Chain-Gang All-Stars is a searing, extremely smart, and compulsively readable novel about incarceration, the use of Black lives as entertainment, and so much more. You gotta read it.

Well, that was weird. Definitely smart and imaginative and impressive — just a bit over my head. Still, it was fun to read and puzzle through!

End of the World House is a trippy literary page-turner with a great premise and an ending I’ll be thinking about for a long time. It manages to be very readable and also very smart.

Out There is a collection of the exact kind of short stories I love: punchy, speculative, feminist, metaphorical, and weird. Kate Folk is definitely on my watchlist now!

The School for Good Mothers is a wild ride of a novel. It’s not comfortable, but it’s extremely effective and absolutely does what it meant to do. I was so impressed.

Even Greater Mistakes is a wide-reaching collection of stories that will have something for everyone. Anders is just so good at cutting to the heart of our humanity with bravery and compassion.

Alien Stories is a resonant, haunting little collection. Every story made an impression on me, and I was so impressed with Osondu’s imaginative, precise craft.

The Ghost Variations is a fun and smart set of 100 flash fiction ghost stories. I read a few each day in October and loved it. Brockmeier has created something really creative here.

The Wall reads like a classic, with an unapologetic dystopian allegory, vivid setting, and memorable narrator. It’s gripping and gritty and hard to look away from.

I’m late to the party on this one, but I never doubted that I would love it. So many people have spoken highly of it. Plus, sorta-weird-sorta-spooky-super-speculative feminist short stories? MADE FOR ME.

Rating: 4.5/5 | I'm not sure where they had me: "short stories," "speculative fiction," or "feminist lit." Because I love all of those things. And I was supremely ~not disappointed~. These were make-you-squint-and-think stories. I carried a pencil with me when I was reading it and underlined or circled a significant portion of the words on each page. (Click the post to read more.)