Recs if you like The Castle...

Not all collections hold things you can touch. This one holds worlds that breathe, selves that dissolve, and realities that refuse to hold their shape. These are the fictions that live on the edge of what language can contain - and sometimes just beyond. Admission is free, through entry requires a signed waiver: the curator cannot be held responsible for any transformations that occur upon your exit. We welcome specimen recommendations!

Based on the list/book published in 2006, general editor Peter Boxall.

For when you need to wallow in melancholy and misery: a collection of pessimistic, cynical, downbeat, depressing, doom and gloom fiction for my disillusioned friends.

More to come!

Got the holiday blues? Check out my list Christmas with the Cranks!

Penguin asked its readers in 2022 for the must-read classics. This is that list!

A list of written works entering the Public Domain in the United States on January 1st, 2026! Go find a copy and get thee reading!

I'm going to read every book every

I guess you could call it liminal...

"Turn me over, I'm done on this side!" —St. Lawrence, whilst roasting on a spit

Gallows humor, black comedy, l'humour noir — whatever you call it, this is the place for it. This list includes André Breton's seminal anthology of dark humor, a number of the works excerpted in this anthology, and beyond. You can find a link to the complete contents of Breton's anthology in the comments.

Want more weird humor? Check out my list Nitpicky Neuroticism (Comedy Edition)!

These are books, short stories or poems (and poetry collections) that were interrupted before the advent of the Internet because something happened to the author (like them getting into a situation, dying... suddenly becoming a merchant). List in progress!

Books featuring strong architectural themes, love of cities, setting as character, weird buildings, etc.

Originating in the late 1800s and continuing until the end of World War II, works of the modernism movement feature new and innovative styles, a break from traditional writing, and attempts to recontextualize literature in response to both the devastation of the series of global conflicts between 1900-1950 and the emergence of new technology, ideas, and world order. Subgenres of modernism include absurdism, surrealism, dadaism, and stream of consciousness.

Trying to pass my exams

just some books that left me feeling 🦭

This is the compendium of books from the 2012 edition.

books that give me ethel cain vibes

Every book mentioned in Kafka on the shore by Haruki Murukami