Recs if you like Needy Little Things...

Representations of the Black experience through fantasy, science fiction, and speculative fiction. Recommendations welcome!

Inspired by theaisreading and my love for teenage detectives and crime stories, I need a list which collects them all. Whether it’s missing secrets or suspicious suspects, these young, sometimes unintentional, detectives are always one step ahead and rarely play by the rules. From cozy to high stake. We don't judge. Feel free to recommend books I've missed and you like!

Nominees and winners of every category of the Good Reads Choice Awards for the year of 2025. Some books overlap so they were only entered once.

My favourite fiction books with officially autistic and/or ADHD, or autistic and/or ADHD coded characters. Will only put first books for a series. Will add YA if I feel it's enjoyable for adults who don't read much or any YA. "Non official" neurodivergence means we are interpreting, which is always subjective. Criticism can be left in the comments. If you want to recommend a book, you're also welcome to do so in a comment. I will update this list as more favourites come up :)

List of banned books from index

These YA stories tackle misogyny, male violence, or call out the small ways in which girls, women, and people read as such are treated like possessions, objects, "less than". They may show young women and afabs that refuse the roles others try to force onto them, or simply people standing up and saying "no further". Recs are welcome, as always. For other genres/target audiences, look at my other lists with the word "Feminist" in them.

books to catapult you out of a reading slump

Titles not available on PageBound: Descent by Wole Talabi (Clarkesworld Magazine) Novella Novelettes Human Voices by Isabel J. Kim (Lightspeed Magazine) We Begin Where Infinity Ends by Somto Ihezue (Clarkesworld) Short Stories Autogas Ferryman by Champ Wongsatayanont (Nightmate Magazine) Because I Held His Name Like a Key - Aimee Ogden (Strange Horizons) Commensalism, Or the Labyrinth's Vessels - Albert Nkereuwem (Will This Be a Problem) Ichthyosis by M.L. Krishnan (Fantasy Magazine) The Octopus Dreams of Personhood by Hannah Yang (Diabolical Plots) Poetry After the Storm – Ishita Basu Mallik (The Deadlands) In an attempt to seduce Death my sister starts calling him Love – Karan Kapoor (Strange Horizons) Set It Off (1996) – Fans’ Cut – Nova Cypress Black (Strange Horizons) The Language of Fireflies – Angela Liu (The Deadlands) The oblique light at Kakushima (a memory of persimmons) – Ryu Ando | 安堵 龍 (Strange Horizons) Narrative Non-fiction A Conjuror’s Manifesto: Notes on the Afrosurreal – Shyheim Williams (Strange Horizons) Photon Torpedoes Break the Space Muqarnas: SFF Audiovisuals and Anti-Muslim Violence – Tanvir Ahmed (Strange Horizons) Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler – Susana M. Morris (Amistad) The Outspoken and the Incendiary – Terry Bisson (PM Press) The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction – Gautam Bhatia (Alter Magazine) Other categories not listed include Community Award, Ember Award, Podcasts, Critics