Books like O Caledonia

I turn to Mrs. Ramsay, the wife, mother, and hostess of this book, whenever I question my value in the world. By Victorian standards, she “has it all”: a doting (if difficult) husband, eight loving children (with whom, amazingly, she seems to have no problems), and a comfortable way of life. She alone, not her renowned philosopher spouse, not the young poet nor the dedicated artist who comes for a visit, brings meaning and harmony to a group of guests over one holiday weekend.

Mrs. Ramsay reminds me that nurturing and feeding (in all the meanings of that word) other people is a sacred task, even if our society doesn’t recognize it as such. Even a simple dinner party can partake of spiritual eternity: “Of such moments, she thought, the thing is made that endures.”

When I spend too much of my own day on seemingly mindless chores or… show more.

Entering this marvelous novel is like entering a luxury train and sitting down for a long, wild, and highly entertaining adventure. Yes, it is a very long novel, and yes, it is composed of a single sentence, but once I started reading, none of that mattered—I was ecstatically along for the ride.

What I love most about this novel is that we fully enter the thoughts and feelings of the middle-aged mother protagonist in a stream of consciousness, and she is, quite frankly, all of us with our neuroses, observations, frustrations, and loves. Incredibly, there is a definite form to this novel and a propulsive plot that gets downright harrowing at the end. A brilliant, brilliant read. 

I love the mixture of realism and creepy surrealism in this collection of short stories. I especially admire how Enriquez ties these together so that the surreal elements feel linked to the reality and current events of the protagonists’ lives.

I love that each story centers on complete women with all their obsessions, compulsions, fears, wild senses of humor, and sometimes unusual desires. For me, it is exhilarating, entertaining, and impactful. One of my favorite stories is about a woman who repurposes her uterine fibroid in a one-of-a-kind way—just imagine! 

I feel that we live in a society that puts too much time and attention on women’s bodies. One way that women writers can take the female body back, I think, is to show how women’s bodies often become reflective of what they are experiencing emotionally and mentally.

I love this novel because it doesn’t shy away from showing a protagonist who obsesses about cleaning and managing her body as a way to deal with the trauma of losing her parents while living in Palestine and subsequently immigrating to the U.S. I also love the prose—the sentences are short and sharp and have great momentum so that I felt compelled to keep reading. The sentences occasionally become long and fluid so that there is a nice bouncing between short and long lines, which creates prose and a plotline that has great rhythm.

I started this book on a plane, continued to read in my seat after the plane landed, and was seriously annoyed at the flight attendant when forced to deplane. This is one of those books with a simple twist on the fantasy genre I wish I’d thought of—a race of beings who subsist on eating books.

Dean’s world building is superb, the protagonist is a badass, and the portrayal of the fractured relationships among characters—especially with her son—complicated and relatable. I finished it (in a chair at the airport) in one sitting, and it was worth it. 

I was completely absorbed by Beautiful Ugly, where nothing is quite what it seems.

I love stories that play with perception, and this one does it so elegantly, weaving grief and obsession into something hauntingly beautiful. The isolated Scottish island provides a fabulously claustrophobic and creepy backdrop that I couldn’t get enough of.

It’s dark, atmospheric, and exquisitely written—I raced through it.

I love fiction that understands how intoxicating tech culture can be.

The Startup Wife captures technology, ambition, relationships, and founder worship in a way that is funny, sharp, and painfully recognizable. What resonated with me most was the way it explores how love can make ambitious women voluntarily surrender power—sometimes without realizing how much they’ve given away until it’s already gone.

That’s one of the places it overlaps with my book: both books satirize tech culture while still taking seriously the consequences of the products being built, and the human relationships tangled up in them.

I fell in love with this book from the very first page.

The premise captured my attention, but it was the writing that captivated me until the end. With gorgeous prose, Tate weaves her characters so deliberately all while slowly unearthing these shocking family relationships until the final puzzle piece slides into place. I absolutely loved it!

I am a sucker for lifelong friends to lovers with a bit of the taboo, and this book delivered!

Our hero is a sexy hockey player with a dark past, and our heroine is a dancer with an overprotective and controlling family. When, on her wedding day, she learns the jerk she’s being forced to marry has been cheating on her, she runs right into the arms of her childhood crush and friend Jasper, who offers to whisk her away so she can figure out what to do and how to face her parents.

Jasper and Sloane were made for each other from page one, and I loved rooting for them! Add in the delightful small-town vibes, the belonging that comes from being part of an amazing, tight-knit family, and some steamy times, and it’s a recipe for an all-nighter (reading, that is).

Though this story is part of a… show more.

Wole Talabi’s debut fantasy novel is a love story, an adventure story, and a spirit world story, rivetted with non-human protagonists.

Shigidi is an Afrocentric novel that spans across London, Nigeria, Singapore, Ethiopia, and everywhere else, and traversing centuries in vacillation. This multi-hued narrative is fast-paced and a riveting read.