Top books of this year as hyper specific recommendations

In lieu of a monthly reading roundup

Instead of a monthly roundup for December, I offer a yearly roundup of all my favourite books from this year as hyper specific recommendations.

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If you were a strange teenaged girl, had a friendship that left you a shell of yourself, and often think about the last episode of True Detective season 1 where they find the yellow king’s lair and it always makes you meditate on how places are characters in and of themselves: Jawbone by Monica Ojeda

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If you’ve ever spent a period of time wanting to kill yourself & you wish you had or you’re grateful you hadn’t; either one: Coup de Grâce by Sofia Ajram

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If you’re queer & have any kind of religious past & you think the woods keep secrets: The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

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If you don’t tend to like fantasy but your little sister does and you love her so you want to try one, and if you’ve ever lamented over what a terrible person you are, even if you are, in fact, a good person. If you think often about how the sheer scope of the havoc that colonialism caused could never be entirely gleamed. If people’s capacity for cruelty keeps you up at night; if people’s ability for love keeps you up at night: The Poppy War series by R.F Kuang

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If you’ve ever felt weird about gender and/or motherhood and/or relationships and/or existence, or would like to feel weird about any of the above: The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

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If authority and the way of the world leaves a bad taste in your mouth & you ever thought the horror genre was too repetitive, too sanitized, or not weird enough: Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

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What were your top books of this year? I want to know! That’s all for now, take care of yourself