book recommendations :)
I decided to take a bit of a breather after last week’s fairly heavy post and write something a little lighter on the heart, but don’t worry, my trademark irreverence will still shine through, grating as ever!
As a kid, I read (and re-read) voraciously. As a teenager, I read fanfiction. As an adult, I read (some of) whatever my instructors told me to read.
Reading for pleasure (beyond fanfiction), was something that I struggled with, and still do to this day. I think there is very strong anecdotal (and I’m sure scientific) evidence for our dwindling attention spans hugely affecting our ability to read. Not that we literally can’t, but that reading is one of the few activities where you entire attention is devoted to that one thing. You can’t read and scroll simultaneously like you can with other common downtime hobbies like watching TV/movies or listening to music.
I’m not a book purist at all— this will be apparent in my recommendations. The people who are “book people” and performatively gasp at dogearing the pages of a mass produced paperback and treat every book as if it’s a sacred text is like, a little much for me. But I do feel like losing my love of reading is indicative of a much larger phenomenon that I’ve been fighting against the past few years, namely falling slave to the endless scroll. Even though I deleted all my social media ages ago, the scroll still has me in its clutches. Youtube shorts, Pinterest, and even lurking on Reddit have caused me to spend endless hours consuming the most inane (or AI-generated) drivel possible. I may not be talking to or engaging with other people, but I am still participating in what I consider to be the increasingly harmful culture of the social media scroll. Technically, I’m reading on Reddit, but at the same time, let’s be real. That doesn’t count. It’s not anti-reading, but it kind of feels like it.
The joke here is that I wrote a book, when it feels like I can barely read one. One of the things I’ve learned since pursuing hobbies in the real world is that like anything else worth having, they require work. That may seem counterintuitive, but it only seems so because the internet and the algorithms within have convinced me that gormless mouthbreathing while the computer tickles the pleasure centers of my brain is the same thing as actively doing something. A few years ago there was that meme about having a smooth brain, referring to someone with a particularly dumb opinion or showing a lack of critical thinking. I’d argue that the thing that caused my brain to be smoothest of all was living my life in such a way that I’m even aware of said meme’s existence.
On and off over the past few years I have tried to read real books again. Fanfiction, while fun, does not qualify as a “real” book. Not only is it amateur fiction helmed by unskilled writers, but it rarely contains the elements you would associate with published novels. There are exceptions to this rule (and lots of published novels suck), but by and large, fic is enjoyable, but does not fall under the category of “book”. This isn’t a bad thing. They’re just different.
I thought if anyone reading this blog has gone through similar struggles to me, and also enjoys my work or my thought processes, may also enjoy knowing what I like to read. This comes with the huge caveat that what I read and what I write are often very different things. I can be very particular (but not necessarily picky, if that makes sense) about my preferences, especially when it comes to genres/topics/themes that are meaningful to me. This is where I would say I tend to embody the concept of if you want something done right, do it yourself. There are lots of personal neuroses tied up in this approach, but if nothing else, at least I try to walk the walk.
Anyway, here are some books I like!
Tana French’s entire bibliography - if you like detective stories (or mysteries), Ireland, and incredible prose, give her a go. My favorite is the second book in the Dublin Murder Squad series, The Likeness (also one of her few novels with a female protagonist). If I could fully absorb one author’s prose-writing ability, it would be hers. I’ve always felt like my own prose is not particularly strong, so reading prose like Tana French’s is both a breath of fresh air and also very aspirational for me. Despite her elevated literary talent, her work is so unpretentious and human while also offering complex characters and an often unflattering and authentic look into the underpinnings (and underbelly) of Irish culture. She’s one of those authors who is internationally acclaimed but also no one seems to have heard of her. Read her stuff (and don’t watch the TV adaptation of Dublin Murder Squad, it sucks)!!!
We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix - I’ve read a number of Grady Hendrix’s books, and this is by far my favorite. I love the protagonist and I love that it’s about a metal band and their weird devil music. There’s something about incorporating creepy music into a horror novel that I find very intriguing. Similar to horror movie monsters, the less you see the better. Or in this case, the less you hear. I think this is technically billed as a horror novel, but it’s not very scary. I think what really makes this book memorable for me is how much I fell in love with Kris, the main character, especially because horror protagonists are often so forgettable. WOO KRIS (also, nothing to do with the quality of the writing, but all the various cover art I’ve seen for this kicks ass)
The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell - not a ton to say about this one beyond thinking it was super creepy, and I love when books are creepy enough to be creepy (I know that sounds like it should be a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many horror novels aren’t actually scary). I usually don’t care for books that jump around in timelines, but there was something about how neither of the timelines in this book were in the present that really worked for me. Basically, if you want to be creeped out, this is a great choice.
The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson - one of, if not my favorite book since I got back into reading as an adult. It’s a coming of age story (a genre I rarely pick up in adulthood as, similar to YA, I feel like I’ve aged out of the target demo) and I couldn’t even pin down exactly what about it hit me so hard, but it really resonated with me. I’ve read a number of Craig Davidson’s horror novels written under the pen name Nick Cutter, which I mostly like, but this one was a lot more personal and emotionally hard-hitting (and not really a horror).
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh - Do I have to say much about this one? I think it did the rounds pretty thoroughly back when it came out. If you’re a depressed, cynical woman, read this and feel feelings, most of them not good, but definitely self-reflective.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - This is a horror novel that even my fairly strong stomach found a bit grotesque. It’s a slow burn, but once things get going, they really go.
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid - I think this is another one that got a lot of press, so I probably don’t have to say a lot about it beyond the fact that it was a really engaging read. There are scenes in this book that, as someone who really struggles with secondhand embarrassment, made me want to crawl under a rock forever. Which, of course, I mean as a compliment.
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton - You ever read the first page of a novel and think, “this author is so much smarter than me I don’t even know if I should keep reading because it would only be insulting to her??” That was the majority of my experience with Birnam Wood. The way this novel skewers well-meaning but ultimately self-centered leftists who fight over split hairs was like… almost too accurate? Like Such a Fun Age, there is one scene in particular that makes me want to shrivel up like a dried out sponge when I think about it (also in a good way). This is also one of the few novels where I don’t mind the multiple character POV as the writing was more than strong enough to carry it. My only negative about Birnam Wood is that I really disliked the ending. I see what Catton was going for, but it just didn’t work for me. It felt like the end to a satire, and while there were absolutely elements of satire in this novel, I thought it did itself a disservice by ending like it did since it had done do much fantastic character work leading up to that. But again, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was just too dumb to get it.
Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat by Bee Wilson - I’ve really gotten into microhistories (non-fiction books about the history of one specific topic or thing) over the past few years, and I think Consider the Fork is my favorite so far. Learning about how the land and available resources shape food cultures feels like such an obvious conclusion, and yet somehow was also something that had never occurred to me. One of the things I really enjoy about microhistories is how they showcase the cycles of human behavior, as well as how those behaviors are impacted by external factors, which is really well illustrated in Consider the Fork. To be honest, that showcasing can also be really demoralizing and enraging to read, but it’s extremely interesting from a psychological point of view. Other microhistories I would recommend: White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf by Aaron Bobrow-Strain, The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century by Deborah Blum, Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween by Lisa Morton, Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances also by Lisa Morton, and, if you feel like you can handle some extremely gruesome descriptions of radiation sickness, The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - I don’t like Mike Flanagan’s work (except for Oculus, which is great, and Hush, which is pretty good) and I didn’t like his adaptation of Hill House. I eventually got around to reading the source material and was blown away. It was a really good novel, and it was extremely lesbian to boot. Like, to the point I was like, how was this allowed?? I know the concept of what actually constitutes homosexual behavior has changed a lot over time, but phew, this one really threw me for a loop. I didn’t realize just how lesbian Hill House was because I just assumed that was added in the Mike Flanagan version in the name of 21st century representation (and like… the way the Hill House adaptation was done is SO weird because the two female characters who have really intense romantic tension are siblings in the adaptation? I haven’t seen any of the other versions of Hill House so I can’t comment on those, but what a bizarre choice by Flanagan, because one of said sisters still is very much a lesbian…), but yeah, no, I am very surprised that Hill House doesn’t get talked about more as an example of early lesbian fiction, regardless of whether it was considered so at the time of publishing or not.
The September House by Carissa Orlando - I read a lot of haunted house novels (and watch a lot of haunted house movies) because I really like haunted houses. Many of them are generic and unmemorable, and I expected more of the same from The September House… except I ended up really liking it! Another surprise is that novels about mother/daughter relationships are not usually my cup of tea (not for any nefarious reason, I’m just not usually drawn to them), so I enjoyed reading one that resonated with me. It was also a lot funnier than I was expecting, and I tend to be a pretty tough nut to crack when it comes to comedy.
Where They Wait by Scott Carson - There are probably enough horror novels on this list that you’re like, oh she really likes horror. And you would be correct! But my joke is always that horror doesn’t really like me back. Most horror is crap, but I continue reading the genre because I know there’s diamonds in the rough out there. I’m actually in the middle of a personal challenge where I’m going alphabetically through my local library’s fiction titles (horror doesn’t have its own section, but at least the books have HORROR stickers on the spine) and checking out every horror novel I see that seems remotely in my wheelhouse and I haven’t already read. There have been a number of duds, but Where They Wait was one of the first ones I pulled and I ended up really enjoying it! It’s not perfect— Scott Carson is kind of like Stephen King if he were actually picky about what he wrote (this novel is even set in small town Maine)— but I am a sucker for horror novels that revel in atmosphere, deal with folklore, and have interesting premises, but are also still pretty traditional in execution. Similar to We Sold Our Souls, there are also aural elements at play that clearly I enjoy in my horror fiction. I also read Lost Man’s Lane by Carson which I didn’t like as much (very King-esque/IT-esque coming of age), and am now reading another of his called The Chill which I think will end up being more in line with Where They Wait, and therefore more to my liking.
And… fin! I think this list makes me look like a much more impressive (and wide-ranging) reader than I am. This list has been cultivated from the last half decade or so, so it’s not like this is just from the past month or anything. I used to use Goodreads, but now I keep track of everything I read in a notebook, with a sentence or two review if I feel so inclined. I felt like this was a better way to catalog my thoughts on any given book, as I didn’t have to worry about competing with the other chuckleheads on Goodreads to see who could write the pithiest review (and get the most LIKES! on a BOOK REVIEW WEBSITE! we live in HELL!) So now I can write little notes for myself that are very boring like, “not for me” or “learned a lot” without feeling like I’m somehow letting someone down. Also, reading Goodreads reviews should be investigated for its effectiveness as a torture tactic. Imagining how reviews for Don’t Worry About It would look on Goodreads is incredibly funny and agonizing.
Should I talk about booktok in this post? Probably not. I don’t actually know much about it other than that it exists and is… a lot. But once again I have fantasized about what Don’t Worry About It would look like in the world of booktok. I don’t know if the denizens of booktok know or care about lesbians fucking, it seems to be very Colleen Hoover and Reylo-centric, so maybe it’s best if those streams never cross. But, like, it would be really funny. Imagining Wren’s tits splayed across the #booktok #spicy table at Indigo or Barnes and Noble. Or, like, including it on the “diverse voices” table during pride month.
Okay, post over because now I’m playing the aw-shucks martyr and that’s enough of that. Also, I wrote this entire blog post in one sitting because I was procrastinating doing some more reading. Embarrassing.
Also, I am always taking book recommendations, especially horror or microhistory!! hit me with ya best rec.