Book Category: Essential
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Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin
Emily Austin’s novel about a neurodivergent, lesbian space nut is funny, warm and pretty close to perfect.
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Who’s Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler
An academic dissection of the question posed on the cover: What exactly are people afraid of, and why? It’s a dense but essential read.
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Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by Liz Pelly
Liz Pelly’s essential look at Spotify shows a company aiming to manipulate customers and artists to enrich shareholders and major labels. Even if you think you know, you’ll learn something here.
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H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Helen Macdonald’s memoir of the period after her father’s death is so much more and hit me so much harder than I expected.
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The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Nothing I say about The Fire Next Time is going to be original or insightful. It’s essential, full stop.
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The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
The Safekeep is historical literary romance, which is not generally my bag. I loved it. The less you know going in the better. I think this one is going to win a lot of awards.
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The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
Angela Carter is an author you should know. Her writing is floral and seductive, and these gothic horror stories are unforgettable
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God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Liz Moore is one of today’s best crime writers. By the end of The God of the Woods, I didn’t even want the mystery to be solved
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The Body in Question by Jill Ciment
In her memoir Consent, Ciment casts herself as an unreliable narrator of her own life. The Body in Question is fiction, so closely based upon her real life that it raises questions of its’ own.
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Falling Back in Love with Being Human by Kai Cheng Thom
Falling Back in Love with Being Human is gentle, warm and beautiful. I don’t know how it found me, but I’ll be forever grateful it did.