There are a number of books that I can recommend, or have been recommended to me from people who I have found to be highly knowledgeable. Also, you will
find the recommendation from Amazon.com, so you can get a feel for what others are reading.
You Just Don't Understand by Deborah Tannen To sound like a woman requires more than a voice, it requires an understanding
of how women communicate - and there are differences in the way men and women communicate. Georgetown University linguistics professor Deborah Tannen
discusses gender-based differences that, she claims, define and distinguish male and female communication. For most women, conversation is
a way of connecting and negotiating. Thus, women's communiaction tend to center on expressions of and responses to feelings (what the author labels
"rapport-talk"). Men, on the other hand, use conversation to achieve social status or to impart knowledge (termed "report-talk" by Tannen). This book
does more than simply explain away differences in talk between the gender, it provides a wonderful tutorial on the differences in thinking between
the genders and the subtle layers that communication takes place on. This book is great for learning to communicate like a woman as well as for learning
how to communicate with women.
Making Faces by Kevyn Aucoin In Making Faces, Kevyn Aucoin, North
Americas preeminent makeup artist, shares his secrets, explaining not only the basics of makeup application and technique but also how to use those fundamentals
(sometimes in unconventional ways) to create a wide range of different looks. Making Faces features step-by-step directions, instructional full-colour sketches,
and a gallery of noncelebrity transformations, as well as fabulous images of stars and supermodels as youve never seen them before.Lush and enticing, Making Faces
satisfies on many levels: extraordinary photography, surprising makeup looks on A-list celebrities (Julia Roberts, Demi Moore, Courtney Love),
and recipes for doing it yourself.
Color Me Beautiful by Carole Jackson Using simple guidelines, professional color consultant
Carole Jackson helps you choose the thirty shades that make you look smashing. Color Me Beautiful
will also help you: develop your color personality; learn to perfect your make-up color; discover your clothing personality; use color to solve specific figure
problems, and more, including full-color palettes containing the thirty shades for each season--pages you can cut out to carry when you shop!
Dress Codes: Of Three Girlhoods---My Mother's, My Father's, and Mine by Noelle Howey This is a well-written memoir by a remarkable young woman who,
at the age of fifteen, was made aware of the fact that her father had gender dysphoria. This wryly funny memoir, which is not just the author's memoir
but that of her mother, as well, and, to some extent, that of her father, though, as in life, his essence remains the most elusive. Howey outlines
the impact of her father's gender issues on him and, consequently, on her and her mother, as well as on the family dynamics. This is a wonderful book
that gives a birds-eye view of the experience of living with someone who has gender dysphoria.
Alice in Genderland: A Crossdresser Comes of Age by Richard J. Novic M.D. Alice in Genderland tells the story of Dr. Richard Novic,
Harvard-educated psychiatrist and crossdresser. Although he now leads a richly expressive life,
Dr. Novic suffered since childhood with a secret, a desire he was in no way equipped to handle, but one that eventually burst through his denial,
a few months before his wedding date. Like Alice in Wonderland, his curiosity led him to fall headlong down a rabbit hole, through desperate straits,
mind-opening surprises, heart-rending changes, and boundless love. By the time he was back on his feet, he was a different person, living a lifestyle he hadn't
known existed. Anyone who has struggled to figure out who they are and how they want to live will see themselves in this powerful life story.
My Husband Betty by Helen Boyd A straight woman who has been married
several years to a crossdressing man gives a thoughtful account of their relationship (as well as the relationships of other crossdressers she knows) in this
forthright and revelatory book. Honest and well researched, this book is likely to become an indispensable guide for woman who are trying to forge stable,
accepting relationships with crossdressing men.
She's Not the Man I Married by Helen Boyd Boyd's first book, My Husband Betty,
explored the relationships of cross-dressing men and their partners. Now, She's Not the Man I Married is both a sequel and a more expansive examination of gender
in relationships. It's for couples who are homosexual or heterosexual, and for readers who fall anywhere along the gender continuum. As Boyd struggles to
understand the nature of marriage, passion, and love, she shares her confusion and anger, providing a fascinating observation of the ways in which relationships
are gendered, and how we cope, or don't, with the emotional and sexual pressures that gender roles can bring to our marriages and relationships.
Gender Outlaw By Kate Bornstein Bornstein considers herself a gender outlaw
because she breaks the laws of nature. A former heterosexual male and now a lesbian woman, Bay Area
Reporter writer, and actor who has appeared on talk shows, she has completed the transsexual process, including surgery. As she considers her workplace the
theater, about a third of this autobiographical work is devoted to queer theater, including her play, Hidden: A Gender. The black-and-white photos were not seen
but are apparently a significant part of this informative and humorous book.
My Gender Workbook by Kate Bornstein Kate Bornstein's 1994 book of autobiographical theory,
Gender Outlaw, drew a line in the sand about the whole boy/girl thing. "Who needs it?"
America's most active transgender activist questioned. Now, in My Gender Workbook, Bornstein has assembled a collage of simple exercises, quizzes, puzzles,
and essay questions that systematically break down our ingrained ideas about how women and men--and whoever is in between--should act. Bornstein's breezy,
"hey, let's all discover who we might really be" style works to make this potentially threatening material accessible and even intriguing to almost all readers.
Just glance down, check out who--or what--you thought you were, and get ready to answer a few questions.
Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws by Kate Bornstein Kate Bornstein bravely and wittily shares personal and unorthodox methods of
survival for navigating an often cruel world. A one-of-a-kind guide to staying alive outside the box, Hello, Cruel World is a much-needed unconventional approach
to teenage suicide prevention for marginalized youth who want to stay on the edge, but alive. Hello, Cruel World features a catalog of 101 Alternatives to Suicide
that range from the playful (Moisturize), to the irreverent (Disbelieve the Binary), to the highly controversial (Get Laid. Please). Designed to encourage readers
to give themselves permission to unleash their hearts' harmless desires, the book has only one directive: "Don't be mean." It is this guiding principle that
brings its reader on a self-validating journey, which forges wholly new paths toward a resounding decision to choose life.
Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman by Leslie Feinberg Leslie Feinberg, an activist in the transgender rights movement as long as
such a movement has existed, presents a sweeping history of cross-dressing to make political protests, to flee to freedom, to entertain as drag queens, and,
most recently, to be transgendered parents. She discusses the Amazons, ancient Rome's increasing inequality of the sexes, trangender religious experience,
Joan of Arc, female-passing-as-male jazz musician Billy Tipton, the concept of passing, and much more into her survey, producing a literally
fascinating book that she makes useful, too, with appendixes, including an "International Bill of Gender Rights."
To sound like a woman requires more than a voice, it requires an understanding
of how women communicate - and there are differences in the way men and women communicate. Georgetown University linguistics professor Deborah Tannen
discusses gender-based differences that, she claims, define and distinguish male and female communication. For most women, conversation is
a way of connecting and negotiating. Thus, women's communiaction tend to center on expressions of and responses to feelings (what the author labels
"rapport-talk"). Men, on the other hand, use conversation to achieve social status or to impart knowledge (termed "report-talk" by Tannen). This book
does more than simply explain away differences in talk between the gender, it provides a wonderful tutorial on the differences in thinking between
the genders and the subtle layers that communication takes place on. This book is great for learning to communicate like a woman as well as for learning
how to communicate with women.
In Making Faces, Kevyn Aucoin, North
Americas preeminent makeup artist, shares his secrets, explaining not only the basics of makeup application and technique but also how to use those fundamentals
(sometimes in unconventional ways) to create a wide range of different looks. Making Faces features step-by-step directions, instructional full-colour sketches,
and a gallery of noncelebrity transformations, as well as fabulous images of stars and supermodels as youve never seen them before.Lush and enticing, Making Faces
satisfies on many levels: extraordinary photography, surprising makeup looks on A-list celebrities (Julia Roberts, Demi Moore, Courtney Love),
and recipes for doing it yourself.
Using simple guidelines, professional color consultant
Carole Jackson helps you choose the thirty shades that make you look smashing. Color Me Beautiful
will also help you: develop your color personality; learn to perfect your make-up color; discover your clothing personality; use color to solve specific figure
problems, and more, including full-color palettes containing the thirty shades for each season--pages you can cut out to carry when you shop!
This is a well-written memoir by a remarkable young woman who,
at the age of fifteen, was made aware of the fact that her father had gender dysphoria. This wryly funny memoir, which is not just the author's memoir
but that of her mother, as well, and, to some extent, that of her father, though, as in life, his essence remains the most elusive. Howey outlines
the impact of her father's gender issues on him and, consequently, on her and her mother, as well as on the family dynamics. This is a wonderful book
that gives a birds-eye view of the experience of living with someone who has gender dysphoria.
Alice in Genderland tells the story of Dr. Richard Novic,
Harvard-educated psychiatrist and crossdresser. Although he now leads a richly expressive life,
Dr. Novic suffered since childhood with a secret, a desire he was in no way equipped to handle, but one that eventually burst through his denial,
a few months before his wedding date. Like Alice in Wonderland, his curiosity led him to fall headlong down a rabbit hole, through desperate straits,
mind-opening surprises, heart-rending changes, and boundless love. By the time he was back on his feet, he was a different person, living a lifestyle he hadn't
known existed. Anyone who has struggled to figure out who they are and how they want to live will see themselves in this powerful life story.
A straight woman who has been married
several years to a crossdressing man gives a thoughtful account of their relationship (as well as the relationships of other crossdressers she knows) in this
forthright and revelatory book. Honest and well researched, this book is likely to become an indispensable guide for woman who are trying to forge stable,
accepting relationships with crossdressing men. 
Boyd's first book, My Husband Betty,
explored the relationships of cross-dressing men and their partners. Now, She's Not the Man I Married is both a sequel and a more expansive examination of gender
in relationships. It's for couples who are homosexual or heterosexual, and for readers who fall anywhere along the gender continuum. As Boyd struggles to
understand the nature of marriage, passion, and love, she shares her confusion and anger, providing a fascinating observation of the ways in which relationships
are gendered, and how we cope, or don't, with the emotional and sexual pressures that gender roles can bring to our marriages and relationships.
Bornstein considers herself a gender outlaw
because she breaks the laws of nature. A former heterosexual male and now a lesbian woman, Bay Area
Reporter writer, and actor who has appeared on talk shows, she has completed the transsexual process, including surgery. As she considers her workplace the
theater, about a third of this autobiographical work is devoted to queer theater, including her play, Hidden: A Gender. The black-and-white photos were not seen
but are apparently a significant part of this informative and humorous book.
Kate Bornstein's 1994 book of autobiographical theory,
Gender Outlaw, drew a line in the sand about the whole boy/girl thing. "Who needs it?"
America's most active transgender activist questioned. Now, in My Gender Workbook, Bornstein has assembled a collage of simple exercises, quizzes, puzzles,
and essay questions that systematically break down our ingrained ideas about how women and men--and whoever is in between--should act. Bornstein's breezy,
"hey, let's all discover who we might really be" style works to make this potentially threatening material accessible and even intriguing to almost all readers.
Just glance down, check out who--or what--you thought you were, and get ready to answer a few questions.
Kate Bornstein bravely and wittily shares personal and unorthodox methods of
survival for navigating an often cruel world. A one-of-a-kind guide to staying alive outside the box, Hello, Cruel World is a much-needed unconventional approach
to teenage suicide prevention for marginalized youth who want to stay on the edge, but alive. Hello, Cruel World features a catalog of 101 Alternatives to Suicide
that range from the playful (Moisturize), to the irreverent (Disbelieve the Binary), to the highly controversial (Get Laid. Please). Designed to encourage readers
to give themselves permission to unleash their hearts' harmless desires, the book has only one directive: "Don't be mean." It is this guiding principle that
brings its reader on a self-validating journey, which forges wholly new paths toward a resounding decision to choose life.
Leslie Feinberg, an activist in the transgender rights movement as long as
such a movement has existed, presents a sweeping history of cross-dressing to make political protests, to flee to freedom, to entertain as drag queens, and,
most recently, to be transgendered parents. She discusses the Amazons, ancient Rome's increasing inequality of the sexes, trangender religious experience,
Joan of Arc, female-passing-as-male jazz musician Billy Tipton, the concept of passing, and much more into her survey, producing a literally
fascinating book that she makes useful, too, with appendixes, including an "International Bill of Gender Rights."
