Zachary Kai
Susan Stryker lives and breathes trans history. Which makes this book feel like a reckoning.
Changing Gender is a political and intellectual history of the concept, tracing how we came to think about it the way we do, and how it’s been contested, weaponized, liberated, and reclaimed.
I love books like this: exploring not just what happened, but why it exists in the first place.
The refusal to separate the intellectual from the political is much appreciated! She never loses the human in the concept, rendering her discussions in beautiful, almost lyrical prose.
A grounding, devastating, but dare I say hopeful work: this is the historical grounding we need.
I received an early copy courtesy of the publishers via Netgalley. All opinions are mine alone.
Susan Stryker lives and breathes trans history. Which makes this book feel like a reckoning.
Changing Gender is a political and intellectual history of the concept, tracing how we came to think about it the way we do, and how it’s been contested, weaponized, liberated, and reclaimed.
I love books like this: exploring not just what happened, but why it exists in the first place.
The refusal to separate the intellectual from the political is much appreciated! She never loses the human in the concept, rendering her discussions in beautiful, almost lyrical prose.
A grounding, devastating, but dare I say hopeful work: this is the historical grounding we need.
I received an early copy courtesy of the publishers via Netgalley. All opinions are mine alone.
Added to listNetgalleywith 14 books.
Added to listgenre-queerwith 8 books.
Added to listgenre-nonfictionwith 19 books.
Added to listlist-librarythingwith 3 books.
Added to listread-2026with 12 books.
Added to listgenre-shortficwith 1 book.
It’s been a while since I’ve read science fiction, and even longer since reading a short story collection, and I’m glad this one was the reason to break that pattern!
The first delight: the author is Australian. I’d somehow never encountered him, despite a short fiction publication record spanning Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Tor.com, and Nature. The genres dabble in space opera, adventure, military, scifi-fantasy, and a little horror? I loved the mix!
What holds them together is the writer’s voice: gritty, kinetic, almost haunting, and so raw.
The story inspired by Thai culture and the Istanbul djinn programmer story were my favorites. At last, worldbuilding that draws from non-Western sources without exoticizing them!
His stories have been brilliant for years. This is his short works’ moment in the light.
I received an early copy courtesy of the publishers via LibraryThing Early Reviewers. All opinions are mine alone.
It’s been a while since I’ve read science fiction, and even longer since reading a short story collection, and I’m glad this one was the reason to break that pattern!
The first delight: the author is Australian. I’d somehow never encountered him, despite a short fiction publication record spanning Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Tor.com, and Nature. The genres dabble in space opera, adventure, military, scifi-fantasy, and a little horror? I loved the mix!
What holds them together is the writer’s voice: gritty, kinetic, almost haunting, and so raw.
The story inspired by Thai culture and the Istanbul djinn programmer story were my favorites. At last, worldbuilding that draws from non-Western sources without exoticizing them!
His stories have been brilliant for years. This is his short works’ moment in the light.
I received an early copy courtesy of the publishers via LibraryThing Early Reviewers. All opinions are mine alone.
Added to listNetgalleywith 13 books.
Added to listgenre-nonfictionwith 18 books.
Indie-publishing, like most book industry facets, is romanticized, often to its detriment. Authors get burned out, readers get confused, and the culture suffers when books don’t reach the public.
So what better than a book to clear up these bookish myths? The authors refuse to coddle, apologize, over-explain, or accommodate. Hence the very apt title!
It delivers a strategic assessment of publishing, teaching you how to build a platform, market well, understand distribution, treating your writing like a career worth investing in. Because it is!
As someone who’s still (and never will stop) learning about how to navigate publishing, I appreciate how practical this gets! It’s apparent the authors have seen what works and what tanks.
This won’t make you feel warm and fuzzy, but it’ll help you put in the work and achieve your goals.
I received an early copy courtesy of the publishers via Netgalley. All opinions are mine alone.
Indie-publishing, like most book industry facets, is romanticized, often to its detriment. Authors get burned out, readers get confused, and the culture suffers when books don’t reach the public.
So what better than a book to clear up these bookish myths? The authors refuse to coddle, apologize, over-explain, or accommodate. Hence the very apt title!
It delivers a strategic assessment of publishing, teaching you how to build a platform, market well, understand distribution, treating your writing like a career worth investing in. Because it is!
As someone who’s still (and never will stop) learning about how to navigate publishing, I appreciate how practical this gets! It’s apparent the authors have seen what works and what tanks.
This won’t make you feel warm and fuzzy, but it’ll help you put in the work and achieve your goals.
I received an early copy courtesy of the publishers via Netgalley. All opinions are mine alone.
Added to listread-2026with 10 books.
