What I’ve Been Reading
And think you should too
Reading always gives me something steady to reach for — a story to sink into, a new perspective to get curious about, a moment where things slow down and there’s nothing else I need to do.
And I think it could do that for you too.
So let’s hang out and read together. I’m serious.
Here’s what I’ve been reading lately — and what I’m looking forward to picking up in July. You’ll notice some shorter novels and sci-if, a little outside my usual genre, and of course: emotional intensity throughout (because some things never change).
Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo
120 pages • fantasy, emotional
A tender and mythic entry in The Singing Hills Cycle, this novella is about grief, ritual, and the stories we keep — or lose — when we mourn. It reads fast, but stays with you.
Read this if you need a quiet, fantastical world that still feels deeply human.
Serge by Yasmin Reza
160 pages • dark, contemporary, reflective
This novel is about a family trip to Auschwitz — yes, really — but it’s also about performance, memory, and how grief gets warped in the hands of those who refuse to feel it. Funny and biting, in a deeply French way.
For fans of: dysfunctional family dynamics, sharp dialogue, and existential dread.
Victorian Psycho By Virginia Feito
208 pages • horror, mystery, thriller
A strange, smart, darkly funny thriller that pokes at obsession and identity. Feito leans into paranoia with flair —it’s claustrophobic, stylish, and just unhinged enough.
Read this if you like narrators who are definitely not well.
And if you read this, come talk to me about it. Not the easiest one to sell at the bookstore.
Great Black Hope by Rob Franklin
320 pages • literary fiction
A sharp, emotionally layered novel about a queer Black man unraveling after an arrest for cocaine possession and death of a close friend. It moves through addiction, grief, and identity with honesty and style — tender, biting, and hard to put down.
Read this if you like character-driven fiction, novels written by poets, and honest explorations of race, privilege and grief
Exalted by Anna Dorn
293 pages • literary, lgbtq+, dark
I don’t even know how to describe this book except: unhinged lesbian astrology satire meets existential crisis. Wild, darkly hilarious, totally specific.
Left me wanting to read more by Anna Dorn like Perfume and Pain
Looking Ahead: July Reading Plans
I’m currently circling these…
Discontent by Beatriz Serrano
Heart the Love by Lily King
Soft Core by Brittany Newell
As always, if you’ve read something recently that unraveled you in the best way, send it my way. I’m always collecting the strange ones.
Happy weekend and happy reading!
Love
Chelsey