Through
Conundrum
Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More

If an..."

I read A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today by Kate Bornstein many years ago when I worked for the publisher. While the author does include some content about her trans identity, it's also a wild story about being pretty high up in the ranks of Scientology.

[Lilly]

Read Something That May Shock and Discredit You recently and would definitely recommend it! He's actually Grace Lavery's partner (Please Miss author) and former editor of The Toast. It's kind of genre-bending, but I would consider it a memoir.

[Kumiko]

Heather wrote: "Ivan Coyote's Tomboy Survival Guide is fantastic. Cannot recommend it highly enough."

I just finished this and agree with Heather - it is a fabulous read.

Have to say, I really enjoy the Read Harder Challenge because it's introduced me to so many authors and stories that I wouldn't have otherwise picked up.

[Heather]

Canadians especially might be interested in Lorimer Shenher's This One Looks Like a Boy. He was one of the police assigned to the Robert Pickton serial killer case in Vancouver and he wrote another book about that as well.

[Sherri]

I read This Body I Wore: A Memoir

[Sally]

I'm Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya

[Emily]

Something That May Shock and Discredit You by Daniel Lavery. So good.

[Alex]

I read Gender Queer and it was really good!