#book picks

[intersexbookclub]

January Pick: Envisioning African Intersex

Continuing our trend of alternating between fiction and non-fiction, our pick for January is Envisioning African Intersex: Challenging Colonial and Racist Legacies in South African Medicine, by Amanda Lock Swarr.

This is an academic text, so we won't be reading the whole thing! To make it manageable, we will be reading the first three chapters:

The Introduction: Pathologizing Gender Binaries

Chapter 1: Colonial Observations and Fallacies

Chapter 2: Intersex in Four South African Racial Groups in Durban

To ensure everybody has access to the book, a pdf copy is available through the discord.

Content notice: this book will be talking about the history of intersexism, colonialism, and racism.

When we're meeting We will be meeting to discuss the four chapters on Fri Jan 26, at: - 12:30-14:00 Pacific (Vancouver, San Francisco, etc) - 15:30-17:00 Eastern (Toronto, New York, etc) - 21:30-23:00 Central European (Berlin, Paris, etc) for more time zones see here

To join the discord: https://discord.gg/U8ZucKwGPK Also see: our code of conduct

How much of the book do you need to read? You don’t need to finish it participate! You are welcome to skim and/or skip chapters as desired. Current & future book picks If this isn’t in the cards for you, we’re reading YA portal fantasy Across the Green Grass Fields this month (December), and in February we will be reading the sci-fi short story collection Power To Yield.

We'll be reading another non-fiction selection in March, but it is not yet decided, so let us know in the Discord what would interest you!

[rockislandadultreads]

Manga For Everyone: Picks from a librarian

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 1 by Tomohito Oda

Timid Tadano is a total wallflower, and that’s just the way he likes it. But all that changes when he finds himself alone in a classroom on the first day of high school with the legendary Komi. He quickly realizes she isn’t aloof—she’s just super awkward. Now he’s made it his mission to help her on her quest to make 100 friends!

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Vol 1 by Fujita

The awkward, romantic comedy manga about geeks in love that inspired the new anime! Can a professional man who's secretly a hardcore gamer and a woman who's secretly a fujoshi date without their hobbies getting in the way, or revealing each other's secrets?

Narumi and Hirotaka are, by all appearances, a power couple. They're young, good-looking professionals. But they have secrets from everyone but each other: They're serious geeks! Narumi is a fujoshi, and Hirotaka's a hardcore gamer. Their sweet, awkward love story started life as a webcomic before becoming a full-blown manga series by popular demand, and is about to become a major anime series!work.

Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits, Vol. 1 by Waco Ioka

Faced with the choice of being married to a strange spirit or being made into dinner, Aoi decides to create a third option for herself! Aoi Tsubaki inherited her grandfather’s ability to see spirits—and his massive debt to them! Now she’s been kidnapped and taken to Kakuriyo, the spirit world, to make good on his bill. Her options: marry the head of the inn her grandfather trashed, or get eaten by ayakashi. But Aoi isn’t the type to let spirits push her around, and she’s determined to redeem her grandfather’s IOU on her own terms! Aoi wants to work off her debt to the Tenjin-ya inn, but she only has one day to find a position and none of the managers are willing to hire a human! If she can just get someone to see past her family background, Aoi is certain she can prove her worth!

Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 1 by Kiiro Yumi

In the near future, the federal government creates a committee to rid society of books it deems unsuitable. The libraries vow to protect their collections, and with the help of local governments, form a military group to defend themselves--the Library Forces! Iku Kasahara has dreamed of joining the Library Defense Force ever since one of its soldiers stepped in to protect her favorite book from being confiscated in a bookstore when she was younger. But now that she's finally a recruit, she's finding her dream job to be a bit of a nightmare. Especially since her hard-hearted drill instructor seems to have it in for her!

[book-loving-soul]

[intersexbookclub]

Welcome to Intersex Book Club!

Why we meet: Our goal with the book club is to provide a social opportunity for intersex people, people questioning if they're intersex, and allies, to meet and explore intersex-oriented literature together.

When we meet: On the last Friday of the month, at 16:00 Eastern / 20:00 UTC. Meetings are usually 1.5 to 2 hours long; latecomers are welcome.

How we meet: On Microsoft Teams, with links posted on our discord: https://discord.gg/V3mrcjakGQ (See our code of conduct)

Book picks & meeting information In inverse chronological order - bookwyrm list

AUGUST 2026: Caliban's War by James SA Corey (Aug 28)

JULY 2026: A History of Intersex Liberation by Gleeson (July 31)

JUNE 2026: The Shape of Sex by DeVun, chapters 0-3 (Jun 26)

MAY 2026: Song of Spores by Takács (May 29)

APRIL 2026: Intersex Matters by Rubin, Chapters 0-2 (Apr 24)

MARCH 2026: Dump Stat by Silver (Mar 27)

FEBRUARY 2026: Sorrowland by Solomon (Feb 27)

JANUARY 2026: Darling by Ancrum (Jan 30)

DECEMBER 2025: Critical Intersex by Holmes, chapters 8-10. (Dec 19)

NOVEMBER 2025: Flawless Girls by McLemore (Nov 28)

OCTOBER 2025: Bodies in Doubt by Reis, second half (Oct 31)

SEPTEMBER 2025: Queer Ducks by Schrefer (Sep 26)

AUGUST 2025: Model Home by Solomon (Sep 5)

JULY 2025: Contesting Intersex by Davis, chapters 3-5 (Jul 25)

JUNE 2025: Trauma Farm by Brett (Jun 27)

MAY 2025: The Pursued and the Pursing by Odasso (May 30)

APRIL 2025: Contesting Intersex by Davis; chapters 1, 2 and 6 (Apr 25)

MARCH 2025: Born Both by Viloria (Mar 28)

FEBRUARY 2025: Wicked by Maguire (Feb 28)

JANUARY 2025: Queer Embodiment: Monstrosity, Medical Violence, and Intersex Experience by Malatino (Dec 27)

DECEMBER 2024: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Solomon (Jan 3)

NOVEMBER 2024: Just Ash by Santana (Nov 29)

OCTOBER 2024: Rosalind's Siblings, edited by Takács (Oct 25)

SEPTEMBER 2024: Cripping Intersex by Orr, chapters 0 and 7-9 (Sep 27)

AUGUST 2024: Intersex (for lack of a better word) by Hillman (Aug 30)

JULY 2024: Cattywampus by Otterloo (July 26)

JUNE 2024: Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex by Reis, first half (Jun 28)

MAY 2024: Icarus by Ancrum (May 31)

APRIL 2024: The Trans Space Octopus Congregation by Takács (Apr 26)

MARCH 2024: Envisioning African Intersex by Swarr - second half (Mar 29)

FEBRUARY 2024: Power To Yield and Other Stories by Takács (Feb 23)

JANUARY 2024: Envisioning African Intersex by Swarr - first half (Jan 26)

DECEMBER 2023: Across the Green Grass Fields by McGuire (Dec 22)

NOVEMBER 2023: Critical Intersex, edited by Holmes, chapters 4-7 (Nov 24)

OCTOBER 2023: Queen by Fields (Oct 27)

SEPTEMBER 2023: Chapters 1, 4 and 5 of Transgender and intersex: Theoretical, practical, and artistic perspectives, edited by Horlacher (Sep 29)

AUGUST 2023: The Left Hand of Darkness by LeGuin (Aug 25)

JULY 2023: The Deep by Solomon (Jul 28)

JUNE 2023: The Fortunate Fall by Carter (Jun 28)

Book summaries/reviews Sorted by genre then by reverse chronological order: 🟣 indicates the author is openly intersex ⭐️ means we agreed it substantially advances intersex representation

Fiction:

Wicked by Maguire (Feb 2025)

Jush Ash by Santana 🟣 (Nov 2024)

Cattywampus by Otterloo ⭐️ (July 2024)

Icarus by Ancrum 🟣 (May 2024)

The Trans Space Octopus Congregation by Takács 🟣 (April 2024)

Power to Yield and Other Stories by Takács ⭐️🟣 (Feb 2024)

Across the Green Grass Fields by McGuire ⭐️ (Dec 2023)

Queen by Fields 🟣 (Oct 2023)

The Left Hand of Darkness by LeGuin (Aug 2023)

The Deep by Solomon 🟣 (July 2023)

The Fortunate Fall by Carter 🟣 (June 2023)

Non-Fiction:

Envisioning African Intersex ⭐️ (Jan 2024)

Chapters 0 and 7-9 of Cripping Intersex (Sep 2024)

Chapter 4 of Critical Intersex, on the history of ISNA ⭐️ (Nov 2023)

Chapters 5-7 of Critical Intersex, on intersex legal rights in Europe (Nov 2023)

Chapters 1, 4 and 5 of Transgender and Intersex ⭐️🟣, on the relationships between the intersex & trans communities (Sep 2023)

[intersexbookclub]

November read: Critical Intersex

This November we'll be returning to intersex studies for book club! We'll be reading Critical Intersex, edited by Morgan Holmes.

Like last time we chose an academic book, won't read the whole thing. We'll be reading Chapters 4-7 of the book, which are the chapters in the table of contents that are clustered as "Part II: Challenges to Identity Claims".

If you do not have access to a university library, a pdf copy of the relevant chapters is available on the discord.

To join the discord: https://discord.gg/U8ZucKwGPK Also see: our code of conduct When we're meeting We will be meeting to discuss the four chapters on Fri Nov 24, at: - 12:30-14:00 Pacific (Vancouver, San Francisco, etc) - 15:30-17:00 Eastern (Toronto, New York, etc) - 21:30-23:00 Central European (Berlin, Paris, etc) for more time zones see here

How much of the book do you need to read? You don't need to finish all four chapters to participate! You are welcome to skim and/or skip chapters as desired. You also don't have to understand it all! The goal is for us to learn together. Formal training in queer theory is not required. Current & future book picks If Critical Intersex isn't in the cards for you, we're reading Queen by JS Fields this month (October). For December we'll be reading Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire.

[intersexbookclub]

August book pick: The Left Hand of Darkness

Our book pick for August is science fiction classic The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin. This book is famous for its exploration of a fictional society where everybody can reproduce as either female or male.

We will be meeting online to discuss The Deep on Friday August 25 at: - 11:30am Pacific (Vancouver, San Francisco, etc) - 2:30pm Eastern (Toronto, New York, etc) - 8:30pm Central European (Paris, Berlin, etc)

The meeting will be held on our discord, which you can join here: https://discord.gg/wmMQUQxEK4 (See our code of conduct)

We chose the Left Hand of Darkness because: - It's a classic. Whether you think of it as an intersex book or not this book has had reach, and is probably the first book that your average sci-fi fan will think of when it comes to exploring (inter)sex through sci-fi - It it isn't fetishy. So much work by (at least presumed) perisex authors can be very fetishy but at least in my (@ipsogender) opinion this one isn't! Indeed it's a book that I personally have warm feelings about. (You don't have to like it!) - Because it's a classic it should be easy for people to get access to the book via libraries and/or used book stores - @scifimagpie hasn't read it and we wanted an excuse to get her to read it and talk about it :)

How much of the book do you need to read? You don't need to finish the book to participate! Getting a quarter into the book is plenty to get a sense of the world and be able to participate in the discussion.

Discussion questions: 1. What did you like about it? 2. What did you struggle with? 3. What other works did it make you think of? Why? 4. What connections do you see between this book and our previous picks? 5. Is this an "intersex book"? 6. What relevance (if any) do you see this book as having today in getting people to contemplate sex and gender?

We hope to see you at the meeting! If you have thoughts on the book feel free to share them as reblogs/replies! Future book picks

If The Left Hand of Darkness isn’t in the cards for you, we meet on the last Friday of every month at the aforementioned time. (We're meeting next week to talk about The Deep by Rivers Solomon!) Our September pick is Chapters 1, 4 and 5 of Horlacher, S. (2016). Transgender and intersex: Theoretical, practical, and artistic perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan US. (see Discord for a copy!)

[intersexbookclub]

April pick: The Trans Space Octopus Congregation

We liked our February pick Power to Yield so much we've picked another short story collection by Bogi Takács for April: The Trans Space Octopus Congregation.

When we’re meeting As usual, we meet on the last Friday of the month. We will be meeting to discuss the book on Fri April 26, at: - 12:30-14:00 Pacific (Vancouver, San Francisco, etc) - 15:30-17:00 Eastern (Toronto, New York, etc) - 21:30-23:00 Central European (Berlin, Paris, etc) for more time zones see here

To join the discord: https://discord.gg/U8ZucKwGPK Also see: our code of conduct

How much of the book do you need to read? You don’t need to finish it participate! You are welcome to skim and/or skip chapters as desired. A list of content warnings is available at the front of the book. Current & future book picks If this isn’t in the cards for you, our pick for May is Icarus by K. Ancrum!

We're also meeting on Fri April 5th at the usual time (15:30 Eastern) for a social hour devoted to arts & crafts! We'll be talking knitting, crocheting, and other crafts.

[intersexbookclub]

July book pick: The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Our book pick for July is The Deep by intersex author Rivers Solomon! It was inspired by the song "The Deep" by Clipping, and is a fantasy novella set in a society of mermaids descended from African slaves.

We will be meeting online to discuss The Deep on Friday July 28 at: - 11:30am Pacific (Vancouver, San Francisco, etc) - 2:30pm Eastern (Toronto, New York, etc) - 8:30pm Central European (Paris, Berlin, etc) The meeting will be held on our discord, which you can join here: https://discord.gg/wmMQUQxEK4 (See our code of conduct)

As a reminder we'll be meeting to discuss our June book pick, The Fortunate Fall on Weds June 28. But if you're looking to get started on the next book, we hope you enjoy the Deep! We chose The Deep because: - We've heard good things about it! Most recently we heard it praised for its autistic representation. - It's been critically praised, and it's always great to see ownvoices getting recognition. It's a Lambda Literary Award recipient and was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards. - It's a novella, increasing the chance people can finish the book. Though finishing a book is not expected for the book club we know most people prefer to finish books for book clubs. - The book deals with heavy themes such as the trans-Atlantic slave trade and inter-generational trauma, and a novella gives us a gentler entry to talking about heavy content. (List of trigger warnings for the book here.)

Disccussion questions we’ll be using to facilitate the conversation (you don’t need to finish the book!):

What did you like about it?

What did you struggle with?

What other works did it make you think of? Why?

What connections do you see between this book and our last pick (The Fortunate Fall)?    

This book grapples with how can we hold the truths of the violence in our personal/communal histories whilst also being able to move forward. What did you get out this facet of the book?

This is an atmosphere-oriented book rather than a plot-oriented book. Thoughts on the atmosphere?

We hope to see you at the meeting! If you have thoughts on the book feel free to share them as reblogs/replies!

And if The Deep isn't in the cards for you and you want to start on our August pick, it will be The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin.