end of March reading recap
Mar. 31st, 2025 09:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
screechfoxI reshelved my books today to filter in books I've bought over the last couple of weeks, and I'm officially out of space for new fiction books. Well, technically I still have "stacking on top" space, which is more than can be said for my non-fiction, but it's still a bad sign about my ability to keep acquiring books.
The second half of March has been a lot of books with trans themes, because of the Trans Rights Readathon.
--
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë
The only non-trans book in this half of the month (although I'd like to read that fic). I got a lot more out of this book than I did either time I read it in school. Jane is such a great, strong-willed character. This edition had a really good introduction + "translations" that gave me a better understanding of the context, too; I hadn't realised how divisive it was when published. Look forward to rereading again in another six years or so!
A Natural History of Transition, by Callum Angus
A magical realism-tinged short story collection around themes of gender. I really liked this; I think my favourite was the story about 17th century nuns who change from male to female and back every six months, but I might just have nuns on the brain. I think I ought to have read it more slowly to let the stories breathe a little bit more, but still, some good tales!
Confessions of the Fox, by Jordy Rosenberg
Ehhhh. This wasn't for me, and I don't know if that's a me problem or an it problem. I know I'm not the target audience, that's for sure; this book assumes familiarity with a lot of academic theory that I simply don't have. The idea of the footnotes story was neat, and I get what themes Rosenberg was trying to convey, but it just wasn't compelling to me in practice. I did enjoy the main story, though, even if the characters were a little thin; I liked the commitment to an old-fashioned writing style, and it was also immensely horny.
Sistersong, by Lucy Holland
Bad luck with trans novels this month. This was a frustrating book for me: I lost track of the number of times characters ended a scene by storming off in anger, and I have limited patience for characters making bad decisions out of attraction. I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't trying to fit itself to be a reimagining. The bones of something good were there, just not in a way I liked.
Also, it committed a petty pet peeve of mine by having its Celtic Briton pagan characters fondly think about celebrating Lammas.
The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice, by Shon Faye
What a book! Preaching to the choir, obviously, but Faye wrote a really clear and cogent analysis of issues affecting trans people in Britain, how this links to other marginalised populations, and what we could do about it. A library get that I will prioritise buying for myself. It's slightly outdated already, being pre-Labour and pre-Cass review, but I won't hold that against it.
Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman, by Leslie Feinberg
I wanted to read this before reading Before We Were Trans by Kit Heyam (which I'm reading right now), because I was curious how much DNA they would share. Although the answer is "some", they're overall very different books. This book is one part slightly flawed history, and one part memoir about personal and political consciousness. The details gleaned about the context it was written in were worth it alone.
--
I've still got a few holdovers from the TRR to finish off, then I've got a couple library books to go through.
Games-wise, I got Beastieball at the weekend after watching a streamer play it, and I'm enjoying it a lot! I don't think I'm very good at it, but it's a lot of fun!
The second half of March has been a lot of books with trans themes, because of the Trans Rights Readathon.
--
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë
The only non-trans book in this half of the month (although I'd like to read that fic). I got a lot more out of this book than I did either time I read it in school. Jane is such a great, strong-willed character. This edition had a really good introduction + "translations" that gave me a better understanding of the context, too; I hadn't realised how divisive it was when published. Look forward to rereading again in another six years or so!
A Natural History of Transition, by Callum Angus
A magical realism-tinged short story collection around themes of gender. I really liked this; I think my favourite was the story about 17th century nuns who change from male to female and back every six months, but I might just have nuns on the brain. I think I ought to have read it more slowly to let the stories breathe a little bit more, but still, some good tales!
Confessions of the Fox, by Jordy Rosenberg
Ehhhh. This wasn't for me, and I don't know if that's a me problem or an it problem. I know I'm not the target audience, that's for sure; this book assumes familiarity with a lot of academic theory that I simply don't have. The idea of the footnotes story was neat, and I get what themes Rosenberg was trying to convey, but it just wasn't compelling to me in practice. I did enjoy the main story, though, even if the characters were a little thin; I liked the commitment to an old-fashioned writing style, and it was also immensely horny.
Sistersong, by Lucy Holland
Bad luck with trans novels this month. This was a frustrating book for me: I lost track of the number of times characters ended a scene by storming off in anger, and I have limited patience for characters making bad decisions out of attraction. I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't trying to fit itself to be a reimagining. The bones of something good were there, just not in a way I liked.
Also, it committed a petty pet peeve of mine by having its Celtic Briton pagan characters fondly think about celebrating Lammas.
The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice, by Shon Faye
What a book! Preaching to the choir, obviously, but Faye wrote a really clear and cogent analysis of issues affecting trans people in Britain, how this links to other marginalised populations, and what we could do about it. A library get that I will prioritise buying for myself. It's slightly outdated already, being pre-Labour and pre-Cass review, but I won't hold that against it.
Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman, by Leslie Feinberg
I wanted to read this before reading Before We Were Trans by Kit Heyam (which I'm reading right now), because I was curious how much DNA they would share. Although the answer is "some", they're overall very different books. This book is one part slightly flawed history, and one part memoir about personal and political consciousness. The details gleaned about the context it was written in were worth it alone.
--
I've still got a few holdovers from the TRR to finish off, then I've got a couple library books to go through.
Games-wise, I got Beastieball at the weekend after watching a streamer play it, and I'm enjoying it a lot! I don't think I'm very good at it, but it's a lot of fun!
