Must Read (tiktok recommendations)

East of Eden

John Steinbeck · 2025

"East of Eden" is a sprawling novel by John Steinbeck that explores the complex nature of good and evil through the intertwined lives of two families in California's Salinas Valley. Set against the backdrop of biblical allegory, the story delves into themes of free will, morality, and the human condition, primarily focusing on the turbulent relationship between brothers Charles and Adam Trask and their own descendants, particularly the enigmatic Cathy Ames and her sons, Cal and Aron. Steinbeck's rich prose and deep characterizations create a vivid portrait of American life during the early 20th century, ultimately reflecting on the timeless struggle between light and darkness within us all.

Sunrise on the Reaping (A Hunger Games Novel)

Suzanne Collins · 2025

In Memoriam

Winn Alice · 2023

A gripping, heart-shattering love story between two soldiers in the First World War<br/><br/>It's 1914, and talk of war feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, safely ensconced in their idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. At seventeen, they're too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle - an all-consuming infatuation with his best friend, the dreamy, poetic Ellwood - not having a clue that Ellwood is in love with him, always has been. When Gaunt's German mother asks him to enlist as an officer in the British army to protect the family from anti-German attacks, Gaunt signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings for Ellwood.<br/><br/>The front is horrific, of course, and though Gaunt tries to dissuade Ellwood from joining him on the battlefield, Ellwood soon rushes to join him, spurred on by his love of Greek heroes and romantic poetry. Before long, their classmates have followed suit. Once in the trenches, Ellwood and Gaunt find fleeting moments of solace in one another, but their friends are all dying, right in front of them, and at any moment they could be next.<br/><br/>An epic tale of both the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, In Memoriam is a breathtaking debut.

Angels Before Man

Rafael Nicolás · 2023

Angels Before Man: Revised and Extended<br/><br/>A Queer Retelling of Satan's Fall<br/><br/>In an eternal paradise, the most beautiful angel, Lucifer, struggles with shame, identity, and timidity, with little more than the desire to worship his creator.<br/><br/>It isn't until the strongest angel, Michael, comes into his life that Lucifer learns to love himself. Along the way, their friendship begins to bloom into something else. Maybe the first romance in the history of everything.<br/><br/>But this God is a jealous one, and maybe paradise is not paradise.

The Foxhole Court (All for the Game Book 1)

Nora Sakavic · 2013

Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices Book 1)

Cassandra Clare · 2010