The 2026 Trans Rights Readathon!

My contribution to your eternal TBR!

A few years ago, one of my favorite traditions was born: The Trans Rights Readathon. In the week leading up to trans day of visibility, readers around the world will read and uplift (and leave reviews! and buy copies! And tell your friends!!) as many trans books by trans authors as possible.

This year there have been SO many amazing trans books that’ve come out, I am so excited to share how much literary trans brilliance there is in the world surrounding us. If there are recommendations that I miss, please let me know your favorites in the comments!

Before we get into the list, We have another direct volunteer ask! This time, we’re looking for support from Camp Lavender, an incredible summer camp for trans kids in Northern California. They are looking for a few additional workshop presenters to come and hang out with some trans kids for an hour or two in late July. I joined virtually last year, and it was incredibly meaningful. This year, I’ll be attending in person!

They are first and foremost looking for someone with an expertise in trans history beyond Stonewall who would be willing to volunteer their time to come chat with the kids. If you have a different area of expertise you’d like to bring, they would also love to hear from you! f you have questions or want more information, feel free to send me a message and I’ll connect you with the great folks over there.

Do you have a direct volunteer ask? Let me know and I’d be THRILLED to share it!

Let’s get into the books!

There are so many genres and vibes for books, so I’ll do my best to sort them into the following categories:

Fiction: Literary, romance, WEIRD, Graphic novel, sci-fi, fantasy, and Young Adult

Non-Fiction: Memoir/biography, history, allyship

Let’s get to it, nerds!!

For any of you nerds who want to look at my entire library: behold. My baby. I hope this gives you great psychological insight. Can you tell which shelves are visible from my zoom camera and which are not?

Literary & Book Club Fiction:

• Lilac People by Milo Todd: a beautiful story of community, love, pain, and survival set in WW2 Berlin.

• Woodworking by Emily St. James: a hilarious, gorgeous, MESSY story of a trans woman finding herself as a teacher in small town South Dakota

• Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg: Trans man in academia is slowly radicalized while writing a dissertation on a trans historical figure. A phenomenal, magical realism historical adventure with a whole second plot in the footnotes.

Romance:

• The Prospects by K.T. Hoffman: gay baseball romance with a trans narrator. I LOVE getting to see a trans man be treated as handsome and desirable instead of as a sexuality experiment.

• A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall: transfemme regency romance? A Duke falls in love with a beautiful woman and doesn’t realize she is his long lost best friend who transitioned years ago? STUNNING

• A Shot in the Dark by Victoria Lee: Mysterious artists, forbidden romances, and beautifully fleshed out characters. This was the first book I ever read with a trans man as a romantic lead and it blew my mind.

Weird:

• Crawl by Max Delsohn: Short story collection about being transmasculine in Seattle in the 2010s. This book is DELIGHTFULLY strange

• Future Feelings by Joss Lake: “An embittered dog walker obsessed with a social media influencer inadvertently puts a curse a young man—and must adventure into mysterious dimension in order to save him.” This book is CRAZY. I love it.

• Stag Dance by Torrey Peters: This short story collection includes some delightfully effed up explorations of transness, femininity, masculinity, and what happens when you let lumberjacks dress up as women.

• Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor: gender-bending shapeshifter Paul takes a journey through gender, sexuality, and activism across the queer landscape of the 90s.

• And the inventor of the weird trans books genre: Nevada by Imogen Binnie!!

  Graphic Novel:

This is the genre I know least about and I got some recs from a few friends. Let me know what your favorites are!

• Boys Weekend by Mattie Lunchansky: Final girl horror about a trans femme at a bachelor party gone wrong? Sign me UP!

• Nimona by ND Stevenson: Described as A Subversive Graphic Novel Adventure About Villainy, Identity, and Unexpected Loyalty. COOL!!

• Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti: Described as an “epic sci-fi romance between two non binary characters”

Sci-Fi/Fantasy:

• A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers: A Nonbinary tea monk learns to take a break (I am obsessed with this book. As far as I know, Becky Chambers is the only non-trans author on this list, but this book is so beautifully written and so special to me I couldn’t NOT recommend it!)

• Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki: a demon attempts to get a young transfemme violinist to sign a deal with the devil for talent, and instead builds a chosen family. Also, donuts?

• The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin: A masterclass in science fiction/fantasy worldbuilding. Classic epic sci-fi/fantasy with some incredible undertones of overthrowing the empire.

Young Adult:

• Pet and Bitter (both by Akwaeke Emezi): Phenomenal books about monstrosity, transness, trust. and the role of artists in the revolution

• The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas: Imagine the hunger games. Now make it trans. Now make it inspired by Mexican folklore. Now make it magic. Sold yet?

Nonfiction!

Memoir/Biography:

• Pretty by KB Brookins! And look at the new cover for the paperback!! And if you like this one... check them out at the Being Alive Book Club! Next week!!

• We Both Cried Out in Pleasure, Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan: Reading this made me feel so real, so much like I exist and have always existed. Diaries of a trans man living through the AIDS epidemic.

• Marsha! By Tourmaline! More biography than Memoir, but holy cow does this book deliver. Everyone has finally started to give Marsha her roses, but Tourmaline finally gives her a voice to tell her entire story. I love this book so much.

Allyship:

• My Child is Trans, Now What? By Ben Greene: Does this sound familiar? Good! (I’m biased because I wrote it)

• He/She/They by Schuyler Bailar: One of the most phenomenal overall guides to allyship that I’ve read. A great rec for your family members new to the allyship journey!

History:

• So Many Stars, an Oral History of Trans, Non-binary, Genderqueer and Two Spirit People of Color by Caro de Robertis: I’m in the middle of this right now. My God, this is a balm. Reading these stories, feeling this love, this book is a gift.

• Before Gender, Lost Stories from Trans History 1850-1950 by Eli Erlick: That’s right!!! We’ve been here since at LEAST the 1850s (and you know it’s been longer). This book is coming up FAST on my TBR.

• Miss Major Speaks by Toshio Meronek and Miss Major: Described as “A legendary transgender elder and activist reflects on a lifetime of struggle and the future of black, queer, and trans liberation”. This is sitting on my desk waiting for me. I know I will be changed by what I read.

I love when I get to do these kinds of roundups and I know that there are more trans books than I will ever be able to read. What a gift. What’s your favorite or most anticipate trans read this year?

Happy reading, nerds!!