A reading challenge blog

Reading books from all the countries. Progress: 85 of 208 countries. { Call me P. | they/them | USA | Virgo♍☀️ | Follows welcome} Storygraph: tokagelizard Art: @lizardsaredinosaurs

[lizard-reads-the-world]

Read in May-June 2026

In Repair by A.L. Graziadei ★★★★★ The author did a beautiful job of showing the character's struggles in a real way. I cried a lot.

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei Brenyah ★★★★ Dystopian reality murder show mixed with real-life damning statistics of the US prison system.

Like We Were in Paris by Stephan Lee ★★★ Unapologetically sappy romance about a teen boy who wants to experience the romantic magic of Paris.

Blackout by various authors ★★★ A collection of interconnected stories during one night of a blackout in NYC, all by Black authors.

Checkers by John Marsden ★★★ Oh, shit. Spoiler: was the site 'does the dog die' made for this book? A short, gradually-revealed story with a killer (T_T) ending.

Alice Pung on John Marsden by Alice Pung ★★★★ An essay on the author of one of my favorite series. I enjoyed the dissection of the writer's works, even ones I haven't yet read. I should pick up more in this series if I can find them or similar writing-focused books.

Someone to Daydream About by Sydney Langford ★★★★ A fun romance. I especially enjoyed the Deaf/Hard of Hearing rep. Some of the tropes (the "evil" entertainment company, the MC's initial "I hate you because you're a celebrity" attitude) I found a little bland.

Monarchs in the Wild by Israel Moya ★★★★★ Coming-of-age of a teen boy and his vintage Mustang in rural California. I loved the realness of Cal's anger, his confusion, and the portrayal of a small town in the 90s.

The Call of the Friend by JaeHoon Choi ★★★ Short manhwa in a series of Lovecraft-inspired stories. Very minimalist and subtle, more vibes than anything, but the meaning comes through in the end and with the author's ending note.

Alien Gods by Lee Suhyeon ★★★★ Short story in a series of Lovecraft-inspired works, about a graduate student researching mudang (female shamans). I loved the theme here of "women's madness".

[lizard-reads-the-world]

Read in April 2026

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy ★★★★★ The chapters are written as novel-like stories, and the cynical humor is biting and relatable. I can see how this became a best-seller.

Leap by Simina Popescu ★★★★ A lovely graphic novel about two roommates at a dance school in Romania and their sapphic relationships/crushes. (Replacing my previous world challenge book for Romania (which wasn't a Romanian author) with this one.)

The Ways of White Folks by Langston Hughes ★★★★ A collection of short stories about the shit that white people do. Some amusing, some sad and disturbing (but not surprising). Sadly still too relevant for a book from 1934. Hughes is a great story-teller.

I Want to Kiss You in Public by Zelda French ★★★★★ I love books with strong voice and strong dialogue so I really enjoyed the characters in this book.

I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying by Youngmi Mayer ★★★★★ Memoir by a mixed Korean-white person on her childhood/youth and culture. Proving comedians really do have the best insights into society and humanity. I enjoyed this a lot.

The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seon-Ran ★★★★ Dual timeline between a detective investigating deaths at a nursing home, and a French-Korean adoptee and her vampire friend. (Sapphic-coded)

Holy Boy by Lee Heejoo ★★★ A K-pop idol is kidnapped by a group of four women with varying motives. Interesting/disturbing at times, but the pacing was too disjointed and a bit unsatisfying.

I Have Life: Raped, Stabbed, and Left for Dead by Marianne Thamm ★★★ The story of Alison Botha. I'm not someone to normally use the word "miracle", but otherwise I don't understand how this person is still alive. The writing was more engaging than I expected.

The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories I'm still working through this one. There is a big range of stories here from early 20th century colonial times to the modern era, and so far my enjoyment of the stories definitely varies.

Raceless by Georgina Lawton ★★★ Memoir by a mixed Black-white British woman whose parents raised her as white without any explanation. It becomes a series of essays on race, perception, and identity - very interesting.

[sollun-tea]

𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐍/𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐂 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

I don't know if anyone has done this before, but I will make one anyway. When I was still questioning, I was in search of different works that represented transmasculine individuals, not just as side stories or background characters, but a story witten from the eyes of a transmasc character and focused on his/their journey. It took a lot of work to actually find some of these but I did. So I decided to compile a list of books I've found so far, the gender of the main character, genre, and romantic pairing where applicable.

For some of the ones I've read, I have added additional information, but I'll try to leave out spoilers. I may make a mistake with that though so please let me know if that's the case so I can edit it. Also, just because I didn't add the romantic pairing for some, doesn't mean there's no romance in them; they may be key to the plot, minor parts of the story or are non-fiction.

In addition to the above, for books marked as horror --especially books by Andrew Joseph White, this man does not joke-- PLEASE READ THE WARNING PAGE ON THEIR BOOK SITES. THERE ARE ALSO WARNINGS IN THE BOOKS, DIGITAL OR PHYSICAL. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.

Please note some of these stories may or may not contain some level of transphobia, homophobia or other forms of discrimination. I have not read many of them so please look into them before you read.

Fiction

• The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill (trans man)- Contemporary, coming-of-age, time travel fiction || It's a cozy book, the time travel isn't anything big enough to warrant a scifi label.

• Can't Take That Away by Steven Salvatore (genderqueer)- Contemporary, music, YA.

• Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve (trans boy)- Contemporary, YA || Theatre kids, mostly focuses on the main character growing to accept himself and how to handle that topic with others.

• Man o' War by Cory McCarthy (transmasc nonbinary mc and nonbinary sc) (t4t)- Contemporary, YA, mental health, romance|| The main character comes to terms with their transness while dealing with some internalized transphobia and dysphoria.

• Second Chances in New Port Stephen by TJ Alexander (trans man) (mxm)- Comedy, romance, contemporary.

• Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa (trans man) (mxm)- Romance, YA, historical || It might not be as enjoyable if you try to compare it too much to the original Pride & Prejudice story. Just think of it as an author's canon-divergent AU.

• Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (transmasc, poc) (mxm)- Romance, YA, contemporary.

• Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner (trans boy and trans girl mc)- Horror, paranormal, YA, Contemporary.

• Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White (trans boy, neurodivergent(autistic))- Horror, contemporary, thriller || I absolutely adore this book and especially the author for all his works. It handles the topic of generational trauma and existing as a neurodivergent person so well.

• Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore (trans boy and nonbinary mcs, neurodivergent(ADHD and dyslexia)) (t4t)- YA, fantasy, romance, contemporary.

• The Transition by Logan-Ashley Kisner (trans boy)- Horror, paranormal, fantasy, YA, werewolves || A book I also adore, especially for our horror werewolf fans. This book really hit close to home for me, I also highly recommend.

• The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White (trans boy and trans girl mc) (mxf, t4t)- Horror, YA, historical, fantasy, gothic || Also a good read, not finished with it yet but it's amazing so far.

• Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore (trans man) (mxm, c4t)- Romance, contemporary, comedy, paranormal.

• Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Mari McLemore (two trans boys, poc) (mxm, t4t)- Romance, historical, YA || Remember, Canon-divergent™.

• Cementery Boys by Aiden Thomas (trans boy, poc) (mxm, c4t)- YA, romance, contemporary, fantasy, paranormal || Many recommend this one.

• Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White (trans boy) (mxm, c4t)- YA, post-apocalyptic, (body) horror, survival thriller || Also recommended.

• Sunbearer Trials by Aidan Thomas (trans boy, poc)- Fantasy, YA, mythology.

• Venom and Vow by Anne-Marie McLemore and Elliot McLemore (trans boy and bigender mcs, poc)- Fantasy, YA, romance.

• And They Were Roomates by Page Powars (trans boy) (mxm, c4t)- YA, romance, contemporary, comedy.

• The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons (trans boy, poc) (mxm, c4t)- YA, romance, contemporary, sports.

Non-fiction/Memoirs and Autobiographies

• Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place by Jackson Bird (trans man)- Memoir & Autobiography.

• He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters by Schuyler Bailar (trans man)- Memoir, educational guide || Not finished with it yet, it's a book more suited for allies or people to help understand trans folks in general. He talks about his personal experiences and journey, and also includes explanations and educational information on trans people, our care, and experiences.

• Self-Made Man: Autobiography of a Black Transgender Man by Kevin Thompson (trans man, poc)- Memoir & Autobiography.

16+ (Older teens/Adult)

• The Build-a-Boyfriend Project by Mason Deaver (trans man) (mxm, c4t)- Romance, contemporary, new adult, fiction || Explicit sexual content.

• Idlewild by James Frankie Thomas (trans man)- Coming-of-age, fiction, contemporary, dark academia.

• All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes (trans man)- Horror, survival thriller, historical, mystery, cosmic horror.

• The Natural Mother of the Child by Krys Malcolm Belc (transmasc nonbinary)- Memoir & autobiography || Experience with gestational parenthood and childcare as a transmasculine person.

• Something That May Shock and Discredit You by Daniel Mallory Ortberg (trans man)- Metafictional memoir.

18+ / Mature Audience

My blog is already 18+, but to the minors who may stumble on this post and stubbornly and curiously peer into this section, this part is NOT for you. There are appropriate books above you can pick from but the books listed below are not, they are MA for a reason.

Now for the rest of us, here are books categorized as either Mature or Adult. We will start with Fiction:

• You Weren't Meant to be Human by Andrew Joseph White (trans man, neurodivergent (autism, non-verbal))- Horror, thriller, scifi, contemporary, psychological horror || This book is visceral, explicit and blunt. Body horror is a major part of the plot among other very dark themes so I repeat, read the warnings on this book. It is my number one book from this author, and I connected so much with the main character I can't even begin to explain it. But others may not be able to read through the book, especially if it is triggering. So please read the warnings.

• The Leech by Hiron Ennes (trans man or intersex, unclear but he is trans and uses he/him)- Horror, scifi, gothic, fantasy, dystopian.

• The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo (trans man)- Horror, novella, historical || The romance in this one is a little problematic to some and not others due to the age gap. Outside that it's quite good.

• A Gentleman's Gentleman by TJ Alexander (two trans men mcs) (mxm, t4t)- Romance, historical.

•Ponyboy by Eliot Duncan (transmasc) - Contemporary, mental health and addiction.

• Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman (Trans man) (mxf, c4t)- Fantasy, romance, paranormal, vampires, horror.

• Confessions of a Fox by Jordy Rosenberg (two trans man mcs)- Historical, literary fiction, metafiction || Get's pretty explicit with sexual content and gory or visceral depictions.

• The Church of the Mountain of Flesh by Kyle Wakefield (trans man)- (Body) horror, fantasy, adult, religion, thriller, historical || Again read the warnings, the religious trauma is strong with this one, amongst other things.

• I will also like to add another indie trans author named Mars Adler who writes horror and dark novella and novelette with trans or queer main characters. They often include t4t representation as well. You can take a look at his books and stories here or on Pinterest: https://marsadler.itch.io/

Of course, the gender of the character depend on the story you're reading, but there are trans men and transmasc representation as main characters among others. I put this in this section because the author mainly writes stories for a mature audience.

Now for non-fiction:

• Beautiful Monster: A Beginning by Miles Borrero (transmasc genderfluid, immigrant poc)- Memoir & biography || For heavy themes.

• Young Man/We Both Laughed in Pleasure by Lou Sullivan (trans man)- History, memoir & biography || Compiled private journals written by the American trans activists and historian, Lou Sullivan.

• A Trans Man Walks Into a Gay Bar by Harry Nicholas (trans man)- Memoir & biography || This was one of the first memoirs by a trans man that I had ever read when I was figuring out my identity. It helped give me some perspective to my experience and understanding on navigating the gay scene. It was a good read. He does delve into his sexuality and relationship on a very intimate level so it gets explicit.

• Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg ( - ) - Historical, social realism, coming-of-age || It follows the journey of a stone butch lesbian and transitions through life both societal and gender wise. According to what I've read, it's supposed to be fiction but the author's life is highly reflected in the story and the main character enough to nearly be non-fiction, so it's in an interesting grey area. Please search up trigger warnings as it delves into very real but triggering experiences.

•Pageboy by Elliot Page (trans man) - Memoir & autobiography.

This is not an exhaustive list, there are very much books I am missing from this list so please feel free to mention them in the comments (Only books where the main character or one of the main characters is a trans man/transmasc please). I'll update the list accordingly when I can. And again, please let me know if I've made any mistakes here.

I know a lot of us are starved for representation, but I promise you they are out there. It's not easy to find but it's there. We do not find much representation in movies, series, games, etc, but there are many books with us represented in it, and many written by other trans men and transmasculine people.

I also plan to do another for nonbinary and transfem representation but it may take a while before I get to that.

In the meantime, enjoy!

[alphacrone]

i don't really want to weight in on the "using big words in your writing is ableist" discourse happening on tiktok because i'm like 90% certain it's an anti-intellectual psyop to stir up drama in online circles to promote the use of ai to summarize literally everything and thus feeding the LLMs and lowering the populace's mistrust of such tools but i also have to say: dictionaries and thesauruses are the most accessible they've ever been. if you use an e-reader of any kind you can look up a word without leaving the page. there's a plethora of online dictionaries and if you just type a word + "meaning" into google it'll usually give you a definition. we used to have pocket dictionaries we used when reading in class. i have two on my shelf right now that i used in high school. stop letting the fascists purposefully misuse anti-ableism rhetoric to trick you into never thinking again.

[lizard-reads-the-world]

Read in March 2026

Blues in Stereo: The Early Works of Langston Hughes curated by Danez Smith ★★★★ A mix of poetry, an unfinished play, and I can't remember now if there were short stories, with commentary and background info.

Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen ★★★★ A mixed novel+non-fiction documentary style telling the story of the Steller's sea cow and how it came to be extinct less than 30 years after Europeans first saw it. Translated from Finnish, a history of Alaska and a profound look at nature, evolution, and man at the same time.

Queer Throughlines by Ju Hui Judy Han ★★★★ An academic work on the history of queer activism in South Korea and Korean diaspora. Has a very long theory-based introduction, but the rest was very educational.

Common Bonds: A Speculative Aromantic Anthology I dropped this one as I just wasn't feeling the fantasy settings.

You With the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate ★★★ I should write thoughts as soon as I finish the book because I can't exactly remember my impression of the writing now except that it was interesting enough to keep reading. I also appreciated the author's honesty about how much her MS diagnosis sucks rather than being inspirational about it.

To the Moon by Jang Ryujin ★★★★ Three office worker women try to get rich off of cryptocurrency. This was comforting in its relateable-ness, nail-biting as the characters watch their cryptocurrency go up and down, and I appreciate the ending that wasn't what I was afraid it might be.

Your Body, Your Voice by Theodore Dimon ★★★ I think this got a little repetitive at points, or rather that the author used a lot of words in places he could have expressed an idea in less. I read this for research rather than personal reasons, so I can't speak to its effectiveness as I wasn't trying to improve my own singing.

Seven Years of Darkness by You-Jeong Jeong ★★★ I loved The Good Son by this author so I was excited to pick this up. I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous novel, I think because The Good Son had such an immersive character voice, whereas Seven Years of Darkness is more omniscient and didn't have the same level of suspense.

Our Not-so-Lonely Planet Travel Guide: Vol 5 by Mone Sorai ★★★★ Fun to catch up with the guys on where they are in the world (still in Latin America in this volume).

[lizard-reads-the-world]

Read in February 2026

Already wrote my thoughts for the Korean ones here

K-pop Revolution by Stephan Lee ★★★★ I'll Love You Forever by Giaae Kwon ★★★★★ Korea: A New History of North and South by Victor Cha and Ramon Pacheco Pardo ★★★★ The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-yeon ★★★ Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital by Elise Hu ★★★★

Too Much is Not Enough by Andrew Rannells ★★★★★ February is when I starting picking up memoirs by people I don't or vaguely know. Rannells is an entertaining writer - I enjoyed the Midwest humor and his stories of being a gay aspiring Broadway actor.

Growing Up Urkel by Jaleel White ★★★ This was an interesting look into 90s sitcoms, contracts and agents, racism in Hollywood, and other topics. Felt like the author had a bone to pick with certain people at times.

Misery by Stephen King ★★ Probably not the best choice for only the second King novel I've read. I just didn't find interest in the main character which isn't good in a character-centered story.

[ullathynell]

Woodlands Kickstarter has over 1000 followers, hooray! Many thanks to everyone who followed and shared the campaign so far. ❤️

I just posted another behind-the-scenes update where I talk about the mixed media I used for the 2027 Calendar illustrations, with some extra footage of my art process.

[andatsea]

And tomorrow will be sunny, she said.

--

Twitter / Bsky / Shop / INPRNT / Patreon

[lizard-reads-the-world]

Read in January 2026

I already wrote my thoughts for the Korean ones here.

Shrimp to Whale: South Korea from the Forgotten War to K-pop by Ramon Pacheco Pardo ★★★ Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin ★★★ I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee ★★★ If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha ★★★★★

Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews ★★★★★ I loved this! I saw this coming up on my feed a lot and it lived up to the hype. I loved that the prose wasn't afraid to be flowery and poetic as it really fit these two boys.

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay ★★★ I'll make a post of its own as I'll be checking off the Philippines. A boy goes looking for answers about his cousin who was murdered by Duterte's regime.

[lizard-reads-the-world]

The Last Cold Place 🇦🇶 Antarctica

The Last Cold Place: A Field Season Studying Penguins in Antarctica

Author: Naira de Gracia

World Reading Challenge for 🇦🇶 Antarctica

Review

I'm this behind on reviews?? Okay, I read this a year ago. Therefore, my memory will be a little fuzzy.

This details the author's experience spending two seasons (summer in Antarctica) recording chinstrap penguins and elephant(?) seals on an island near the Antarctic Peninsula. A mix of scientific details of penguin- and seal-wrangling and insights on humans in isolation and connection to earth. As I recall, I found it interesting enough to keep reading consistently. And definitely learned a lot about penguins!

★★★★ 4 stars

[lizard-reads-the-world]

Looked back at my posts and I haven't made a monthly what-I-read post since last May. T_T Wonder if I should make a whole bunch of monthly posts to catch up, or... start where I am now? Storygraph says I read 39 books since the beginning of the year, 56 in 2025 total.

[lizard-reads-the-world]

Hm, looking at my reading journal, most of the 2025 books I already put in my two Korean lists. So maybe I'll make a few posts for 2026, plus the few world challenge books I didn't review yet.

[lizard-reads-the-world]

Looked back at my posts and I haven't made a monthly what-I-read post since last May. T_T Wonder if I should make a whole bunch of monthly posts to catch up, or... start where I am now? Storygraph says I read 39 books since the beginning of the year, 56 in 2025 total.

[lexsreadingcorner]

WE JUST HAD OUR GAS AND ELECTRIC SHUT OFF

I'm sorry to ask, but our predatory gas and electric company just shut off our power. Our city is protesting and trying to establish a different company because of how horrible they've been for many years, but we have no options at this time. The only other option currently only services wealthier neighborhoods (you know, the people who *don't* need it), while poor neighborhoods are suffering. We're living in poverty. Besides all the food we got from the food pantry going to waste, we have reptiles that rely on heaters. We can't charge our phones without power. We have an electric stove, so we can't cook anything. We basically have bread to eat until we can get our power back on and get more food in the house. If we want to eat anything other than bread, we have to waste money on fast food.

We applied for financial assistance over a month ago and, despite already having a shut off notice at that time, we were told that we aren't an "emergency case" and have received no information as to the status of our application. We're applying for a payment plan through the company, but they gave us no timeframe in which they'll process the paperwork and *maybe* approve us for a plan.

Right now I have $366 in my bank account and a paycheck for $290. Almost all of that has to go to the other $545 we still owe for June rent. I don't know what the fuck to do at this point. As an example of how predatory this company is, our most recent threatening letter told us the down-payment is $639, but we were told on the phone that we had to pay the full amount of $4004.08 (both to keep the power on, despite the letter, and to turn it back on after it had been shut off)

I'm sorry to keep asking for financial help. I keep thinking things are going to get better, and then life throws something else our way. ANY assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Cashapp: $Thebeans24

Venmo: @thebeans24

Paypal: @lexpeters24

If you can't help that's okay, please just reblog this so we have a chance of getting help.

[echinoderm-of-the-day]

Eucidaris thouarsii

Image source: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/37786462

[transbookoftheday]

Where You'll Find Us by Jen St. Jude

In this beautifully profound YA novel, a trans teen finds a home where queer kids from all different decades have found refuge from hatred-and from time.

Calla Quick has no future. At least, that's how it feels. Her parents disowned her via text message, and now she can't afford to go to an all-women's college with her girlfriend Ramona like they planned. But Calla wonders if maybe that's for the best-because even though Calla told Ramona her parents disowned her because they found out she's gay, the truth is, Calla has been questioning whether she's a girl at all.

Calla wishes she had more time to figure everything out, and one night, her wish is seemingly granted. When Calla and Ramona stumble upon a mysterious farmhouse the woods, they meet five teens who claim they've lived there for decades. The land, which they call Amaranth, acts as a safe haven for queer kids throughout history-a place free of hate, free of violence, free of time itself. Here, Calla can be Cal, and they feel instantly accepted. They don't have to worry about the future because at Amaranth, it will never come-until one night when the clock strikes twelve.

Now under a literal ticking clock, the housemates must find a way to stop time again or face going back to their harsh realities, but as Cal learns everyone's story, they begin to wonder what queer people lose when their history is lost to time.

[alicearmageddon]

"For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved? Will you punish us for that? Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate? No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of deserving, the idea of earning, and you will begin to be able to think."

-Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossesed

[fillianore-moved]

so metropolitan museum of art has a register of books they’ve published that are out of print and that you can download for free! they’re mostly books on art, archeology, architecture, fashion and history and i just think that’s super useful and interesting so i wanted to share! you can find all of the books available here!