under / construction (2026)
I am currently coding this at work (weeeee) and I am blanking on every book I have ever read. more books will be on here soon! (I hope)
the color purple / alice walker (1982)
my first introduction to the color purple was actually through the 2016 musical revival (which is still great btw. I can never hear a bad word about cynthia erivo). and I read the book pretty soon after that and it is wonderful. the amount of emotional(?) information that walker manages to fit into one book is staggering. if you are a fan or the film or musical but still haven't read the book, I highly recommend it. it goes into a lot more detail regarding certain plots (especially nettie's).
pale fire / vladimir nabokov (1962)
if I was the shadow of the waxwing slain, and you're by the false azure in the windowpane, then who's flying the plane?! I know a lot of praise has been given to this. and you know what? it's all deserved. pale fire is so good. pale fire is so good. you can read it over and over again, and still find new conclusions or secrets or whatever you want. I'm also obsessed with the people who can recite the main poem from memory. how fun.
the between / tananarive due (1995)
whenever anyone asks for a book rec, this is always the one I suggest. I've never really seen anyone else bring it up, which is a shame because it is excellent in so many ways. slightly horror, slightly speculative fiction, very psychological. Tananarive Due is an excellent author with several very good books, but this one is far and away my favorite. read it, I beg.