About the blog

Franz Kafka writes in a letter to his friend and art historian Oskar Pollak, “I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? … we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us. That is my belief.”

Twenty-year-old Kafka makes a sweeping and dramatic statement—one I agree with only to an extent, because a book doesn't need to tear our lives apart. But, like Kafka, I have little patience for tired tropes and quotidian stories. I need a book to wake me up, challenge me, reveal a hidden part of myself, change me in some small way forever. I see such books as secret weapons, conjured from chicken scratching and soul, inducing incremental explosions in the collective psyche, spurring its readers to evolve.

The books I recommend are modern or contemporary works from the English-language and world literature traditions, from the last hundred years or so. They vary in regards to genre, topic, style, original language, and region. But they all include compelling narrative, skillful use of language, and commentary on broad

photo by Debra Seal

themes (philosophy, history, politics, culture ... ). Many employ experimental narrative voice or form. None has a word out of place—each phrase, each scene serves the text. Some are part of the canon, others are obscure but highly literary, and yet others may be considered pop fiction.

Some books have inspired me to write articles, which evolve from thoughts while reading and my randomly scribbled notes. And while the use of AI to write online content is seemingly ubiquitous these days, for me, writing is as much (or more) about the process of creativity and discovery as it is about the final product. For that reason (among others), no AI-generated content appears on this site.

As a lifelong reader and writer, student of literature, and former English teacher, a great deal of my life has been dedicated to books. Of the thousands of books I’ve read, many of which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, the books I recommend are among my favorites and ones that I consider flawlessly executed. I hope you discover new titles and ponder new ideas, and I invite you to tell me what you think.

Our stories reflect the condition of our world—both its beautiful and terrible aspects. In dialectical fashion, stories also exert real effect on the world, sometimes inspiring change. And, as with Ovid’s metamorphoses, opportunities for transformation can be sudden, proliferative, and magical. I consider my job done if just one of my recommendations incites a micro revolution, a metamorphosis, changing you—and maybe the world too—in some way, forever.

~Tanya "T" Turneaure

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If you want to check out more articles on topics other than literature, visit my Medium page. And in addition to writing, I’m also an editor—check out tanyatediting.com if you or someone you know needs editing work done.