Books I Could Reread Again and Again

1. In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado — A fragmented, genre-defying memoir about queer domestic abuse.

2. The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang — An essay collection on mental illness, identity, and survival.

3. Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson — A lyrical exploration of Black masculinity and love. Written in the second person, it pulls you in deeply and personally no matter how many times you read it.

4. The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch — A retired theater director escapes to the coast to write his memoir but becomes entangled in obsession, ego, and illusions he can’t let go of.

5. The Door by Magda Szabó — An unnamed writer develops a strange bond with her mysterious housekeeper.

6. The Folded Clock by Heidi Julavits — A diaristic, nonlinear meditation on identity, time, relationships, and the slipperiness of self.

7. Faces in the Water by Janet Frame — A lyrical account of life in a psychiatric institution, drawn from the author’s own experience.

8. All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews — A novel about sisters, suicide, and love that manages to be heartbreaking, hilarious, and soul-shaking all at once.

9. Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill — Every line reads differently depending on whether you’re falling in love, falling apart, or trying to make sense of the space between.