Dream Hotel by @lailalalami.com scared me more than just about anything I’ve ever read. The banality of evil, ‘predictive algorithms”, the carceral system, it’s all here. It’s so close as to be barely a warning, but more like a scream for action wrapped up in fiction.

Let’s talk Orbital, the Man Booker winner. I like poetic novels and I while I enjoy some plot, it’s not as important to me as I think it is for other readers. Still, I can’t help but think that Orbital is a series of very pretty, and exceedingly safe, pictures.

I’m late to the party but Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino is the best fiction I’ve read in years. It might be the first time that I was feeling raw after finishing and the acknowledgments pushed me all the way over into sobbing uncontrollably. Sometimes it’s just so much to be a human.

I’m new to recommending books here, but I can’t think of a better choice to start than @izzyxen.bsky.social’s These Fragile Graces This Fugitive Heart. Queer noir with an emphasis on *queer*. Identity is central to the story in a way that is ambitious, smart, and cool. Can’t stop thinking about it.