i loved this book, it’s so bizarre.
boy parts by eliza clark, swamplandia! by karen russell, outlawed by anna north, and any comics by julia gfrörer. some of those maybe not so nasty, per se, but definitely interesting and strange portrayals of girlhood/young womanhood.
also seconding anything gillian flynn, joyce carol oates, or shirley jackson.
Related Recs
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the doll's alphabet by camilla grudova - strange, fabulous, surreal short stories that play around with the grotesque, gothic and uncanny
fen by daisy johnson - short story collection set in the same setting, reads as if fables or myths
drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk - less overtly weird but hypnotic, concerned with astrology, william blake and morals. eccentric and delightful and one of the very very very best books ever written
the fish by lloyd jones - oh i love this one.. told through the point of view a young boy whose sister gives birth to a fish. devastating and compelling and strange
swanfolk by kristin ómarsdóttir - a young spy is entranced by a group of swan women. very dreamy and whimsical but also investigating ideas of power / sanity / violence
lament for julia by susan taubes - novella + short stories, one of the best books i've ever read. the novella is disturbing and strange, told through the POV of a demon who lives inside julia's i and wickedly controls / recounts her life
agree w the pisces by melissa broder - romance with a merman that is fabulous and fun and weird
audition by pip adam - a scifi novel about prison abolishment that plays with a really unique, experimental writing style. i loved it even though i traditionally don't like scifi/fantasy
pale fire by vladimir nabokov - poem, fictional poet, forward, index; such a weird, strange, experimental, confident and unusual structure with a plot that is as equally as strange by the time you're finished
any kafka too...obviously
hope this helps, i love weird lit ♡
Jun 1, 2024
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annihilation by jeff vandermeer - this one is female-led (first person!) and sooooo good. the book made me feel like i was going on the deranged journey alongside the main character. plenty of weird things in the plot. one of my favorite books of all time (sadly the movie is terrible and deviates so much from the book)
jonathan livingston seagull by richard bach - not ebook/audiobook compatible, kinda quick slightly philosophical read with lots of seagull photos
this is how you lose the time war by amar el-mohtar & max gladstone - a book about two people on opposite sides of a time war, the chapters go back and forth between their perspectives. kinda prose-y, & women-led. don’t look anything else up about the book, just read it!
Jun 1, 2024
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oh! hello weird lit pal! i also belong to that club!
a few favorites of mine:
‘it lasts forever then it’s over’ by anne de marcken
‘sift’ by alissa hattman
‘woodworm’ by layla martinez
‘annihilation’ by jeff vandermeer
’the membranes’ by chi ta-wei
‘the complete stories of leonora carrington’ by leonora carrington… she’s the og weirdo and i adore her
this isn’t a novella but i love it so much… ‘the wall’ by marlen haushofer!
i haven’t read this one but i heard ‘ice’ by anna kavan is good!
i hope you find something you enjoy ✨
Dec 31, 2024
Top Recs from @ktrnaa
as a society we should be doing more cultural analysis of the ubiquity of bathroom graffiti
#wholesomegirls
Feb 23, 2025
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not to be a shill for capitalism but feels great to wake up on pay day fridays! the world is my oyster! i’m bringing coffee in for my coworkers!
Jan 31, 2025
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my husband and i have a white board on the fridge where we keep a list going of twenty movies that we want to watch. when it's time to watch a movie we roll a twenty-sided die and watch whatever number it is. then we alternate filling the spot we emptied. it's complex but it's eliminated hours worth of discussions about what we should watch.
Apr 18, 2024