How did TWO people beat me to recommending this? XD
edit: has anybody recommended After Hours yet? Haven’t read it but I’ve heard good things about it. It’s about adult lesbians just living their lives https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32919035-after-hours-vol-1
I also think hourou musuko is a good one. I wish there were more trans manga tbh. There’s definitely not enough at least that I’ve found
I just love you all so much. LGBT readers are my babies. Gather round me always.
@seanblue
Thank you seanblue that is great advice. I may lean of your experience in the future. This first book is probably a great start. The content is very much her normal life. And the pictures tell you the whole story so people can flip through to understand what is going on. I think one chapter a week for the first book will be good. In the mean time I might buy the most popular options are give them a looksie.
I would be happy to read any of the books that y’all have recommended. I’m going to compile a list/poll if everyone can weigh in on interest level and difficultly level.
This is so wonderful! Bring it on!
0 voters
Amazon
Mogumo is a cute but lonely high school student who just wants a few loving friends. Fellow student Iwaoka Tetsu invites Mogumo to work at his family’s café for “cross-dressing boys,” but he makes an incorrect assumption: Mogumo is non-binary and doesn’t identify as a boy or a girl. However, Mogumo soon finds out that the café is run by LGBT+ folks of all stripes, all with their own reasons for congregating there. This touching manga explores gender, gender presentation, and sexuality from many different angles, including the ways people are pushed to conform in a world that doesn’t understand them…until the world begins to learn, one person at a time.
Amazon
Apparently there is a twist that they don’t want to spoil, I think it comes early in the story though. Simplest synopsis, a coming out story of a young Lesbian.
Amazon
Set in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, high school student Tasuku Kaname prepares to commit suicide after his classmates discover gay pornography on his phone. Before he is able to do so, he witnesses a person jump from a window, only to discover they were unharmed in the building where they jumped from. Tasuku discovers that the building is an open “drop-in center”, where he meets other people with various troubles and learns to accept his sexuality.
At the start of Wandering Son , Shuichi Nitori is a student in the fifth grade who transfers into a new school. Shuichi quickly becomes friends with another student: the tall, boyish Yoshino Takatsuki. Yoshino soon learns of Shuichi’s desire to be a girl. In a show of friendship, Yoshino confesses a similar desire to be a boy. Shuichi also becomes friends with Saori Chiba and Kanako Sasa, two other girls in the class. Saori instantly takes a liking to Shuichi and continuously encourages Shuichi to wear feminine clothes.
Amazon
First-year high school student Yuu Koito unexpectedly receives a confession from a middle school classmate, and turns him down, not knowing how to feel about such things. She later sees second-year student council member Touko Nanami turning down a confession herself and becomes convinced that Touko’s situation might be similar to her own. Upon speaking to Touko, the two begin to bond over their similarities. To Yuu’s surprise, Touko suddenly confesses her feelings to her. Yuu is uncertain how to respond, but Touko brushes this aside, telling Yuu that she would be very happy if Yuu were to not fall in love with her in return. Yuu agrees.
Amazon
The club is hopping and Emi isn’t…so she ends up hiding in a corner after her friend ditches her to flirt with a guy! Emi figures the night is a bust, but then someone amazing comes to her rescue. Kei is a DJ, and her effortless self-confidence captivates Emi. Is this just a wonderful night out or the start of the rest of her life?
Some other stuff that’s on my radar that I haven’t read:
Gaah, this is definitely relevant to my interests, but I just can’t afford to join yet another book club in the foreseeable future.
I can still recommend オカマだけどOLやってます though. It’s an essay (with 4 koma illustrations) from a Japanese trans woman, telling her story all the way to transitioning. I really liked the tricks she used to navigate her everyday life before that.
Ah, I’ve read After Hours in English too. It’s pretty good. 
Okay, got the poll up. I’m pretty interested in しまなみ誰そ彼.
@seanblue
They all have beautiful covers! lol, which is how I judge…
I’m happy to find out that we have so many options to choose from! Let me know if I should add any of those to the nominations, now, or for next time.
So, anyone, if I just get an amazon.jp account and order a physical copy of the book, should I have any problem? It looks like my amazon US login does not work.
I have sent mail back and forth to Japan, and bought things over ebay, but I have never tried amazon.jp and I wondered if there is anything I should know.
Yep. I signed up for a Japanese amazon account. I had them ship it to my US address. It took less than a week for Shimaji Simulation to come, shipping was $10, so it definitely adds up. Shipping is going to be about the same if you by two or more, so it might make sense to by a few books at a time to spread the shipping cost out.
Thanks. I know plenty of people of here have experience with Japanese Amazon, but I just never have.
I have to spend some time and assemble a list of books and items to consolidate an order.
Also worth checking your local amazon as well:
I found this on American amazon. It was 17.99, but with free prime shipping it’s less than getting it from Japan… I’ve heard people use various other sites as well. I think the manga are less on Japanese amazon, so if you buy a few the cost of shipping will pay for itself.
I’ve also heard good things about 弟の夫, but it might be a bit heavy from what I understand. Gotta look through all these titles later 
I also thought about recommending it 
but thought it made no sense to make multiple recommendations when I’m probably not going to participate anyway.
It’s not that heavy overall, I would say, but I did cry in a few places indeed. And, of course, there are a few interactions/events that may hit a bit too close to home for some. That can be painful as well. But it’s not that much, and probably unavoidable with a story with this kind of topic.
I will take any and all recommendation even if you aren’t going to read. This is information gathering! If you know a book is good then we’re happy to listen. … don’t recommend bad books and then leave. Recommend good books yes please.
I went and bought it lol. The cover sold me!
But that would swamp a bit the nominations, no? Speaking from experience with other bookclubs. But anyway, thank you! I will keep on recommending in that case
I’d love to hear what you or @CDR-Strawberry thought of it!
My own review of the series is … actually nowhere to be found since I usually refrain from posting anything LGBTQ+ in general. I thought so much about writing it that I was somehow under the impression that I did. Well, if that ever gets picked, I will definitely comment.
Wow! Would love to join this book club! I’ve added into さびしすぎてレズ風俗に行きましたレポ my rakuten cart
So I’m a complete beginner and not sure I’d be able to keep up currently but I just wanted to say, I love the idea and it’s definitely something I’d be interested in once I get some more basic grammar and vocab down!