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A Bookseller’s Book Recs from Fantasy to Non-Fiction 📚
17
items This is literally my job. You should trust me.
I read 60+ books a year. Mostly fiction, romance, and fantasy. But I do read some non-fiction as well.
Here are some of my favorites of all time!
Sections
3
fantasy
fiction
non-fiction
fantasy
I will read anything Rachel Gillig writes and you should too! Her take on romantasy is so different from the average story saturating the market right now. Her prose is stunning and her characters and storylines are compelling.
The Shepherd King Series by Rachel Gillig
I will read anything she writes! It’s gothic, well written, funny in just the right moments, and heartbreaking in others. Every character is so well written. Bartholomew, I love you 🖤
The Knight and the Moth
If you wanna fill the magic school hole in your heart left by a certain TERF, might I suggest the Scholomance Series? Novik twists the chosen one narrative in a fun and gripping way. Also, she helped start AO3. So, we love her.
A Deadly Education
Think “Fourth Wing” but with Dire Wolves and an FMC who is a street fighter. I genuinely didn’t see some of the twists coming, and that’s pretty rare for a romantasy!
Dire Bound
A great follow up to the first book, but it does drag a little at times. Again, more twists I didn’t see coming and the characters are developing in a really great way.
Fury Bound (Standard Edition)
fiction
The reality is that everyone is unique and that makes us all normal. Rooney does a stunning job of exploring what makes the human experience so difficult and beautiful at the same time: relationships. Whether they be platonic, familial, sexual, or ro...
Normal People by Sally Rooney | Goodreads
I wish I could read this for the first time again.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt - Goodreads
This is a book where both nothing and everything happens. It is a story about a normal man’s life, but somehow it still leaves you turning each page because you can’t seem to put it down.
Stoner by John Williams
Keegan does so much in so few pages. She weaves a heartbreakingly real tale of what life was and can still be for young women and how we as a society have and continue to failed them when they need us most.
Small Things Like These - Keegan, Claire
Hunger Games but make it R rated and a really brutal examination of the prison industrial complex. It’s gay too!
Chain Gang All Stars
The Secret History, but they’re in a Shakespeare conservatory. But really, they’re fairly different. This one is short and snappy, while TSH is more literary and winding (Donna please come back. I miss you!)
These messy drama students are a train w...
If We Were Villains
non-fiction
It seems dramatic, but this book changed my life. It changed how I think about poetry, writing, love, obsession, and of course, the color blue.
Bluets by Maggie Nelson, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®
This is a hard but stunning read. Machado is an incredible author and has found a way to sift through an abusive relationship to find herself again. This is creative non-fiction at its best. Both poetic and truthful, it lays out how trauma can paraly...
In the Dream House
I read this not long after losing someone I was very close to and it was very cathartic. I guess I only really read sad non-fiction, but reality is a bit sad…
Blue Nights
If you’re a Joni fan, you MUST read this book. It’s a beautiful look into her career and life. Yaffe did a great job of capturing her and exploring her life and the impact she’s had on music.
Reckless Daughter
If you’re writing a book, read this. It was assigned to me in college and it made me look at writing in a new and more approachable way.
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You'll Ever Need
Another Maggie book! I read this first and it was a big push in getting me to examine gender as a social construct.
The Argonauts | Graywolf Press