Recs if you like The Nickel Boys...

Are you currently not crying to the point of vomiting, but you want to be? Need to conduct a science experiment to find out if you are in fact the ugliest crier in all of Pagebound? Well, do I have the list for you! Brought to you by the fine, very sad, folks of Pagebound! These books have been frequently suggested or upvoted in PB club posts about sad books! Suggestions in any genre, and extra tissues, are welcome!

All of his picks since 2008, both summer reading lists and yearly round-ups.

this is your reminder to read books by Black authors all month, all year, every year— not just during Black History Month. it’s crucially important to be able to diversify your reading and your bookshelves. expand your mind, your perspectives, your knowledge, and your taste. if you don’t know where to start, here are some recommendations!

Aka Dua Lipa’s reading list. Everyone’s fave popstar on permanent holiday with a massive list of books to read, and she always seems to have incredible recommendations.

I am not part of Service95 or affiliated with Dua Lipa. I am just a fan curating this list based on the @service95bookclub IG account 💋

this is for aesthetics only

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.

Fictional stories. Real consequences. Profit > People is dedicated to books with capitalist critique, focusing on the lives - and bodies - sacrificed at the altar of industry and interest. Always taking recommendations!

A mix of reader favorites and editorial picks from The New York Times—100 books that defined the 21st century.

This list was generated from a post on pagebound club on Juneteenth in 2026. I opted to not try and make this list comprehensive but just to document the community recs from that day - however, if you have more books to recommend please comment in the forum! Prompts from the original post will be in the comments. Note: prompts asked for books by Black authors, not only those from/books set in the US. See comments section for more discussion.

Florida books D*santis would hate for you to read

Includes books with BIPOC and/or queer authors or main characters from Florida and books related to topics being censored including history, race, migration, LGBTQIA+, climate change, the environment, etc.

List is a work in progress, please feel free to suggest additions! Non-fiction and fiction welcome.

Dive into these historical fiction books that are shorter than 300 pages! Selections here tried to stay away from historical fiction with fantasy or magical realism elements.

As always, open to any suggestions for additions to this list! 🙂

(Most) Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners since 1918!

NYT Top 100 of the 21st Century: Reader's Choice. In order as published in 2024

A collection of historical fiction by Black authors that brings Black history to life through unforgettable characters, family stories, friendship, love, resilience, and everything in between.

These are the kinds of books that teach you something, break your heart a little, and stay with you long after the last page.

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

novels that track friendships throughout time. full of complex childhood comparison trauma, friend break ups and perhaps reconciliations, shifting friend group dynamics, and the impact of age on our most foundational relationships.

Every year, The Orwell Foundation awards prizes for the work which comes closest to George Orwell’s ambition ‘to make political writing into an art’. This list consists of all of the winners for Political Fiction & Political Writing (Non-Fiction) since 2019!

mostly thrillers, all books i stayed up way too late to read. these aren’t necessarily literature, just books that hook.