Virginia Woolf 329 pages Mariner Books (1928)
Read this if you like: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, magical realism, literary satire
tl;dr summary: 16th-century aristocratic English teenager grows up into a 19th-century British woman and has many adventures along the way.
Roberto Bolaño 607 pages Vintage Español (1998)
Read this if you like: David Foster Wallace, Jack Kerouac, Mexican culture and literature
Tl;dr summary: Two young Mexican poets go on a road trip that turns into a 20-year flight around the world.
Multiple authors (anthology) 302 pages Air and Nothingness Press (2022)
Read this if you like: Dr. Who, non-humanoid aliens, speculative short fiction
tl;dr summary: Interdimensional librarian has adventures, loans books, preserves knowledge across the multiverse.
See the book on the Air and Nothingness Press website
Vanessa MacLaren-Wray 138 pages Paper Angel Press (2020)
Read this if you like: Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdez, Isaac Asimov, Vernor Vinge
tl;dr summary: Alien poet/trust fund child adopts an injured human and manages not to kill her in his attempts to help her.
F. G. Haghenbeck 282 pages Oceano (2018)
Read this if you like: Magical realism, Mexican culture, speculative non-fiction
tl;dr summary: Frida Kahlo’s life story, mostly.
Juan Villoro (trans. Kimi Traubb) 136 pages George Braziller, Inc. (2015)
Read this if you like: Denis Johnson, Roberto Bolaño, Mexican culture
tl;dr summary: Magical realism without the magic in modern Mexico
Charlotte Perkins Gilman 120 pages (Herland), 117 pages (With Her in Ourland) The Forerunner (1915-1916)
Read this if you like: Mark Twain, Gulliver’s Travels, utopias
tl;dr summary: Women do things better, and that includes building a civilization.
See Herland on Bookshop See With Her in Ourland on Bookshop
Jennifer Wortman 167 pages Split/Lip Press (2019)
Read this if you like: Susan Minot, Kristen Roupenian, writing flash fiction
Tl;dr summary: Stories of people trying to find and show love and mostly failing, but in a funny, beautifully-written way.
Nicky Drayden 313 pages Harper Voyager (2021)
Read this if you like: Vernor Vinge, unique worldbuilding, interpersonal and political intrigue tl;dr summary: Far future humans living inside giant space creatures navigate personal and political upheaval in their aim to live more symbiotically with their host.
Octavia E. Butler 264 pages Beacon Press (1979)
Read this if you like: Time travel sci-fi, Afro-horror, Beloved by Toni Morrison, Doomsday Book series by Connie Willis tl;dr summary: Modern black woman is pulled back in time to save her slaveholding ancestor.
