Recs if you like I, Claudius...

Penguin asked its readers in 2022 for the must-read classics. This is that list!

novels where reality bends and distorts, both narrators and memories deceive, and the truth becomes slippery. these stories blur the line between what is real and what is imagined, between fact and fiction, until we are unable to distinguish truth from the author’s own fabrication. a blend of autofiction, historical fiction, and “non-fiction fiction.”

as always welcome to suggestions !

I'm going to read every book every

Fiction (and some non-fiction) across genres featuring plagues, poisons, palace physicians, healers, and pre-antibiotic chaos. If it involves herbs, plagues, questionable remedies, court intrigue, or a morally complex healer experimenting in the corner, I want it.

EVERY GAY VICTORIAN AUTHOR KNEW EACH OTHER. And this list proves it. Making an evil map (a drag path if you will) and nobody can stop meeeeeeee.

This list has all time classics (Dorian Gray, Orlando, etc) and DEEP CUTS (Bertha, Loom of Youth, etc).

enjoyyyyyy <<<<<<3

Time Magazine’s All-Time Best 100 English Language Novels from 1923 to 2005 as published in 2005.

Time Magazine’s compilation of the 100 best novels published since 1923.

(101 because “The Berlin Stories” is an omnibus of “Mr Norris Changes Trains” and “Goodbye To Berlin.”)

Classic historical fiction books and series. Taking suggestions, would love to expand to classics from more countries.

Or: books I had or still have to read for my degree

One of Britain's oldest literary awards, alongside the Hawthornden Prize. The prize was founded in 1919 and is based at the University of Edinburgh.