55 Recent Rapid-fire Recommendations: the books I'd recommend broadly, even though they didn't make my favourites-list...
- The Fiction Fox
- 17 minutes ago
- 16 min read
As I was compiling my Favourite-reads of 2025 list, I was once again reminded of how much my favourites are personal to me, and don’t always correspond to the books I recommend the broadest. In honour of all those books that I feel would have the potential to be favourites for other readers, but just didn’t make my personal list, I bring you this list of Rapid-Fire Recommendations. These are all recent releases (within the past 3 years); some of them just missed the favourite-status, others didn’t work for me but clearly have an audience that will love them.
As I have 55 books to mention, these will be “rapid-fire”. For more information, I’ve linked each book to their Goodreads page. For a large majority of these, I have dedicated reviews, which you can find there, as well as by searching for the book title in the search-bar of my blog.
Literary Fiction
Blue Sisters – Coco Mellors what is it: a family-centered story about grief and sibling-bonds short synopsis: Three estranged siblings return to their family home in New York after their beloved sister's death, and reconnect (and clash) over their shared grief. recommended for: honestly, anyone with siblings, who's ever dealt with grief. This might be the book I'd most broadly recommend from this entire list.
Creation Lake – Rachel Kushner
what is it: a bit of a genre-bender that blends literary investigation, philosophical musings about how homo-sapiens came to be the dominant species, and a hint of noir fiction...
short synopsis: self-described as "a novel about a seductive and cunning American woman who infiltrates an anarchist collective in France". If you ask me: your best bet is to go into this one blind and see where it takes you.
recommended for: anyone looking for an original blend of modern literary fiction and noir-spy-novel. Must be okay with an unlikable protagonist...
The House of Broken Bricks – Fiona Williams
what is it: a family-story about grief, culture and healing through nature, with a slight hint of magical realism.
short synopsis: a patchwork, multicultural family of four is torn apart, and brought back together by a tragedy in their midst.
recommended for: fans of literary fiction with themes of family, grief and multicultural interest, who don’t mind their prose on the more lyrical side.
Sleeping Giants – Rene Denfeld
what is it: part literary character-portrait, part mystery-investigation. 100% emotionally devestating.
short synopsis: a sister investigates the suspicious disappearance of her brother years prior in childhood. Along the way, she gets and intimate and harrowing look into the American foster care system and child-mental health practices.
recommended for: when you're looking for a literary novel that tackles the subject of childhood trauma in a sensitive and tactful way. For fans of Liz Moore and obviously the authors previous works.
what is it: a semi-autobiographical novel about our protagonists experiences with a medical event that uprooted him from his life.
short synopsis: A poet's life is turned inside out by a sudden, wrenching pain, that brings his life to a screeching hold and sents him from the ER to the ICU. Confined to bed, plunged into the dysfunctional American healthcare system, he struggles to understand what is happening to his body, as someone who has lived for many years in his mind.
recommended for: anyone who's ever taken any of my disability-recommendations; I'm vouching for this one. As always: make sure to check trigger-warnings, as this deals with intimate depictions of serious medical conditions and ICU-stay.
what is it: an original and destinctly feminist reply to Tomas Mann's Magic Mountain
short synopsis: On the eve of WWI, a student suffering from tuberculosis, arrives at Wilhelm Opitz's Guesthouse for Gentlemen, a health resort in Görbersdorf. Between the late nights filled with hallucinogenic liquor and the misogynistic talk of his oppulent fellow patients, disturbing things are beginning to happen in the guesthouse and its surroundings.
recommended for: I called this "Nobel Price-coded" in my review. If you like your books extremely self-aware of their (meta) place in the literary canon; this one is for you.
what is it: an original literary gem about near-extinct snails, mail-order-marriage and the Ukrainian landscape (political and natural) that should've made the Booker Longlist this year.
short synopsis: a surrealist novel that chronicles the travails of three Ukrainian women and one extremely endangered snail through the travails of capitalism, foreign invasion, romance, and survival.
recommended for: fans of original politically engaged literary works with a hint of surrealism, who don't mind a 4th-wall-break.
what is it: a multigenerational family-saga focussing on mother-daughter relationships in a Vietnamese-American family.
short synopsis: three generations of Tran-women, are brought together by the simulaneous news of a newly found-out pregnancy, and a death in their family.
recommended for: fans of multigenerational stories with own-voice representation of an immigrant-experience.
what is it: a historical fiction novel that uses a contemporary lens to tell the story of the 1948 massacre of Jeju Island off the coast of South Korea.
short synopsis: our protagonist makes a trip across the icey roads of Seoul, as well as down memory-lane, answering an urgent message from an old friend. Her friend has been hospitalised after an accident, and begs her to save her pet-parent, who's stuck at her home, in danger of freezing to death in an upcoming blizzard. As our protagonist travels to her friends house at Jeju Island, the borders between present and memory begin to blur in the snowy haze. recommended for: fans of gorgeously written literary family-saga's or anyone interested in learning more about this underrepresented piece of Korean history.
The Collected Regrets of Clover – Mikki Brammer
what is it: a contemporary story of healing with a slight touch of romance and a lot of friendship.
short synopsis: a young woman who works as a death-doula (think: the equivalent of a midwife for the dying), is sent on a road-trip/soul-searching journey by one of her eccentric dying clients.
recommended for: fans of a bitter-sweet feel-good story. I'm going out on a limb and say "fans of The Midnight Library" even though I hate that book personally, but I think its vibes match this one, and it might work for a similar audience.
Fantasy
The Spellshop & The Enchanted Greenhouse – Sarah Beth Durst what is it: cottage-core cozy fantasy featuring romance, friendship, second chances and an adorable cast of lovable side-characters that include sentient plants.
short synopsis: a political fugitive starts a new "low-key" life on a remote island running a magical jam-store, whilst selling illegal magic on the side.
recommended for: fans of cozy fantasy set in a world that has a bit more development and stakes than your average Legends&Lattes
Dark Water Daughter – H.M. Long what is it: pirate fantasy romance. Need I say more?
short synopsis: A stormsinger and pirate hunter join forces against a deathless pirate lord in swashbuckling adventures.
recommended for: anyone still looking for their next favourite pirate-fantasy, that has quite a bit of romance. I'd code this Pirates of the Caribbean meets The Grisha Verse.
The Adventures of Amina Al Sirafi – S.A. Chakraborty what is it: more pirate-fantasy, this time one I loved even more.
short synopsis: a middle-aged retired pirate with a family is thrust back into the swashbuckling life for a final adventure, when she's offered a quest to save a comrade’s kidnapped daughter for a kingly sum.
recommended for: anyone out for their next pirate-fantasy, but with less romance, more multi-cultural-vibes and a middle-age female protagonist who's a mother. Pirates of the Caribbean meets Kings of the Wyld...? Not really, but you'll see where I'm coming from.
what is it: urban-(as far as you can call a desert-town an "urb) fantasy meets cozy-folk-horror.
short synopsis: a woman and her dog, attempting to escape their old city-life by moving to the southern-most edges of the US-desert, find themselves the target of a vengeful desert-god.
recommended for: Kingfisher herself called this "the Platonic Ideal of a Kingfisher-novel": it has cozy vibes, folk-influences, a bit of uncanny-horror, a cast of memorable characters and a lovable dog-companion. A must read for any fans of her work, or anyone looking to give this author a first go.
Watermoon – Samantha Sotto Yambao
what is it: Studio-Ghibli-coded fantasy-romance
short synopsis: a young woman inherits a pawn-shop where costumers can pawn off their life's regrets for a price. When she finds her shop ransacked precious acquisition stolen and her father missing, a handsome stranger sweeps her on an adventure into a whole new world of paper-magic and balloon-shaped wishes.
recommended for: I've said it: romantacy-fans who enjoy a bit of a whimsical Ghibli-vibes.
Gogmagog – Jeff Noon and Steve Baird what is it: weird-fiction, meets urban fantasy, meets steam-punk-vibes.
short synopsis: a morose river-captain ferries a colourful cast of misfit characters across the river Nysis - a river made out of the literal ghost of a dragon, mind you. Adventures and mishaps are had along the way...
recommended for: fans of weird and darkly whimsical fantasy, the likes of Jeff VanderMeer, Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman.
Fog and Fireflies – T.H. Lehnen what is it: young adult fantasy-horror, written and published by an indie-author.
short synopsis: in a world filled with perpetual fog, housing creatures of the night that feast on fears, a couple of isolated villages are all that's left of civilization. They rely on young children to guard their walls, as they are the only ones unable to grasp the horrors lurking outside, and thus to fear them...
recommended for: adults or young adults looking to relive the nostalgic feeling of YA-fantasy-classics like The Neverending Story.
Teller of Small Fortunes – Julie Leong what is it: cozy fantasy
short synopsis: an immigrant fortune teller makes a living traveling between villages and telling only small fortunes. Whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. But even small fortunes can have big-hearted consequences.
recommended for: fans of Legends & Lattes
The Great Works – Sheldon Costa what is it: historical fantasy meets western
short synopsis: in a frontier town in the nineteenth-century Northwest, an alchemist and his nephew hunt down a legendary giant salamander which drives men mad, to avenge the alchemist’s best friend.
recommended for: fans of character-driven (historical) fantasy with a strong theme of friendship.
Mad Sisters of Esi – Mehta Tashan what is it: Indian-inspired high fantasy, with a philosophical and hallucinogenic twist.
short synopsis: Myung and Laleh are keepers of the whale of babel. They roam within its cosmic chambers, speak folktales of themselves, and pray to an enigmatic figure they know only as 'Great Wisa'. To Laleh, this is everything. For Myung, it is not enough.
recommended for: fans of experimental, dreamlike fantasy that takes place in liminal-hypnic spaces, e.g. The Spear Cuts Through Water or Piranesi. This one might be hit or miss, but is so unique that I would be in remiss not to mention it.
Magical Realism
The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts – Soraya Palmer
what is it: coming of age, multigenerational family-saga, with a focus on sisterhood and a hint of Caribbean folklore.
short synopsis: 2 sisters, drifted apart by life's circumstances, are brought together by their mother's recent cancer-diagnosis. Recounting stories of their past, they unearth the ghosts of their family's past (figurative, and maybe literal too).
recommended for: anyone in the market for a good family-/sister-story with elements of Jamaican-Trinidadian culture and strong queer rep. Style-wise, if you enjoy Helen Oyeyemi or Salena Godden; this one's for you.
Ghost Mountain – Ronan Hession
what is it: a contemporary fable-like portrait of an Irish community, both scoping ánd personal.
short synopsis: a mountain appears suddenly in a small Irish community, and its appearance ripples through the lives of characters that live near it.
recommended for: fans of literary fables like Paolo Coelho's (although I personally think this has more depth) or Friedrich Bachman's community-portraits.
The Warbler – Sarah Beth Durst
what is it: contemporary magical realism
short synopsis: a woman retraces her roots to a small town to investigate a perceived curse that has haunted her family for generations; whenever the woman of the family settle down; they will literally "root in place" and turn to trees.
recommended for: a synopsis reminiscent of the nomadic curse at the centre of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, but with a strong focus on mother-daughter relationships over romance.
A Botanical Daughter – Noah Medlock
what is it: Frankenstein-retelling with a botanical twist
short synopsis: a duo of queer victorian scientist (a botanist and an anatomist) start a family by creating a "daughter" out of body-parts, plants and fungi.
recommended for: it's not my personal favourite Frankenstein-retelling, but I know it's done well among fans of this subgenre.
Summer Fishing in Lapland – Juhani Karila
what is it: weird literary fantasy set in a Lapland filled with mythical creatures.
short synopsis: a woman makes her annual summer pilgrimage to her remote family farm in Lapland, where she has three days to catch the pike in a local pond, or she and the love of her life will both die.
recommended for: fans of magical realism/weird fiction who want something that feels distinctly Northern European, rather than the American variety that's more prevalent in publishing.
Science fiction
The Last Gifts of the Universe – Riley August what is it: a short space-travel story exploring loneliness and connection against the vast emptiness of the universe.
short synopsis: An Archivist traveling space with her pet-cat in order to document the remnants of dead-worlds comes across something unbelievable on a mission excavating a lifeless planet; a surviving message from an alien who witnessed the world-ending entity thousands of years ago.
recommended for: fans of Becky Chambers looking for an emotionally-charges space-journey that's equal parts cozy and heartbreaking.
Alien Clay – Adrian Tchaikovsky what is it: a standalone alien-planet-exploration by my favourite sci-fi author working to date
short synopsis: a group of rogue scientists is sent on a potentially lethal mission to map an alien ecosystem.
recommended for: fans of sci-fi with a focus on biology, rather than mechs.
Shroud – Adrian Tchaikovsky what is it: another one of Tchaikovsky's fantastic standalones, where characters find themselves in peril on an alien planet...
short synopsis: a mysterious radio-signal hailing from a pitch-black moon attracts a near-by commercial space-ship to investigate. An unfortunate crash leaves its two occupants in a desperate survival-situation on the surface moon entirely devoid of light. And something suggest they're not the only sentient presence down here...
recommended for: fans of horror, fans of space, and people desperately looking for a book to successfully combine the two genres without directly ripping off Alien.
In Ascension – Martin MacInnes
what is it: literary character-study meets sci-fi
short synopsis: a young microbiologist's journey from investigating the microbes in an unfathomable deep vent in the ocean floor, un an arc that will encompass the full trajectory of the cosmos and the passage of a single human life.
recommended for: the literary equivalent of Interstellar, with an emphasis on literary. A.k.a. a lot of high-concepts and motifs that are beautiful, but will either have you going "that's brilliant" or "what a load of pseudo-intellectual bs"... It's a marmite-one, but if you love it, you'll love it.
what is it: a standalone character-focused space-opera set in Ann Lecky's larger Imperial Radch-universe. Note: you do not have to be familiar with that universe to read and enjoy this book.
short synopsis: the mystery of a missing translator sets three lives on a collision course that will have a ripple effect across the stars.
recommended for: fans of high-concept sci-fi with a queer-rep and a focus on language and its limitations.
The Deluge – Stephen Markley what is it: an absolute behemoth (nearly 900pages) of an ambitious literary climate dystopian.
short synopsis: a portrait of a near-future America wrecked by extreme weather and equally extreme politics, told through multiple pov's.
recommended for: fans of climate-epics (emphasis on the epic) who don't mind a substantial time investment in return for a satisfying read. Fans eco-political commentary, penned in beautiful prose, the likes of Richard Powers.
I Cheerfully Refuse – Leif Enger what is it: my personal favourite within this genre-list. A character-driven, lyrical novel that's in that niche sub-genre of hopeful dystopian. short synopsis:
recommended for: fans of (again) Richard Powers' Orpheo, or Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven.
Rose/House – Arkady Martine what is it: a haunted-house novella, except the "ghost" is an advanced AI short synopsis: a fully automated AI-run house makes a manditory call to law-inforcement. It's coding demands it reports a dead body on its premises, but requires it to say nothing more than that. A detective with a personal connection to the house investigates.
recommended for: fans of black mirror, or anyone who loves a haunted house tale with a twist.
Generation Ship – Michael Mammay what is it: a generation-spanning sci-fi epic, set aboard a colony-ship 250-years into its interstellar journey. short synopsis: the beginning of a new human colony must face tyrannical leaders, revolution, crippling instability, and an unknown alien planet that could easily destroy them all.
recommended for: fans of multigenerational space-opera's, who like their stories with a focus on both the science ánd the politics of space-travel.
Godfall – Van Jensen what is it: a small-town detective faces supernatural mysteries in the wake of a cosmic event. short synopsis: a small-town in Nebraska faces a series of mysterious murders and inexplicable occurances in the years after a seemingly lifeless alien artifact crashes down in their back-yard. Their sole detective investigates.
recommended for: fans of The X-files, Blake Crouch and Sylvan Neuvel
Horror
what is it: supernatural horror with themes of disability and new motherhood.
short synopsis: a newly disabled mother and her husband move into (what appears to be) their dream appartment. Only to find out that their fellow-tenants harbour dark secrets inside the building.
recommended for: horror-readers looking for disability-rep where the disabled character is actually capable instead of functioning as monster-fodder.
Monstrilio – Gerardo Samano Cordova
what is it: literary grief-horror
short synopsis: a grieving mother cuts out a piece of her deceased 11-year-old son lung and nurtures it, until it gains sentience and grows into a little monster.
recommended for: a must-read if you're willing to explore grief-horror. I would also recommend this for non-horror-readers, as it leans really more on the literary side.
We Used to Live Here – Markus Kliewer
what is it: a blend of supernatural- and psychological horror
short synopsis: a couple, recently moved into a new house, gets an unexpected visit from a family who claims they used to live in the house years ago, and requesting a tour for nostalgia's sake. Strange events of cosmic nature ensue.
recommended for: basically any horror-fan out there, but especially people who liked the idea of House of Leaves, but couldn't get past the ergotic format.
The Burial Tide – Neil Sharpson what is it: spinechilling folk-horror with its roots in Irish mythology short synopsis: a woman wakes up buried alive inside a coffin in the frozen ground of an isolated island of the coast of Ireland. After she claws her way to freedom, she sets off on a journey for answers, helped and hindered in equal parts by the secretive local community.
recommended for: folk-horror fans
Lost in the Garden – Adam S. Leslye
what is it: feverdream-zombie-apocalypse horror
short synopsis: three friends take a roadtrip through the seemingly idyllic English country-side, but with a zombie-infested twist, on their way to a mysterious city that seemingly no-one returns from.
recommended for: readers who don't mind their horror to be weird and are okay with insufferable characters. Vibes are: Midsommar meets Bunny and a little bit of Samanta Schweblin's Feverdream.
The Centre – Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
what is it: psychological horror/dark academia
short synopsis: an adrift Pakistani translator in London enters into a prestigious program at a mysterious language school which boasts complete fluency in just ten days, but at a secret, sinister cost.
recommended for: dark academia fans, who want their academia to be actually dark and unromanticized.
The September House – Carissa Orlando what is it: a haunted house novel, but the inhabitants are completely attuned to the haunting. short synopsis: A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare for a month every year. recommended for: fans of horror-meets-humor, but with true heart to the story.
Root Rot - Saskia Nislow what is it: a botanical-horror dark-fairytale novella
short synopsis: 9 children arrive at their grandfathers property for a family-gathering following the death of grandma. As they explore theforest and gardens around the Lake House, increasingly strange and unsettling events unfold inside the house, as well as around it. recommended for: fans of fairytale/folk-horror (think the darkness of the original Grimm's fairytales), nature-horror or even sporror with a hint of the bizarre and uncanny. Perfect if you want a novella to capture that uncanny-valley-vibe. Extra-recommended if you're looking to support something indie-published.
The Sundowners Dance – Todd Keisling
what is it: cosmic horror meets the fear of aging
short synopsis: an elderly man moves into a retirement community in the Poconos, and investigates the inhabitant's strange and cult-like behaviour surrounding a local landmark. Is there something mysterious happening around town, or is his mind playing tricks on him?
recommended for: fans of Iain Reid's We Spread
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng – Kylie Lee Baker what is it: supernatural horror that deals with the real-life horrors of hatred against Asians during the pandemic.
short synopsis: a young Asian-American crime-scene-cleaner must grapple with the horrors of a racially motivated serial-killer and the ghost of her deceased sister, whilst making a living in the depth of the COVID-pandemic.
recommended for: must be okay with "COVID-horror". Other than that; this is for all horror-fans.
Middle-grade & Young Adult
what is it: a middle-grade Frankenstein-retelling about friendship and acceptance. short synopsis: Stitch and his friend Henry Oaf were brought to life by the genius Professor Hardacre and have lived happily with their "dad" ever since. But when his wicked nephew takes over the laboratory, they must contend with people who might view their differences as monstrous.
recommended for: middle-grade readers who want to explore themes of queerness, disability, found-family and accepting differences.
Keeper of the Rend – Lisa Maxwell what is it: middle-grade adventure/fantasy short synopsis: a bird-loving boy moves to the countryside where he encounters the trail of an invasion of dangerous creatures, whilst out bird-spotting.
recommended for: readers age 9-14 with an interest in nature and biology (and their parents/guardians of course!)
Greenwild – Pari Thompson what is it: middle-grade fantasy
short synopsis: an 11-year old girl attends a magic-school where she discovers a world of botanical magic.
recommended for: middle-grade-fans on the hunt for their next magical-school-setting, but with a botanical twist.
The Labors of Hercules Beal – Gary D. Schmidt what is it: middle-grade contemporary short synopsis: 12-year old Hercules Beal is tasked by his eccentric school-teacher to complete a take on the 12 labours of his Greek-Mythology-namesake, over the summer.
recommended for: honestly, adult and kids alike! This is a heartwarming tale of friendship, sibling-bonds, overcoming grief, and how it sometimes actually does take a village to raise a boy.
Broken Dolls – Ali Malinenko what is it: supernatural middle-grade horror short synopsis: a terrifying middle grade novel about a girl learning to grieve her grandfather and the creepy antique dolls in his house that seem to come alive.
recommended for: Malinenko does grief-horror for kids to perfection. Honestly, recommend it to any child who's curious about horror and confronted by grief in any form. Or adults looking to dip their toe in the genre; this one is brilliant either way.
Wolfwood – Marianna Baer what is it: YA contemporary/magical realism. short synopsis: Indigo and her mother, once-famous artist Zoe Serra, have barely been scraping by since her mom's breakdown. When a gallery offers a great sum of money for a revival show for her unfinished blockbuster series, Wolfwood, Indigo decides to take up the brush instead, and finishes the series under her mothers name. She soon finds the lines between reality and the world of the paintings beginning to blur and understands why her mother abandoned the work all these years ago.
recommended for: lyrical, lush fantasy elements combined with a grounded exploration of American poverty and class-inequality.
All the Dead Lie Down – Kyrie McCauley what is it: short synopsis: a teen girl takes a job as a nanny at the estate of an acclaimed horror writer and childhood friend of her mother. There she must unravel the house's secrets before they consume her.
recommended for: YA-readers looking for The Haunting of Bly Manor-vibes in bookform.
The Atlas of Us – Kristin Dwyer what is it: YA contemporary romance short synopsis: a teenage girl works through a recent grief and finds new connections whilst working on a community service program rehabbing trails in the Western Sierras.
recommended for: YA-grief fiction meets nature/summer camp vibes.
Sunrise Nights – Jeff Zentner & Brittany Cavallaro what is it: YA contemporary in verse
short synopsis: Two young artists have a chance meeting on the last night of summer arts camp and connect in a beautiful way.
recommended for: perhapse the most niche-recommendation on this list, as it is a novel in verse, but if that's your thing, this is a must-read. Fantastic queer and disability rep and completely up my alley for that.
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