Those famous words spoken by the Queen of Drag herself Ru Paul, have never rung more true than in this day and age. Lets go on an exploratory adventure full of sequence, glitter and lots and lots of glam.
In this specially curated annotated bibliography, our library has put together a list of Adult fiction Novels and Memoirs that we know you will love. These are stories of hope, loss, love and rebirth, and this line up will fill your heart with a rainbow of emotions, Girlllll.

Some of these novels will have you laughing, others crying and some both, so pick one up today and explore the colourful world of Drag and Non Binary.
Diamontes abound! but the true diamonds are the real stories hidden behind all that sparkle.

All Books have been sourced from novelist database.

Why Drag? - Magnus Hastings

Title: Why Drag?
Author: Magnus Hastings
Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2016

Featuring a who's who of Drag Queens, this volume, put together by portrait artist Hastings who has been photographing Drag for over a decade.

He simply ask's the question:
"Why Drag?"

The responses are polarising, mesmerising and moving. Find out what the personal meaning of Drag is to each individual Queen. Explore its art form and discover how Drag is celebrated today. A beautiful collection of personal accounts, with no filter. Nothing is off topic. Hastings interviews some of the most prominent and well known, local and international Drag Queens like Bianca Del Rio and Courtney Act.

If you love Memoirs and Autobiographies but don't want to read just one long story, then this is a great place to start.

You will laugh, gasp and cry in this fabulous introduction into the glittery world of Drag.
For more information and reviews check out GoodReads

Blame it on Bianca Del Rio - Bianca Del Rio

Title: Blame It on Bianca Del Rio
Author: Bianca Del Rio
Publisher: Dey Street Books, 2018

Where to begin? This Memoir has it all, Laughs, Cries, Shock Factor. You will not read anything like this for a long time.
Acerbic Bianca Del Rio will take you on a roller coaster ride in this this raucous, loud and down right tongue in cheek memoir of all things Drag.

In her usual style, she doesn't hold back and is loud and proud, sharing moments from her less than common day to day life. This story reads like a memoir in some parts but is also filled with many interesting, hilarious and sometimes downright shocking anecdotes.
Filled with gorgeous colour illustrations. Pick this  Memoir if you're Not Faint at heart!

for more information have a look at some reviews at GoodReads

Death Prefers Blondes - Caleb Roehrig

Title: Death Prefers Blondes
Author: Caleb Roehrig
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends, 2018.

This book has it all. Socialites, Cat Burglars, Flamboyant young men, Glitter, Heiresses, Kickboxing. There is literally so much to sink your teeth into. Don't be afraid because it all comes together seamlessly.

Margo Manning spends her life in the headlines, for two very different reasons. She's a Californian Socialite by day and Cat Burglar by night in the disguise of Drag with a great team of young men who do it for the thrill and finances. Life really is a thrill.
But things take a very grim turn for them all, and their friendships, their resources and their ability to survive. With stakes this high and everything she has ever worked hard for on the verge of collapse, Margo really has to make the hardest decision of her life.
A fun book with depth, easy to read and will keep you turning the pages well into the night.

Check out some reader reviews at GoodReads

The Trauma Cleaner - Sarah Krasnostein.

Title : The Trauma Cleaner, One woman's extraordinary life in the business of death, decay, and disaster.
Author : Sarah Krosnastien.
Publisher : St Martins Press, 2017.

This is not your standard story of Drag and Gender Identity. This memoir takes you on the long interesting scenic tour that is the Trauma Cleaner. You will never, ever read anything like the story of Sandra Pankhurst. A man, Woman, Drag Queen, Sex Worker, Father, Mother and proud Trauma Cleaning Business Owner.

Sandra's life now revolves around the Trauma Business, helping deal with the mess that can be life. After all, who do you call to clean up a murder suicide once the police have completed their work? or who do you call when you can't even see the insides of a house due to severe hoarding? well you call Sandra, thats who.

But Sandra carries her own trauma. Having lived so many lives and endured so much she is somehow still able to take in the most in need people of society. Her warmth and generosity and genuine sincerity will win you over.  Read this book for genuine feel good fuzzies.

Its worth noting this Memoir has also won the VIC Premiers Literary Award for Literature and for Fiction, The ABIA award for General NF and has been shortlisted for many others. Here is some more information at GoodReads

Middle Sex - Jeffery Eugenides

Title: Middlesex
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Publisher: Picador USA, 2002.

The 2003 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Fiction, Middlesex will take you from a humble village in Greece at the turn of the of the last Century to mid 1900's American glory days by following the lineage of the Stephanides Family.

Calliope Stephanides cant understand why she's different, why she feels different in her body. On her innocent quest for answers she begins researching her family history only to discover, by error,  a secret so shameful she is unsure what to do with it. Plunged into the deep dark depths of guilt, Calliope begins to understand the astonishing genetic codes of gender identity in relation to her own genetic history.

This is contemporary fiction at its best. Harrowing, thrilling and lyrical, Eugenides will leave you moved at the transformation from Calliope to Cal. Pick this up today and the story will stay with you for life.

For more information on Middlesex and reader reviews check out GoodReads

Unicorn: The memoir of a muslim Drag Queen - Amrou Al-Kadhi

Title: Unicorn, the memoir of a muslim Drag Queen.
Author: Amrou Al-Kadhi
Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2019.

Amrou Al-Kadhi's Unicorn is a sweet sweet love letter to truth, belonging, our identity, childhood and all that we believe about ourselves. Unicorn is relatable, you don't have to be Queer to understand it, you just have to be human and have some heart.

Growing up in a somewhat conservative Middle Eastern Muslim family, young gender confused Amrou takes on the strangest coping mechanisms to deal with his inferiority and supposed sinful thinking. Concentrating on anything but the obvious he becomes OCD about his school work, grows a Marine world in his room, strives for a notable title at Eton, applies the mantra of DR -ABC to stay in the present moment, as well as a myriad of other strange oddities, but all of these coping mechanisms last months, some years, but eventually they shatter, leaving the truth he so desperately wants to live but is too afraid to.
This is a coming of age story. A story about a mothers love and approval.
Amrou's Prose is engaging, funny and candid even when your heart is breaking for him.
The writing is brighter than the yellow cover and remarkably beautiful and descriptive.

For more information about Unicorn check out GoodReads

GuRu - Ru Paul

Title: GuRu
Author: RuPaul
Publisher: Dey Street Books, 2018.

The Queen of Queens herself, RuPaul's GuRu is a personal account that brings to attention Ru Paul Charles' unchartered growth in an industry that at once ceased to exist. This especially curated annotated bibliography wouldn't be right if Ru Paul Charles didn't feature.

Ru Paul shares her secrets to success and you don't have to be a bono fide Drag Diva to take notes. This is a woman who has turned her life around despite hardship and adversity in an era with many raised eyebrows.

You can expect a lot of mind- body - spirit connection and advice about how to feel unstuck, wherever you are in life and she does this be being candid, honest, funny and warm and by openly sharing her own experience.

Pick this book up if you're a fan or you're looking for something uplifting and honest.

for more information on GuRu have a look at reader reviews on GoodReads

Life's a Drag - Janie Millman

Title: Life's a Drag
Author: Janie Millman.
Publisher: Accent Press 2015.

In this heartwarming story, a couple move to quaint Suffolk in search of a more simple life only to discover they have landed smack bang in the middle of the annual Drag competition, and before they know it, they have become a part of the show themselves.

Worlds away, in San Fransisco, Drew is in a world of pain trying to keep his nightclub and livelihood on life support.

Enter alcohol, fun, a couple of crazy ideas and you end up with a rather endearing story of how our lives our connected with people we don't even know, have never met and the power of human connection.

This is a very touching story, with lots of uplifting humour and a colourful backdrop of characters, shenanigans and of course sequence.

For more reviews on this novel check out GoodReads

Drag Teen - Jeffery Self

Title: Drag Teen
Author: Jeffery Self
Publisher: Push, 2016

Jeffrey Self is a Youtube Gay Icon sensation and in this fantastic YA Novel he is on a cross country journey with a young man who is determined to get himself to college even if he has zero money.

Queue a Drag competition with a winning prize of a College Scholarship and you have yourself a story that will make you cheer, laugh and be really won over by the transformative power of Drag.

Although this Novel is Young Adult fiction, we feel its good enough to include in our Eleganza Extravaganza line up for its wit, guts and feel good plot driven story.

For more information on Drag Teen check it out at GoodReads

The House of impossible beauties - Joseph Cassara

Title: The house of impossible Beauties

Author: Joseph Cassara
Publisher: Ecco, 2018

New York City. Young Angel arrives with a broken heart and straight into the Ball Scene in Harlem. She falls in love, experiences heart break, builds community and continues to strive.

She creates a name for herself and becomes a mother to all those in need. Her ambitions allow her to make peace with her past and strive for her future.

Filled with tenderness this Novel has it all, love, rage, heartbreak, wit and resilience, with well written characters and the atmospheric backdrop of New York City.

For ore information and reviews checkout GoodReads