Books like Redefining realness by Janet Mock

A groundbreaking memoir that blends personal narrative with rigorous theory, charting Maggie Nelson’s queer romance, pregnancy, and the politics of love and family.

Janet Mock’s memoir follows her early twenties as a first‑generation college student, dance club worker, and trans woman navigating love, identity, and a career in magazine publishing in Hawaii, New York, and beyond.

A true‑story memoir of a transgender girl, her identical twin brother, and the American family that embraces their journey of gender identity and acceptance.

Ivan Coyote is a celebrated storyteller and the author of ten previous books, including Gender Failure (with Rae Spoon) and One in Every Crowd, a collection for LGBT youth. Tomboy Survival Guide is a funny and moving memoir told in stories, in which Ivan recounts the pleasures and difficulties of growing up a tomboy in Canada’s Yukon, and how they learned to embrace their tomboy past while carving out a space for those of us who don’t fit neatly into boxes or identities or labels. Ivan writes movingly about many firsts: the first time they were mistaken for a boy; the first time they purposely discarded their bikini top so they could join the boys at the local swimming pool; and the first time they were chastised for using the women’s washroom. Ivan also explores their years as a young butch, dealing with new infatuations and old baggage, and life as a gender-box-defying adult, in which they offer advice to young people while seeking guidance from others. (And for tomboys in training, there are even directions on building your very own unicorn trap.) Tomboy Survival Guide warmly recounts Ivan’s adventures and mishaps as a diffident yet free-spirited tomboy, and maps their journey through treacherous gender landscapes and a maze of labels that don’t quite stick, to a place of self-acceptance and an authentic and personal strength. These heartfelt, funny, and moving stories are about the culture of difference—a “guide” to being true to one’s self.

Sesali Bowen blends personal essays with cultural commentary to forge Trap Feminism, a fresh lens on feminism that interrogates sexism, fatphobia, and capitalism through the prism of Black women, queer identities, and hip‑hop culture.

A book exploring the emotional investment we make in the things we choose to live with, wear, eat, read or drive, featuring six vibrant and highly detailed tapestries by artist Grayson Perry.

Caroline Cossey’s autobiography chronicles her journey from a troubled childhood in northern England to a celebrated international model, detailing her transition, public scrutiny, and legal fight for recognition as a woman.

The Transgender Studies Reader compiles fifty key texts, introduced by Susan Stryker, charting the field’s development within queer theory, feminist studies, and the history of sexuality.

A candid memoir charting the journey of Jennifer Finney Boylan from James to Jenny, detailing personal transformation, changing friendships, and a resilient marriage of love and family.

A candid transgender memoir of a woman’s journey through the Castro neighborhood, where she meets queer friends, questions gender, and discovers love and self‑acceptance.