Reading Worm

  In a world that often demands we hide our true selves, Jacob Anthony Rose's debut memoir Stillness and Survival: A Life Between Trauma, Glitter, and the Echo of My Own Voice (releasing January 6, 2026) offers a powerful testament to resilience and reclamation. As a gay child growing up in a home shadowed by fear, Rose learned early that silence was survival. He vanished into quietude, burying his voice and dreams. But then came the transformative escape: drag, music, and the glittering stage as Sheena Rose, a beloved icon in San Francisco's queer nightlife for over two decades. For years, performance brought joy and freedom—house anthems, applause, and self-expression. Yet trauma doesn't fade quietly. During the isolation of the COVID years, old wounds resurfaced, plunging Rose into depression and a renewed loss of voice. This isn't just a story of pain; it's one of repeated rebirth. As reviewer Kathryn Dare notes, it's a "raw, luminous memoir of resilie...