A List of My Favourite Books

So far, as of April 2025. Not in any particular order once you pass #4.

1. The Showgirl by Nicola Harrison (2021)

Historical fiction, romance novel

1927 small town Minnesota girl to a high profile NYC Ziegfeld Follies star. 

My absolute burlesque dream. Ollie’s got a strong character and never pities herself or whatever situation she’s found herself in. She doesn’t make excuses for herself and takes it far. 

2. The Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrot (1929)

Literary fiction novel

1924 jazz-age 

“Like Fitzgerald, from a woman’s perspective.”

This book starts off in such a frustrating way. It’s one of those scenarios where you’re shouting at the character “just do something about it!” but the learned helplessness is an important part of the story that has to get transmuted. It’s funny, imaginative and cheeky. 

3. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (2011)

Historical, psychological fiction.

1930s NYC upper echelons social life. Journey of friendship and romance

This novel is full of plot twists and humour that makes you wish you were there, a part of the group, in the middle of the drama. Towles does such a good job of simulating the type of relationship that distant friends have with one another. How he paints the personalities of the characters, relays information and passes through time gives you the feeling that you’re remembering with him. You get to bounce around and miss people and wonder what exactly happened in each situation.

4. A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry (2020)

Alternative French Revolution historical fantasy

The kind of realism in magic that makes you think this is probably actually real and I may be one of them and I need to search my family history to see what magical bloodline I descend from. This is hands down the best novel I’ve ever read in my life and I count it as my absolute favourite and most recommended. I’d like to gatekeep it because I genuinely think that liking this book makes me a cooler person and when I do recommend it, I feel like I changed someone’s life and they will remember me forever.

5. Swanna in Love by Jennifer Belle (2024)

Coming of age humorous fiction 

Summer of 1984 domestic fiction & romantic controversy.

For if you romanticize Lolita and you want a willing, sentient girl’s perspective with modern humour.

The book perfectly encapsulates the volatile experience of being a girl with a crush. Disinterest, infatuation, doubt, excitement, selfishness and inconsideration…boredom, the ick, and delusion…Basically, what happens when we use boys as a distraction from emotional turmoil.

6. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (1991)

Satirical horror novel

When I was younger I walked in the den while my older sister was watching the movie adaptation. Coincidentally it was during the homeless man & puppy scene. I was traumatized and devastated and avoided anything to do with the story. Fast forward to my adult years, I found Christian Bale edits on tiktok to be quite alluring so I decided to give the book a go and give the movie a chance afterwards. 

The stream-of-consciousness storytelling from a psychopath is jarring, exhausting, humorous and oddly relatable (from a shared neuro-divergent, ocd perspective, I mean). The graphic detail of Patrick Bateman’s fantasies are either sexy or so horrifying that I had to start skimming the chapter until the plot gets “normal” again. I experienced some anxiety for two weeks after I finished the book. The movie had way less gore and detail so it felt much lighter and comedic, although the novel surely will make you laugh at times.

7. The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker (1986)

Horror novella 

Another book I read because I wanted to watch the film adaptations. I admit, I find gore and torture and voluntary suffering to be sexy and necessary. A brief introduction to Cenobites was enough to intrigue me. I opened the book expecting sex and excitement and closed it feeling completely the opposite. The book nor the original movie is particularly sexy like my projection of what “unable to distinguish between pain and pleasure” meant to me. I thought I was getting into sexy torture at the hands of pierced gothic whores that take it too far but it was just regular torture and mutilation… nevertheless, I’m happy to read a classic and get background knowledge on iconic sci-fi horror. The recent movies are way more sensationalized than the original novella.

8. The Pisces by Melissa Broder (2018)

Humourous psychological fiction novel

Neurotic and mystical. Everything is happening as normally as it could until it starts getting weird- and then it gets considerably weird. A strange and imaginative story that sounds like a hallucination.

9. Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan (2021)

Coming of age psychological fiction

A low self-esteem fever dream. I was concerned about if this was a true story or not because the narrator is basically anonymous. In the book summaries I read, it’s regarded as a “powerful exploration of female desire, suffering and self worth” with themes of degradation, pleasure and submission.

The story is interesting and funny in a sad way that encourages you to feel pity for the narrator- who remains unnamed, though I have my suspicions. It’s a young Irish girl’s humiliation ritual, crossing way past the border of being young, dumb and in love. There is actually no love present in this storyline whatsoever. There is a fine line between decisions made out of naïveté- a hopeless romantic’s lens and genuine desperation and low self worth. Both identities may need be transmuted. 

I actually found this book to be really compelling. I don’t feel that you have to like or relate to a character to have respect for or interest in their story, obviously, I just don’t particularly like the “pathetic adult women represent true feminine desire” trope, nor will I accept that neurodivergence is an excuse for everything. This actually further supports my theory that many women remain socially retarded well into their adult years, particularly in the romantic department. This is, again, an observation, not a judgement. The title was a fair warning though.

10. A Room Called Earth by Madeline Ryan (2020)

Bildungsroman novel

Autistic Australian stream of consciousness. I want this book to be a blind read for you so I won’t say anything more.