On the last Wednesday of every month we take a few moments to look ahead and admire some of the books coming to shelves. There is nothing quite like the joy of anticipation that comes from pre-ordering a book that speaks to your heart, and then having it arrive in your hot little hands. It is like a present to yourself, and there is just something a little more special about a book you have waited for.
So, without further ado, here are the New and Notable releases coming to shelves in November.
The Fourth Plinth: Danny's Story by Martin Drax
Expected Publication Date: November 1st, 2017
Imagine a world where all men were sex slaves!
The Andrasta Y virus caused only flu-like symptoms in women but in males it was invariably fatal. By the year 2457, the population had declined from a peak of over 7 billion down to just over 2 billion people and there were just three men for every ten women. So it was that what had once been a man’s world had now become a woman’s world.
Danny, Harry and Jim were all born on 15 September 2439 in Breeding Colony Theta. On their eighteenth birthday they all went their separate ways into a world where they second-class citizens. Now, two years later, The Boys Of Colony Theta continues...
This one may be trans, but it certainly bends gender roles, and it sounds like such a great concept. With 3 full-length novels already on the shelves, there should be plenty here to enjoy. - Sally
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Transgender History, second edition: The Roots of Today's Revolution by Susan Stryker
Expected Publication Date: November 7th, 2017
A timely second edition of the classic text on transgender history, with a new introduction and updated material throughout
Covering American transgender history from the mid-twentieth century to today, Transgender History takes a chronological approach to the subject of transgender history, with each chapter covering major movements, writings, and events. Chapters cover the transsexual and transvestite communities in the years following World War II; trans radicalism and social change, which spanned from 1966 with the publication of The Transsexual Phenomenon, and lasted through the early 1970s; the mid-'70s to 1990-the era of identity politics and the changes witnessed in trans circles through these years; and the gender issues witnessed through the '90s and '00s.
Transgender History includes informative sidebars highlighting quotes from major texts and speeches in transgender history and brief biographies of key players, plus excerpts from transgender memoirs and discussion of treatments of transgenderism in popular culture.
I still have a well-read copy of the first edition on my shelf, so I will be anxious to see how and where Susan has updated it. - Sally
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Transgender Sex Work and Society by Larry Nuttbrock
Expected Publication Date: November 7th, 2017
This is the only book that systematically examines transgender sex work in the United States and globally. Bringing together perspectives from a rich range of disciplines and experiences, it is an invaluable resource on issues related to commercial sex in the transgender community and in the lives of trans sex workers, including mental health, substance use, relationship dynamics, encounters with the criminal justice system, and opportunities and challenges in the realm of public health.
The volume covers trans sex workers' interactions with health, social service, and mental-health agencies, featuring more than forty contributors from across the globe. Synthesizing introductions by the editor help organize and put into context a vast and scattered research and empirical literature. The book is essential for researchers, health practitioners, and policy analysts in the areas of sex-work research, HIV/AIDS, and LGBTQ/gender studies.
I have been warned that this is a dry, scholarly read, but I am nevertheless deeply interested in exploring Larry's research. - Sally
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Androgyne: Fashion and Gender by Patrick Mauriès
Expected Publication Date: November 14th, 2017
The first visually led exploration of androgyny―from representations in antiquity to its current prevalence in the fashion world and beyond
In January 2011, Jean Paul Gaultier’s haute couture runway show ended with the image of a willowy blonde bride in a diaphanous gown. The bride was a man, and one of the first models to walk for both men’s and women’s collections. The event marked the start of a trend. “This ad is gender neutral,” proclaimed a 2016 poster for the fashion brand Diesel; “I resist definitions,” announced a Calvin Klein ad in the same year, while a Louis Vuitton shoot featured Jaden Smith wearing a skirt.
The art of Edward Burne-Jones and Gustave Moreau, the writings of Oscar Wilde, and the mystic Joséphin Péladan prove that the turn of the previous century was as compelled by androgyny as this one. From the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first century, the genders have blended: from Berlin in the 1920s to Hollywood of the 1930s with Garbo and Dietrich; from the 1940s Bright Young Things to the androgynous pop stars of the 1970s, and beyond.
Patrick Mauries presents a cultural history of androgyny―accompanied by a striking selection of more than 120 images, from nineteenth-century painting to contemporary fashion photography―drawing on the worlds of art and literature to give us a deeper understanding of the strange but timeless human drive to escape from defined categories.
Androgyny, like any expression outside the binary, always excites me, so I am really looking forward to tracing its visual evolution. - Sally
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Anatomically Wrong by L. Eschedor
Expected Publication Date: November 15th, 2017
After a century of chaos, technology has finally reached the point where people no longer need to work just for basic survival. Instead, everyone is free to engage in intellectual pursuits, the arts, or… other pasttimes. Join Theo Northford, a member of the first generation to grow up in this age of plenty, as he tries to find his way through life over the course of three years. Unfortunately, there are a number of obstacles that stand in his way, such as a growing transhumanist movement, as well as his own social ineptitude.
2300 CE
Theo has never had a girlfriend, and he’s starting to realize that this fact is not likely to change anytime soon. Or ever, unless he does something drastic. From his usual solitude, he delves into the world of artificially controlled biosynthesis, neural writing, and AI modification, in an attempt to create a living, thinking girlfriend from scratch. As his project begins to go off the rails, Theo must question how far he’s willing to stray from human norms in order to find romantic fulfillment.
2301 CE
Having succeeded at creating his perfect, yet quite inhuman girlfriend, Theo is finally able to enjoy his life with Koharu. Theo finds himself working to keep his lover a secret from the human world, leading him into a double life split between Koharu and a society he fails to meaningfully connect with. While Koharu is more than happy to be Theo’s everything, she knows that he needs to learn to connect with others if he’s going to live a fulfilling life. Concerned for his well-being, Koharu searches for a way to ease Theo into interacting with his peers.
2302 CE
When an acquaintance calls upon Theo for help with making his own homemade girlfriend, Theo feels like he finally has an opportunity to forge a relationship with a like-minded individual. Unfortunately, a freak accident forces Theo to transfer Yuri’s mind into the body of his creation: a laughably-proportioned teenage girl. While Theo tries to balance keeping his own secret with smoothing over Yuri’s transition into her new life, a new unknown appears in the form of Maiden, a heavily pregnant dancer who promotes the government’s reproductive programs with her performances. Theo, who has only just begun to open up to people, finds himself being drawn into conflict as society struggles to determine where to draw the line on bodily modification.
With themes normally reserved for erotica, rather than hard sci-fi, this is an absolute must-read for me. - Sally
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Demon Futa's Wild Winter by Jocelyn Saragona
Expected Publication Date: November 24th, 2017
Addison’s the alpha-female sorority coed and keeps a demon futanari pledge at her beck and call. Their passionate encounters with other women are always hot, and winter break will be hotter.
Their friend Meghan, who can’t get enough futa in her, knows of an abandoned church summer camp with a dirty secret: a magical futa nymph. Even the purist college church members gave in to the nymph’s invitation to a muddy outdoor celebration of a salaciousness. Trespassers beware: some church patriarchs aren’t happy with the camp’s rumored history of deviancy and corruption.
Addison has duties to her sorority, but this temptation is too irresistible. She works her wiles at Meghan’s church, recovers a secret map, and her group of casual lovers are off to lose their clothes in the snow. (Author)
Okay, this just sounds like a whole lot of fun. Alpha females, a futa demon, a futa nymph, and a fallen church camp? Yes, please! - Sally
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Genderqueer and Non-Binary Genders edited by Christina Richards, Walter Pierre Bouman, and Meg John Barker
Expected Publication Date: November 28th, 2017
This book addresses the emerging field of genderqueer or non-binary genders - that is, individuals who do not identify as male or female. It considers theoretical, research, practice, and activist perspectives; and outlines a basis for good practice when working with non-binary individuals.
The first section provides an overview of historical, legal and academic aspects of this phenomenon. The second section explores how psychotherapeutic, psychological and psychiatric theory and practice are adapting to a non-binary model of gender, and the third section considers the body related aspects, from endocrinology to surgery.
This work will appeal to a wide readership, from practitioners working with non-binary individuals - including psychologists, surgeons, social workers, nurses, psychiatrists, endocrinologists, psychotherapists and counselors, lawyers, and healthcare workers - to researchers interested in the study of gender identities, to students and gender activists.
Another scholarly text, but the mere fact that such attention is being paid to non-binary genders excites me. - Sally
