book wishlist

Hangsaman

Shirley Jackson • 1976

Timid, seventeen-year-old Natalie confronts horror after coming under the power of a rebellious, mysterious girl

The Master and Margarita: 50th-Anniversary Edition (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

Mikhail Bulgakov • 2016

The Castle

Franz Kafka • 2009

Carmilla

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu • 2023

Step into the world of Gothic mystery and supernatural intrigue with Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's classic masterpiece, Carmilla. This chilling tale of vampirism and dark desires has captivated readers for over a century, and now comes to you in a beautifully republished paperback edition.<br/>In the remote Styrian countryside, young Laura's peaceful existence is shattered when she encounters the enigmatic and beautiful Carmilla. As a bond between the two women forms, Laura is drawn into a nightmarish world of unsettling dreams, haunting shadows, and a sinister presence that refuses to let go.<br/>Immerse yourself in the atmospheric storytelling of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, as he weaves a tale of love, betrayal, and the supernatural, which has inspired countless works of vampire fiction, including Bram Stoker's iconic novel. In Carmilla, you'll discover the original vampire story that pioneered the genre and continues to send shivers down the spines of readers to this day.<br/>What makes this edition special? A meticulously crafted reproduction of the original text, designed for modern readers. An exclusive introduction and about the author section that sheds light on the novel's historical context and enduring legacy. High-quality, acid-free paper for a comfortable and long-lasting reading experience. Modern cover<br/><br/>Dare to uncover the chilling secrets that lie within the pages of Carmilla, and experience the haunting allure of one of the most influential Gothic novels of all time. Add this stunning paperback edition to your collection, and let the gripping tale of passion and darkness envelop you, leaving an indelible mark on your literary soul.<br/>Order your copy of Carmilla today, and embark on a journey that will forever redefine your perception of the vampire mythos.

It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over

Anne de Marcken • 2024

Co-winner of the 2022 Novel Prize, this incredible life-after-death novel asks us to consider how much of our memory, of our bodies, of the world as we know it ― how much of what we love can we lose before we are lost? And then what happens?<br/>This third perspective on myself is disconcerting.<br/>The heroine of the spare and haunting It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over is voraciously alive in the afterlife. Adrift yet keenly aware, she notes every bizarre detail of her new reality. And even if she has forgotten her name and much of what connects her to her humanity, she remembers with an implacable and nearly unbearable longing the place where she knew herself and was known―where she loved and was loved. Traveling across the landscapes of time and of space, heading always west, and carrying a dead but laconically opinionated crow in her chest, our undead narrator encounters and loses parts of her body and her self in one terrifying, hilarious, and heartbreaking situation after another.<br/>A bracing writer of great nerve and verve, Anne de Marcken bends reality (and the reader’s mind) with throwaway assurance. It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over plumbs mortality and how it changes everything, except possibly love. Delivering a near-Beckettian whopping to the reader’s imagination, this is one of the sharpest and funniest novels of recent years, a tale for our dispossessed times.

The Bloody Chamber: And Other Stories: 75th-Anniversary Edition (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

Angela Carter • 2015

For the 75th anniversary of her birth, a Deluxe Edition of the master of the literary supernatural’s most celebrated book—featuring a new introduction by Kelly Link, the author of the national bestseller The Book of Love and the Pulitzer Prize finalist Get in Trouble<br/><br/>A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, with flaps and deckle-edged paper<br/><br/>Angela Carter was a storytelling sorceress, the literary godmother of Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell, Audrey Niffenegger, J. K. Rowling, Kelly Link, and other contemporary masters of supernatural fiction. In her masterpiece, The Bloody Chamber—which includes the story that is the basis of Neil Jordan’s 1984 movie The Company of Wolves—she spins subversively dark and sensual versions of familiar fairy tales and legends like “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Bluebeard,” “Puss in Boots,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” giving them exhilarating new life in a style steeped in the romantic trappings of the gothic tradition.<br/><br/>For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Hour of the Star

Clarice Lispector • 2011

Frankenstein: The 1818 Text (Penguin Classics)

Mary Shelley · 2018

<b>Mary Shelley’s classic novel, presented in its original 1818 text, with an introduction from National Book Critics Circle award-winner Charlotte Gordon</b><br>  <br> <b>Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s <i>The Great American Read</i></b><br>  <br>The original 1818 text of <i>Frankenstein</i> preserves the hard-hitting and politically-charged aspects of Shelley’s original writing, as well as her unflinching wit and strong female voice. This edition also emphasizes Shelley’s relationship with her mother—trailblazing feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, who penned <i>A Vindication of the Rights of Woman</i>—and demonstrates her commitment to carrying forward her mother’s ideals, placing her in the context of a feminist legacy rather than the sole female in the company of male poets, including Percy Shelley and Lord Byron.<br>  <br> This edition includes a new introduction and suggestions for further reading by National Book Critics Circle award-winner and Shelley expert Charlotte Gordon, literary excerpts and reviews selected by Gordon, and a chronology and essay by preeminent Shelley scholar Charles E. Robinson. <br>  <br>Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Moustache

Emmanuel Carrère • 2024

Giovanni's Room

James Baldwin · 2016

All's Well

Mona Awad · 2021

Carmilla (Clockwork Editions)

Joseph Sheridan Lefanu · 2019

<p><i>"To this hour the image of Carmilla returns to my memory with ambiguous alternations--sometimes the playful, languid, beautiful girl; sometimes the writhing fiend I saw in the ruined church. Sometimes, I start from a reverie, certain I heard the light step of Carmilla at the drawing-room door."</i><br></p> <p><p>Isolated in a remote mansion in a central European forest, Laura longs for companionship--until a carriage accident brings another young woman into her life: the secretive and sometimes erratic Carmilla. As Carmilla's actions become more puzzling and volatile, Laura develops bizarre symptoms, and as her health goes into decline, Laura and her father discover something monstrous.</p> <p><p>Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's compelling tale of a young woman's seduction by a female vampire was a source of influence for Bram Stoker's <i>Dracula</i>, which it predates by over a quarter century. <i>Carmilla</i> was originally serialized from 1871 to 1872 and went on to inspire adaptations in film, opera, and beyond, including the cult classic web series by the same name.</p>

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Vintage International)

Patrick Suskind · 2014

A Certain Hunger

Chelsea G. Summers · 2021

The Comforters

Muriel Spark · 1984

The Woman Destroyed

Simone De Beauvoir · 1987

Severance: A Novel

Ling Ma · 2019

Maybe it’s the end of the world, but not for Candace Chen, a millennial, first-generation American and office drone meandering her way into adulthood in Ling Ma’s offbeat, wryly funny, apocalyptic satire, Severance.<br/><br/>"A stunning, audacious book with a fresh take on both office politics and what the apocalypse might bring." ―Michael Schaub, NPR.org<br/><br/>“A satirical spin on the end times-- kind of like The Office meets The Leftovers.” --Estelle Tang, Elle<br/><br/>NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: NPR * The New Yorker ("Books We Loved") * Elle * Marie Claire * Amazon Editors * The Paris Review (Staff Favorites) * Refinery29 *Bustle *Buzzfeed *BookPage *Bookish * Mental Floss * Chicago Review of Books * HuffPost * Electric Literature * A.V. Club * Jezebel * Vulture * Literary Hub * Flavorwire<br/><br/>Winner of the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award * Winner of the Kirkus Prize for Fiction * Winner of the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award * Finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel * A New York Times Notable Book of 2018 * An Indie Next Selection<br/><br/>Candace Chen, a millennial drone self-sequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine. With the recent passing of her Chinese immigrant parents, she’s had her fill of uncertainty. She’s content just to carry on: She goes to work, troubleshoots the teen-targeted Gemstone Bible, watches movies in a Greenpoint basement with her boyfriend.<br/><br/>So Candace barely notices when a plague of biblical proportions sweeps New York. Then Shen Fever spreads. Families flee. Companies cease operations. The subways screech to a halt. Her bosses enlist her as part of a dwindling skeleton crew with a big end-date payoff. Soon entirely alone, still unfevered, she photographs the eerie, abandoned city as the anonymous blogger NY Ghost.<br/><br/>Candace won’t be able to make it on her own forever, though. Enter a group of survivors, led by the power-hungry IT tech Bob. They’re traveling to a place called the Facility, where, Bob promises, they will have everything they need to start society anew. But Candace is carrying a secret she knows Bob will exploit. Should she escape from her rescuers?<br/><br/>A send-up and takedown of the rituals, routines, and missed opportunities of contemporary life, Ling Ma’s Severance is a moving family story, a quirky coming-of-adulthood tale, and a hilarious, deadpan satire. Most important, it’s a heartfelt tribute to the connections that drive us to do more than survive.

Bonjour Tristesse: A Novel

Francoise Sagan · 2008

When We Lost Our Heads: A Novel

Heather O'Neill • 2022

Lullabies for Little Criminals

Heather O'Neill • 2006