Kalie's HighlightsLike this list

31 items

• Cold Comfort Farm

  Gibbons, Stella, 1902-1989

  Add Cold Comfort Farm to your for later shelf

  One of the most hilarious books ever written. A strange satire written in a very dry English style about Flora, an overeducated young lady who goes to live with less privileged relatives on a strange farm and sets about knocking their provincial…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Hurricane Season

  Melchor, Fernanda, 1982-

  Add Hurricane Season to your for later shelf

  Set in a small town in Mexico, this novel centers around the death of a woman everyone called "the Witch." Gritty and sharp, with very few sentence breaks, it's one of my favorite novels from the past few years. Fernanda Melchor has been a literary…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Summer Book

  Jansson, Tove

  Add The Summer Book to your for later shelf

  Reading this book is like taking a vacation on the Finnish island described in loving detail within it. Better known for her Moomin comics, Tove Jansson also wrote incredible, perfect books for adults. This one is told in a series of vignettes…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Sirens & Muses

  a Novel

  Angress, Antonia,

  Add Sirens & Muses to your for later shelf

  For fans of A Little Life, this novel is gently written, with compelling characters and an addictive plot. "In 2011, at the elite Wrynn College of Art, 19-year-old Louisa Arceneaux has an affair with her roommate, Karina, the mercurial daughter of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Oreo

  Ross, Fran, 1935-1985,

  Add Oreo to your for later shelf

  A fantastic, hilarious, experimental odyssey of a novel. "Oreo, a biracial black girl from Philadelphia, searches for her Jewish father in New York City, navigating the labyrinth of sound studios, brothels, and subway tunnels of Manhattan in a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Dry Heart

  Ginzburg, Natalia,

  Add The Dry Heart to your for later shelf

  "The Dry Heart begins and ends with the matter-of-fact pronouncement, “I shot him between the eyes.” Everything in between is a plunge into the chilly waters of loneliness, desperation, and bitterness—and as the tale proceeds, the narrator’s murder…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Manual for Cleaning Women

  Selected Stories

  Berlin, Lucia,

  Add A Manual for Cleaning Women to your for later shelf

  Reading Lucia Berlin's stories feels like going on a rollercoaster ride through her world where every moment is electrifying and utterly alive. One of the best and most underappreciated authors of our times.

• The Idiot

  Batuman, Elif, 1977-

  Add The Idiot to your for later shelf

  A book that will appeal to everyone, The Idiot is about college student Selin navigating life in the 90s. What makes this book so special is Selin's innocence and the dry and humorous manner in which she confronts the absurdity and confusion of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Goodbye, Vitamin

  a Novel

  Khong, Rachel, 1985-

  Add Goodbye, Vitamin to your for later shelf

  Hilarious and quirky, this is a contemporary novel about a girl returning home to spend time with her ailing father. Mingling grief with the comedy of everyday life, Khong's writing is extremely skillful.

• Lolly Willowes

  Or, The Loving Huntsman

  Warner, Sylvia Townsend,

  Add Lolly Willowes to your for later shelf

  This book is also available in print as part of a volume of her works. Lolly Willowes was originally published in 1926. It's about a spinster dependent on her annoying and nagging family who finally finds inner strength to follow her own path --…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Can't and Won't

  Davis, Lydia, 1947-

  Add Can't and Won't to your for later shelf

  I would highly recommend all of Davis's short stories if you like literary writing.

• Convenience Store Woman

  Murata, Sayaka, 1979-

  Add Convenience Store Woman to your for later shelf

  A woman who finds complete fulfillment in working at a convenience store struggles to get along in "normal" society. Very quirky.

• Excellent Women

  Pym, Barbara

  Add Excellent Women to your for later shelf

  Hilarious and very English, this is a book about a spinster whose good humor everyone takes a bit too much for granted.

• Rabbit Cake

  Hartnett, Annie,

  Add Rabbit Cake to your for later shelf

  A quirky and strange family drama. After the child protagonist's mother sleepwalks to her death, the rest of the family struggles to maintain normalcy.

• The Hole

  Oyamada, Hiroko, 1983-

  Add The Hole to your for later shelf

  Weird and surreal things are happening in the Japanese countryside.

• My Brilliant Friend

  Ferrante, Elena

  Add My Brilliant Friend to your for later shelf

  Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels are one of the most important series of our times. They have absolutely terrible covers, but don't be put off - it's an epic tale about two friends growing up poor in Naples, through love, marriage, sexuality,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Guest Cat

  Hiraide, Takashi, 1950-

  Add The Guest Cat to your for later shelf

  A neighborhood cat changes the lives of a couple. Quiet in tone and extremely well-written.

• The Friend

  Nunez, Sigrid,

  Add The Friend to your for later shelf

  Reflective about grief and friendship, this is a loosely written novel about a woman who starts caring for her friend's dog after his suicide.

• Braiding Sweetgrass

  Kimmerer, Robin Wall,

  Add Braiding Sweetgrass to your for later shelf

  One of my favorite nonfiction books of all time. Science writing that reflects on Native life and resistance in the U.S. Powerful and worthy of savoring.

• Emma

  Austen, Jane, 1775-1817

  Add Emma to your for later shelf

  I love all of Jane Austen's work, but Emma is my favorite. It's transportive and escapist, like all of her romances, but at its heart it's really about the coming of age and character development of Emma, who like all of us is really not perfect but…Read moreRead more of this annotation