The Prophet

Written by: Kahlil Gibran

First line: Almustafa, the chosen and beloved, who was a dawn unto his own day, had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth. 

Why you should read this book: A beloved and enduring longform poem written one hundred years ago, The Prophet is a series of mind-expanding dialogs between the prophet and the people of Orphalese, who ask him to speak to them of various aspects of the human condition. The prophet answers with advice--some metaphorical, some concrete--on living fully, openly, joyfully, and honestly. Each short chapter offers musings on topics such as love, work, freedom, pleasure, and so on, turning the everyday experience of all humans into a spiritual quest wherein every individual can hope to achieve enlightenment in this world. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: The dust jacket of the edition I have in my hand suggests that if this book doesn't uplift, educate, and inspire you, that you are likely "dead to life and truth."

Daddy Poems

Edited by: John Micklos, Jr. 

First line: It was still dark when I woke up/and stumbled out of bed,/sleepily searching for my slippers/on my way to the bathroom.

Why you should read this book: A beautifully illustrated and carefully curated collection of poetry for young readers about fathers, featuring a diverse sampling of poets. The book takes into account the complicated feelings of children whose parents are divorced, and includes a poem about a child's confusing feelings for his stepfather. These poems are full of emotion and love and joy and pain.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Probably not a great choice for people with absent or abusive fathers. 

The Goddess of Ugly

Written by: Deborah Nourse Lattimore

First line: Once, not very long ago there were twin sisters, Kiri and Mareweia.

Why you should read this book: Two little Maori girls look forward to their coming of age, when they will receive their chin tattoos, but first they must perfect their haka dance. However, one of the sisters cannot take her practice seriously, and their grandmother warns them that making ugly faces will leave them vulnerable to Punga, the Goddess of Ugly, who once trapped Mudfish and Lizard in a lodgepole, to teach them a lesson about being ugly on purpose. Still not taking the warning seriously, the girls, naturally, have a terrifying run-in with Punga, where they quickly learn their lesson and get the best of the situation.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're very shallow. 

When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals.

Written by: Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy

First line: Somewhere in India, a blind river dolphin seeks her companion.

Why you should read this book: Biology has long held the idea of animal emotions in contempt, labeling "anthropomorphism" a sin against science and the idea that animals have only instinct and evolution to guide them, but the authors of this book remind readers that it's difficult for anyone who has ever had a relationship with any animal to discount what their eyes and ears perceive. Since such subjects cannot be truly observed in laboratory conditions, any evidence to the contrary is labeled "anecdotal," and yet, if it's possible to compile an entire book of such anecdotes, shouldn't we consider that a literature review? Citing dozens of field scientists, the authors explore hope, love, grief, and the entire range of emotional experience as witnessed in the behavior of animals in the wild, in captivity, and in domestication, creating strong evidence that other creatures share a similar range of emotional experiences with humans. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: I thought the section on shame and blushing was underwhelming compared to the rest of the book.

The Girl Who Married a Skull and Other African Stories: A Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales Book

Edited by: C. Spike Trotman, Kate Ashwin, Kel McDonald, and Taneka Stotts

First line: Once there lived a young woman.

Why you should read this book: Like the other five books in this series, it compiles a diverse collection of stories from all over the continent, some modernized, others seemingly ancient, illustrated by a variety of artists who put their hearts into the subject matter. Monsters, talking animals, culture heroes, and clever children populate the pages, teaching caution and perseverance, offering lessons and merriment, and showing young readers a road map for navigating the world. Joyful, uplifting, and entertaining.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're, like, a talking skull or something. 

V for Vendetta

Written by: Alan Moore and David Lloyd

First line: Good evening, London. It's 9 o'clock and this is the voice of Fate broadcasting on 275 and 285 in the medium wave. 

Why you should read this book, in a dismal post-World War III future, England has fallen under the sway of brutal fascism, with an Orwellian cameras in every crevice and party propaganda broadcast from every corner. A shadowy anarchist known only as V wages a rather effective one-man war against the symbols of the government and the men and women who run it, while teaching a young woman named Evey his philosophy of self-rule and death to tyrants. With every resource of the country devoted to his death, V carries out an elaborate plan to hand power back to the people before his enemies catch up with him.

Why you shouldn't read this book: While I'm obviously very opposed to fascism and in support of anything that opposes fascism, reading this book 35 years after its original publication and maybe 25 years after the first time I read it, it feels kind of overblown, like an child's fantasy about Batman saving the world.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Written by: Frederick Douglas

First line: I was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, and about twelve miles from Easton, in Talbot County Maryland.

Why you should read this book: In language that is eloquent and evocative, yet straightforward and blunt, Douglas details the horrors of slavery through the eyes of his own childhood. Never stinting in his description of the brutality, cruelty, and hypocrisy, Douglass explains, clearly, that there can be no moral foundation to the unconscionable idea that human beings can possess other humans beings, and that the practice degrades everyone involved. I first read this book when I was little girl, when it seemed pretty obvious to most people that slavery was wrong and horrible and indefensible, but these days some people apparently need to have this concept spelled out for them, in which case, this book is a good resource.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Bad things happen.

Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruins of Ymr

Written by: John Crowley

First line: There has come to be a great mountain at the end of the world.

Why you should read this book: When a grief-stricken man rescues a sick crow, he is surprised to learn that the crow can communicate, and that the crow has led a mytho-poetic and seemingly immortal life, traveling with various spiritual humans back and forth into the spirit world. From prehistoric times to modern day, Dar Oakley has observed humans, learned from them, helped them when he felt it was in his own best interest or he seemed compelled to do so, and frequently been confused by their symbolic language and strange obsession with defeating death. Dar Oakley has changed the fate of all crows, but not as much as humans have changed their own fates, and, in their quest for material goods and fortune, closed off their own access to the immaterial world that once brought them hope. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think birds aren't real.

Carmilla

Written by: Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

First line: In Styria, we, though by no means magnificent people, inhabit a castle, or schloss.

Why you should read this book: This is a vampire novel—a gothic vampire novel—a gothic LESBIAN vampire novel—a gothic lesbian vampire novel, which predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by a quarter century, which is likely enough information to sway the type of readers who would enjoy this book. The narrator, an innocent but isolated girl who craves the friendship of other girls, is enchanted by the random beautiful stranger who appears on her land while she's mourning the death of another girl she had hoped to visit. While constantly praising her new friend's looks and engaging in constant shows of physical affection, the protagonist begins to suffer a mysterious illness exactly like the strange malady that killed her old friend.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Can't handle the thought of girls engaging in trembling embraces and soft kisses.

The Sandman: Overture

Written by: Neil Gaiman and JH Williams III

First line: It was a small planet.

Why you should read this book: It's the prequel to the other Sandman books, published nearly 2 decades after the end of the series, which tells the story of the dangerous but important mission that took Morpheus away from his domain and led to his weakness and capture at the beginning of volume 1. Dream, at a convention of Dreams, comes to understand that the universe is in great peril, and it's entirely his fault for not doing his job correctly in the past. He comes to understand that there's nothing he can do to fix his mistake, which is then rectified pretty much by a literal deus ex machina and the literary equivalent of clapping for Tinkerbell.

Why you shouldn't read this book;  While following many of the successful conventions from the preceding books, including spectacular world-building and a brooding protagonist who basically tries to be a decent being despite also being a self-involved jerk, and containing appearances from many beloved secondary characters, as well as introducing Dream's mother and father (!), this story doesn't ever seem to have anything at stake.