Recs if you like The Overstory...
Hey! Who put their leftist politics in my fiction?
Need a gift for your extremist family member, but they already have a red baseball cap AND a Don't Tread on Me shirt? Were you told "Don't bring up politics at family dinner" and need some safe books to discuss instead? Well we have a full menu for you to choose from! Each just for fun book comes with our guarantee: No real world political messages under the 100% fictional plot! 😉 (Taking Recommendations!)
Literary Lasagna - Give Them Time to Cook
These are books that don't rush to impress you. They simmer while the author adds in the layers. They may confuse you or bore you at first - but if you give them time to cook you'll end up with a delicious meal of a book!
Always taking recommendations! If you are recommending a series - the layers need to come together by the end of the first book (not half way through the series).
Non-Humans & Empathy (Fiction, Realistic)
One of several Non-Humans & Empathy -themed lists by @Myth.Ink (See also: Non-Fiction, GNs/Manga+, Youth Titles, Creature Feature, & the Official @Myth.Ink Curation) | This list is the FICTION edition, including fictional interactions and considerations of interactions between plausibly realistic non-human beings of all types (trees, robots, animals, ai, aliens, objects, science-experiment beings, etc) and humans, empathy and lack thereof. | Suggestions more than welcome!
Un-be-leaf-able - planty fiction
Fiction books featuring plants as a major theme. For the purpose of this list, fungi are honorary plants! All fiction genres here (though I am primarily a fantasy reader, so suggestions most welcome!)
books your pretentious friend has heard of
The System Is The Monster
Fiction has always been where truth hides. Across horror, thriller, literary fiction, fantasy & mystery every book on this list has something to say about power, who holds it, who destroys it, and how it reproduces itself.
Ecology, Biology, Nature💚
Nonfiction books exploring the natural world and our “place in the family of things” (Mary Oliver, Wild Geese). 🐦⬛🦋🌱🪸🦊🪷🪼🍄
NYT Readers' Best 100 Books of the 21st Century
A mix of reader favorites and editorial picks from The New York Times—100 books that defined the 21st century.
Solarpunk Sci-Fi
I did some digging for a bookclub and gathered some solarpunk books, and why not share them here? (I haven't read them all) If you have more suggestions I'll add them😊
Solarpunk is a sci-fi subgenre that envisions futures build on renewable energy, greentech and community. It is mostly meant to offer a positive alternative to dystopian visions of the future. The punk aspect is usually seen as the vision of the positive future, which is considered radical and rebellious itself.
invisible string
partly inspired by toni morrison’s concept of ‘rememory’, where the past haunts the present. these are stories where family ties, friendships, communities, trauma, or physical locations act as threads (or invisible string) to connect characters across distance or time and through generations.
Feed the zombies: Anti-Brainrot Reads
Don't let the poor zombies starve, feed your brain, make it plump and ripe with knowledge and critical thinking skills. It might also be useful if the zombies never come, who knows. You better be ready.
NYT Reader's Choice Top 100 21st Century
NYT Top 100 of the 21st Century: Reader's Choice. In order as published in 2024
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Winners
(Most) Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners since 1918!
tree rings and targets
covers composed of concentric circles
NYT Top 100 Books of the 21st Century
In order from #1 (My Brilliant Friend) to 100 (Tree of Smoke)
As Mentioned In The Comfort of Crows
These books have all been quoted in Margaret Renkl's The Comfort of Crows. Although some poems quoted in The Comfort of Crows are not included in this list.
earth and weeds and how it all goes
ecology-based books—practical, cultural, and whimsical
eco fiction
I’m assembling a team. a team of books related to ecological and earth sciences. recs more than welcome!
Popular Fiction of the Decade
Goodreads 80 of the Past Decade’s Very Popular Fiction from 2016 - 2025
2025 Broken Country - Isola 2024 The Women - Real Americans 2023 Tom Lake - Weyward 2022 Demon Copperhead - Diamond Eye 2021 Reading List - Cloud Cuckoo Land 2020 My Dark Vanessa - Vanishing Half 2019 Giver of Stars - Girl, Woman, Other 2018 Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell - Where the Crawdads Sing 2017 Stay with Me - 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo 2016 Lilac Girls - Behold the Dreamers
Non-Humans & Empathy (Official @Myth.Ink Curation)
One of several Non-Humans & Empathy -themed lists by @Myth.Ink (See also: Fiction, GNs/Manga+, Non-Fiction, Youth Titles, & Creature Feature) | This list is the Official @Myth.Ink Curation edition aka, including real and fictional interactions and considerations of interactions between non-human beings of all types (from trees, animals, bugs, robots, ai, aliens, fantastical creatures and monsters, etc) and humans, empathy and lack thereof. | In my humble opinion, these are the best of the best of what I am personally familiar with | Suggestions are more than welcome.
