so, obviously there’s a lot of genre crossover in these books! but i thought i’d put together a little starter guide for this quest! below is a list of genres + the ‘strange plagues’ books that i think best represent those genres! so if you’re a big fan of one or more genre in particular, you’ll have some recommended titles to start out with :)

climate fiction: the annual migration of clouds, how high we go in the dark, wilder girls

fantasy: while none of these are strictly fantasy, the book of m is a good place to start for fantasy readers

horror: leech, wilder girls, suffer the children, black hole, uzumaki (for body horror i especially recommend you check out uzumaki, black hole, and wilder girls - for botanical horror check out wilder girls - for gothic horror check out leech - for supernatural horror see suffer the children)

humor: if you’re wanting something funnier or more absurdist, check out the animals in that country

science fiction: almost all of these books are at least a little bit science fiction, but perhaps the most science fiction-y books on this quest imo are sleep donation, how high we go in the dark (this one even has space stuff!), and the memory of animals

literary fiction: severance, how high we go in the dark, the memory of animals, the dreamers, the book of m

speculative fiction: similar to scifi, most of these books include some elements at least of specfic! but i’d say maybe start out with the memory of animals or how high we go in the dark if specfic is your jam

magical realism: the book of m

thriller: the fireman, wanderers, suffer the children (the last one is more of a psychological thriller)

young adult: the annual migration of clouds, wilder girls

a lot of these are proper apocalypse/post-apocalyptic as well, but if you’re looking for something a little less apocalyptic in scope, i’d point you to sleep donation to start.

if you want something a little quieter and gentler, the annual migration of clouds is a good bet.

if you’re more into geographically confined stories - less global epidemics, more localized ones - i’d point you to the dreamers, uzumaki, black hole, wilder girls, and leech.

also, in terms of mediums!

• we have two graphic novels: one is a manga, uzumaki, and one is a renowned graphic novel, black hole.
• we have two novellas: the annual migration of clouds and sleep donation.
• two of these are pretty long epics: wanderers and the fireman.
• and the rest are average length novels!

if you have any further questions about genres / what books might suit your interests best, i’m happy to help steer you towards some starter reads!!! happy reading y’all 💛🥳🤸‍♀️