What book are you currently reading?

[Rianon]

Good morning, Book Lovers!

 

It seems there hasn't been much "action" in this topic for a couple of months. I'm wondering if any might be interested in reanimating this topic. I'm a T person who is a great lover of books (too many perhaps for my own good, as I often feel like I'm surrounded by books all waiting to be read 😊). A goodly number of the books I read have T themes. For example …

 

… I'm currently reading Paul Clements's wonderfully exhaustive biography of Jan (formerly James) Morris. I've always been a great fan of Morris's writing; doubly so, as Jan Morris was among the most well-known T pioneers of the 20th century.

 

Does anyone have any goods book to suggest, no matter whether they have a T themes or not?

 

Cheers!

Rianon

[Ivy]

I am currently working through "When God Was A Woman" by Merlin Stone.  But it is a slow go for me.  It is a bit more academic (perhaps ?) than I am used to.  It's not really trans themed.

[Rianon]

1 minute ago, Ivy said:

I am currently working through "When God Was A Woman" by Merlin Stone.  But it is a slow go for me.  It is a bit more academic (perhaps ?) than I am used to.  It's not really trans themed.

Helloooooo, Ivy! That was quick. LOL I barely made it to my Mr. Coffee and back before finding your post. Something that leans academic-y would be slow going for me, too. My only problem with Clements's boo about Jan Morris is its weight! 560+ pages, if you count all the endnotes. If I carry it upstairs to read in bed, I might as try to hold a cement block to my chest. LOL Thanks for replying to my post. Let's see if others join us. ––Rianon

[Dillon]

I'm reading Becoming a Visible Man by Jamison Green. It's the transmasc book I've been looking for. All the books I came across were by a younger generation, and although that's helpful too, I wanted to read about what trans men my age were doing, about their lives and as a movement, during the fifty years from when I first came out at 16 and then came out again at 66. Green is an activist who goes back that far, and he writes a lot about the movement and about what the times were like for trans men. This is the missing cultural piece I desperately needed because when I identified as lesbian during those 50 years, being in the movement, very peripherally though, was part of my identity and sense of community. It was very hard for trans men when I was a young adult, and I wonder how much support I would have found without knowing where to find people and whether that support would have felt relevant enough. Green also writes very openly about his personal journey, and being from the same generation I can take it in more deeply. I'm getting close to the end of the book. I don't know what I'll read next. I have a stack (as I suspect we all do) of "to read"s.

[April Marie]

I recently finished The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai - highly recommended. I just started reading Leviathan Wakes by Jams S. A. Corey. It is the first book in the series that was the foundation for the series The Expanse, a science fiction drama if you haven't seen it. 

 

I'm an eclectic reader from history to historical fiction to scifi to mystery to..........

 

Reading Jennifer Boylan's and Caitlyn Jenner's books gave me the final push I needed to finally gush to my wife about my gender dysphoria 3 months ago. I can't believe it's only been 3 months - I feel so wonderfully liberated and happy.

[Rianon]

40 minutes ago, Dillon said:

All the books I came across were by a younger generation, and although that's helpful too, I wanted to read about what trans men my age were doing, about their lives and as a movement, during the fifty years from when I first came out at 16 and then came out again at 66.

It sounds like we've been drawn to our current reading for the same reason. Jan Morris hadn't undergone her gender confirming surgery until 1972 when she was 46. Although today I think of 46 as "young," when I first discovered the story of her life I was nearer the age at which she'd transitioned; therefore, the story of her life really resonated with me. Morris, who only died in 2020 at age 94, remained a role model ever since

[Rianon]

16 minutes ago, April Marie said:

I recently finished The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai - highly recommended.

I took a look. Sure enough, I have Rebecca Makkai's book in my stack, about five books down. I'm one of those who's neither a fast nor a slow reader, and still it takes me forever to whittle away at that stack. It seems every time I look in my mail box, I find yet another New York or New York Review of Books. It's never ending. Of course, I wouldn't want it any other way. LOL

[April Marie]

11 minutes ago, Rianon said:

I took a look. Sure enough, I have Rebecca Makkai's book in my stack, about five books down. I'm one of those who's neither a fast nor a slow reader, and still it takes me forever to whittle away at that stack. It seems every time I look in my mail box, I find yet another New York or New York Review of Books. It's never ending. Of course, I wouldn't want it any other way. LOL

I'm a binge reader - I'll read 3 or 4 and then not read another for a month...then back at it. My wife generally has 3 books stacked on her Kindle and reads every day. She's my source for anything contemporary and even some historical fictions.

 

I'm sure you'll enjoy The Borrower!

[miz miranda]

I have several I'm working on at the moment:

 

- 'A snowball's chance in Hell' by J.D. Kirk Scottish detective series my entertainment book

 

- 'Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Paul Scharre ; me educational book

I am a techie.

 

Just finished

- 'It Never Goes Away: Gender Transition at a Mature Age' by Anne Koch I found it to be very interest and quite thought provoking. I recommend it

[April Marie]

16 minutes ago, miz miranda said:

Just finished

- 'It Never Goes Away: Gender Transition at a Mature Age' by Anne Koch I found it to be very interest and quite thought provoking. I recommend it

I would love to read this - unfortunately not owned by any of the libraries I use for on-line reading (including my local library). I may have to buy this one if it doesn't get added to our libraries soon. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Dillon]

51 minutes ago, Rianon said:

Morris, who only died in 2020 at age 94, remained a role model ever since

Role models are so important, especially for trans people in a world that gives us only a little bit of affirmation.

[Charlize]

I'm about half way through "Mad Honey" by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan.  Tears have been flowing.  It might be triggering for some but it is certainly developing very powerfully!

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[Rianon]

45 minutes ago, Dillon said:

Role models are so important, especially for trans people in a world that gives us only a little bit of affirmation.

So true! There's was no one when I was growing up. Or a very few, like Christine Jorgensen, although I remember my family –– my father and brother especially –– laughing at the idea of someone crossing the gender divide. How they behaved only drove me deeper and deeper into secrecy. It wasn't until years later when I learned of Jan Morris and began reading her books than I realized it was possible to stop living in secret and instead live in the full light of day. It would still be many years, however, before I found the courage to do so. As you say, Dillon, role models are important, especially for people like us who sometimes live their whole lives in secrecy.

[Marcie Jensen]

3 hours ago, Ivy said:

I am currently working through "When God Was A Woman" by Merlin Stone.  But it is a slow go for me.  It is a bit more academic (perhaps ?) than I am used to.  It's not really trans themed.

I read this in seminary as part of a comparative theology course. It WAS a slow go! Lol. I also found it interesting in a number of respects. Good luck, Ivy; it is a bit on the academic side...

 

Right now I'm re-reading Battle Cry of Freedom. It's one of the best single volume histories of the Civil War era, to include the antebellum period and Reconstruction. I always learn something new from it.

[Rianon]

1 hour ago, April Marie said:

I may have to buy this one if it doesn't get added to our libraries soon.

Good luck finding a copy! I just checked with my local indie bookstore and the book is out-of-stock and on backorder. ––Rianon

[MirandaB]

I have the Borrower  in my pile of library books right now also. 

 

I recommend her latest, "I Have Some Questions For You", not in the T category, just in the good book category. 

 

 

[Guest]

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius 

[Rianon]

13 hours ago, Andy88 said:

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius 

Good morning, Andy88

 

I've an old hardback copy of Aurelius here somewhere. I've carried it with me from place to place over the years. I'm afraid I've written so many marginal notes in it that, if I were trying to reread it today, I'd have a hard time telling my marginal notes from the previous owner's.

 

Rianon

[Guest]

Hello @RianonMeditations is decidedly not a light read to be sure!  However, I do find myself really connecting to his philosophy of stoicism. 

 

Cheers,

-A

[Rianon]

3 hours ago, Andy88 said:

Hello @RianonMeditations is decidedly not a light read to be sure!  However, I do find myself really connecting to his philosophy of stoicism. 

 

Cheers,

-A

Good morning, Andy. I'm also very fond of the sayings of the other Stoic philosopher, Seneca: "Hurry up and live!" That's one of my favorites. ––Rianon

[Sally Stone]

I'm currently reading "Steal the Sky" by Megan O'Keefe.  I just love her prose and her characters.  The plot has a dystopian, steam punk vibe going on.  Yeah, sounds strange, but it is working well.  

 

I was introduced to O'Keefe by her previous "Velocity Weapon" novel series (three books) that included a strong female character and a space ship powered by self aware AI. 

 

If you like science fiction and fantasy, check her out. 

[Rianon]

How many of us share the same problem: Finding there's just so much to read –– with new things coming in all of the time –– I sometimes want to scream, "Time out!" I've a 500+ page biography I started a few weeks ago (and am thoroughly enjoying), and I should have finished it by now, but every time I go to the mailbox I find another much-loved periodical waiting –– if it's not the New Yorker, it's the New York Review of Books, if it's not the NYRB, it's the Atlantic, if it's not … on and on, day after day. Tomorrow is another of my "secular sabbaths" –– no phone calls, no Internet, no shopping to be done, no outside commitments whatsoever. If I'm lucky, I'll finish that biography. Of course, today's mail hasn't arrived yet. Who knows? I may find the latest Smithsonian waiting. 😊 Rianon