A non-comprehensive list of stuff I've read & basic info/thoughts on them so that other people can (vaguely) see if they'd wanna read them or not
...and I don't have the confidence to make objective 'reviews' about the actual quality of any of these so have fun bearing with my spineless ramblings
☆=Have physical copy ☉=Have digital (pirated) copy ◻=Want physical copy
Non-comics
Comics/manga
btw the years & genres aren't guarenteed to be 100% correct; it's just to give a rough idea of the book
i know this font might not be the easiest to read for walls of text, but each OS' default serif font is different and messes up spacing :(
3096 Days in Captivity- Natascha Kampusch ☉ ◻
2010- True crime/memoir
Memoir of a girl who was kidnapped at the age of 10 and forced to live in a dungeon in her kidnapper's house for 8 years... It goes over the psychological damage she suffered & her kidnapper's deranged mental state in detail, and the writing is very uncomfortably immersive... in other words, it's probably my favorite book ever
Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand
1957- "Philisophical"/mystery/romance
Ok so I didn't actually manage to read all 1,168 pages of this; after I found out that Ayn's idea of utopia is a secluded city full of rich people where the concept of "giving" is taboo and you can't even let your friend borrow your car without charging them money for it (spoiler alert), I ended up skimming for the rest of the book... I started reading it cause someone described it to me as "the libertarian manifesto", and I suffered through all the love triangle shit cause I was under that impression... needless to say I was very disappointed x-x
As someone who likes the idea of a gift economy, this book feels like an ineffective attempt at a personal insult, especially with how Ayn feels the need to depict the people she disagrees with as 'prespiration-stained' and comically incompetent manchildren... so yeah I wouldn't recommend this to anyone unless you have WAY too much time on your hands and are used to being skeptical of others' beliefs, cause dear lord.
...my favorite part is when the train goes into the tunnel. i couldn't stop laughing
Crying in H Mart- Michelle Zauner ☆
2021- Memoir
I have very mixed feelings towards this one...
It's about a girl that's half Korean, and her relationship with the culture changes as her mom dies of cancer... When the teacher asked me what I thought of it, I said, "it made me depressed in a good way"
The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster- Bobby Henderson ☆
2006- Satirical religious
I never thought I'd consider myself religious, but then I was Touched by His Noodly Appendage... I would recommend this to anyone & everyone (i mean, the title alone should convince you). His word must be spread. RAmen
"As further evidence that the coccyx is a fighting feature, and that some knowledge of its use has survived culturally through the years, consider how quickly someone will run away from you if you run at them backward, ass first. I suggest that those who doubt this hypothesis put it to the test, and attempt to ram their ass into everyone they see for the next few days."
The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald
1925- IDFK
I'm so sick of stories that rely on monogamy to drive the plot oh my god I don't care if your husband is sEeiNg sOmEoNe eLse or your tRuE LoVe iS aLrEaDy mArRiEd eughhhhh stop expecting me to care about these mfs' insecurities FFS
...And it's not even that I found it boring... I think the 1920s are cool... I like Nick as a character... and I actually had fun reading some parts since I wasn't being forced to read it, unlike most people... but the conflict & story hinges on concepts that are completely alien to me so man idk.
It's definitely less horrible if you're not being forced to analyze it n stuff so if you haven't been forced to read it yet, maybe read it before you are, to save yourself some misery idk
Greenglass House- Kate Milford ☆
2014- Mystery
A kid & his parents run an inn which suddenly has an influx of visitors that all seem to be looking for something; mystery ensues
It's got some contrivances & stretches, but I like it enough to keep it on the shelf, it's very uhhhhhh "cozy" as they would say?
The Grimrose Girls- Laura Pohl
2021- Mystery/fantasy
Look I'm really not the kinda person that says stuff like 'gay vibes', so when I say that the only way I can think of to describe this book is "overwhelming queer kid energy"...
Tbh I had fun reading it but didn't actually like it that much, and I can't tell if it's just my tastes or what... I feel like the appeal comes from the queerness, fairytale motif and 'dark academia' thing, so if you aren't really passionate about that stuff then ehhh
...Also the 'about the author' says "her favorite Disney prince is Kylo Ren", which says a lot if yk what I mean
The Handmaid's Tale- Margaret Atwood ☆
1985- Dystopian
Dystopia that focuses on controlling women by forcing them into specific roles, one of which requires them to have babies for other couples due to declining fertility in the population... I really liek the worldbuilding and general messed-up-ness of the story
I haven't seen the TV series and tbh I don't really wanna, but the comic adaptation has nice illustrations
"Ordinary is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a while it will. It will become ordinary."
Loveless- Alice Oseman
2020- Romance
Story of a girl realizing & coming to terms with being aromantic & asexual... even though it's basically the acearo bible, I don't really like it... I don't think it's bad, but I feel like it's written for ace/aros that actually had/have trouble figuring themselves out, and the story & everything is meant to make it easier for those kinda people to connect with it... So I relate to the specific acearo "symptoms" in the story, but I don't relate to uhhh everything else. I don't like the characters, setting, humor or story, but I'm 99% sure it's just my personal tastes, and I know tons of people liked this book and found it helpful, so yeah
i wish they'd teach this in school instead of the cringe outdated trash that is Romeo & Juliet. not even the allos liked that crap lmao
Magical Girl Raising Project- Asari Endo ☆(manga) ☉ ◻(novels)
2012- Thriller/fantasy/action/horror i guess?
I freaking love this series so much.
You get introduced to 16ish magical girls every arc, then watch them kill each other off in creative & violent ways... I was disappointed at the lack of gore in Madoka Magica, so I was really happy to find this (not that I dislike Madoka, ofc)
Plus the character designs & art are eyecandy, even if the novels only have a few illustrations in each volume
"After not even a second, her body ruptured from the inside. Her clothes were turned to scraps, and her organs decorated every inch of their surroundings."
The Night Circus- Erin Morgenstern
2011- Fantasy/romance
I really liked this one at first; the idea of a magical traveling circus with a girl that has psionic powers is kool to me, and I found myself really impressed with the imagery & 'aesthetic' despite the book having no pictures... but then it had to go and turn into another lame romance story eughhhhh
...So I ended up abandoning it partway through... maybe one day I'll try to finish it, but honestly I'm still upset about it...
The Power of Trees- Peter Wohlleben
2021- Environmental science
hhhhah funny trees go brrr ttres arre so kcoool hheheh
Seriously tho it's about trees and their imapct on the environment & our impact on the trees and it's very interesting (because I doubt my attention span has really been improving that much)
The Silence of the Lambs- Thomas Harris ☆
1988- Thriller/mystery
I only read this book cause Kaneda7- LAMBS uses a sample from the movie, and I am so glad I did...
I really like it, though the uhhh "trans representation" is kinda unfortunate... The characters/story aren't transphobic per se, but the whole 'he's not actually a transsexual, he just thinks he is' thing didn't age well, plus this book was probably lots of people's first time hearing about that stuff, and the thing that sticks with them most probably isn't the one sentence saying trans people aren't violent, yk. But if you can bear the outdatedness, I would recommend it if you like psychology or forensics cause there's a lot of that
Oh and it's a series apparently? I haven't read any of the others yet tho
"What did you see, Clarice? What did you see?" "Lambs... they were screaming."
Alice 19th- Yuu Watase ◻
2001- Romance/fantasy/action
Idk why I thought this was a kid's series at first, so when it started getting dark I was not expecting it at all lmao
I was mainly invested in the story regarding Alice having to save her sister from getting stuck in darkness, so even though I was constantly rolling my eyes at the romance stuff, I like this series overall :]
Ducks- Kate Beaton ◻?
2022- Memoir
In hindsight I like it and the sorta "industrial aesthetic", but I happened to read it at probably the worst time possible for me since at the time I had a persistent existensial fear of growing up and having to get a job, and this book was kindaaaa the last straw to drive me suicidal for 3 weeks after I read it lmao. And it wasn't even the parts that most people would point to as the most depressing & heavy (it's mainly about sexual harassment)...
It is gud tho... I've developed enough chronic apathy towards life that I think I would be able to handle rereading it now
Grass- Keum Suk Gendry-Kim
2017- Memoir/historical
True story of the life of an impoverished Korean girl that gets kidnapped and forced into sex-slavery during WW2... and that's pretty much all you need to know to make an informed decision on whether you'd want to read this
...i.e. If you can handle that, then it's worth reading IMO
Lighter Than My Shadow- Katie Green ☆
2013- Memoir
Comic about the author's experience growing up with eating disorders & other trauma
It's very insightful and I found it helpful even though I don't have the exact same disorders as her
"Dear Reader, You are holding the book I wish had been there for me. It exists because I wanted nobody else to feel as lost, confused and alone as I felt. This book is my promise that it can and does get better."
The Tea Dragon Society- Katie O'Neill ☆ ◻
2017- Fantasy
Brick is the best character. I love Brick. I want a Brick
Anyways it's about this kool fantasy world and there are dragons that grow magical tea leaves on their heads and it's really cute n stuff
...also I can't tell if the relationships are supposed to be romantic or not so I'm just gonna interpret it all as queerplatonic unless the sequels actually say otherwise (They haven't arrived yet)
("WataMote") No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!- Nico Tanigawa
2011- Slice of life/comedy
Follows the mundane life of a socially awkward girl and her attempts to become popular... It's a very accurate portrayal of social anxiety, lots of people say it's kind of hard to read(/watch) at times cause it hits so close to home 0-0
...And I agree; depsite Tomoko being obsessed with romance, the communication struggles are just that painfully relatable ;-;
The weird adventures of Armless Amy- Amalockh1
2015- Horror
Basically there's a girl in a weird world full of monsters and violence
It's got a kool thing going on with the combination of a really simple cartoony artstyle and a more realistic (often grotesque) one, plus its use of uncannily-edited photos... Though I will say I had to have an image editor open to increase the brightness & contrast on lots of the pages; you'll see what I mean if you read past the first 5 chapters...
"At first they cry, and they scream, but at the end... there is always a big smile on their faces..."
Welcome to St. Hell- Lewis Hancox
2022- Memoir
Memoir about struggling with gender dysphoria in high school before transitioning became more well-known & socially accepted, so you can probably tell what kind of people would be interested in this book