After much deliberation I have made a self imposed limit of four books for this post. There are so many wonderful women authors that I simply do not have time to highlight all of them. So I will be narrowing my criteria to four queer women authors, two nonfiction and two fiction.
Nonfiction:
1. “A Lowlife in High Heels” by Holly Woodlawn – subtitled “The Holly Woodlawn Story: A Walk on the Wild Side with Andy Warhol’s Last Superstar,” “Lowlife” is an incredibly fun and interesting read that highlights not only the incredible and wild life of it’s author, but also the queer and arts culture that was thriving in New York in the 60s and 70s. Did you know that Holly Woodlawn once sang with the band that would later become The B-52’s?
2. “Tranny” by Laura Jane Grace – “Tranny” is a really great book whether you’re just curious about the band Against Me! or more want to know more about about Laura Jane Grace and her life. It deals in both formation and progression of the band and how Laura was dealing or not dealing with gender feelings while her career was moving forward.
Fiction:
1. “Long Black Veil” by Jennifer Finney Boylan – A group of friends, a cold case, a transgender protagonist, who has kept her new life away from her old. When new light emerges about this case and one of that friend group is accused of murder both new and old worlds come crashing back together. It’s a very thrilling book in an slow suspenseful way. It’s not flashy or fast, but it’s paced exactly as you would hope for a mystery.
2. “People in Trouble” by Sarah Schulman – Also known as the book Jonathon Larson stole plot points from for “Rent.” If you enjoyed “Rent” or are just looking for good fiction that deals with HIV/AIDS activism I would highly recommend this. It’s also a book I would recommend if you enjoyed “Stone Butch Blues.” It is unfortunately out of print and therefore can be difficult to find a cheap copy to purchase, at my typing this Amazon has copies from 14 to 233 dollars, but I would check around at libraries. Remember, the more a book at a library is checked out the more likely they are to keep it.
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