A book I’ve recommended so many times: Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Found family and trans joy, but also classical music, Faustian bargains, and aliens running a donut shop. 💫🍩🎻
BTW, Ryka herself taught me how to play Hawai'ian Hanafuda on a cruise ship (before my egg cracked). After the cruise was over, I bought the book in paper, electronic, and audio formats (all free of pesky DRM)!
Yes! I met her on the cruise! I just wish she would write another book, but Light From Uncommon Stars is *sooooo good* that its appeal even extends to cis people (or at least eggs who don't know they're trans yet)!
EDIT: We played a game of Hawai'ian Hanafuda, and to be honest, we promised each other that we would play another game if we were to meet again! If there's one reason why I want to meet her again, that's the main one!
Thank you so so much for compiling this list, it’s like a grounding anchor is such a chaotic painful time. Appreciate you and all that you stand for! 🫶🏼✨
This is a fantastic list! I especially love the idea of purchasing books by a trans author and putting them in local little free libraries! A novel by a trans author that I enjoyed this summer was Woodworking by Emily St. James.
I couldn't click open fast enough when the notification for this came through. And I just read through this and wow, what an amazing and helpful list. I am also honored to see Joonwoo's and my work listed among some truly incredible educational resources. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I hope folks will continue to upgrade their subscriptions to you so you can be adequately compensated for the thoughtful effort and time you put into this work.
In Minneapolis, we’ve been gearing up for the third annual Drop Deadlift Gorgeous event on Saturday, September 27! Drop Deadlift Gorgeous is a powerlifting exhibition that celebrates strength and trans+ inclusion in sport. This year, we’re hoping to blow past our goal of $100,000 for PFund's Transcend Fund, which supports organizations across the Upper Midwest serving trans+ and gender expansive people.
My favorite trans-authored book is the novel Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. It has sci-fi deals with the devil in a California donut shop, and the protagonist is a transfeminine youth!
(BTW, I played Hawai'ian Hanafuda with Ms. Aoki on a cruise line (before my egg cracked), and I can say she's a fantastic teacher as well!)
UPDATE: Derp, Emma. R. has already mentioned this book! I apologize!
Snarky Baby Marky re-imagined as if Howard Cosell were behind the microphone in a late-1970s television editorial — clipped cadence, rolling gravitas, and just enough ego to make it fun.
“Step One — The Transgender Smokescreen Before Roe Fell”
(Delivered in the Voice of Howard Cosell)
> “Ladies and gentlemen… let us be honest with one another.”
What we are witnessing… in the grand arena of American politics… is not a debate about health care. No. It is a contest for control. The so-called ‘transgender health-care crisis’—a phrase designed to inflame, not to inform—is nothing more than the opening play in a larger game.
The Affordable Care Act… that much-maligned piece of legislation… never promised anyone free surgery, free hormones, or a government-issued makeover. It said, simply and profoundly: you may not discriminate on the basis of sex. A modest declaration of fairness.
But fairness… ladies and gentlemen… does not fill campaign coffers. And so, into the breach stepped Senators Cruz and Lee—self-anointed defenders of morality—waving their banners and crying, ‘Obama’s transgender mandate!’ They took a footnote of civil rights and turned it into a full-blown moral panic.
Why? Because outrage is profitable. Because fear, in modern America, sells better than beer at a ballpark.
And make no mistake… that panic was Step One. The test run. Could the public be made to surrender autonomy in the name of righteousness? When the answer came back yes, the next target was ready: Roe v. Wade. The same language, the same slogans—“protect life,” while quietly erasing the right to live one’s own.
The Founders, I remind you, understood what it meant to have one’s body owned by another. They lived among slavery. So when they wrote of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they were not indulging in poetry; they were declaring that no man, no church, no government may hold another hostage.
Yet here we stand—two centuries later—watching politicians in the costume of patriots attempt to rewrite that promise. To dictate identity, to legislate obedience, to decide, once again, who owns the body and the will of the citizen.
This… is not freedom.
So, ladies and gentlemen, remember the simple truth: the right to life means the right to your life body mind and soul. Not life on somebody else’s leash.
A book I’ve recommended so many times: Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Found family and trans joy, but also classical music, Faustian bargains, and aliens running a donut shop. 💫🍩🎻
I am OBSESSED with that book!!!! It’s SO good!!
IKR?
BTW, Ryka herself taught me how to play Hawai'ian Hanafuda on a cruise ship (before my egg cracked). After the cruise was over, I bought the book in paper, electronic, and audio formats (all free of pesky DRM)!
One of my poet friends knows Ryka and she sounds like the coolest person. Did you meet her on the cruise?
Yes! I met her on the cruise! I just wish she would write another book, but Light From Uncommon Stars is *sooooo good* that its appeal even extends to cis people (or at least eggs who don't know they're trans yet)!
EDIT: We played a game of Hawai'ian Hanafuda, and to be honest, we promised each other that we would play another game if we were to meet again! If there's one reason why I want to meet her again, that's the main one!
Goddammit, you stole my thunder!
I agree with you Emma - a fabulous read!
I love this so much and I’m going to share it with the Pride employee resource group at my work. Thank you for your work!
I love that! Thanks, Kris!!
Thank you so so much for compiling this list, it’s like a grounding anchor is such a chaotic painful time. Appreciate you and all that you stand for! 🫶🏼✨
This is a fantastic list! I especially love the idea of purchasing books by a trans author and putting them in local little free libraries! A novel by a trans author that I enjoyed this summer was Woodworking by Emily St. James.
I couldn't click open fast enough when the notification for this came through. And I just read through this and wow, what an amazing and helpful list. I am also honored to see Joonwoo's and my work listed among some truly incredible educational resources. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I hope folks will continue to upgrade their subscriptions to you so you can be adequately compensated for the thoughtful effort and time you put into this work.
This is SO sweet!!! thank you so much, friend. Your work is fantastic—it was a no brainer to lift you up here!!
In Minneapolis, we’ve been gearing up for the third annual Drop Deadlift Gorgeous event on Saturday, September 27! Drop Deadlift Gorgeous is a powerlifting exhibition that celebrates strength and trans+ inclusion in sport. This year, we’re hoping to blow past our goal of $100,000 for PFund's Transcend Fund, which supports organizations across the Upper Midwest serving trans+ and gender expansive people.
https://givebutter.com/DDG/
Exactly what we need, thank you!
Woodworking by Emily St James!
My favorite trans-authored book is the novel Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. It has sci-fi deals with the devil in a California donut shop, and the protagonist is a transfeminine youth!
(BTW, I played Hawai'ian Hanafuda with Ms. Aoki on a cruise line (before my egg cracked), and I can say she's a fantastic teacher as well!)
UPDATE: Derp, Emma. R. has already mentioned this book! I apologize!
Never apologize for recommending this book!!
Snarky Baby Marky re-imagined as if Howard Cosell were behind the microphone in a late-1970s television editorial — clipped cadence, rolling gravitas, and just enough ego to make it fun.
“Step One — The Transgender Smokescreen Before Roe Fell”
(Delivered in the Voice of Howard Cosell)
> “Ladies and gentlemen… let us be honest with one another.”
What we are witnessing… in the grand arena of American politics… is not a debate about health care. No. It is a contest for control. The so-called ‘transgender health-care crisis’—a phrase designed to inflame, not to inform—is nothing more than the opening play in a larger game.
The Affordable Care Act… that much-maligned piece of legislation… never promised anyone free surgery, free hormones, or a government-issued makeover. It said, simply and profoundly: you may not discriminate on the basis of sex. A modest declaration of fairness.
But fairness… ladies and gentlemen… does not fill campaign coffers. And so, into the breach stepped Senators Cruz and Lee—self-anointed defenders of morality—waving their banners and crying, ‘Obama’s transgender mandate!’ They took a footnote of civil rights and turned it into a full-blown moral panic.
Why? Because outrage is profitable. Because fear, in modern America, sells better than beer at a ballpark.
And make no mistake… that panic was Step One. The test run. Could the public be made to surrender autonomy in the name of righteousness? When the answer came back yes, the next target was ready: Roe v. Wade. The same language, the same slogans—“protect life,” while quietly erasing the right to live one’s own.
The Founders, I remind you, understood what it meant to have one’s body owned by another. They lived among slavery. So when they wrote of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they were not indulging in poetry; they were declaring that no man, no church, no government may hold another hostage.
Yet here we stand—two centuries later—watching politicians in the costume of patriots attempt to rewrite that promise. To dictate identity, to legislate obedience, to decide, once again, who owns the body and the will of the citizen.
This… is not freedom.
So, ladies and gentlemen, remember the simple truth: the right to life means the right to your life body mind and soul. Not life on somebody else’s leash.
And that… is Howard Cos
ell… speaking of America.
Gender Outlaw!!!
The Transgender Spectrum by Martine Rothblatt
In Case You Read This, a YA novel by Edward Underhill. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
You can also listen to a bit of this and comment on why this is ridiculous.
https://youtu.be/KjwzMcBIMRA?si=fTK-BYdv5q7cprEx
Thank you!!