Books 2025
Mean
Myriam Gurba
Currently reading
True crime, memoir, and ghost story, Mean is the bold and hilarious tale of Myriam Gurba’s coming of age as a queer, mixed-race Chicana. Blending radical formal fluidity and caustic humor, Gurba takes on sexual violence, small towns, and race, turning what might be tragic into piercing, revealing comedy. This is a confident, intoxicating, brassy book that takes the cost of sexual assault, racism, misogyny, and homophobia deadly seriously.
The Compound
Aisling Rawle
Rating: B
Date finished: Nov 16, 2025
Lily—a bored, beautiful twentysomething—wakes up on a remote desert compound alongside nineteen other contestants on a popular reality TV show. To win, she must outlast her housemates while competing in challenges for luxury rewards, such as champagne and lipstick, and communal necessities to outfit their new home, like food, appliances, and a front door.
Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon
Mizuki Tsujimura
Rating: A-
Date finished: Nov 14, 2025
A suspenseful magical realism novel about a mysterious teenage “Go-Between” who arranges meetings between the living and the dead, from multimillion copy Japanese bestselling author Mizuki Tsujimura.