i have really disliked the last 6 or 7 books i’ve read. i was on a really solid run, before that, and need suggestions to rekindle the flame. here’s some recent stuff i was really into:
• “i who have never known men” by jacquelin harpman
• “it lasts forever and then it’s over” by anne de marcken
• “the divine farce” by michael graziano
• “a short stay in hell” by steven l. peck
• “piranesi” by suzanne clark
• “the employees” by olga ravn
they’re all quite existential and have a common theme of liminal spaces. any recommendations would be so appreciated! thanks!
by Numerous_Spray_9647
10 Comments
I’ve been on a bad-book streak for 3+ years now 😭 I hope you find something good because it’s tough out here
Based on your list, you might like Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
What were the books you didn’t like? That may help too!
Matyr! by Kaveh Akbar and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro might fit into this bucket.
The School for Good Mothers
IWHNKM put me off other books for a little while since I haven’t really found one like it. I will suggest The Inverted World by Christopher Priest and The Unnamed Midwife by Meg Ellison, those two came closest to IWHNKM’s surrealist vibe for me in different ways, but still don’t quite reach it. The classic it gets compared to the most is The Road by Cormac McCarthy which also doesn’t quite fit, but it’s a good read regardless. Another one that comes up in conversation often is The Wall by Marlen Haushofer which I haven’t read personally but it’s on my list!
Klara and the Sun
Realm of the Elderlings series (lots of books, but I literally couldn’t stop reading)
Maybe some Viktor Pelevin? Omon Ra might be a good place to start. Fernanda Trias’ Pink Slime. Evelio Rosero’s Stranger to the Moon. And there’s always Jeff Vandermeer’s Southern Reach trilogy.
If you’re currently into existential with settings that become part of the story these are books I’ve read recently that fit that mood for me-
Windup Bird Chronicles or Kafka On The Shore – Haruki Murakami (I like Kafka On The Shore better, but I’ve been in the minority of people I’ve talked to on that)
The Night Circus- Erin Morgenstern
The Ocean at the End of the Lane- Neil Gaiman
We Have Always Lived In The Castle- Shirley Jackson
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb. It’s one of my favorites of all time.