As an MFA student in creative writing, I eat sleep and breathe books. Here are ones that have impacted me deeply as a person and as a writer. My friends always come to me for reading recs, so here they are for the world to enjoy!
Sections
3
Fiction
Poetry
Classics that are worth it
Fiction
this book will always be in my top 3. has been a favorite since i was 15. impossible to put down
The History of Love - Nicole Krauss
such a fun and relatable girl-in-her-20s read
Writers & Lovers: A Novel - Lily King
now this book is a feat of modern writing. incorporates a tv-script-like text and excerpts from historical nonfiction
Lincoln in the Bardo (Booker Prize Winner)|Paperback
incredible horror-ish ghost novel reflecting on indigenous rights and the prison-industrial complex
The Sentence: A Novel|Paperback
joan is god
Play It As It Lays|Paperback
such good, relevant sci-fi in the time of AI. read it for an AI ethics class
Machines Like Me|Paperback
junot is problematic but also probably a genius
This Is How You Lose Her|Paperback
see other comment on junot diaz
Drown|Paperback
an example of the perfect short story collection imo
Interpreter of Maladies (Pulitzer Prize Winner)|Paperback
i want to be eve babitz when i grow up
Sex and Rage|Paperback
the perfect epistolary novel. in fact, a pillar of the form, despite coming out this year
The Correspondent: A Novel|Special
my #1 recommendation. somewhat dense historical parts done IMPECCABLY! magical realism, hallelujah. ghosts, hallelujah. won the booker in 2022. I met shehan and he is a truly incredible person and writer
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (Booker Prize Winner)|Paperback
made me throw up. in a good way i suppose
I Who Have Never Known Men|Paperback
incredible and oh so sadly relevant
Martyr!|Paperback
comedy, history, civil rights.
The Trees|Paperback
this book is so long and yet you will read it in a period of 8 hours straight. it is truly impossible to put down
The Secret History|Paperback
this may already be a classic... apocalyptic father-son narrative. makes you cry like a baby
The Road (Pulitzer Prize Winner)|Paperback
stunning prose. WWII Paris.
All the Light We Cannot See (Pulitzer Prize Winner)|Paperback
no words.
The Kite Runner (10th Anniversary Edition)|Paperback
incredible novella, simple prose
Small Things Like These|Hardcover
the best collection of all time. i cry thinking about it. Vietnam War stories, including PTSD after. so so well done
The Things They Carried|Paperback
such a fun and relatable girl in her 20s postgrad read
The Marriage Plot|Paperback
Poetry
may be basic, but mary oliver makes me cry
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver (Read with Jenna Pick)|Paperback
studied so many of these poems throughout high school and college and loved every one of them
Night Sky with Exit Wounds|Paperback
combines poetry with visual art in a damning representation of Black life in america
Citizen: An American Lyric|Paperback
ada limon, a goddess
Bright Dead Things|Paperback
an incredible writer at work here
Then the War: And Selected Poems, 2007-2020 (Pulitzer Prize ...
my favorite poetry collection of all time. FR
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude|Paperback
felt so edgy reading this in high school
frank: sonnets (Pulitzer Prize Winner)|Paperback
love a writer who can do both impeccable fiction and poetry
Calling a Wolf a Wolf|Paperback
really something you have to read for yourself
American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin|Paperback
god he was good. and crazy
The Fall of America: Poems of These States 1965-1971|Paperback
Classics that are worth it
a great reflection on capitalism and elitism. follows a butler's loyalty to a potentially problematic boss
The Remains of the Day (Booker Prize Winner)|Paperback
not sure if this is considered a classic or not, but i think it is. laugh-out-loud funny
A Confederacy of Dunces (Pulitzer Prize Winner)|Paperback
you gotta give it to him, hemingway was a great writer. what the hell
The Sun Also Rises (Signature Classics)|Paperback
i have a hard time describing how much this book means to me
On the Road|Paperback
such good magical realism x historical fiction
Midnight's Children (Booker Prize Winner)|Paperback
i mean come on. who didn't secretly love studying it in middle school?
The Great Gatsby|Paperback
after reading this, you'll be at a loss to focus on a new book. it's so good, it just sticks with you
East of Eden|Paperback
please don't watch the movie, it breaks my heart to see this beautiful novel failed
Wuthering Heights|Paperback
another true sob story
Of Mice and Men|Paperback
my heart breaks just thinking about it
Flowers for Algernon|Paperback
toni morrison may be the greatest writer who ever lived
