Diane Anderson-Minshall

A transgender transition memoir, but told in alternating chapters by both Jacob, a transgender man, and Diane, his wife of many years. Jacob had been a forest ranger and identified as a woman, but then after a career-ending accident began to identify as a man. Diane was very supportive and basically was one step ahead of Jacob the whole time. I enjoyed the dual point of view and the plain-spoken, straightforward style. Overall these were two very relatable people who described their experiences in a gripping way, which is not that surprising considering they were already professional writers (who co-write a series about a blind lesbian detective.) My favorite part of the book had almost nothing to do with gender or transition, though. It was about their quest to have kids and it involved clawing a used condom out of the garbage and then later being foster parents in a very strict program for kids who are juvenile sex offenders. There were things Jacob and Diane had never told each other until they wrote this book together, which made it exciting, but also sometimes repetitive.

I am copying my old reviews from Booklikes onto Goodreads; I'm not even sure why.… (meer)

Another excellent turn in the wonderful Blind Eye Mystery series. This one deals with a group of right-wing religious zealots who are hired by parents to "cure" their lesbian and gay teens. When the teens start disappearing in significant numbers, the head of the school claims they've run away. But have they....? Things don't look so great when two of the students turn up dead. Needless to say, the Blind Eye Detective Agency investigates. Meanwhile, Yoshi meets someone, and the two women hit it off.… (meer)