11 Outstanding Books By Transgender and Nonbinary Authors

Bestselling author Jennifer Finney Boylan is a leading voice in the trans community. A regular New York Times contributor, she’s written 19 books, including the national bestseller She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders. Boylan is at her best in her latest memoir Cleavage, interweaving her personal experiences with luminous critique and sharp cultural analysis. The book delves fully into the ever-evolving idea of gender, considering the many ways it impacts self-love, body image, and our intimate relationships. It also offers a candid look at the experience of coming out as trans in today’s charged political climate versus the year 2000, when Boylan published her first book. “For those who have never felt at home at home ― and that’s a lot of us these days ― Jenny Finney Boylan’s story is a story of faith, hope, and, above all, love.” ―Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street

Lucy Sante’s I Heard Her Call My Name earned rave reviews in 2024 and was included on best-of lists from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Slate. It was not until she was 60 — and already a well-established writer — that Sante took steps to transition, after years of evading her identity. In her bold and joyous memoir, Sante details her gender transition as well as her earlier years. Born in Belgium but raised largely in the United States, Sante found herself when she moved to New York City and was immersed in 1970s bohemian culture. But even then, Sante sensed she was playing a role — a performance for the outside world that did not align with who she really was.

Susan Stryker’s Transgender History is a must-read for anybody who wants to learn more about the transgender experience from yesteryear to today. The book traces American transgender history from the mid-20th century through 2017, when the book’s second edition was published. You’ll learn about crucial events, groups, and individuals in the transgender community, as well as shifts in transgender representation in popular culture, rights under the law, and overall visibility in society. The book also includes excerpts from trans memoirs and speeches and brief biographies of key players within the trans rights movement to further illuminate trans history. 

Lamya H’s memoir, written in the form of essays, is both universal and strikingly intimate as it details the author’s lived experience as a queer Muslim immigrant. Born in South Asia, Lamya moved to the Middle East at an early age. It was there that she realized she was queer, after developing a crush on a female teacher. The nonbinary author later relocated to the United States for college, continuing the identity work she had already been doing to explore her queerness in conjunction with her devout Islamic beliefs. Hijab Butch Blues is Lamya H’s story, detailing her journey of embracing truth in a “masterful, must-read contribution to conversations on power, justice, healing, and devotion” (Glennon Doyle, bestselling author of Untamed).

Janet Mock may be one of the more familiar names on this list, thanks to her career as an advocate and journalist and her many appearances on television. Mock has written two LGBTQ+ memoirs thus far. While both are great, we chose her first one because it details her early years as well as the life she built for herself after leaving Hawaii for New York City. Redefining Realness is beautifully written, and Mock does not shy away from the most intimate parts of her story, offering vital insight into the vulnerabilities, challenges, dangers, and joys of the trans experience. 

Akwaeke Emezi is best known for their fiction, but do not overlook this Stonewall Book Award–winning memoir that traces the bestselling author’s life trajectory. In Dear Senthuran, Emezi discusses their journey toward finding their power and their place in the world. Emezi details the evolution of their gender identity, as well as the ways that their Nigerian upbringing influenced who they are and their creative life as a writer. Poignant and spiritual, Dear Senthuran is an exceptional read.

Maia Kobabe’s multiple award–winning Gender Queer is a wonderful graphic memoir that traces the author’s journey of self-discovery from a confusing childhood through coming out as an adult and beyond. Kobabe, who is best known as a cartoonist, started the project to explain nonbinary and asexual identities to family members. Luckily, the author expanded the work and shared it with the world.

Jacob Tobia’s celebrated memoir Sissy brims with heart. It’s also extremely funny and has earned the author comparisons to greats like David Sedaris and Nora Ephron. As a child, Tobia was told that they were only supposed to do certain things because they were “a boy,” but their varied interests crossed culturally created gender boundaries, earning Tobia the label of “sissy.” Tobia’s memoir underscores how they were able to turn that label into a sense of pride and heal from childhood trauma to eventually achieve true self-acceptance. 

A Stonewall Book Award winner, Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon is a dazzling work of speculative fiction that explores themes such as trauma, religion, motherhood, and survival. The novel follows Vern, who’s seven months pregnant when she escapes the religious compound on which she was reared. She soon gives birth to twins in the forest while being hunted by the fanatics she thought she had left behind. Vern then unleashes incredible brutality, undergoing an extraordinary metamorphosis in order to protect her new family. Solomon’s genre-bending narrative is raw, riveting, and incredibly powerful.  

Set in 1993, Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl centers on bartender Paul Polydoris, who works at the only gay bar in a small college town. A queer studies major with a busy social life, Paul is also a shape-shifter who can transform his body and gender at will, and soon he sets out on a whirlwind journey through different scenes and identities, struggles and desires. Paul’s cross-country adventure provides plenty of food for thought, but Andrea Lawlor’s acclaimed bildungsroman is not just riotous and inventive, it’s also extremely sexy and fun. 

Kit Mayquist’s dark and luxuriant modern gothic mystery Tripping Arcadia focuses on Lena, who’s desperately searching for a job after dropping out of medical school to help her struggling parents. She finds work as an assistant for an elite Boston family, the Verdeaus, and the clan’s family doctor. But all is not well in the Verdeau household. It isn’t long before Lena becomes ensnared in the sinister family’s web, and soon she discovers that the secretive brood may actually have had a hand in her own family’s ruin. From there, Tripping Arcadia transforms into a story of delicious revenge — and who doesn’t love that?