Hello Collaborators! And a very happy Sunday to you!

I am trying to figure out a day that works best to send you exclusive content, so I don't double post and blow up your e-mails and notifications twice in one day.. so hang with me while I decide what my schedule looks like as far as which day you will receive this newsletter... For now, my apologies, it will be today. lol

I mentioned last week a few books I had thought about picking up? I picked up none of them and instead finished listening to the audiobook Inciting Joy by Ross Gay... and it was... okay? I think? I think because I started it in June while flying back to North Carolina, and then just resuming in last week... I lost interest and finished it just to finish it rather than DNFing because there truly wasn't that much left of the book... I know, I know.

It was okay, though. No like, major fireworks about it. I honestly don't remember anything about it? So, no good or bad review from me. I recall and retained nothing from that book. So, take of that what you will. Haha.

HOWEVER, I did start and finish Laverne Cox's book Transcendent, which released June 9, 2026. I think she does a great job at narrating her story. The book is broken up into three main "emotional" sections, and while it does cover some of her rather dark times such as depression, abuse, etc., she does an excellent job of keeping the reader engaged and allows us to be immersed in the storytelling without feeling overwhelmed by the heavy topics presented. Laverne also does an amazing job at keeping it inspirational? Which comes across rather cheesy if done incorrectly, but she also appeared, to me anyway, self-critical at times, and kept it real with what was happening rather than glossing over a story line or being too performative. She relayed introspection and clarity while also not shying away from the hard truths of her life. All in all, I recommend this book. I listened to the audio version, and she also narrates it, which is my personal favorite when someone narrates their own memoir. There's just something more intimate about it to me - like a conversation with a friend. And y'all should know by now, especially if you have followed me for any length of time, memoirs are my jam.

I think I also mentioned in my previous Trans Joy Thursday* newsletter that I made a loose personal curriculum for the remainder of the year, and will dive into a new one next year. For the remainder of August, and the month of September, I will be finishing up all my current reads - so the Heartstopper Series, Welcome To The Grief Club, Hijab Butch Blues, and Among The Wildflowers will all be completed by the end of September. That's my goal anyway! For Quarter 4 (October, November and December) I will go back to the Unhinged Reading Challenged: Queer Edition that I attempted to start the beginning of the year - where I wrapped every single queer book I own (aside from the ones I have already read) and number them to pick from a jar what book I read. Truly unhinged. My friend Kelli on Bookstagram started it, I just added the queer spin to it. So that will be my Q4 focus.

Don't forget that next Thursday, August 27th, I will be dropping an exclusive newsletter, JUST FOR YOU AS PAID SUBSCRIBERS, with Bindery shenanigans. Be on the lookout for that. It will come around the same time as the Trans Joy Thursday newsletter. Sorry in advance for the duplicate notifications on the same day again, but I promise you will be excited. (I know I am.)

I still have some free Coming Home swag and books available if you folx are interested in receiving some snail mail swag mail. Just shoot me a DM via social media, as my way of saying THANK YOU for supporting me and being here. I appreciate you tremendously.

As a Collaborator, I wanted to give you the first look and behind the scenes info at what topics we'll be discussing in our weekly Sunday newsletters for the month of September. I know I will have missed several awarenesses for the month of September in highlighting just a few, but it is my hope it will create conversations and attention to what I do highlight. These will be the topics:

• (I know the last two days of August are in the first week, but whatcha gonna do?) For Week 1, August 30-Sept 5, we will discuss Self-Harm Awareness Month. (This week we will also be in discussion with Dr. KiKi Fehling on Thursday, September 4th.)

• Week 2: Sept. 6 - 12: Suicide Prevention Month

• Week 3: Sept. 13 - 19: The Beginning of Latinx Heritage Month

• Week 4: Sept. 20 - 26: Library Card Sign-Up Month

• Week 5: Sept. 27 - Oct. 3: World' Alzheimer's Month

This information will not be released until the newsletters are published, so this is just insider information, as it could change, I doubt it will, but also, I have inattentive ADHD, so all things are possible through my rambling last minute ideas. lol. This format is hopefully the format I will attempt to keep going forward to bring awareness to as much as I can and to as many communities as I can. I will do my best to include statistics, book recommendations, small businesses, content creators I love to follow, etc.

With that, I am now going to hop back into my personal curriculum, and see if I can knock out Heartstopper, Volume 3 tonight while in-between work calls.

Thank you, once again, for being here. I appreciate you!

With all my trans joy,

Sawyer Cole

Hello my friends! And welcome to another installment of Trans Joy Thursday*, where I forget the days of the week, only to realize I missed Thursday entirely. My sincerest apologies! With that being said, Onward!

This week is my long week at work (I work a 2,2,3 schedule - while that does mean I have my entire year planned out work-wise, every other week is a "long week to work" and those are exhausting.) This means, very little time to play, BUT it does mean that I have to create pockets of joy in the downtime.

I have diagnosed inattentive ADHD, so I tend to hyperfocus on one thing, or several things, at a time, lose interest, move on to the next, times infinite. I have been currently working on a personal curriculum for the rest of this year and for all of next year - I attempted to make one for this year, but it was TOO MUCH. So, for next year, I narrowed it down to easier themes and broke down the books to read by chapters for each day when applicable. I will share more if you are interested (let me know in the comments), but creating this, as a lifelong learner, has definitely brought me massive amounts of trans joy this week!

I have also secured our Beyond The Rainbow chats with Dr. Kiki Fehling AND Anita Kelly for next month! I am so incredibly stoked for these two chats. Catch the flyers on socials soon, and here for the zoom info!

ALSO, in relation to my own trans joy - my wife began her LAST FIRST day of nursing school Monday! She graduates in December, already has a job lined up, and is just cruising right along. To say I'm beyond proud is an understatement!

In other, therapeutically aligned news, this is my first week without therapy (grief or regular) since my Memaw passed in June. (Not by choice, it just happened that way - I will resume next week). And honestly? For the most part? I'm okay. I'm doing it. I'm focusing on what needs to be done around the house and for work, distracting myself with books, and doing all the self-care I can.

One big shout-out that I missed yesterday - it was National Latina* Day! I hope all of you who are Latinx always feel supported, welcomed, included and loved in not only this space, but every room you walk into. You are deserving and worthy of celebrating. Never forget that.

Before I wrap up, if you are a paid subscriber I have exclusive news dropping NEXT Thursday (8/27) that you will not want to miss. Stay tuned.

I will leave you all with my favorite quote to round the week as we head into the weekend:

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that's all." - Oscar Wilde

My wish, and hope, for all of you, is that you truly live this weekend - in the hustle and bustle of every day life, may you take a small moment and spend it in gratitude - however that looks for you.

See you Sunday for Trans History Month, Volume 3.

With all my trans joy,

Sawyer Cole

Happy Saturday Collaborators,

I hope today (and this week) has been gentle for you. ALSO, Happy Bookstore Romance Day! I hope you all find some amazing HEAs, and have your own, as well. I was reminiscing earlier on Bookstagram about when Alisha and I eloped at our local indie here in Green Bay. I truly hope you all have that kind of HEA - in whatever form that looks like for you - with someone(s), marriage,(no) kids, single, etc. - I hope you experience the kind of HEA that live in your wildest dreams. May those dreams come to fruition for you in the same way mine have.

Today, I wanted to take a deep dive with you into the books I've recently been reading, what I loved, what I didn't love, and what's coming up next that I'm excited for. I will still post by reviews on IG for the masses, so I'll give y'all a more intimate and personal reasoning as to why I loved or didn't love them, and ultimately, why you should or shouldn't read them, too!

Before I begin, though, I read nothing in June or July, and so far I've read 5 books this month! I've been in grief therapy, or my regular therapy, once a week since my Memaw passed (tomorrow marks 2 whole months) and I've noticed that I am trying to participate in my hobbies - I'm just... struggling to either find enjoyment or excitement for them. For example, I'm one of the biggest Green Bay Packers fans ever, so much so, Alisha jokes that I moved here just for the proximity to Lambeau Field. lol. With that said, I LOVE training camp practices - and I've been to a whopping ONE this season. I just... don't care right now? It's definitely a weird, grief-y, season for me, so I'm just riding the waves and taking it one a day at a time. 5 books for me this month is a win. I'm not forcing anything, just picking what feels right for me. With that being said, I'll start with one author that has become an auto-buy for me:

Elizabeth Acevedo. Her upcoming novel Anger Is Only A Shadow (out September 15) is IMPECCABLY done. Her writing style, a combo of novel in verse, and a spoken-word style cadence, packs such an emotional punch. She also narrates this book, too, which is just... perfection. My first book by her was The Poet X, which left me weepy eyed, just like this one did. But the author's note is what truly got me. Please don't skip it - I know I said that in the IG review, but seriously, she brings her raw, personal experiences to the forefront and her relation to the story hits even harder. Don't sleep on this book, OR Acevedo.

The next book I also just reviewed on IG, is Conversion Therapy Dropout by Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez (out May 5, 2026). If you've read Coming Home, you know I also came from an evangelical background with multitudes of trauma yet to unpack - so reading these evangelical mega-churches act like a business transaction was wild to me. I also deeply, deeply related to Timothy's complex feelings to religion, however, we differ in the fact that he found solace in his relationship with his creator, to where I just abandoned religion altogether. Neither of which is the right or wrong way, it just is. Timothy's Epilogue also states at the end that we as the LGBTQIA+ community are not to be loved conditionally - we are whole and complete and deserving just as we are. And I echo that. Wherever you sit with religion, please know that you are deserving to be authentic, and to show up as yourself, wherever you are. Always.

Now, the book I finished today? Meh. Samantha Irby blurbed it and said it was "absurdly funny", but it... was absolutely not to me? I adore Irby, so when I saw the blurb on the cover, I got excited, because she is also absurdly funny. The book is The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Gay by Eliot Glazer (out August 11, 2026). I will not be reviewing this on IG, because I wasn't a fan of it. It just... was stereotypical gay? I don't know how else to explain it. It just fell flat, and was not funny to me. It sits at about 5 hours on audio, so if you're looking for a quick read, there you go.

I am also reading through the Heartstopper series in preparation to get to Volume 6 that was just released this year and is the final installment to the series. Since the beginning, I have reread each book each year a new volume is released, and it's bittersweet this is the last reread in preparation for that. (I will, of course, be rereading them again.)

I'm also slowing going through Welcome To The Grief Club: Because You Don't Have To Go Through It Alone by Janine Kwoh (out February 1, 2022). I'm taking my time with that one, as it is broken into smaller, bite-sized, easily digestible pages on all things grief and the emotions and feelings that go with it. If you are also experiencing grief, I highly, highly recommend that book.

What's the next book I'm going to pick up, you ask? That... I'm not sure. I'm on volume 3 of Heartstopper, the grief book I'm slowly reading, but I also know I do better with audiobooks as I'm doing chores around the house. I know Jesmyn Ward's On Witness And Respair and Kimberle Williams Crenshaw's Backtalker is eyeing me up on my Libro.fm account... I also have the physical copies of each of those books to do some immersive reading - but I just don't know if I'm up for that level of reading quite yet. A book I AM excited to read, that I also have the audio and physical copy, that also releases THIS TUESDAY, is by one of my favorite authors: Mason Deaver's upcoming novel Ship Happens. Maybe I'll go with that one now that I'm talking about it. I guess you'll find out in next week's newsletter.

Also, if you missed the first Collaborators newsletter, there's a poll at the end and also, some free swag up for grabs if you'd like some. Let me know!

I'll catch y'all tomorrow for Trans History Month, Volume 2.

Be easy on yourselves.

With all my trans joy,

Sawyer Cole