Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

A book with a trans or nonbinary protagonist

Definitions to help:
Trans (Transgender): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transge...
Nonbinary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-binary

Books I've read and would recommend:
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
Melissa by Alex Gino

I have also read two books I could highly recommend with intersex protagonists:
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin
Intersex: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex

Listopia: A book with a trans or nonbinary protagonist

T. Kingfisher and Nghi Vo both have excellent fantasy novella series featuring nonbinary protagonists. Kingfisher's series starts with What Moves the Dead and is fantasy/horror set in fictional countries in our world, and Vo's series starts with The Empress of Salt and Fortune and is a fantasy series centered around storytelling.

All the White Spaces is an EXCELLENT historical horror book set in Antarctica with a trans protagonist.

I'm going to read Ollie in Between, which is about a nonbinary protagonist.

Couple of romances that come to mind:

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston. Exes wind up on the same food-and-wine tour (can also be used for Italy prompt). (view spoiler)[ One of the partners comes out as nonbinary late in the book. (hide spoiler)]

Hold Me by Courtney Milan. "You've Got Mail" trope with a trans woman and pansexual man.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall. Historical romance, someone from a noble British family fakes death in order to start a new life as a woman.

I saw that someone added Light from Uncommon Stars and A Psalm for the Wild-Built! Those are both absolutely fantastic. Highly recommend!!

I just finished Woodworking by Emily St. James. It's a debut novel set in South Dakota, and it's excellent!

The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill.

In the Marvel comics, Loki has been male and female at different points in time. I might use one of those titles.

I'm going to read by Laurie Frankel

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...
The Spirit Bares its Teeth

Chelsea wrote: "T. Kingfisher and Nghi Vo both have excellent fantasy novella series featuring nonbinary protagonists. Kingfisher's series starts with What Moves the Dead and is fantasy/horror set ..."


Nice! The three books in Kingfisher's series can be used for "nb," "less than 260 pages," and "horse on the cover."

I have lots of options on my TBR:

Stealing Thunder
Horse Barbie: A Memoir of Reclamation
Endpapers
We Are Green and Trembling
Witches
Memoirs of a Man's Maiden Years
In den buntesten Farben (In the Most Vibrant Colours - not translated yet afaik)

Nadine in NY wrote: "Chelsea wrote: "T. Kingfisher and Nghi Vo both have excellent fantasy novella series featuring nonbinary protagonists. Kingfisher's series starts with What Moves the Dead and is fan..."

And the fourth Sworn Soldier book is coming out next year!

If you're looking for horror options, I really liked Old Wounds and The Transition both by Logan-Ashley Kisner

I'm going to wait a bit before choosing because there are a lot of great books for this prompt. I wanted to suggest Little Fish which is an incredible novel, the main character is trans.

Trials of the Jedi and a few other books in the High Republic series in Star Wars have Terec and Ceret, nonbinary bond-twins who are part of the Jedi hero group.

I just finished a book that would fit this, but the reveal is an important part of the story and I don't want to recommend it and spoil it! 😭

I really enjoyed it, though. It was one where some of the characters aren't entirely in the right, but you like them anyway.

Oh, I'm going to recommend Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett.

The main character is a woman who disguises herself as a man to go to war as part of a doomed army and bring back her kind-hearted brother who was drafted.

I don't want to spoil too much, but one of her compatriots is intentionally ambigious about their gender, never answering any questions about whether they are male or female. (view spoiler)[Another prominent character and some side characters are trans. (hide spoiler)]

Sir Terry was a master at clever political and social commentary disguised as humorous fantasy. He created a clever mix of characters defying the gender binary, some temporarily due to need and some for life. Remarkably progressive for a prominent writer in 2003.

I'm sort of surprised not to see any memoirs on the list. I'm adding This Time for Me by Alexandra Billings.

I just discovered a new Ann Leckie novel set in the Radch empire is being released next year: Radiant Star. There's usually at least one nonbinary character in these novels. (The blurb says "... a socialite will discover zer comfortable life upended ..." so I'm taking that as confirmation.)

Here's another list that has some additional books. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...

I added The Lilac People by Milo Todd. I read it last year, historical fiction and WWII adjacent. I had never heard the term Lilac people before this book. I thought the book was an excellent read.

I'm planning to read Frankissstein:A Love Story by Jeanette Winterson

I am going to read The In-Between Bookstore

Finally occurred to me that Murderbot is nonbinary.

John Scalzi's Lock-In series -- MC is non-binary. This is a brilliant, entertaining and really excellent scifi detective series.

I just finished Woodworking for this prompt, and I loved it so much!

Laura Z wrote: "I just finished Woodworking by Emily St. James. It's a debut novel set in South Dakota, and it's excellent!

"

Gliff, a dystopian novel where the dystopia is only too easy to imagine. It took me a couple of chapters to get into, but worth the trouble. I will certainly read the sequel whenever it appears.

The MC is presented both as a girl and a man.

Would Song of Achilles qualify for this?

Melinda wrote: "Would Song of Achilles qualify for this?"

no.

Notes from a Regicide and Lessons in Magic and Disaster are both recent reads that fit this category.

I read The Lilac People