Recs if you like Lincoln in the Bardo...

When the narrator(s) makes the book even better. For new listeners and audiobook elites, here is a range of different genres and narrators that excel at audio perfection.

Books that play with the "book" as a medium or are otherwise self-reflexive/meta.

My current criteria for this list are (1) does the book highlight its own textuality consistently or (2) do the metafictional elements add significantly to the themes explored or (3) does the book's use of discourse and form (e.g., narrative situation, layout) significantly differ from the norm?

Make sure to comment your suggestions with a small explanation even if you're not 100 % sure if they fit!

Books recommended by musician Lucy Dacus, a solo artist and member of the band boygenius. Pulled from her goodreads list.

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 💋

fiction books taking place after death

Books where grief is personified, given a body, a voice, or a shape, to explore how loss lives alongside us.

Grief as one of the main topics

Stories that feature DC, Maryland, or Virginia. (Statehood for DC!)

You've built up your skills as an engaged reader - now it's time to start reaping the benefits! Every book on this list was chosen because it's genuinely enjoyable AND hiding something underneath the surface worth finding. The goal isn't to find the "right" answer, but to trust your own instincts as a reader and see where that takes you. Start in your favorite genre - it makes close reading feel like a game, not homework. Happy Reading Boundlings!!

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

Dua Lipa’s book clip picks

strange and surprising hauntings. these ghosts defy or challenge conventions of commercial ghost stories, reimagining how memories and ancestry shape us. recommendations alway welcome!

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

In order from #1 (My Brilliant Friend) to 100 (Tree of Smoke)

Books that ignore the traditional way of telling a story. These books tell their stories in unexpected ways, through letters, transcripts, diaries, documents, text messages, or unconventional layouts.

Here's a list of every book I studied, read, or was reccomended to read as part of my Writing and Literature BA - for eager academics, fellow writers & nostagic graduates💕 Let's milk my education💪

A list published in 2024 by the New York Times, as voted on by 503 novelists, poets, critics, and other book lovers—with a little help from the staff of The New York Times Book Review

Service95 Book Club Monthly Reads + more and more books from their lists :)