Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

1. A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y - George
2. A book by an author whose last name is one syllable - Coffee Boy
3. A book that you are prompted to read because of something you read in 2019 - Me, Myself, They: Life Beyond the Binary
4. A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live - The Future of Another Timeline
5. The first book in a series that you have not started - Dreadnought

6. A book with a mode of transportation on the cover - A Possibility of Whales
7. A book set in the Southern Hemisphere - The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster
8. A book with a two-word title where the first word is "The" - The Lauras
9. A book that can be read in a day - Beyond the Gender Binary

10. A book that is between 400-600 pages
11. A book originally published in a year that is a prime number
12. A book that is a collaboration between 2 or more people
13. A prompt from a previous Around the Year in 52 Books challenge (Link)
14. A book by an author on the Abe List of 100 Essential Female Writers (link) - Orlando

15. A book set in a global city - Trans New York: Photos and Stories of Transgender New Yorkers
16. A book set in a rural or sparsely populated area - If I Was Your Girl
17. A book with a neurodiverse character -Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman
18. A book by an author you've only read once before

19. A fantasy book - No Man of Woman Born
20. The 20th book [on your TBR, in a series, by an author, on a list, etc.] - Black Helicopters
21. A book related to Maximilian Hell, the noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest who was born in 1719
22. A book with the major theme of survival

23. A book featuring an LGBTQIA+ character or by an LGBTQIA+ author - Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality
24. A book with an emotion in the title - I'm Afraid of Men
25. A book related to the arts - Gracefully Grayson
26. A book from the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards - Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love
27. A history or historical fiction

28. A book by an Australian, Canadian or New Zealand author - Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family
29. An underrated book, a hidden gem or a lesser known book
30. A book from the New York Times '100 Notable Books' list for any year - Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family
31. A book inspired by a leading news story- The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives

32. A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan - The Bride Was a Boy
33. A book about a non-traditional family - Trade Me
34. A book from a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter in your name - What We Will Become: A Mother, a Son, and a Journey of Transformation
35. A book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover

36. A book from your TBR/wishlist that you don't recognize, recall putting there, or put there on a whim - Texts from Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters
37. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #1 - In the Darkroom
38. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #2 - Raising Ryland: Our Story of Parenting a Transgender Child with No Strings Attached
39. A book by an author whose real name(s) you're not quite sure how to pronounce

40. A book with a place name in the title
41. A mystery
42. A book that was nominated for one of the ‘10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World’ (link)
43. A book related to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse
44. A book related to witches

45. A book by the same author who wrote one of your best reads in 2019 or 2018
46. A book about an event or era in history taken from the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start the Fire"
47. A classic book you've always meant to read
48. A book published in 2020

49. A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win - Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard
50. A book with a silhouette on the cover - This Is How It Always Is
51. A book with an "-ing" word in the title
52. A book related to time - Birthday

This list is created by the group members, after suggestions and votes.

1. A book with a title that doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y - In One Person, Eligible
2. A book by an author whose last name is one syllable - Raven Stratagem, The Black Tides of Heaven, Peter Darling
3. A book that you are prompted to read because of something you read in 2019 - transgender in Africa?, BLESSED BODY: The Secret Lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Nigerians, Little Fish, Me, Myself, They: Life Beyond the Binary, Death Threat
4. A book set in a place or time that you wouldn't want to live - Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers, The City in the Middle of the Night, The Sunlight Pilgrims, When We Wake, Mirrors: Portrait of a Lesbian Transsexual
5. The first book in a series that you have not started - Dreadnought

6. A book with a mode of transportation on the cover - All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages, Flawless, A Possibility of Whales, The Days of Anna Madrigal
7. A book set in the Southern Hemisphere - The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster
8. A book with a two-word title where the first word is "The" - The Lauras
9. A book that can be read in a day - https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

10. A book that is between 400-600 pages - Geek Out: A Collection of Trans and Genderqueer Romance, She Rises, Anger Is a Gift
11. A book originally published in a year that is a prime number - The Black Tides of Heaven, Meanwhile, Elsewhere: Science Fiction and Fantasy from Transgender Writers, Raven Stratagem
12. A book that is a collaboration between 2 or more people - Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages, Sass & Sorcery, The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Question, It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living
13. A prompt from a previous Around the Year in 52 Books challenge - title letter my name - A People's History of Heaven, Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer, A Strange Sort of Being: The Transgender Life of Lucy Ann / Joseph Israel Lobdell, 1829-1912, 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
14. A book by an author on the Abe List of 100 Essential Female Writers - Orlando

15. A book set in a global city - Candy Darling: Memoirs of an Andy Warhol Superstar, The House of Impossible Beauties, Hong Kong
16. A book set in a rural or sparsely populated area - Jaya and Rasa: A Love Story, First Spring Grass Fire,
17. A book with a neurodiverse character - Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman
18. A book by an author you've only read once before - Pet, Sovereign

19. A fantasy book - All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages, Transcendent: The Year's Best Transgender Speculative Fiction, Pet, The Red TreeLast Call at the Nightshade Lounge, Quicksilver
20. The 20th book [on your TBR, in a series, by an author, on a list, etc.] - Black Helicopters, Conundrum
21. A book related to Maximilian Hell, the noted astronomer and Jesuit Priest who was born in 1719 - Voices of Our Times, Armed In Her Fashion, This One Looks Like a Boy: My Gender Journey to Life as a Man, That Lonely Section of Hell: The Botched Investigation of a Serial Killer Who Almost Got Away
22. A book with the major theme of survival - Tomboy Survival Guide, Before I Had the Words: On Being a Transgender Young Adult

23. A book featuring an LGBTQIA+ character or by an LGBTQIA+ author - freebie!
24. A book with an emotion in the title - I'm Afraid of Men, The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
25. A book related to the arts - The Kilroys' List: 97 Monologues and Scenes by Female and Trans Playwrights, Tango: My Childhood, Backwards and in High Heels, Smells Like Stars, The Danish Girl, She Wants It: Desire, Power, and Toppling the Patriarchy
26. A book from the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards - Birthday, Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love
27. A history or historical fiction - Transgender History

28. A book by an Australian, Canadian or New Zealand author - Casey Plett, Vivek Shraya, Joshua M. Ferguson
29. An underrated book, a hidden gem or a lesser known book - The Stars Are Legion
30. A book from the New York Times '100 Notable Books' list for any year - Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity, Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family, Freshwater
31. A book inspired by a leading news story - Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex

32. A book related to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan - Wandering Son, Vol. 1, Fair Play: How LGBT Athletes Are Claiming Their Rightful Place in Sports, The Transformation of Title IX: Regulating Gender Equality in Education, Smells Like Stars, The Bride Was a Boy
33. A book about a non-traditional family - Rad Dad: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Fatherhood, Rad Families: A Celebration, Blood, Marriage, Wine, & Glitter
34. A book from a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter in your name - Southern Lit: Soul Kitchen, Hiding My Candy, Cooking in Heels: A Memoir Cookbook, The Member of the Wedding
35. A book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover - The A-Z of Gender and Sexuality: From Ace to Ze, Meanwhile, Elsewhere: Science Fiction and Fantasy from Transgender Writers, A Safe Girl to Love

36. A book from your TBR/wishlist that you don't recognize, recall putting there, or put there on a whim
37. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #1 - In the Darkroom, Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity
38. Two books that are related to each other as a pair of binary opposites: Book #2 - Raising Ryland: Our Story of Parenting a Transgender Child with No Strings Attached, Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story
39. A book by an author whose real name(s) you're not quite sure how to pronounce - Transcendent: The Year's Best Transgender Speculative Fiction, Transcendent 3: The Year's Best Transgender Speculative Fiction

40. A book with a place name in the title - The Graceland Tales, I'm From Driftwood: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer Stories From All Over The World, Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer
41. A mystery - Coming Out Can Be Murder, Cut Like Wound, Athenian Blues
42. A book that was nominated for one of the ‘10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World’ - Pet, Frankissstein: A Love Story, feeld
43. A book related to one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse - The Remedy: Queer and Trans Voices on Health and Health Care, LGBT Hampton Roads
44. A book related to witches - No Man of Woman Born, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

45. A book by the same author who wrote one of your best reads in 2019 or 2018 - Batgirl, Vol. 3: Death of the Family, Pet
46. A book about an event or era in history taken from the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start the Fire" - The House of Impossible Beauties (AIDS), Transgender China, Life Beyond My Body: A Transgender Journey To Manhood In China, Camp TV: Trans Gender Queer Sitcom History, Angels in America (Roy Cohn?), Peter Darling, In the Darkroom(Budapest), Fräulein M., Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout, Diagnosing Identities, Wounding-Bodies: Medical Abuses and Other Human Rights Violations Against Lesbian, Gay and Transgender People in Iran, Invisible Wounds, Danger Music
47. A classic book you've always meant to read - The Member of the Wedding, Orlando, The Well of Loneliness
48. A book published in 2020 - The Subtweet

49. A book that fits a prompt from the list of suggestions that didn't win - transgender author/character freebie!
50. A book with a silhouette on the cover - A Matter of Disagreement, A Possibility of Whales, Dreadnought, This is How It Always Is, Beast
51. A book with an "-ing" word in the title - Holding Still For As Long As Possible, Everything Under
52. A book related to time - Second Lives, Second Chances: My Life Performing Transformative Surgery, The Unintentional Time Traveler, River of Teeth

Extra TBR

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
For Today I Am a Boy
No Other World
When the Moon Was Ours
Full Fathom Five
Nevada
I Am a Bacha Posh: My Life as a Woman Living as a Man in Afghanistan
Super Late Bloomer: My Early Days in Transition
Not Your Villain
Every Heart a Doorway
Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars
The Pervert
The Invisibles
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 3: Century
Burgerz
Second Serve
The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You
Revolutionary
Where's the Mother? Stories from a Transgender Dad
Next Year, for Sure
Wake of Vultures
The Parcel
Luna
The Raven Tower
The Brilliant Death
The Underground Girls of Kabul: In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan
To Survive On This Shore
An Unkindness of Ghosts
How to Become a Really Really Not Famous Trans Lady Writer
Trans Like Me: A Journey for All of Us
Stone Butch Blues
Other Voices, Other Rooms
The Truth Is
Before Mars
They/Them/Their: A Guide to Nonbinary & Genderqueer Identities
Lizard Radio
Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity
Stage Presents
What We Left Behind
Queen of the Conquered
Stage Dreams

Other options from prompts that didn’t make the list.

There Is Room for You: Tales from a Transgender Defender's Heart
Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States
Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place
On Christopher Street: Transgender Stories
The Santa Hoax
Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive
Sideshow Concessions
At Home On The Stroll: My Twenty Years As A Prostitute In Canada
I’ve Got a Time Bomb
Female Masculinity
Being Emily
Parrotfish
Clover
Ancillary Justice
Long Black Veil
Trumpet
If I Was Your Girl
The Prince and the Dressmaker
A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder
TransAntiquity: Cross-Dressing and Transgender Dynamics in the Ancient World
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice
Symptoms of Being Human
Freakboy
Kafka on the Shore
Lily and Dunkin
Holy Wild
A Rare and Beautiful Thing
The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist
Republic of Outsiders: The Power of Amateurs, Dreamers and Rebels
My Name Is Asher Lev
10,000 Dresses
Feminist, Queer, Crip
Steel Closets: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Steelworkers
SELF-ish: A Transgender Awakening
Herma
Sergio Y.
Living Out Islam: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims
Ladyboys: The Secret World of Thailand's Third Gender
Zenobia July
Every True Pleasure: LGBTQ Tales of North Carolina
The Stranger's Child
The Pants Project
Fingerless
The Golden House
Confessions of the Fox
Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard
Tess of the Road
The Affair of the Mysterious Letter
Finding Your Feet
If You Could Be Mine
Be My Queen
Squad
Real Man Adventures
The New Normal: Coming Out as Transgender in Midlife
The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 3: Halal If You Hear Me
Ariel: A Literary Life of Jan Morris
The Melting Queen
Queer as Camp: Essays on Summer, Style, and Sexuality
Mary Ann in Autumn
First Year Out: A Transition Story
Trans: A Memoir
Not Just a Tomboy: A Trans Masculine Memoir
A Life In Trans Activism
Me Hijra, Me Laxmi
Toms and Dees: Transgender Identity and Female Same-Sex Relationships in Thailand
Shanghai Lalas: Female Tongzhi Communities and Politics in Urban China
This Is How The Heart Beats: LGBTQ East Africa
Beautiful Pictures of the Lost Homeland
Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity
Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation
Trans/Portraits: Voices from Transgender Communities
America Through Transgender Eyes
Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman
Moving Truth(s): Queer and Transgender Desi Writings on Family
With Respect to Sex: Negotiating Hijra Identity in South India
Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community
Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman
Through the Door of Life: A Jewish Journey between Genders
Magical Princess Harriet: Chessed, World of Compassion
Radiant Voices: Feminist Storytelling for Rising Up
Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History
Countersexual Manifesto
Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More
The Seafarer's Kiss
Trans Britain: Our Journey from the Shadows
The Marvellous Land of Oz
Ancient Egypt - A Tale of Two Brothers
Bordered Lives: Transgender Portraits from Mexico

I am so excited about your list and waiting to see what you add.

More other options from prompts that didn’t get in:

Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue
Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity
Man Enough to be a Woman: The Autobiography of Jayne County
The First Lady
Gender on the Edge: Transgender, Gay, and Other Pacific Islanders
'O Au No Keia: Voices From Hawaii's Mahu And Transgender Communities
Almost Feral
Dates! An Anthology of Queer Historical Fiction Stories
Queer, There and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World
Report from Planet Midnight
100 Butches, Volume 1
Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality
Just Girls
And Then I Got Fired: One Transqueer's Reflections on Grief, Unemployment & Inappropriate Jokes About Death
Transgender Cops: The Intersection of Gender and Sexuality Expectations in Police Cultures
Lost Boi
Lost Souls
The Ultra Fabulous Glitter Squadron Saves the World Again
Weekend
Small Beauty
There Should Be Flowers
Boy, Snow, Bird
A Land of Iron
The Big Die-Up
The Next River: Collection of Transgender M2F Romance Short Stories
The Dream of Doctor Bantam

He Mele A Hilo
M is for Mustache
The Other Boy
My Life as a Diamond
Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics
No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics
The Trans Space Octopus Congregation: Stories
Lumberjanes: The Moon Is Up
Drag King Dreams
Extraordinary Birds
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab
Brazen Femme: Queering Femininity
Butch Is a Noun
Love in the Time of Global Warming
The Butterfly and the Flame
Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction
I'll Give You Something to Cry About
George
My Camino
Inappropriation
Goblinheart
Gracefully Grayson
His Right Hand
The Bold World: A Memoir of Family and Transformation
A Place Called No Homeland
Lo Terciario / The Tertiary
The Burnt Toast B&B
The Long Good Boy
Wrapped Together
Trans-Sister Radio
"You're in the Wrong Bathroom!": And 20 Other Myths and Misconceptions about Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming People
She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders

Queering the Tarot
Make a Circle
Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women
Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family
Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family
I Am Jazz
Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants: Based on a True Story
Gendered Asylum: Race and Violence in U.S. Law and Politics
Going Stealth: Transgender Politics and U.S. Surveillance Practices
Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago Before Stonewall

Okay - a bunch of library holds came up all January that fit in Popsugar but not here, so I’m only now getting to this challenge. Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality was excellent - great if you like politics and also a coming out story, love story and the story of a tragic early death to cancer. I spent a lot of time trying not to cry.

Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard - a basic transition story, with interesting details about doing so in the UK health system.

Birthday - a slice of life between 14 and 18 on their shared birthday. I liked the set up. Also interesting exploration of a dying town where football is seen as the only way out.

Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman - how trans identity and being diagnosed with autism coincide.

I’m going to use this space to share some reading adjacent stuff:

This year has been exhausting. Popsugar having the transgender/nonbinary prompt in their challenge has changed my experience of many of the reading spaces I previously occupied. Both in Goodreads and on FB and to a much lesser extent on Twitter, places that previously were fun have become at best a bit of a chore and at worst actively harmful to my mental health.

It’s HARD to be just scrolling through reading posts and come across the people who WILL not read even one book by a transgender or nonbinary author. Who do not believe in lgbtq+ - people? Lifestyles? Who knows. I never know what exactly that is supposed to mean. It’s hard to keep encountering the sort of allies, the ones who just think of all of us mean queers would just scroll on by without pushing back at hate or attribute it all to a need to be gently educated.

It’s exhausting. The hateful, the ignorant, even some of the allies. Reading has always been my go-to comfort space and now for over a year, many of the spaces I go to to talk about reading are the exact opposite.

I try hard to both be encouraging, by trying to meet the weird requirements people have for a book by a transgender author. I’ve done a lot of research and can offer things about transgender liturgy and pastoral care for the religious or books that don’t contain any lgbtq+ content but by such an author, specific genres... I do always try to offer up the options because hopefully some good can come of this.

But I’m tired and often very sad by what I see out there amongst my fellow readers. It’s a hard year for me to be a reader. Sometimes I desperately want to retreat to all gay spaces, to get away from this slow and horribly consistent negative reading space.

Shadows on the Moon - I decided not to use this book because it didn’t feel like the transgender character was central to the narrative, but it would fit.

Others:
Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens
To Be Taught, If Fortunate
Transgender Lives: Complex Stories, Complex Voices

Chinook, I am sorry that reading spaces have not been comforting for you recently. It is unfortunate that people can be unknowingly cruel.

I came across on book that you may like. It is speculative scifi by a Canadian author. "The Outside" by Ada Hoffman. I really enjoyed the story.

Scifi/Fantasy is my safe space when the world is a cruel place. In the end everything goes there.

I hope you are doing better now.

Thanks Anastasia. The Outside looks really awesome.

Dreadnought- This is so far the best book I’ve read all year. I love the world of superheroes Daniels creates and I think Danny is a great character. I bought the next one and hope to get to it soon.

I'm Afraid of Men - a short read but such an emotional one.

There’s no way I’m going to manage to finish up - the holidays have just been too busy and the school year more work than normal in many ways. But I’ve been loving the books, overall, and will definitely finish off the prompts through January.