Recs if you like Shark Heart...

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 are atmospheric, emotionally unsettling, beautifully written, a little weird, and linger long after you finish them.

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!

forced into unending sleep or perilous insomnia, repeating tedious daily routines until your body rots, watching as your skin starts to glow or your hands sprout scales - these novels feature illnesses that are far from typical

if you enjoyed / find yourself enjoying my strange plagues quest, you’ll find even more suggestions for further reading within the niche here!!!

Fiction & nonfiction books that explore the complexities and traumas of mother-child relationships or in which such relationships play a central role. While many books on this list are what I’d classify as including “mommy issues” there are others that are more about the different perspectives and nuances of the mother-child (often specifically mother-daughter) relationship. Some books center the child, some the mother, some both.

Suggestions are welcome.

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

this is for aesthetics only

Debut novels that feel like they were written by seasoned writers. Whether it be because of the author's clear voice, the depth of the themes or the quality of the prose, you'll be surprised that this is the author's first published novel

Note: The authors featured may have published other works, like short story collections or plays, but the book featured here is their first novel

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

Here's every book so far from BOTM's monthly shortlist since February 2015 for anyone who wants to read them all like I do!

Weird, mostly girlys going through different unique life adventures. Supporting girlies (the girls, theys and thems) rights and wrongs.  Regina George screaming down her hallway into her room hunting down the Burn Book

Beautiful books for when your monthly reading roundup needs a little facelift 😉

If you’re not familiar with Mychal, he is the new host of The Reading Rainbow and he has been spreading “library joy” on social media for years. Mychal has a book club on Fable that is for a more mature audience than The RR. He has posted a new book monthly since March 2024. I have enjoyed every book I’ve read from his club! I am not Mychal Threets and I do not know him personally. I am creating this list to help share a bit of Mychal’s Library Joy with Pagebound.

Weird, gory, and or disturbing. We support women's wrongs here.

what are these characters becoming? who is to say! these are different works across fiction in which the main character, or a large subset of characters, go through a physical transformation(s) of some sort.

books from all US states and territories. asking for recommendations! these books must a) be written by an author with a strong connection to the state or territory and b) take place largely in the state or territory. i want to try to prioritize, whenever possible, underrepresented voices / voices that america’s regime tries to silence.

please lmk if any of these authors or texts aren’t good representation.

i will comment a list with each state/territory + its associated book!

sunny settings, or books that feel sunny and offer escapism from the winter blues in an eclectic blend of genres.

Editing to add: okay some of these books are SAD, my dudes, just like my seasonal affective disorder. But at the same time, they are soft and kind and a safe place for the big sad, if that makes sense?

Books that are just as good as the cover promises. AKA: Fantastic book covers that also happen to be fantastic books! List will be added to in the future because I can’t leave well enough alone. (Suggestions welcome, leave it in the comments.)

fiction books centered around characters processing grief 🦋