Happy Sunday, my friends.

I hope this weekend has been gentle and kind for you. As we approach the week ahead, I wanted to bring you this week's, and final, installment of Trans History Month, Volume 3, but this week, we'll discuss two books - mainly because I could not decide between the two as both are incredibly important, in my opinion.

Just a few reminders before we get started, as this newsletter will be a little longer: Our

September Beyond The Rainbow chat with Dr. Kiki Fehling to discuss her recent release of The LGBTQ+ Mental Health Workbook will be Thursday, September 3rd, 6-7pm CST. I will do my best to record it for playback (I think I figured it out) so if you cannot attend, I will post the playback video once I learn how to use technology. lol Here's the flyer if you are a visual person and need a visual reminder to save:

In addition to this Beyond The Rainbow chat, we will ALSO be chatting with Anita Kelly (rescheduled from last month) on Friday September 11th from 6-7pm CST. I will also attempt to record this for playback, as well. Anita has published several books both traditionally and self-published, their most recent being part of the Greyfin Bay Series entitled Among The Wildflowers, which released the beginning of June. Here's another visual graphic reminder for you for that to save:

ALSO, don't forget that we are nearing the end (one more month-ish) left of Quarter 3 - which means we're finishing up (or honestly, I'm just starting re-reading again) Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H for our bookclub selection! Looking ahead, we will be reading Sonido Reyes' forthcoming book To Our Untamed Core releasing in September 22, 2026 for our Quarter 4 book club selection, and will be having Sonido on for the Behind The Book chat on Friday, November 6th from 6-7pm CST. So many bookish things that I'm so excited about happening!

NOW. Onward, to our Trans History books. The first selection is largely acclaimed as an academic text - exploring how Blackness and transness are intertwined. Have any guesses based off that sentence alone? Here's the first book I read this year and knew I needed to discuss:

The first book is none other than C. Riley Snorton's 2017 released of Black On Both Sides: A Racial History Of Trans Identity. This book takes us away from the typical white-centered approach of (trans) history, and connects us with people such as Lucy Hicks Anderson and James McHarris, in addition to other key figures that were involved in the antebellum cross-dressing and fugitive experiences. While staying focused on trans history, this book also explores how enslaved Black women's bodies were used to extract knowledge about their anatomy and gender which then led to medical advancements.

This book also navigates Black feminism, critical race theory and media studies all in one book - with that said, sometimes, in my opinion, it gets dense at times, due to it being written for an academic audience, It also requires a certain level of knowledge or familiarity with gender and critical race theory... So, all that to say, don't be afraid to look shit up! Use this as a study aide! But do not ignore this book. Take your time with it. It's packed full of so much important information. I know it may sound intimidating, but it truly is a much needed book! I hope you add it to your at home library collection!

How can we top that book?! Wellllll, the next book also takes a deep dive into trans history - and more! It started out from a fellowship project to record elder testimonies and oral stories... Any guesses?

If you guessed Cara De Robertis' book So Many Stars: An Oral History Of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer and Two-Spirit People Of Color released in 2025, you would be correct! What an amazing compilation this book is! A collection of interviews from 20 trans and queer BIPOC elders... all in one place. Such a rare, but beautiful, piece of work this book truly is! It features artists, activists and every day people rather than the same trans legends we hear of all the time - which I think is beautiful and so relatable. This book captures stories dating back to the childhoods lived in the mid-1900s, to coming out and then, surviving the AIDs crisis - be it not having the language to describe your gender like we do now, to navigating family dynamics and rejection, to the social changes we have witnessed and even the grassroots organizations and community spaces we (hopefully) all have tucked away as refuges in our own communities - this book encapsulates such a variety of voices that everyone can relate in some way.

So Many Stars, from my experience, is also phenomenal on audio. The chapters are broken into themes rather than individual voices/stories, to help the stories shared not be so isolative - which I found to be helpful and smooth in reading.

Both of these books are important to me. And while I have them both on either e-book or audio, I have them on a Wishlist to be added to my personal physical library. I hope this newsletter, and the previous two, have swayed you in purchasing a couple books.

Looking ahead: For the month of September (starting next Sunday as there are only two days left of August - WHAT?!) I will be featuring September themes, much like these Trans History Month Volumes, highlighting an awareness month topic each week. I am excited for what I have in store for September!

As an additional reminder sent to me through Bindery: If you are a paid subscriber, there will be important news dropping Thursday, August 27th, separate from the Trans Joy Thursday Newsletter. Nosey? Become a Collaborator and seeeeeee.

I will see you all for our weekly installment of Trans Joy Thursday and over on Discord.

Thank you for being here.

With all my trans joy,

Sawyer Cole

"My akka said that you couldn't be happy for long, but that you got these moments of pure joy - when everything feels just perfect. Like when you've eaten just enough to feel full, but not enough to feel bloated. Or you bite into a piece of frui that's just right... The trick is to recognise those moments when they happen, so that you can remember them when you need to later."

GENRE: Romance
RATING: 4.75/5
FORMAT: eBook ARC
Tropes: Wedding planning, Traveling, Love Triangle, Romance Author x Literary Author x Wedding Planner

Review:

Having read 2 of Jeevani Charika's book, I was super excited for this and it did not disappoint! This time, we get to follow Kalpana, Sampath and Marcus as they try to plan a wedding in Sri Lanka by taking a trip there while managing their writing and author careers

This differed a bit from Charika's previous books and yet, we dive into our emotional themes in a wholesome way that feels like a hug, which we get to see in a lot of the author's books. I thought the concepts of learning who we are and not having to choose one part of our identity was handled quite well in here. Additionally, we get to see a bit of grief and learn how joy adds so much beauty to our lives, whether it's in the form of a book (Romance, of course!) or different aspects in our lives, like colours, traveling and so much more.

I really enjoyed getting to know Kalpana and seeing her develop as a character, watching her embrace who she is and her career as a Romance author. We slowly see her understand the importance of what she does and how spreading joy is just as important as writing any other genre, even if others don't see it! This leads to a theme of embracing joy and understanding that actually being happy and spreading it is important for who are we without it?

And Sampath, well he starts out as the wedding planner and turns out that he already likes Kalpana's books (yay) so its definitely quite lovely to see their journey unravel and watch how he get to learn more about Kalpana and notices the red flags in Marcus that are being ignored. And well, as for Marcus, you'll just have to read the book because I definitely can't express my dislike for him without spoiling the book!

I think what Charika does so well is that she expands on the small moments and dives into them, making the book feel so much warmer and gives us insight into who the characters are and what they want on a deeper level. I'd highly recommend all her other books that I've read, especially Playing for Love and How can I resist you? if you enjoy this one!

I was provided a free advance reader copy and I’m sharing my honest thoughts.

Y'all, where is the year going????

Seriously, it's almost September. How did that happen?

This week both flew and draggggged by for me, with so much going on at work that it felt like every day was a million hours long. I managed to finish one book this week, but it was a good one, so I'm happy about that.

Before I tell you about my reading, I want to take a second to share the most amazing news! A few weeks ago my favorite BookTuber, Carly at The Pastel Bookshelf, reached out to me to ask if I would participate in a collaboration post featuring HER favorite BookTubers. I was like "who, me?" To say I was starstruck is an understatement. We both started BookTube around the same time and her channel has BLOWN up and for good reason. I love her content so much, so to be part of one of her videos is such an honor. She shared the video this morning and my subscriber count has definitely seen a boost, which is amazing. But that aside, I get to brag that I was once part of Carly's content. 🥹 Go watch the video to find out what book I recommended!

Ok, now for the books. I am DEEP into The Witches of Cambridge with hopes to finish it later today if I can get all my editing done. It's SO good and just may be my new favorite Alice Hoffman. It's definitely much darker than some of her other work that I've read, and because of that I am enjoying it.

I started Meet Me in the Garden on audio this week and am SHOOK. It's so lush, with stunning prose and a really lovely flow. It sometimes feels like a stream of consciousness, with much more showing than telling, which I very much appreciate. It has 5⭐️ potential for sure. I want to spend some time with the physical book to get the "reading with my eyes" experience, so I've temporarily set the book aside because I will otherwise blow through it on audio. It really is beautiful!

My next audio will be the new short story collection from Colm Toibin, The News from Dublin, which is a past due ARC that I'm determined to read and review before the end of the month. I have news coming soon about Netgalley, and let's just say I think it will shock some folks.

I finished A Time of Witches this week and really enjoyed it. Madeline Martin is a very gifted storyteller, and her foray into witchy books was a success. While I can't quite put my finger on why, it wasn't a 5⭐️ book for me. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I'm reading THE best witchy author at the same time, so it made Martin's book feel a bit "light." Overall, it was a really good book that I think a lot of people will love. Look for a more detailed review coming soon! 4⭐️s

ICYMI

• I wrote a long-form book review for the first time in a while; it just so happens to be about The Calamity Club

• If you're looking for a coming-of-age novel that's actually good, look no further than Where the Girls Were

• a little of this, a little of that: book recs based on books you loved

• an honest book review on Habits of the Sea

• spooky season recommendation: The Fourth Wife

• it's time to vote for the September BBFL read!

Hear It Here First:

I have a lot of editing to do (10 hours of footage to be exact 😳), but my goal is to bring you episode 2 of Let's Go to the Library this week.

Ok, off to edit and enjoy a lazy Sunday!

Happy reading 😍

xoxo

c