Introducing: Books for Trans Rights!

Let's make some noise.

Greetings, book people! A few weeks ago I asked if any of you would be interested in monthly or quarterly book giveaways for a cause, and a whole lot of you said yes! So I’ve been thinking about what that might look like, and how I can best use this newsletter to do a little good. And then the Trans Rights Readathon happened, and now I have my answer.

Everything is scary and awful right now. The fascist anti-trans legislation passing all over the country is terrifying. It is happening so fast. But last week, the decentralized fundraiser that author Sim Kern dreamed up raised over $200,000 for trans organizations, mutual aid funds, and individual trans folks. I know raising money is only one part of the fight. I know $200,000, though a truly incredible sum raised by a bunch of book nerds on the internet, is small potatoes in the scheme of things. But it is not nothing. It is tangible. Do not ever come here and tell me that doing something, even a small thing, isn’t worth it. Do not ever come here and tell me that the evil is too big, and we’re not all lawyers, community leaders, and activists, so let’s just throw up our hands. Don’t.

Here’s a truth: it feels good to do something. It felt good to scroll through Instagram last week because 95% of the posts I saw were celebrating trans books and boosting organizations fighting for trans rights. It felt good to see all that love on my phone screen. It felt good to make a donation, even though I could only afford to make a small one. It feels good to do something. Most of us can do something. So let’s do something. We do one thing, and then we do another thing, and then we do it again.

Books for Trans Rights

Every month, I’m going to post a new batch of 20-30 books to give away, and pick three organizations and/or mutual aid funds to raise money for. The books are a mix of hardcovers, paperbacks, and ARCs. They’re all in good condition. Many of them are new.

I’ll focus on organizations in states currently facing the worst anti-trans legislation, as well as national organizations and mutual aid funds that give individual grants to trans people and/or small community projects.

In April, I’m raising money for Intransitive in Arkansas, The Transformation Project in South Dakota, and My Sistah’s House in Tennessee.

All you have to do is check out the list, pick out the books you want, and donate to the Books for Trans Rights Fundraiser!

I wish my budget allowed me to cover shipping costs, but that’s just not the case right now. So I’ll take the cost of shipping out of the final donation total. U.S. media mail is usually $3.50/package, so if you pledge $10, your total donation will be about $7.

Feel free to come back to this post in a week or three. I’ll update the list as books are claimed.

I’ll close out the fundraiser on April 30th and split the money between this month’s three organizations. In May, when I post a new batch of books, I’ll share how much we raised together, along with the donation receipts.

I’m also going to donate all the commissions I make from books purchased off my Trans Books I Love list to the fundraiser.

Ready? Let’s Go!

• Drop a comment indicating which book(s) you want. The first commenter for each title will get that book.

• Once I’ve confirmed that the book is indeed available (I’ll reply to your comment), head over to the Books for Trans Rights Fundraiser to make your pledge.

• You can donate any amount starting at $10. I encourage you to donate $15-$20 per book if you can, but any amount is great!

• After you’ve made a pledge, I’ll reach out to you for your mailing address and pop your book(s) in the mail!

• Unfortunately, I can only ship books to U.S. addresses. However, if you don’t live in the U.S. and still want to participate (or if you don’t see a book that strikes your fancy), I’ll happily send you some snail mail instead!

• That’s it! It’s simple! Have fun!

Books Available

Fiction

• The Laughter by Sonora Jha (Contemporary Fiction, Hardcover)

• Normal People by Sally Rooney (Contemporary Fiction, Hardcover)

• Vincent by Barbara Stok (Graphic Fiction/biography, Paperback)

• The Teller of Secrets by Bisi Adjapon (Contemporary Fiction, Paperback)

• The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat (Historical Fiction, Paperback)

• He Mele A Hilo by Ryka Aoki (Contemporary Fiction, Paperback)

More Fiction

• Lean Your Loneliness Slowly Against Mine by Klara Hveberg, tr. Alison McCullough (Contemporary Fiction, Paperback)

• The Dream Builders by Oindrila Mukherjee (Contemporary Fiction, ARC)

• All The Things We Don’t Talk About by Amy Feltman (Contemporary Fiction, ARC)

• Any Other City by Hazel Jane Plante (Contemporary Fiction, ARC)

• Charlotte Illes Is Not a Detective by Katie Siegel (Mystery, ARC)

Science Fiction & Fantasy

• Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich (Speculative Fiction, Hardcover)

• The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (Sci-fi, Hardcover)

• A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland (Fantasy, Hardcover)

• Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes (Sci-fi, Paperback)

• The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg (Fantasy, Paperback)

• The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark (Fantasy, Paperback)

• The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo (Fantasy, Paperback)

• Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Fantasy, Paperback)

Short Stories & Poetry

• The Good Arabs by Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch (Poetry, ARC)

• Burning Sugar by Cicely Belle Blain (Poetry, Paperback)

• 100 Love Sonnets by Pablo Neruda, tr. Stephen Tapscott (Poetry, Paperback)

• Varieties of Disturbance by Lydia Davis (Short stories, Paperback)

• Haiti Noir 2 edited by Edwidge Danticat (Short stories, Paperback)

Nonfiction

• Girls Can Kiss Now by Jill Gutowitz (Essays, ARC)

• After the Eclipse by Sarah Perry (Memoir/true crime, Hardcover)

• The Tenth Muse by Judith Jones (Memoir, Paperback)

• Fat Off, Fat On by Clarkisha Kent (Memoir, ARC)

• Who Does This Bitch Thinks She Is? by Craig Seligman (History/biography, ARC)

• Like a Boy But Not a Boy by Andrea Bennett (Essays, ARC)

Ready to raise some money?

And then head on over to the Books for Trans Rights Fundraiser.