Difficult Women by Roxane Gay: stories about WOMEN in the (mostly) midwest + everything you want in a hard-hitting short story collection…you can just tell how committed she is to her characters and their stories and god it was wonderful
The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee: THE HERO. THE ICON. HE DOES IT AGAIN!!! Alexander Chee gets to The One Man Who Wrote A Good Woman Character. like, only him. he’s the only one I give permission to. god this book was like an opera and a myth and a poem at the same time.
The Leavers by Lisa Ko: I have nothing to say about this book except READ IT. also, white people suck.
Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn: first of all, WHAT A TITLE. second of all, this book reads like a fever dream + soap opera + multigenerational super literary saga. like, all those things at once. this is an *asian american classic* for a reason!! it’s fragmented (*like the diaspora*) and harsh and so so vivid.
The Border of Paradise by Esme Weijun Wang: this book is fucking weird in the best way. the *messed-up family* novel to trump ALL *messed-up family* novels (and that’s a lot!!) I am always searching for books about taiwaneseness and mental illness and female pain and this is all that!!
Crystal Boys by Pai Hsien-Yung: speaking of taiwaneseness, THIS BOOK. the humor, the ache, the character studies – like, how is this not a queer classic in *the west*?? it should be!! the reincarnative/multiple-lives feeling of this book really haunts me.
Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez: it’s been forever and I’m STILL THINKING about these stories. there’s magical realism and decay and dystopia and if you’re a fan of yoko ogawa (like me!!) this is just as dark and treacherous and captivating
Red Sorghum by Mo Yan: how have I never read this book before?? this novel is just a gutspill. it’s brutal and unrelenting and bloody. it’s grueling to read this. I know I’m not selling this well but it’s so difficult to describe?? I just love how excessive it is, how generous it is with details and language. it’s also just like, unsparingly violent and gross and unstoppable.
China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston: another *classic* I’m so glad to have read!! it’s like prose poetry + myth-making and SO experimental!! why do we never consider Maxine “experimental”?? bc she’s too chinese?? too “ethnic,” too “immigrant” to be innovative? she really defies genre and basically everything else.
Kinder Than Solitude by Yiyun Li: she’s just one of my favorite writers ever ever ever. she’s so unashamedly philosophical and grand and generous. there were times I had to put down the book and be like FUCK THATS ME. it’s sold as a literary thriller but it’s really really character-driven (which is why i think the reviews aren’t that great?? so be warned, it’s not really about plot.)
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