Nana & Kaoru Volume 5

Written by: Ryuta Amazume

First line: "Zero points"? What" What does he mean?

Why you should read this book: Forced to confront their emotions by a crotchety old leather master, Nana and Kaoru both acknowledge their bond and the symbolic nature of a collar to keep them tied together, after which Kaoru makes Nana a bespoke collar, with love, leading to a fun, full-circle encounter in the field where he first took her after her first collaring. There's a fun sequence where Tachi and Mitsuko top Kaoru in the basement of the bondage shop (deepening his relationship with Nana), after which we get a very different story about a couple in their twenties, toying with BDSM to save their relationship, who are both advised with great perspicacity by the now wise in the ways of kink teenagers Kaoru and Nana. But the book ends with the main characters once again being forced to confront the fact that they have only a year of high school left, and there are no guarantees in life, because loved ones can disappear in an instant. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: This one actually has sex in it, but, due to Japanese censorship laws, the male genitals are drawn as magic markers.

The Reason I Jump

Written by: Naoki Higashida (translated by KA Yoshida David Mitchell)

First line: When I was small, I didn't even know that I was a kid with special needs. 

Why you should read this book: Perhaps there's never been another book like this one, written by a nonverbal, autistic 13-year-old whose primary method of communication is spelling out words by pointing, one-by-one, at the Japanese hiragana letters on a grid. Most of the book is presented in the form of Q and A, with the author answering questions about why and how he does what he does by explaining his inner experience, along with a few provocative short fiction pieces that also provide interesting insight into a mind that might have once remained forever closed to neurotypical observers. The young author's sensitivity and understanding of his own condition, his relationship with the rest of the world, and his expectations for the future, are delightful and eye opening. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You just find all children annoying. 

Wake the Wild Creatures

Written by: Nova Ren Suma

First line: At first it was beautiful.

Why you should read this book: As long as she can remember, Thalia has lived at Neves, the crumbling, derelict remains of an old Catskills hotel, which shelters a motley assortment of vulnerable and abused women and children within a shroud of magical mist. On the first full moon after her thirteenth birthday, when she is prepared to become a full member of the community, tragedy strikes, her mother is arrested, and Thalia is sent to live with an aunt she's never known, in a stifling and unnatural suburban environment, in a room with a cousin who seems to despise her. But Thalia is convinced that her mother and her community will call her home, and she's been waiting patiently in her new, alien environment, for the day when the mist will open up and welcome her home again. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: One of the author's hallmark stylistic devices is to never explain any supernatural occurrence in any way whatsoever.

October, October

Written by: Katya Balen

First line: We find the owl at the very edge of our woods, the morning after the storm. 

Why you should read this book: October has always lived in the woods with her father, searching for treasure (and finding it!), climbing trees, howling at the sky, and living her intentional, wild, off-the-grid existence (now with a baby owl whose life she's saved), until the day the woman who is her mother turns up to wish her a happy birthday. Now her entire life has been turned upside down, and October is forced to confront her own prejudices while simultaneously adapting to the strange new world that is modern London and the parent whose love she has chosen to reject for so long. This is a lovely, compelling story about that magical moment in our lives where we must take accounting of the inventory of our own childhoods, and determine what should be kept for the rest of our lives and what needs to be left behind in the dustbin of history.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think children should just do what they're told the first time you ask. 

Nana & Karou Volume 4

Written by: Ryuta Amazume

First line: What am I doing?

Why you should read this book: As graduation approaches, Nana and Kaoru continue having increasingly intense BDSM sessions while revealing to themselves the depths of their feelings for one another. Kaoru tries to improve his grades so Nana won't leave him behind at college, while giving her everything she needs to finish out her high school career strong, weathering her own tribulations and never letting anyone down. For her part, Nana begins to worry about a life without Kaoru, and begins to think more carefully about his needs and happiness.

Why you shouldn't read this book: This is a softcore BDSM manga that contains, among other things, three entire chapters of teenage perverts scouring the internet to find an obscure pegging video from the '90s for a dude they don't even like as a person, in the name of helping him regain his pride. If this is distasteful or nonsensical to you, likely you should not get anywhere near this book. 

Crevice: A Life Between Worlds

Written by: Anna Redsand

First line: We drove across endless white alkaline flats into the Navajo Nation.

Why you should read this book: These thirteen thoughtful, provocative essays detail the relationship between the author, a white woman; and the land and people of Dinetah, the Navajo Reservation where she grew up, which will always remain her "home-not-home." Although this is the land of her childhood and her memories, Redsand's life and experience have always showed her the divide between the rich cultural traditions of her friends and neighbors and the paternalist, colonialist intentions of her missionary parents. Like all "Third Culture Kids," she struggles to locate her own identity, feeling acutely that she does not belong in either world, and it takes the space of thirteen essays to unpack all the knowledge and emotion she has accumulated around the in-between spaces in which she has always existed.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You are a proponent of assimilation. 

Hatchet

Written by: Gary Paulsen

First line: Brian Robeson stared out the window of the small plane at the endless green northern wilderness below.

Why you should read this book: Thirteen-year-old Brian is consumed with the secret knowledge that his mother cheated on his father, which is why they are divorced, and the reason Brian is a passenger in a Cessna flying across Canada to spend the summer with his father in the oil fields, all of which becomes suddenly much less important when the pilot has a heart attack and dies mid-flight. Armed with only the little hatchet his mother gave him before his trip, Brian manages to survive the crash and use every ounce of strength in his body and lick of intelligence in his brain to continue surviving alone in the wilderness. A modern-class boy-versus-nature story highlighting the resilience of the human spirit and the boundless nature of human ingenuity in the face of uncertainty.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You would never give a teenager an edged blade. 

The Sociopath Next Door

Written by: Martha Stout, PhD

First line: Imagine--if you can--not having a conscience, none at all, no feelings of guilt or remorse no matter what you do, no limiting sense of concern for the well-being of strangers, friends, or even family members.

Why you should read this book: In accessible language written for a lay audience, the author demystifies the concept known to many as sociopathy, a popular term for the constellation of mental disorders that spring up around the roughly four percent of the population who, for whatever reason, lack a conscience. She demonstrates that such individuals, while often sensationalized in the media as bloodthirsty killers, are typically small, mundane people living small, mundane lives, and also making everyone around them miserable for their own satisfaction. This book endeavors to explain the internal processes of the sociopath, and help other recognize these tendencies in those around them. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: It was published twenty years ago, but you will almost certainly recognize some terrifying aspects of modern America in its pages.

Everyone Is Lying to You

Written by: Jo Piazza

First line: There are things I know I should be doing before bed in order to get a "good" night's sleep.

Why you should read this book: Lizzie and Bex were best friends in college, but they haven't spoken for over a decade, until Bex, now a famous trad wife influencer, invites Lizzie, who writes for a women's magazine, to join her at a conference and get the exclusive scoop. Lizzie's entire industry could use a boost, and Lizzie definitely wants to know why Bex ghosted her in the first place, so she takes the job and finds herself navigating the strange, plastic world of Mommy content creators. When Bex disappears after her husband is brutally murdered, Lizzie is reminded of her investigative journalism background and, following clues seemingly provided for her by an unseen friend, decides to uncover the truth.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Definitely a guilty pleasure sort of thing.

If You Could Be Mine

Written by: Sara Farizan

First line: Nasrin pulled my hair when I told her I didn't want to play with her dolls. 

Why you should read this book: Sahar has always known that she is in love with her best friend, Nasrin, and she's pretty sure, based on the way Nasrin is kissing her all the time whenever they're alone, that Nasrin feels exactly the same way about her, so she's surprised, confused, and hurt when Nasrin announces that she's marrying a much older man she barely knows. For Nasrin, this is the sensible decision, because they live in Iran and it's straight up illegal to be gay, so why shouldn't she marry someone who will love and care for her, and continue making out with Sahar on the side? Although homosexuality is criminalized, when Sahar finds that out that being trans is perfectly legal, she realizes she has a shot at holding on to their love. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You changed for love.