Book 31 of 2026: The Lost Daughter There’s novels about people with mommy issues but not very many that are centered around the mommies who give those issues. Well this is the “bad mom” representation we all needed! (maybe sit this one out if you had an avoidant mom cuz it will be triggering lmao)

Book 30 of 2026: Sharp Objects I really loved the hbo miniseries that is based off of this so I thought I’d relive the story by reading the novel. The miniseries is a fairly accurate adaptation which is good because I loved both and I highly recommend reading and watching them

Book 29 of 2026: The Atmospherians This is the third novel I’ve read so far this year that is a satire centred around a character who is a disgraced influencer (the other two being Yesteryear and Julie Chan Is Dead). You could say I have a type when it comes to satire 🤔

Book 28 of 2026: Last Summer in the City This is how every 30 y.o fuckboy loser who is living off of women sees himself: a fuck-up but a cool fuck-up (there’s a difference!) Reminds me of those people that are always finding themselves in Situations because of the company they keep (other fuck-ups)

Book 27 of 2026: The Scapegoat I love weird, abstract novels that have no logic and are set inside the mind of a delusional protagonist (aka an unreliable narrator) and this one delivered!

Book 26 of 2026: Ethan Frome I wasn’t familiar with this novella until recently so I found it interesting that Edith Wharton has TWO books where a husband is trying to cheat with the wife’s cousin (the other being The Age of Innocence which is also on my reading list). What a specific plot point!

Book 25 of 2026: My Dark Vanessa This is a very good fictional account of how a teenager can get groomed by a predator. It’s a type of brainwashing and this novel shows every side of it, including a nuanced account of feelings in victims who think of this type of abuse as their “first love”

Book 24 of 2026: Subterrane I’m always looking for novels by Canadian authors that sound cool and interesting even if it isn‘t always easy so I had high hopes about this one. It starts off strong and the writing is very witty but it falters midway through. Something about performative activism? idk

Book 23 of 2026: Annie Bot Now that I’ve finished reading this, I feel bad for calling the sex bot in this novel a fleshlight lmao. She is more of a companion than just for sex (hmm sounds familiar!) and shes programmed with emotional intelligence so she’s more emotionally evolved than some humans

Book 22 of 2026: Daddy Each of the stories in this collection is about bad daddies of all types. Biological fathers who are trying and failing and older men who are trying their worst with the younger women they’re involved with (aka “daddies”). Perfect for anyone with daddy issues hehe

Book 21 of 2026: The Empusium Here it is: the book I abandoned a couple of years ago right before my reading slump and that I’ve finally finished. I can’t blame this book though because it’s one of the better books I’ve read in a while. It’s classical gothic horror (à la 19th century English lit)

As always, I highly recommend watching this at the Imagine Cinemas on Carlton if you’re in Toronto where they have this adorable display inspired by the film lol P.S. my letterboxd is letterboxd.com/isysmeows

Book 20 of 2026: A Burning First off, the Lovely character is funny and charismatic and the star of the novel. All the characters are well-written but I found the plot moved way too quickly and it wasn’t believable. Which is too bad because I really liked the message the novel was trying to convey

Book 19 of 2026: The Wall This slow-paced novel was a test of my social media brain rot attention span but once I got into it, I liked how the animals are like characters and the woman has a knack for being resourceful and surviving

Watching this felt like watching an avant garde art show. I didn’t go to art school so maybe my plebe tastes have a different idea of what’s considered avant garde lmao but it’s very high-concept and honestly if I didn’t read the summary in the playbill, I wouldn’t really know what’s going on lmao

Book 18 of 2026: MADDADDAM I mostly read this in preparation for the ballet adaptation I’ll be watching but I do enjoy reading dystopian & post-apocalyptic books and I liked reading the first book in this trilogy, Oryx & Crake. There is a lot of world building in this, it goes into minute detail

Book 17 of 2026: She’s Always Hungry I will start by saying I’m a huge fan of the author’s previous works Boy Parts and Penance, both of which are genius. I think short stories might not be her forte cuz only the last two short stories in this collection, The King and Company Man were good

Book 16 of 2026: Murder Bimbo Ah where do I start with the brilliance that is so far my favourite book of the year? I came for the “sw kills right-wing politician” premise but stayed for the hilarious writing that kept me rapt throughout. Plus I liked that it focused on an older sw

Book 15 of 2026: On Earth As It Is Beneath This was the only book out of this year‘s International Booker Prize shortlist that really grabbed my attention. At times it plays out like a thriller but it always remains a commentary on the prison system

Book 14 of 2026: The Coin “Weird girl lit” is clearly having a moment which was started by none other than ottessa moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation. This novel tries to do a similar thing (reclusive woman slowly goes insane in nyc) but it doesn’t come close to the aforementioned MYOR&R

Book 13 of 2026: Audition To some who are more familiar with literary fiction, Katie Kitamura is like the queen of contemporary abstract fiction (maybe tied with Rachel Cusk though, so the #1 spot for that title is contested) and this novel continues the mind fuck that is her writing

Book 12 of 2026: The Haunting of Hajji Hotak I was really on a roll with these short story collections lol. This one had short stories that sounded like they mostly revolved around the same family. Very witty writing that veered into a dark sense of humour because war is a huge theme

Book 11 of 2026: Wednesday’s Child Another short story collection and honestly the adorable dog on the cover had a lot to do with why I wanted to read it. Sadly no adorable dogs show up in any stories and if I’m being even more honest, this is one of those award winning authors I don’t get

Book 10 of 2026: Where Are You Really From My first short story collection this year and it’s the best I’ve read in a while. This collection is listed as horror and I can kind of see that but there’s also a tiny bit of a sci-fi element in some of them

Book 9 of 2026: Discipline I was expecting this to have a lot more focus on the cat-and-mouse game between these two but it’s a lot more about power dynamics. Both about the power that comes with status and then the power that comes with age. It’s an interesting role reversal story

Book 8 of 2026: Julie Chan is Dead This was my first read for May which was Asian and Pacific Islander heritage month (yes, this is how far behind I am on posting book reviews lol). This author is actually from Toronto so I got the added bonus of reading a local author

I read this novel in a little more than a day because it was just that good. It’s Murder Bimbo by Rebecca Novack and it really nails a lot of the intricacies and details of the business aspect of sw. It understands sw and is very sw-positive because to know sw is to love it. I highly recommend it

I usually don't like how sw is represented in media so I try to avoid any media that centres it but I started reading this novel about a sw turned assassin and my expectations are already set pretty high just by this page. Like, I might as well have written this passage myself cuz it’s so spot-on

Warning: unaesthetic pic and cheesy joke upcoming This was my midnight snack and I was his midnight snack (with two sides of orgasms one for each of us) 🥰 my bluesky friends know how to do it

Wait did someone say Missus Sagwa??