The me from a year ago would never even dream of making this rec list. And here we are! But also, before we go into the heavy detail, let me just say that I use a very rough definition of ‘literary fiction’. And by that I mean that in my mind it’s mostly just… character-driven, hard to define stories. That’s it. I’m literally just here for the vibes and to have a good time.
Anyway, Charlotte also recced some lit fic this year (and she included one of my favourite books of all time – On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous), so check out her post, too!
And hey, a lot of those titles are available on Scribd, so if you want to check out that service but don’t have an account yet, use my invite code to get 2 months for free! (This also gives me one free month.)
The Thirty Names of Night
Zeyn Joukhadar
Goodreads
Rep: Syrian American trans gay mc, Syrian American gay li, Syrian sapphic mc, Syrian trans li, Syrian sapphic li, Black nonbinary character
TW: islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, violence, death, blood
Why Should I Read It?
The book which taught me I like lit fic! Truly I just need to figure out what makes it all work for me, and that is complicated family stories & narratives focused on love. I described this book before as a love letter, a love confession on every page, and I stand by that.
Disoriental
Négar Djavadi
Goodreads
Rep: Iranian cast, sapphic mc, Dutch lesbian li, gay side character
TW: blood, gore, murder, mentions of homophobic violence
Why Should I Read It?
Speaking of family sagas! Imagine you’re out for a coffee with a friend and she’s telling you her life stories, but also the life stories of her ancestors, and there are enough anecdotes & side-notes that you get lost at least a dozen times. But at the end of the day, you understand what it is she was trying to tell you all along.
In Memoriam
Alice Winn
Goodreads
Rep: gay mc, Jewish gay mc
TW: extreme gore, violence, blood, murder, suicide, body horror, period typical homophobia, internalised homophobia, PTSD, panic attacks
Why Should I Read It?
How does this book make me feel? In one word? Feral. It’s actually unbelievable, the minute details that are still described in most beautiful words or sometimes in barely words at all, and which make you wanna scream. It’s a love story, but it’s also a war story, and a friendships story, and a story about bonds. This book slit my throat and I thanked it for it.
Bad Girls
Camila Sosa Villada
Goodreads
Rep: Argentinian cast, trans mc, trans side characters
TW: child abuse, alcoholism, sex work, transphobia, violence
Why Should I Read It?
I want to describe this book as brave, but that somehow feels condescending. So let’s settle on resilient. Let’s instead say it’s a book about people who are not afraid of living, no matter how hard their lives might be getting. It doesn’t shy away from the dark, ugly parts, it shows us violence like it’s something common. But it also shows us beauty and love, and the power of a true community.
These Violent Delights
Micah Nemerever
Goodreads
Rep: Jewish gay mc, gay li
TW: self-harm, suicide, murder, violence, blood, gore, toxic relationships, homophobia
Why Should I Read It?
If there could only be one book with an unreliable narrator in this world, I sure hope it’s this one. No one tells a story quite like Paul. Did it happen, did it not? Was he hoping for it to happen, were you? Just like the face on the cover is barely visible, everything else about Paul & his actions is barely there, barely brought to daylight.
All This Could Be Different
Sarah Thankam Mathews
Goodreads
Rep: Indian lesbian mc, Black genderfluid lesbian polyam character, lesbian li, sapphic side characters
TW: past child sexual abuse, transphobia, fatphobia, drugs & alcohol addictions
Why Should I Read It?
This book focuses heavily on different types of love: on the love we feel for our friends, for our parents, for ourselves… And in doing so, it manages to be honest & to be funny. It shows us the possibility of a better, love-filled world. It’s also very much an Asian immigrant book, in the sense that it captures that experience without being fanciful.
Bestiary
K-Ming Chang
Goodreads
Rep: Taiwanese & Taiwanese American cast, lesbian mc, sapphic characters, achillean side characters
TW: child abuse, domestic abuse, amputation, gore
Why Should I Read It?
At this point you probably know, but I see the words “three generations of women” in the blurb, and I add the book to my fav shelf. Bestiary blends together myths and reality effortlessly; it’s more a force of nature than it is a simple novel. It makes space for desire, for pain, for suffering & triumphs. There’s quite literally nothing else like it.
Tommy’s Tale
Alan Cumming
Goodreads
Rep: bi mc, gay li, gay side characters
TW: drugs, panic attacks, the f slur
Why Should I Read It?
A wild ride from start to finish! This is just a truly fun book. Both in the sense that it’s genuinely funny, but also that it keeps you entertained & hooked & dying to know how it ends. It’s not just a little hilarious book, though! It touches on some heavy topics, makes you reevaluate some things, gives you pause.
Devotion
Hannah Kent
Goodreads
Rep: lesbian mc, lesbian li
Why Should I Read It?
Did you ever wonder what book could serve as a definition of heartbreaking? Of soul-crushing? But also of healing? You found it! If we measure how well written a book is by how many rip-your-heart-apart-and-stitch-it-back-together quotes we can pull from it, then surely Devotion is an absolute masterpiece.
Little Fish
Casey Plett
Goodreads
Rep: trans sapphic mc, Puerto Rican lesbian trans side character, Métis trans side character, trans side character, trans lesbian side character
TW: misgendering, transphobia, sexual assault, sexual harassment, suicidal ideation, suicide
Why Should I Read It?
What I appreciate most about literary fiction is that no matter what’s the book actually like, it will make me think. The characters in Little Fish are messy, are painfully human, and the whole thing is as much about the relationships between them as it is a story of self-discovery.
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