Nina Here Nor There

Honor Book for the 2012 Stonewall Book Awards in non-fiction The next-generation Stone Butch Blues--a contemporary memoir of gender awakening and a classic tale of first love and self-discovery. Ambitious, sporty, feminine “capital-L lesbians” had been Nina Krieger’s type, for friends that is. She hadn’t dated in seven years, a period of non-stop traveling—searching for what, or avoiding what, she didn’t know. When she lands in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood, her roommates introduce her to a whole new world, full of people who identify as queer, who modify their bodies and blur the line between woman and man, who defy everything Nina thought she knew about gender and identity. Despite herself, Nina is drawn to the people she once considered freaks, and before long, she is forging a path that is neither man nor woman, here nor there. This candid and humorous memoir of gender awakening brings readers into the world of the next generation of transgender warriors and tells a classic tale of first love and self-discovery. Discussion Guide for Book Clubs, Classrooms, and Group Discussions What did you know about transgender people before reading this book? How has your perspective changed? Did reading this book make you think about your own body, gender, and identity? In what ways? How do you feel about the way Nina treats her parents? How about the way they treat her? How would you react if your child was transgender? What role does Ramona play in Nina’s journey? How do you envision gender—a binary, spectrum, galaxy…? What are some of the benefits to our culture of gender? Some of the downfalls? How does the binary (man/woman) system help you? Hurt you? How do you relate to Nina’s experience? In what ways is her story universal? Specific? In what parts of your life do you feel you are “privileged”? Have your privileges changed over time? Has this impacted your worldview? How is this book similar to other memoirs about gender? How is it unique? How does the diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder and its classification as a mental illness affect trans people? What do you see as the main challenges for trans people in our society? Are these covered in the book, or are these from other sources and experiences? What did you learn through The Boys? How are their gender expressions and decisions similar? Different? Where do lesbian and transmasculine (trans people on the male side of the spectrum like The Boys) communities overlap? Where is there friction? What defines “women’s spaces” and in what cases, instances, or places should transmasculine people be included? Excluded? From the Trade Paperback edition.

The next-generation Stone Butch Blues—a contemporary trans memoir of gender awakening, first love, and self-discovery that “invites readers to view gender not as a binary or a spectrum but as an infinitely beautiful ‘kaleidoscope’” (Bust Magazine). Ambitious, sporty, feminine “capital-L lesbians” had been Nina Krieger’s type. For friends that is. She hadn’t dated in 7 years, a period of non-stop traveling—searching for what, or avoiding what, she didn’t know. When she lands in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood, her roommates introduce her to a whole new world, full of people who identify as queer, who modify their bodies and blur the line between woman and man, who defy everything Nina thought she knew about gender and identity. Despite herself, Nina is drawn to the people she once considered freaks, and before long, she is forging a path that is neither man nor woman, here nor there. This candid and humorous memoir of gender awakening brings readers into the world of the next generation of transgender warriors and tells a classic tale of first love and self-discovery.

Published in 1993, this brave, original novel is considered to be the finest account ever written of the complexities of a transgendered existence. Woman or man? Thats the question that rages like a storm around Jess Goldberg, clouding her life and her identity. Growing up differently gendered in a blue--collar town in the 1950s, coming out as a butch in the bars and factories of the prefeminist 60s, deciding to pass as a man in order to survive when she is left without work or a community in the early 70s. This powerful, provocative and deeply moving novel sees Jess coming full circle, she learns to accept the complexities of being a transgendered person in a world demanding simple explanations: a he-she emerging whole, weathering the turbulence.

"Built on her ... Modern Love column, 'When a Couch is More Than a Couch' (9/23/2016), a ... memoir of living meaningfully with 'death in the room' by the 38-year-old great-great-great granddaughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson--mother to two young boys, wife of 16 years--after her terminal cancer diagnosis"--

Instant USA Today bestseller! “Abbi Waxman is both irreverent and thoughtful.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin “Meet our bookish millennial heroine—a modern-day Elizabeth Bennet, if you will… Waxman’s wit and wry humor stand out. She is funny and imaginative, and “Bookish” lands a step above run-of-the-mill romantic comedy fare.”—The Washington Post “Abbi Waxman offers up a quirky, eccentric romance that will charm any bookworm…. For anyone who’s ever wondered if their greatest romance might come between the pages of books they read, Waxman offers a heartwarming tribute to that possibility.”--Entertainment Weekly The author of Other People’s Houses and The Garden of Small Beginnings delivers a quirky and charming novel chronicling the life of confirmed introvert Nina Hill as she does her best to fly under everyone's radar. Meet Nina Hill: A young woman supremely confident in her own...shell. The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book. When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all—or mostly all—excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster! And as if that wasn't enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn't he realize what a terrible idea that is? Nina considers her options. 1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.) 2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee). 3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.) It's time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn't convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It's going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.

From debut author Nina Varela comes the first book in a richly imagined epic fantasy duology about an impossible love between two girls—one human, one Made—whose romance could be the beginning of a revolution. Perfect for fans of Marie Rutkoski’s The Winner’s Curse as well as Game of Thrones and Westworld. After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, designed to be the playthings of royals, usurped their owners’ estates and bent the human race to their will. Now Ayla, a human servant rising in the ranks at the House of the Sovereign, dreams of avenging her family’s death…by killing the sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier. Crier was Made to be beautiful, flawless, and to carry on her father’s legacy. But that was before her betrothal to the enigmatic Scyre Kinok, before she discovered her father isn’t the benevolent king she once admired, and most importantly, before she met Ayla. Now, with growing human unrest across the land, pressures from a foreign queen, and an evil new leader on the rise, Crier and Ayla find there may be only one path to love: war.

Our fascination with finding the perfect someone has caused us to settle on a partner that is good enough. Within a few years, we get bored, and we cheat. Although several articles promote cheating as a healthy way to save relationships, the fact is that we won't cheat if we don't settle. Everybody Cheats is a non-fiction work that explores the excuses we give for cheating, the real reasons why we cheat, the effect cheating has on society and the benefits of enjoying our single years. The author then concludes that our perfect person does exist, but if we hope to find our soulmate, we must live our lives instead of constantly seeking love. We say we cheat because we're bored or unfulfilled. However, if we took the time to be single and live our lives, we will be brought to our soulmate. In turn, we can have that fairy tale ending that we all desire, but no longer believe exists. Based on life experience and supported by current trends, Everybody Cheats is a modern, and sometimes humorous look at why we really cheat and the detrimental effects cheating has on society.

For fans of GILMORE GIRLS and TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE, this effervescent love story from debut author Nina Moreno will sweep you away. Rosa Santos is cursed by the sea-at least, that's what they say. Dating her is bad news, especially if you're a boy with a boat. But Rosa feels more caught than cursed. Caught between cultures and choices. Between her abuela, a beloved healer and pillar of their community, and her mother, an artist who crashes in and out of her life like a hurricane. Between Port Coral, the quirky South Florida town they call home, and Cuba, the island her abuela refuses to talk about. As her college decision looms, Rosa collides-literally-with Alex Aquino, the mysterious boy with tattoos of the ocean whose family owns the marina. With her heart, her family, and her future on the line, can Rosa break a curse and find her place beyond the horizon?