2 Books Like Standardizing Sex

"Passing Strange" is the true story of Clarence King, a nineteenth-century American explorer and surveyor and his Black common-law wife, Ada Copeland, who knew him as James Todd. King persuaded Copeland that he was a Black man who passed as white, when in fact the reverse was true, and lived a double life until telling her the truth on his deathbed when he passed in 1901. Copeland outlived King for more than 62 years, dying at age 103 in 1964. Though Copeland left few records behind of her thoughts during her long life and the betrayal that shaped it, Sandweiss used archival materials to draw a convincing picture of how a Black woman in Copeland's situation might have felt and perceived her situation. Sandweiss's extensive research and sense of narrative drama keeps the reader engaged in the story and King and Copeland in their memory, long after finishing the book.

"Beyond Limits" is a memoir by one of the few third-trimester abortion providers in the United States, who is now retired. Sella organizes this memoir, which is largely about her professional life, by creating composite abortion-seekers from the thousands of patients she saw throughout the years. Her composites are further grouped into two categories: those seeking care because there is a fetal problem, and those seeking care because there is a maternal problem. The composite patients serve two purposes: they maintain the anonymity of past patients and show that seemingly individual problems have universal components. Sella provides unique insight into the world of abortion care and the patients who seek that care, and she is clear-eyed about how the procedure affects lives.