Bad Gateway

Written by: Simon Hanselman

First line: This place seems cheap and is OK.

Why you should read this book: It will break your heart, in a good way. It's about a drug-addicted, welfare-cheating witch named Megg; her drug addicted, trust-fund hippie boyfriend cat named Mogg; and the assorted other creatures who flit in and out of their drug haze. Megg's life is bleak, and she is determined to hang on to the bleakness, seeming to put as much effort into staying in a bad place as it would take to get her to a better place, but the volume ends with her going back home to see her mother and, presumably, examine the path that brought her to this bleak place.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Sex, drugs, violence, often all at the same time.