Recs if you like You Dreamed of Empires...

For a book to make this list, it needs to start with X, Y, or Z (ignoring "The," "A," "An"), be a standalone or series opener, and have at least a 3.7 star average rating on Pagebound. Pulling from a variety of genres!

I can promise you there will be horses in these books. I cannot promise you will enjoy how they are in these books.

From Percy to Pessoa — a literary gauntlet wherein each book becomes progressively more complex in writing style, structure, and/or vocabulary. Percy Jackson is our baseline, and Pessoa my personal biggest fear. Selections are almost entirely unrelated by subject matter, and obviously limited by my own inexperience and preferences. Good luck!

(Listed in descending order because I did not plan far enough ahead). If you’re still unsatisfied after this, go read Kant or something.

Fiction and nonfiction picks from the staff of the The New York Times Book Review

A list of books in translation that have been picked for Skunk Cabbage Books' Airplane Mode subscription! (I am not affiliated with Skunk Cabbage, I just like how they've curated this subscription so far!)