The Ladies of Grace Adieu

 

Written by: Susanna Clarke

First line: Above all remember this: that magic belongs as much to the heart as to the head and everything which is done, should be done from love or joy or righteous anger. 

Why you should read this book: These short stories are all set in the same world as the author's award-winning novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, but even without prior knowledge of that paracosm, a general interest in fairy tales should be enough for the reader to glean a proper conception of the British Magic referenced within. Told in different styles and voices through different time periods, in these pages we meet the witches who protect children, young women who make deals with fairies, common men who call the irritation of the gods down upon kings, and magic all around. On its own or as a companion to the original work, this is just a delightful collection.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You might like it more if you read the other one first. 

Heaven No Hell

Written by: Michael DeForge

First line: The massage is my favorite part.

Why you should read this book: The varied stories that make up this graphic collection are simultaneously surreal and relatable, showcasing subtle truths about the inner lives of humans against strange backdrop of quiet nightmares. Imposter syndrome, unspoken love, murder, nostalgia, family, and the afterlife all undergo precise but rapid dissection. It's crazy but it makes sense but it's confusing but it feel complete. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't like stories that make you think. 

Twins

Written by: Varian Johanson and Shannon Wright

First line: Sixth grade! First day of the rest of your lives!

Why you should read this book: Identical twins Maureen and Francine have always done everything together, but on the first day of sixth grade, it seems like Francine doesn't want to do anything together anymore. It's bad enough that Maureen feels like her best friend is slipping away, but when the sisters end up running against each other for class president, their relationships starts to feel ugly. How can each sister find a way to shine separately, when they've been practically the same person for so long?

Why you shouldn't read this book: You've never worried about your identity. 

Smaller Sister

Written by: Magie Edkins Willis

First line: Olivia, darling, meet your new baby sister.

Why you should read this book: Lucy has always counted on the friendship of her big sister, Livy, but lately Livy has been changing and pushing her away and behaving in other ways that Lucy can't understand until she finds out that her sister has been diagnosed with an eating disorder. Lucy can't understand her sister's anorexia, but she's determined to help her through her recovery. But Livy's body dysmorphia eventually impacts her sister's self-image, and Lucy has to handle her own problems as her body changes.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Possibly triggering for those with eating disorders. 

The Four Agreements

Written by: Don Miguel Ruiz

First line: Thousands of years ago, the Toltec were known throughout southern Mexico as "women and men of knowledge."

Why you should read this book: A lot of people claim that it changed their lives. In repetitive and dreamlike language, it lays out a system of explanation as to why you, the reader, are unhappy, and how to find happiness by adhering to four simple beliefs about how to think and act. Just speak kindly, don't take things personally, don't make assumptions, and always do your best, and you will transform this world from hell to heaven.

Why you shouldn't read this book: The provenance of the "Toltec" is unclear (getting some Carlos Castenda vibes here) and there's a New-Agey quality in the instructions.

No Ivy League

Written by: Hazel Newlevant

First line: Add more calendars!

Why you should read this book: Homeschool ("my parents are hippies" homeschool, not "my parents are religious nuts" homeschool) teen Hazel has a nice life, studying whatever she feels like, hanging out with other homeschool kids, and the only thing she's missing is the cash she needs to go to DC with her boyfriend and best friend to see a band she loves. Hazel takes a summer job with No Ivy League, a group dedicated to hiring at-risk youth to remove invasive English ivy from the park, and suddenly she's in another world, working with kids with whom she can't seem to find any commonality, kids who have less than she does and resent her privilege. In this honest memoir, Newlevant relates the lessons she learned about race, class, romance, and community at her summer job. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: There's some spicy language in there, probably not for younger teens or kids. 

Dysmorphic Kingdom

Written by: Colleen Chen

First line: She would never be able to look at Nim the same way again. 

Why you should read this book: Part fantasy, part fairy tale, part romance, part adventure, part genre-bending, part sex-farce, constantly surprising, this unusual but delightful story is all about parts: what holds them together, what tears them away from one another. In Vesper's world, women have no rights, and she's finding it progressively more and more difficult to escape an unwanted marriage when she stumbles upon a disembodied penis who can talk and fly as well as perform other tasks more suited to its form. Determined to reunite the member with its rightful owner, Vesper embarks upon a strange journey through a landscape increasingly littered with talking, flying body parts, and she must navigate the confusing obstacles of the royal court, the attentions of men, and her own heart to become the hero scientist she's dreamed of being. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: It's desperately in need of a couple more proofreading passes. 

All Systems Red (book 1 of the Muderbot Diaries)

Written by: Martha Wells

First line: I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites.

Why you should read this book: "Murderbot," a security unit created from both robot and organic parts, does his job in the hopes that no one will notice he's been hacked, but his primary concern is watching TV: 35,000 hours of streaming video so far. Far more interested in the lives of the fictional characters in his favorite serials than the very real scientists he's supposed to be protecting, he still does his duty as it becomes increasingly apparent that the mission has been sabotaged and someone wants his entire crew dead. If he ever wants to watch TV in peace again, Murderbot must outwit the antagonists and save his small group of intellectual researchers from a much larger and better armed opponent. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: This is one of those stories where the plot is sort of irrelevant, but the voice and the character journey is so engaging you don't really care. (Apparently this series is being developed by Apple TV for a show starring Alexanders Skarsgard, so I guess you could wait a while and then enjoy the story the way Murderbot would want you to enjoy it, if Murderbot cared about you, which it probably doesn't.)

Turtles All the Way Down

Written by: John Green

First line: At the first time I realized I might be fictional, my weekdays were spent at a publicly funded institution on the north side of Indianapolis called White River High School, where I was required to eat lunch at a particular time--between 12:37 P.M. and 1:14 P.M.--by forces so much larger than myself that I couldn't even begin to identify them. 

Why you should read this book: Teenager Aza "Holmesy" Holmes has been living with anxiety and invasive thought for a while now, probably since her father died when she was a little kid, and although they control many aspects of her life, they don't control her best friend, Daisy. When Daisy learns that Aza used to be friends with the son of a missing billionaire (they met at "sad camp" for kids with dead parents), Daisy wants to exploit that connection in the hopes that she and Aza can collect the reward for finding the missing man. But Aza's reunion with her old friend only exacerbates her illness until her behavior threatens all her relationships and even her life. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: John Green is not exactly known for happy endings. 

The Last Unicorn: The Lost Journey

Written by: Peter S. Beagle

First line: The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone.

Why you should read this book: You may have read a book that remind you of this one, but you've never read anything quite like this, because this is a very early draft of a very popular book, which is not quite as good as the book it eventually became, but stands alone as a story about the confluence of modernity and classical thinking. Our unicorn leaves her forest to search for others of her kind, but she never meets Schmendrick or Haggard or the Red Bull, but instead travels with one or two banished demons, depending on how to count, further and further into the world of men who have no need for or understanding of a unicorn. Although the story sort of fizzles out at the end (Beagle points out, in the afterword, that he was probably trying to write satire despite being anything but a satirist) it takes us to surprising places as it moves with some reckless haste toward its conclusion.

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you have read The Last Unicorn you'll like have no idea what's special about this one.