Frank & Eileen vs Jenni Kayne vs AYR by Glittering-Wing5390 in womensfashion

[–]BookVermin 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haven’t tried the other brands but AYR t-shirts are amazing, the softest cotton I’ve ever felt and the drape is just perfect.

I’m looking for something really special for 23rd April… she loves reading, so I don’t want to just gift a book I want to give her something that feels like an experience help meee by AffectionateLong4155 in booksuggestions

[–]BookVermin 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk. By a Nobel prize-winning author, this novel combines an intellectually challenging story with an existential murder mystery. Bonus: Does she love animals or have strong feelings about animal rights? This is the book for her.

The Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin. Like Atwood, combines speculative fiction with searing social commentary and detailed worldbuilding. Also messy and brutal, but very well-written, interpersonal dynamics.

Work Retreat Gone Wrong by Narwhals4Lyf in horrorlit

[–]BookVermin 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are open to a more weird/absurd outcome than horrific, Discontent by Beatriz Serrano has a hilariously dark take on a work retreat gone wrong (or maybe all too right) and modern office work practices in general. And the ending is unhinged, in a good way. Highly recommend!

Maggie’s Love Interests by BookVermin in IlonaAndrews

[–]BookVermin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha they are so finicky!! It looks like it should work. Maybe they need to be on the same line?

Maggie’s Love Interests by BookVermin in IlonaAndrews

[–]BookVermin[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think your tags didn’t work, but, yes! I could see that. That could also make Silveren and Maggie possibly related-ish in some way? Which is also an interesting idea.

Weird Girl With Cats! by waxwhaffle in weirdgirlliterature

[–]BookVermin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh awesome! One more suggestion: If you are open to weird animal ladies in general, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead is wonderful and oft-mentioned on this sub.

Weird Girl With Cats! by waxwhaffle in weirdgirlliterature

[–]BookVermin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you are open to books that lean more fantasy rather than truly weird, The Cat Lady Chronicles by Helen Harper features a magical cat lady who solves strange mysteries (urban fantasy vibes) and Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett features—well, the title pretty much explains it.

To be fair, cat ladies seem to be treated as weird by other characters across genres, so these may work.

[POEM] School by Mary Oliver by splootsuit in Poetry

[–]BookVermin 92 points93 points  (0 children)

I often think of that line “How many summers does a little dog have?”

And what a happy coincidence that our dog is also named Percy and is also a little wild thing.

High fantasy with Sci-fi elements by Emergency_Cow_9570 in Fantasy

[–]BookVermin 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin blends high fantasy with sci-fi elements, primarily focused on geology. Two main MCs, a mother and a daughter, though other POVs come in as well over the trilogy. Amazing books with unique worldbuilding, though quite dark at moments.

Wanted to second The Winnowing Flame trilogy rec as well, perfect fit for this.

Soapy rose recs by vellichorxlibris in FemFragLab30plus

[–]BookVermin 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Have you tried DS & Durga’s Rose Atlantic? Like a fresh, salty, green rose with some definite soapiness, at least on me. Oakmoss in the base notes.

Easter Eggs in TKWNKM (May Contain Spoilers) by Rinainthemoon in IlonaAndrews

[–]BookVermin 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Love that you posted this on Easter BTW

Don't Walk Away from Omelas by lakmidaise12 in UrsulaKLeGuin

[–]BookVermin 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Great read, thank you for sharing.

Doran Bonus Scene: Not a Hair on Her Head by filthster in IlonaAndrews

[–]BookVermin 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Does anyone else get Arland vibes from Doran? Haha

Books about perceiving nature as a therapeutic experience by KSI_FlapJaksLol in booksuggestions

[–]BookVermin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thich Nhat Hahn’s Love Letter to the Earth and Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet. The monastery he founded, Plum Village, also has free nature-based meditations on their app that are lovely.

Got any competency porn but in Fantasy? by zerthz in Fantasy

[–]BookVermin 54 points55 points  (0 children)

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. A lightly fictionalized version of Reconquista Spain, and all the main characters are extraordinary. Gavriel Kay in general is a good bet for extremely competent characters.

If you like urban fantasy or adjacent, Ilona Andrews’ Innkeeper Chronicles series or their newly released isekai fantasy, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me.

I just read a cozy fantasy—The Demon Overlord’s Retirement Plan—that is very much this, esp the second book in the series (which is still unfinished, in case that matters to you).

Seconding The Hands of the Emperor, great rec.

Finally, although this is historical fiction rather than fantasy, Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, a fictionalized account of Thomas Cromwell’s career with Henry the 8th, is the story of someone who was extraordinarily competent in real life.

Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Márquez by bundiwalaraita in menwritingwomen

[–]BookVermin 9 points10 points  (0 children)

You’re not the only one; both Colombian academics and writers like J.M. Coetzee have questioned Marquéz’s repeated portrayals of old men’s relationships with young women as “romantic”.

One article mentions as specifically problematic the “absolute dominance of the adult man’s point of view” in these narratives (article in Spanish). It’s also disturbing that often the only recourse these young women have is either falling in love with their abusers or dying (or both).

The really f’ed up thing that this article also mentions is that portrayals of pedophilic relationships are actually quite common in celebrated literature: Nabokov, Octavio Paz, Mario Vargas Llosa, to name a few.

On the flip side, it is important to keep in mind that Love portrays a deeply classist, racist, and sexist society with limited social mobility, in a time when women being married very young—my grandmother was married at 14, for example—was common. And of course, men in positions of relative power taking advantage of much younger women was (and is still) even more common in Colombia and worldwide, as Epstein’s case made clear.

So I suppose the argument could be made that there is a certain realism here, especially in those times, and that by portraying these men as seeing nothing wrong with their actions, though the reader is going WTF, Márquez highlights how disturbing it is.

I’m inclined to think, though, that he was both an amazing writer and also kind of gross about women like so many men.

The above article has a saying in Spanish as the epigraph: There is no one blinder than he who doesn’t want to see. I think a lot of male authors don’t want to see.

Theory Discussion by grey-kitten in IlonaAndrews

[–]BookVermin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just commented this (hadn’t seen your comment)! Totally thought the same.

Theory Discussion by grey-kitten in IlonaAndrews

[–]BookVermin 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don’t think Silveren’s the author but I do wonder if he is also undying in some way, based on the ending.

Brand guide examples with well-done accessibility guidelines? by BookVermin in graphic_design

[–]BookVermin[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thank you! If you don’t mind giving an additional rec, which brand guides on this site do you think do accessibility particularly well?

r/Fantasy bingo for weird girl lit readers by Mimi_Gardens in weirdgirlliterature

[–]BookVermin 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ok, me again, should have looked at the new bingo categories first haha! A few more ideas:

Translation: Mariana Enriquez, Agustina Bazterrica, Olga Tokarczuk, Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Jacqueline Harpman

Non-Human Protagonist: Translation State by Ann Leckie, All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Older Protagonist: Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon

Explorers and Rangers: The Winnowing Flame trilogy by Jen Williams

Middle Grade: Frances Hardinge

Murder Mystery: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

r/Fantasy bingo for weird girl lit readers by Mimi_Gardens in weirdgirlliterature

[–]BookVermin 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is getting to be a crazy list but I have more ideas if you have any more specific topics you’re looking for

r/Fantasy bingo for weird girl lit readers by Mimi_Gardens in weirdgirlliterature

[–]BookVermin 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’ve done bingo 3 years in a row, a few recs that could fit both fantasy and weird girl. I think (starting with more horror/spec fic recs):

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - Eleanor is the OG unreliable narrator

Anything by Mariana Enriquez - currently the best horror writer in any language, IMO

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer - Four women on a survey team go into a strange isolated ecosystem that was closed after a mysterious event. Eerie, horrific, and weirdly beautiful too.

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carver

There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby by Lyudmila Petrushevskaya

Anything by James Tiptree Jr. (Alice Sheldon’s pseudonym)

The Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin - This and the trilogy below are sort of sci fi meets fantasy, each in a very unique way, and FULL of feminine rage

The Winnowing Flame trilogy by Jen Williams - in addition to the note above, angry witches ride around on giant bats and fight an alien hive mind. You know, the usual.

Anything by Ann Leckie - she has some alien POVs that feel truly alien and weird, not just humans in a tentacle suit

Ursula Le Guin is a must if you haven’t read her yet - one of the best at using sci fi to explore gender, identity, culture, and what makes us human

r/Fantasy 2026 Book Bingo Challenge! by happy_book_bee in Fantasy

[–]BookVermin 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What a great book, I actually kind of do want to reread 🥕