Book Recommendation Index

Books I recommend, by topic. It’s all very scientific.

FICTION

Campus Romps

• Vladimir by Julia May Jonas (2022)

• Come and Get It by Kiley Reid (2024)

• Seduction Theory by Emily Adrian (2025)

• Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio (2024)

• Babel by R.F. Kuang (2022)

Books about Boarding School

• Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (1988)

• Abigail by Magda Szabó, (translated 2020)

• Old School by Tobias Wolff (2003)

Women Experiencing Nervous Breakdowns

• Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker (1962)

• The Group by Mary McCarthy (1963)

Love Stories

• Heart the Lover by Lily King (2025)

• Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor (2025)

Weirdos, Misfits, and Losers

• Sky Daddy by Kate Folk (2025)

• Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (2024)

Anglophilia

• The Flight of the Maidens by Jane Gardam (2000)

• Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932)

Books about Messy Marriages

• Heartburn by Nora Ephron (1983)

• The Pumpkin Eaters by Penelope Mortimer (1962)

• The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller (2024)

Books about Children

• Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart (2025)

• The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers (1946)

• Tali Girls by Siamak Herawi (translated 2023)

Works in Translation

• If Only by Vigdis Hjorth (translated 2024)

• Kids Run the Show by Delphine de Vigand (translated 2023)

• Cécé by Emmelie Prophète (translated 2025)

• Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami (translated 2026)

• Hooked by Asako Yuzuki (translated 2026)

POETRY

• Envelope Poems by Emily Dickinson (2016)

NONFICTION

• Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector’s Quest by Rebecca Romney (2025)

• Other Rivers: A Chinese Education by Peter Hessler (2024)

• When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era by Donovan X. Ramsey (2023)

• What Writers Read: 35 Writers On Their Favourite Book, edited by Pandora Sykes (2022)

• The Joy of Snacking: A Graphic Memoir about Food, Love & Family by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell (2025)