Most of us know the things we’re looking for in a good book. Whether it’s romantic chemistry, interesting ideas about modern life, exciting page-turning adventure, or a dense and layered piece of literature, different things speak to different people. For me, it’s complex character relationships, unique characterization, themes of feminism, speculative sci-fi, horror, and fascinating settings. Of course, a lot of these elements can only be found once I’ve been reading the book a while, so at times it’s hard to find the book that hits them all.
To be fair, few of these books meet all my desires, but they also met something else I didn’t know I was looking for. Some didn’t become important to me until later, when I found myself sometimes dipping my consciousness back into its world or trying to remember where I read a specific theme that had snagged my attention. I can’t explain all of them. But the main thing is that I got pleasantly lost, despite them not having my typical hallmarks, and am comforted to look back at them months and years on.
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
This was one of the first audiobooks I purchased before I found out about Hoopla and Libby. I wasn’t terribly into it but I’d actually paid for it, so I pressed on. About a third of the way through I’d become completely immersed without even realizing it.
Cora, the protagonist, is admittedly annoying. She is smart but self-important, giving but self-interested. Thus my initial disenchantment. But her relationships with the people around her are veracious and complex. So too are the characters’ feelings about the ominous black water that may or may not hold a deadly monster. The story is shaded with themes of class and privilege, science versus faith, and the ways we love and hurt one another without intending to.
I still find myself fascinated by these characters and turning over their predicaments. Though the story is full of love, there are circumstances and heartbreak more cunning than the serpent hunting its prey.
The Thing in the Snow by Sean Adams
The premise is simple: three caretakers live in a shut down research facility called the Northern Insitute. They are isolated in a land of ice and snow with no contact with the outside world except for a Friday night exchange of communication via paperwork and helicopter. The caretakers do hilariously mundane tasks to maintain the facility and the main character is deeply invested in his role as supervisor, paranoid that his teammates are playing mind games to undermine his authority.
Then there appears a thing in the snow. They can’t go outside to investigate due to “snow sickness” that the researchers reported made it unsafe to go out in the snow. They can’t quite tell what it is, or if it’s moving, or if it’s even real.
Even with a slow pace that seeped a bit of the characters mundane lives into mine, I had to find out what the thing was in the snow.
The funny thing is, I can’t remember the ending. I just know it left enough mystery that my mind kept working after I shut the book, turning it all over. But what was most memorable was the semi-cozy, semi-unnerving atmosphere and just enough questions to make you dig in even more.
The Night Shift by Natalka Burian
Jean takes up a bartending gig and an early-morning shift at a local bakery in New York City. She’s working herself ragged trying to make sure she gets from one job to the next on time, exhausted from the travel. She finds herself bonding with another bartender at work and makes a tentative friendship. He shows her what he calls a “shortcut.”
The shortcuts are portals across the city, like a tunnel from one specific place to another. But her friend soon goes missing and Jean thinks it has to do with the shortcuts, which are only supposed to be used one way and at night. What happens when someone uses them in the wrong direction? Did this happen to her friend? And why does she feel different emotionally after going through them?
The Night Shift lasted longer than I think it needed to. There were a lot of small side interactions with minor characters, a lot of Jean building herself a new life and self confidence, and a lot of NYC vibes. But in a way all these things really made the story. It wasn’t just a quick exploration of what this otherworldly portal might do or might look like. It was about Jean, a scrappy young woman learning to make friends, knead dough, and also use a weird portal. It was one where you really got to sit with the characters and feel the exhaustion, discomfort, and winter air around you.
A Game of Thrones Series by George R. R. Martin
George R. R. Martin’s medieval fantasy world is full of dragons, deadly ice men, sorceresses, and face-swapping. But those things are not what make this series one of my favorites. It’s the comfort of being held by this fantasy world that is not so different from ours, and the characters who are not so different from us.
Character-building is truly the foundation of this series. The world-building is great, the epic journeys of some characters are exciting, but the depth at which you get to know each characters keeps these books moving at the pace of a stalking predator. Unlike most in this list, I never wanted to put these down. George R. R. Martin develops people and setting so well that it is a joy just to drop into their heads for a little while. Even as your brain wants the story to speed up, you also enjoy the richness of the text, which makes the payoff that much better.
Honestly, I could read just the mouth-watering food descriptions all day long.
