Recs if you like Slow Gods...

Any book with an mc over 30, whose character arch involves themes common in coming of age stories like, questioning their upbringing or experiencing some aspect of the world/ relationships/ common experience for the first time or learning who they truly are/ what’s important to them/ being themselves authentically for the first time ect.

main or side characters

This is NOT for books featuring trans or nonbinary protagonists in worlds with gender systems that mimic modern real-world ones. This is for books like Left Hand of Darkness or the Imperial Radch series, where the setting has an invented system of gender and/or sex, or of assigning gender/sex. I'm including interesting-to-me matriarchies (so, not ones that are just our patriarchy but gender-swapped) and gender systems that include male and female but have other genders/sexes too.

Suggestions are extremely welcome!

Books that have been shortlisted for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. I compiled this list because the criteria (and Le Guin's works) resonate with me:

"The Prize will be given to a writer whose work reflects the concepts and ideas that were central to Ursula’s own work, including but not limited to: hope, equity, and freedom; non-violence and alternatives to conflict; and a holistic view of humanity’s place in the natural world."

Hii, everyone ♡ I am a very big fan of the booktuber @caricanread so I thought I would make a list of all the books she has read this year! ✰

Books with neurodivergent MCs across various genres so you can find them in your favorite one.

Neurodivergent rep here includes autism, adhd, ocd or dyslexia. In addition the term neurodivergent also includes anyone who’s neurological processing works in a way that isn’t considered typical; such as various personality disorders, other sensory issues and depending on who you ask also depression, ptsd, and more. I’ve included all here when I find them.

Inspired by @fivepines who made a list for books with main or side characters who use neopronouns 💗

Nominees for the Ursula K Le Guin Prize for for Fiction, awarded since 2022 for imaginative fiction. (Mostly I have made this because they're always really great picks and I want to work my way through all of them.)

Fantasy and sci-fi books where much of the plot is driven by politics

Books that challenge reality in all the best ways! From SciFi and speculative fiction to horror and literature these books are true escapism. Most I have read and loved some I’m most definitely going to read. I’m sure not all will be for everyone and that’s ok! Just wanted to share a little weirdness 🤓

Want to escape to somewhere "out of this world"? This list is for you! Let me know if I'm missing any of your favorites!!

The shortlist for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize in 2026

Pulled from Reactor Magazine's (Tor.com) announcement. See the article for a list of short stories as well.

Works not in database: We Begin Where Infinity Ends - Somto Ihezue The Tin Man's Ghost - Ray Nayler The Millay Illusion - Sarah Pinsker When He Calls Your Name - Catherynne M. Valente The Twenty-One Second God - Peter Watts Night & Day - ed. Ellen Datlow Starling House - Alix E. Harrow (ILLUSTRATED EDITION, ILLUS. BY ROVINA CAI) Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene Volumes 1-3 (graphic adaptation)

Note: The Revelation Space Collection by Alastair Reynolds is actually for volumes 1 & 2

PHM awakened something in me

Humor my emojis

claire north’s books.

and there are so many more but i can’t find them!

In her words, this prize is for "realists of a larger reality, who can imagine real grounds for hope and see alternatives to how we live now." Usually these books are all amazing, so I wanted a place where I can see all of them. Hopefully this helps someone else too :)

Ok strictly speaking not all of these are about expats but they are about travel and cultural exchange to the point of being stuck between cultures or part of more than one.

Most (but not all) are fantasy/ scifi because that’s what I like; many tackle themes of imperialism/ control, some others focus on immigration or refugee experience or navigating unfamiliar cultures.