A random collection of over 1994 books and audiobooks authored by or about my transgender, intersex sisters, and gender-nonconforming persons all over the world. I read some of them, and I was inspired by some of them. I met some of the authors and heroines, some of them are my best friends, and I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing some of them. If you know of any transgender biography that I have not covered yet, please let me know.
Robyn Casias, also known as Skyler Lott, continues her profound and emotionally charged literary journey through gender, identity, and transformation in her second book, Manlyhood, part of the four-volume series As the Carousel Turns: Gender War. The series traces a deeply personal evolution that begins with Gender Queer, continues through Manlyhood, and expands into The Great Gender Wall of China and Here Comes Meili, Ready or Not. Each book represents a distinct stage of Robyn’s transformation from living as a biologically male individual into embracing her authentic self as a woman. Yet it is in Manlyhood that the author’s internal conflict reaches its most intense and revealing stage, as she builds and then unravels the male persona she was forced to inhabit for much of her life.
In Gender Queer, readers first meet Meili, the author’s inner feminine essence, a joyful, curious, and expressive girl who existed from her earliest memories. Meili’s world was one of imagination, color, and self-expression, but society’s expectations and the limitations of the world around her forced that light to dim. The young Meili was not allowed to bloom openly, and so the author created a mask, a male persona she called Manly. This constructed self became both a shield and a prison, a way to survive in a world that did not understand her.
2020,
English,
Robyn Casias,
Skyler Lott,
“Gender Queer: Book 1” by Robyn Casias, also known as Skyler Lott, is the beginning of an extraordinary autobiographical journey told through fiction, poetry, and raw emotion. The book, subtitled As the Carousel Turns: Gender War, serves as the opening act in a four-part series chronicling a deeply personal odyssey of transformation. What unfolds in its pages is not simply the story of transitioning from male to female, but an exploration of the inner worlds, alter egos, and cultural landscapes that shaped that transformation. Robyn Casias writes with a voice that is both reflective and defiant, guiding readers through the intricate carousel of identity, self-discovery, and the courage to live as one’s authentic self.
The series begins with Gender Queer, which introduces two central personas: Meili and Manly. Meili is the feminine essence that Robyn recognized in herself from early childhood, a radiant, imaginative presence longing for expression. Meili’s world is filled with color, music, and emotional depth, yet her voice was often silenced in a world that did not understand or accept her. Growing up, the author describes moments of trying to wear girls’ clothes or express herself through Meili’s “flower power version of her Rainbow,” only to be met with confusion or rejection. To survive, Meili was gradually pushed into the background, and a new persona, Manly, was created. Manly became the mask, the socially acceptable version of self that could navigate the expectations of masculinity. Through Manly’s eyes, Robyn experienced much of life’s milestones, school, work, relationships, while Meili waited quietly in the shadows, whispering reminders of who she truly was.
2019,
English,
Robyn Casias,
Skyler Lott,
Full title: "The Great Gender Wall of China: Book 3" by Robyn Casias (Skyler Lott). The whole series consists of four books: Gender Queer, Manlyhood, The Great Gender Wall of China, and Here Comes Meili, Ready or Not.
The book The Great Gender Wall of China: Book 3 by Robyn Casias, who also writes under the name Skyler Lott, is the third carousel in her deeply personal and uniquely told series As the Carousel Turns: Gender War. This four-part series, consisting of Gender Queer, Manlyhood, The Great Gender Wall of China, and Here Comes Meili, Ready or Not, serves as both memoir and metaphor, capturing the author’s spiritual, social, legal, and physical evolution from a life lived under the name of “Manly” to her true self as “Meili.” Each volume of the series takes readers one rotation deeper into her inner world, tracing the emotional terrain between gender expectation and gender truth.
In The Great Gender Wall of China, Robyn continues her search for identity, love, and meaning through a story that intertwines real-life transformation with allegorical travel. The book opens in the aftermath of a long and difficult chapter, the end of her 23-year marriage. As she sets out across emotional and geographical landscapes, the author embarks on what she calls a little rowboat journey to China, an adventure as symbolic as it is literal. This journey becomes a meditation on longing and discovery, a reflection of the human desire to find connection even while standing at the border of two very different worlds. The “Great Gender Wall” itself becomes both a metaphor and a mirror, a symbol of the divisions within herself and society, separating the masculine persona she once lived as from the authentic woman waiting to be seen.
2020,
English,
Robyn Casias,
Skyler Lott,
