Seven books of speculative feminism written by women

Vanessa Saunders is a writer from the San Francisco Bay Area. Her experimental novel, The Flat Woman, won the Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize and was published by Fiction Collective Two and University of Alabama Press. Her writing has appeared in magazines such as Seneca Review, Los Angeles Review, Passages North, and other journals. Saunders currently works as a Professor of Practice at Loyola University in New Orleans.

At Electric Lit she tagged seven works of speculative feminism written by women. One title on the list:

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Set in the undetermined future, in The Left Hand of Darkness, a human envoy named Genly ventures to a different planet whose inhabitants are biologically androgynous for most of the year. At the core of the story is Genly’s relationship with Estraven, a diplomat who tries to help Genly gain acceptance in this foreign land.

The novel is structured as a series of documents penned by Genly and Estraven as well as myths and legends of the imagined world. Some of the narrative friction comes from the sharp juxtapositions of the styles of the different documents, which demonstrates how digressions are an effective narrative engine. Some of Le Guin’s best writing describes the scenery of this distant planet, especially in the second half of the book where the story of Genly and Estraven reaches its full pitch.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Left Hand of Darkness is among Jeff Somers's ten wintry science fiction & fantasy novels, Andrew Hunter Murray's five best books to make you feel less alone, Kelly Jensen's five inhospitable planets in film and fiction, Ann Leckie's ten best science fiction books, Esther Inglis-Arkell's ten most unfilmable books, Jeff Somers's top five sci-fi novels that explore gender in unexpected and challenging ways, Joel Cunningham's top twelve books with the most irresistible titles, Damien Walter's top five science fiction novels for people who hate sci-fi and Ian Marchant's top 10 books of the night. Charlie Jane Anders included it on her list of ten science fiction novels that will never be movies.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven books about talented criminals and con artists

Jesse DeRoy lives in New York with their family. DeRoy is a former consultant, rock-climbing instructor, and award-winning journalist.

Safecracker is DeRoy's first novel.

At CrimeReads the author tagged seven titles about literature's greatest thieves: talented criminals and con artists that provided inspiration for writing their novel. One title on the list:

David W. Maurer’s The Big Con

Maurer was a professor of linguistics, and even though the book was published in 1940 and is, in some ways, a historical artifact, Maurer’s attention to language means the book still feels alive today. Sure, grifters are running versions of the same cons in 2024 as they were in 1924, but Maurer spent years cultivating sources within the community of swindlers so that he got inside access. Much of the charm of The Big Con is when Maurer’s cast of characters explain moves like the “cackle-bladder” or how to “sew a man up,” but there’s also something delightfully entertaining about having con men let you behind the curtain.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Twelve top books on history’s most notorious diseases

At Mental Floss Marla Mackoul tagged twelve books that dive "into an infamous disease and the people battling it in various capacities, showcasing the unwavering courage and resilience of individuals in the face of indescribable tragedy." One title on the list:

The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years by Sonia Shah

In The Fever, journalist Sonia Shah offers a compelling investigation into one of humanity’s oldest and deadliest foes: malaria. Despite over a century of knowledge on how to prevent this parasitic disease, it continues to infect almost 250 million people globally and claims nearly hundreds of thousands of lives. Shah traces malaria’s persistent impact on human history while exploring why efforts to eradicate it have repeatedly fallen short. Uniquely strengthened by Shah’s own original reporting from affected regions, The Fever illuminates the enduring threat of malaria and the need for renewed action.

Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine titles featuring navigating grief through found family

Laura Buchwald is a writer and editor based in New York City. Her strong belief in the afterlife has led her to consult with multiple spiritual mediums, to convincing results. She has spent significant time in New Orleans researching ghosts and restaurant culture—two of her favorite things. She is co-host of the podcast People Who Do Things, a series of conversations about the creative process. Buchwald lives in Manhattan with her husband and dog.

Her new novel is The Coat Check Girl.

At Electric Lit Buchwald tagged nine "books that address the theme of navigating grief through found family." One title on the list:

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

The protagonist and narrator of this quiet story is mourning the loss of a dear friend and mentor who took his own life. She adopts his equally bereft Great Dane, Apollo, and embarks on an effort to understand who her friend was, flaws and all, while dealing with the threat of eviction for housing a dog in a pet-averse building. What at first seems a relationship born strictly of necessity soon comes to show our protagonist the ineffable bond we can share with our canine companions.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Friend is among Peter Ho Davies’s top ten books about the unknowable, Mia Levitin's ten top books about consent, Lee Conell's seven books about New York City’s stark economic divide and Eliza Smith's twenty books to help you navigate grief.

--Marshal Zeringue

Four horror books featuring artists

Delilah S. Dawson is the author of the New York Times bestseller Star Wars: Phasma, as well as Star Wars Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire, Mine, the Hit series, the Blud series, the creator-owned comics Ladycastle, Sparrowhawk, and Star Pig, and the Shadow series (written as Lila Bowen). With Kevin Hearne, she co-writes The Tales of Pell. She lives in Georgia with her family.

Dawson's new thriller is The Violence.

At CrimeReads the author tagged four horror books featuring creatives. One title on the list:

First of all, let’s remember that writers are artists, too. In Chuck Tingle’s Bury Your Gays, a successful Hollywood screenwriter is finally on the cusp of making it big at the Oscars when the studio bigwigs force him to do the most predictable and soul-killing thing: kill off his gay characters to suit the algorithm. When he refuses, horrifying monsters from his own creations begin to stalk him, breaking the line between reality and fiction. Since the protagonist is a writer and the book is in first person point of view, the reader is treated to beautiful, thoughtful moments where Misha considers the relationship between the writer and story and how past trauma always finds a way in.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven dark tales haunted by music

Kate van der Borgh's new novel is And He Shall Appear. By day, the author is a freelance copywriter, and by night, she’s usually composing or playing music. She grew up in Lancashire and went on to study music at Cambridge, so there’s a reasonable amount of her in her narrator—including the fact that she was a pianist and reluctant bassoonist. She has, however, never had reason to suspect that her best friend has occult powers.

At Electric Lit van der Borgh tagged seven "novels in which music is used to communicate indescribable emotions and inexplicable experiences." One title on the list:

The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay

In this ‘memoir’, a man recalls an unsettling friendship from his youth. And, from the first page, you know the story won’t be straightforward. Its narrator, Art Barbara, bears a striking resemblance to the author Paul Tremblay himself, not least in their shared love of punk band Hüsker Dü. And the friend Art has written about—a woman named Mercy—has made notes in the margins of this memoir, contesting Art’s view of what happened all those years ago. At the heart of the work is a question: in this toxic friendship, was Mercy an emotional vampire? Or something worse?

This is a story about yearning for lost youth and all the potential that came with it. And, by filling it with Art’s favourite bands—Talking Heads, Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Patti Smith—Tremblay manages to underscore all the fear and dread with an exquisitely painful nostalgia. Eerie, funny, and ultimately extremely moving, this for me is Tremblay at his best.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten great mysteries in the great outdoors

Margaret Mizushima writes the internationally published Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. She serves as past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and was elected Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. She is the recipient of a Colorado Authors League Award, a Benjamin Franklin Book Award, a CIBA CLUE Award, and two Willa Literary Awards by Women Writing the West. Her books have been finalists for a SPUR Award by Western Writers of America, a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award, and the Colorado Book Award. She and her husband recently moved from Colorado, where they raised two daughters and a multitude of animals, to a home in the Pacific Northwest.

Mizushima's new Timber Creek K-9 mystery is Gathering Mist.

[Coffee with a Canine: Margaret Mizushima & Hannah, Bertie, Lily and Tess; Coffee with a Canine: Margaret Mizushima & Hannah; My Book, The Movie: Burning Ridge; The Page 69 Test: Burning Ridge; The Page 69 Test: Tracking Game; My Book, The Movie: Hanging Falls; The Page 69 Test: Hanging Falls; Q&A with Margaret Mizushima; The Page 69 Test: Striking Range; The Page 69 Test: Standing Dead; The Page 69 Test: Gathering Mist; Writers Read: Margaret Mizushima (October 2024)]

At CrimeReads Mizushima tagged ten favorite mysteries set in the great outdoors. One title on the list:

Over the Edge by Kathleen Bryant

Lucky me, I was given an early read of Over the Edge, Bryant’s debut mystery set in Sedona’s red rock canyons. Here is what I thought of it: “Bryant weaves a rich tapestry out of all things Sedona. Loaded with details about the area’s people, its history, and the mystical beauty of its landscapes, Over the Edge delivers a unique and compelling outdoor mystery. There’s a lot to love about this book!” Don’t miss this cat-and-mouse thriller in which a former reporter pieces together her shattered memories, hoping to stop a killer before it’s too late.

Read about the other entries on the list.

My Book, The Movie: Over the Edge.

Q&A with Kathleen Bryant.

The Page 69 Test: Over the Edge.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight of the best books about horses for adults

Christina Lynch is at the beck and call of two dogs, three horses, and a hilarious pony who carts her up and down mountains while demanding (and receiving) many carrots. Besides Pony Confidential, her new novel, she is also the author of two historical novels set in Italy and the coauthor of two comic thrillers set in Prague and Vienna. She teaches at College of the Sequoias and lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

[My Book, The Movie: The Italian Party; The Page 69 Test: The Italian Party; Writers Read: Christina Lynch (April 2018); My Book, The Movie: Sally Brady's Italian Adventure;Writers Read: Christina Lynch (June 2023); The Page 69 Test: Sally Brady's Italian Adventure]

At Electric Lit Lynch tagged eight top horse books for adults, including:

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

This 2022 novel by the brilliant Australian-born journalist-turned-novelist Geraldine Brooks is a triple narrative of an enslaved young man working as a jockey in the antebellum South and Lexington, the horse he forms a relationship with; a 1950s art dealer interested in a painting of that horse; and a 21st century researcher at the Smithsonian who crosses paths with both the horse’s skeleton and an art historian researching the painting. Brooks masterfully weaves the stories to create tension and suspense. The memorable moment for me is the jockey’s flight from danger through a warzone on Lexington’s back –I was on the edge of my seat for every hoofbeat. Based on the real Lexington, Horse is a nod to the many African-Americans whose foundational contributions to the sport of horse racing in this country are only now being acknowledged and celebrated after centuries of erasure.

Read about the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten novels centering women finding their power

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels and the Emmy Award–winning cohost of the literary TV show A Word on Words. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

[The Page 69 Test: Edge of Black; The Page 69 Test: When Shadows Fall; My Book, The Movie: When Shadows Fall; My Book, The Movie: What Lies Behind; The Page 69 Test: What Lies Behind; The Page 69 Test: No One Knows; My Book, The Movie: No One Knows; The Page 69 Test: Lie to Me; My Book, The Movie: Good Girls Lie; The Page 69 Test: Good Girls Lie; Writers Read: J. T. Ellison (January 2020); Q&A with J.T. Ellison; The Page 69 Test: A Very Bad Thing]

Ellison's new novel is A Very Bad Thing.

At CrimeReads the author tagged ten novels that "celebrate women embracing their inner fires, mastering mystical abilities, and claiming power through acts of heroic leadership against daunting odds." One title on the list:

Circe by Madeline Miller

A reimagining of the mythological Circe, daughter of the sun god Helios, and the nymph Perse, a minor goddess who discovers her power in witchcraft. An absolute stunner of a tale, Circe is banished to the isle of Aiaia, where she takes full advantage of her burgeoning power to right the wrongs against her and womankind in general. Even her infamous encounter with Odysseus has a completely new spin, and she makes her own place in the history books. Without a single misstep throughout, Madeline Miller weaves a tale so heartbreaking and true that one wonders how mythology itself would have been reshaped were it understood to be true.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Circe is among Paula Munier's eight top works informed by The Odyssey, J. Nicole Jones's seven books about people accused of being witches, Diana Helmuth's seven top books about modern witchcraft, Megan Barnard's eleven books about misunderstood women in history & mythology, Rita Chang-Eppig's ten top books with irresistible anti-heroines, Emilia Hart's five novels featuring witchcraft, Brittany Bunzey's top ten books centering women in mythology, Mark Skinner's twenty top books in witch lit, Hannah Kaner's five best novels featuring gods, the B&N Reads editors' twenty-four best mythological retellings, Ashleigh Bell Pedersen's eight novels of wonder and darkness by women writers, Kelly Barnhill's eight books about women's rage, Sascha Rothchild's most captivating literary antiheroes, Rachel Kapelke-Dale's eleven top unexpected thrillers about female rage, Kat Sarfas's thirteen enchanted reads for spooky season, Fire Lyte's nine current classics in magic and covens and spells, Elodie Harper's six top novels set in the ancient world, Kiran Millwood Hargrave's seven best books about islands, Zen Cho's six SFF titles about gods and pantheons, Jennifer Saint's ten top books inspired by Greek myth, Adrienne Westenfeld's fifteen feminist books that will inspire, enrage, & educate you, Ali Benjamin's top ten classic stories retold, Lucile Scott's eight books about hexing the patriarchy, E. Foley and B. Coates's top ten goddesses in fiction, Jordan Ifueko's five fantasy titles driven by traumatic family bonds, Eleanor Porter's top ten books about witch-hunts, Emily B. Martin's six stunning fantasies for nature lovers, Allison Pataki's top six books that feature strong female voices, Pam Grossman's thirteen stories about strong women with magical powers, Kris Waldherr's nine top books inspired by mythology, Katharine Duckett's eight novels that reexamine literature from the margins, and Steph Posts's thirteen top novels set in the world of myth.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten books on maritime disasters and ecological collapse

Eiren Caffall is a writer and musician based in Chicago. Her writing on loss and nature, oceans and extinction has appeared in Guernica, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, Al Jazeera, The Rumpus, and the anthology Elementals: Volume IV. Fire forthcoming in 2024 from The Center for Humans and Nature. She received a 2023 Whiting Award in Creative Nonfiction, a Social Justice News Nexus fellowship, and residencies at the Banff Centre, Millay Colony, MacDowell Colony (waitlisted), Hedgebrook, and Ragdale. Her memoir The Mourner’s Bestiary is out now from Row House Publishing in 2024 and her novel All the Water in the World is forthcoming from St. Martin’s Press in early 2025.

At Lit Hub Caffall tagged ten books on maritime disasters and ecocollapse, including:

Erik Larson, Isaac’s Storm: A Man, A Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

Isaac’s Storm is a nonfiction recounting of the Galveston hurricane of 1900, which killed twelve thousand people, the worst weather disaster in American history. I bought the bestseller on impulse in a Midway Airport bookshop on my way from Chicago to Boston to care for my father as he was dying from the kidney disease we share. I read it through on the plane, then read it again for weeks at his bedside.

It is a town-wreck, a hurricane book, but it also features ships caught in the storm at sea, ships wrecking into a city, and the heartbreaking wreck of the raft made to escape a flooding home. It conveys the science of weather, the history weather prediction, and the American politics that made the disaster worse.

It presents a fully realized world within the creative nonfiction, with recreated conversations, the heat of the Gulf Coast, the smell of fresh sawn wood, the sound of the Bavarian beer hall, the heartbreaking feeling of losing the grip of the hand of your beloved underwater.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Isaac’s Storm is a book that made a difference to Brian Williams.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven titles about the history of voting in America

Tommy Jenkins is the humanities division chair at Louisburg College in Louisburg, North Carolina, and an associate professor of English. He received his BA from the University of North Carolina, studied film at Columbia University, and received an MFA in fiction writing from North Carolina State University.

Jenkins is thea author of Drawing the Vote: A Graphic Novel History for Future Voters, illustrated by Kati Lacker.

At Electric Lit Jenkins tagged "a list of books that cover various significant aspects of the history of voting in the United States." One title on the list:

The Myth of Seneca Falls by Lisa Tetrault

Women’s suffragists have existed in America almost as long as the country itself. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was the beginning of a concerted, focused women’s suffrage movement. The Myth of Seneca Falls deftly covers women’s voting at this time, the different factions that came together in Seneca Falls, and the aftermath of the convention. Why did it still take another 70 years for women to gain the right to vote? This book explains why in gripping detail.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five of the best Christmas crime novels

Denzil Meyrick was educated in Argyll, then after studying politics, joined Strathclyde Police, serving in Glasgow. After being injured and developing back problems, he entered the business world, and has operated in many diverse roles, including director of a large engineering company and distillery manager, as well as owning a number of his own companies, such as a public bar and sales and marketing company. "D. A. Meyrick has also worked as a freelance journalist in both print and on radio. Well-known for his gritty series of police procedurals centred on the maverick DCI Daley," writes Mark Skinner at the Waterstones blog. "Meyrick has displayed his versatility in the past couple of years with his festive cosy crime mysteries - Murder at Holly House and The Christmas Stocking Murders."

One of Meyrick's favorite Christmas crime reads:

Tied Up in Tinsel by Ngaio Marsh

My late mother was a huge fan of Marsh’s writing. I remember the books on shelves in the house in the seventies and well beyond. This particular novel was written in 1972, but don’t let that put you off.

We’re back in the country house over Christmas, where resentments and rivalries, all stewing under the surface, manifest themselves in murder.

Ngaio Marsh, like P. D. James, is one of those who kept the Agatha Christie tradition alive into the modern era. Her books are all worth a read. This one is perfect for the festive season. Sit back and watch the plot evolve. You won’t be disappointed.

Read about the other entries on the list at the Waterstones blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six coastal reads for brisk autumn days

Hailey Piper is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth, All the Hearts You Eat, A Light Most Hateful, The Worm and His Kings series, and other books of dark fiction.

"I have a soft spot for the beach outside the thrills of summertime," she writes at CrimeReads. It's an atmosphere shared by her modern coastal gothic, All the Hearts You Eat.

One title on her list of "books that will coil you in that delicious dismal atmosphere and never let go:"

They Drown Our Daughters by Katrina Monroe

What better way to begin than with a book taking place at a haunted locale by the name of Cape Disappointment? We arrive outside the tourist season, where Meredith Strand has left her wife, taking their daughter back to her family’s home to stay with Meredith’s ailing mother. But family can be a curse, and as we discover early on (helped by a handy family tree!), Meredith’s family has endured a fate of being hunted by the sea for generations. If she isn’t careful, her daughter might be next. From the desolate lighthouse to the troublesome water to the secrets waiting in the depths, there’s a doomed nature to Cape Disappointment’s dread, but each clue into the past makes you eager to endure the next wave.

Read about the other entries on the list at CrimeReads.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven novels featuring protagonists over 70

Anna Montague is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn.

How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund? is her first novel.

At Electric Lit the author tagged seven favorite novels "with senior protagonists on great adventures." One title on the list:

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

Lucy Barton, a writer, embarks on a road trip with her ex-husband, William, in the hope of understanding a family secret just revealed to him. Over the course of the journey, Strout beautifully depicts the peaks and valleys of a marriage, and the ways in which family— despite everything that can tear them apart—will endure.

Read about the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.

--Marshal Zeringue