Recs if you like Offseason: A Novel...

Following women on journeys to do weird and maybe violent things.

🍃✨ books where the real setting is somebody’s unsettling brain/perspective (with exceptional prose quality)

lit fic and horror, mainly, and mostly books by women, nonbinary & trans writers, basically mostly non-cis-men

Alternative Xmas reading — think downbeat stories, family dysfunction, holiday loneliness, seasonal depression, black comedy. There's a gift from me to you under the tree in the comments.

Other winter-holiday books welcome as long as they're cranky!

Is your cynicism chronic? Check out my list Bleakness Is My Weakness...

It’s always nice to feel like a normal person by reading about those more unhinged than you 😌 These are all women focused books. Some I’ve read and some I’m going to read. Apologies in advance if it gets long. Recommendations are absolutely welcome!! So please feel free.

I know a couple are written by men which might be taboo for some but I’ve included because I thought they were appropriate or the author has a track record of writing women well.

The Center of Fiction’s longlist for the first novel prize. 180 submissions narrowed to 19. Winner announced December 8th 2026