Yamato
Elizabeth Zott is one of the best protagonists out of the hundreds of books I've read and puts her into a multitude of scenarios that constantly put her charismatic personality against the patriarchy while she tries to dismantle the bigotry within society. Absolutely deserves the book of the year from Barnes and Noble.
It's not too late to fall in love, ask the special one out. After all, we have a short time left on this planet, so we might as well live with no regrets. The characters in the Simonverse are graduating, falling in and out of love, and dealing with the inevitability and consequences of moving onto the next chapter in life.
You are worthy of love, even if you don't think you are. It may seem like everyone around you is so much more experienced in romance, but really, nobody really knows what they're doing. The Upside of Unrequited is a spin off of Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda that explores these themes and is resonant for anyone that has felt them before, but is arguably the weakest in the trilogy.
We are all built of remnants from our ancestors, pieces of us coming from each of them. But maybe we can make the most of that, be better than they could ever be, overcome their weaknesses. This is just one of A Psalm For The Wild Built's ideas, it has many more packed into such a short space. But it all works incredibly well, immersing the reader into this lush, futuristic world and leaving them wishing to spend more time with these characters.
The pain of feeling different, of not feeling comfortable in your own body, the bitterness that comes with knowing that society will never accept you, the relief that comes when meeting people that do accept you, the exhilaration of finally finding peace with yourself - Gender Queer captures these emotions incredibly well and is a must read for anyone interested in learning more about gender outside of the traditional gender norms.
Capitalism will eventually destroy us, and in many aspects already has. Unfortunately, it is harder to imagine the end of capitalism then it is to imagine the end of the world, but maybe we can change that. Capitalist Realism explores these alternatives using words that are too big for my monkey brain to understand.
When a town's entire culture is based on hockey, and something threatens to destroy that, how does the town react? Painful to read at so many moments, but kindness comes from unexpected places and maybe everything will all work out in the end. Beartown hits hard emotionally and isn't the best Backman story to start with,but is so worth it in the end. (Read trigger warnings before starting)
The writing style of this book did really good at showing how all the members of the band interpreted an event differently and how misunderstandings stacked up and eventually led to their splitting apart. But, all of these interesting character dynamics are constantly interrupted for constant hookups, a theme that is unfortunately common in Taylor Jenkins Reid's novels.
“If gender has always been a construct, then why not construct new ones?”
One of the most thought provoking short stories that I've read, making me reconsider my preconceived notions of gender and how it affects the world around us. The story around this short story might be more well known, but do yourself a favor and read this short story.