books i like
(a very incomplete list)

FICTION
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Jillian by Halle Butler
The Art of Losing by Rebecca Connell
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Heroes of the Frontier by Dave Eggers
Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Ask Again Yes by Mary Beth Keane
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
Nobody is Ever Missing by Catherine Lacey
Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Grief Is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
Loner by Teddy Wayne

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS
13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad
Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg
American Housewife by Helen Ellis
McSweeney's 45: Hitchcock and Bradbury Fistfight in Heaven
Always Happy Hour by Mary Miller

GRAPHIC NOVELS & GRAPHIC NON-FICTION
Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder
Photobooth: A Biography by Meags Fitzgerald
Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli
Here by Richard McGuire
Good Talk by Mira Jacob
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Death Wins a Goldfish by Brian Rea
Supermutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki
Sheets by Brenna Thummler
Spinning by Tillie Walden

COOKBOOKS
How To Cook Everything: The Basics by Mark Bittman
Recipes to Rely On from Canal House
Salt Fat Acid Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat
Twelve Recipes by Cal Peternell

NONFICTION, MEMOIRS, & PERSONAL ESSAY COLLECTIONS

The Art of Waiting by Belle Boggs
I Remember by Joe Brainard
I'll Tell You In Person by Chloe Caldwell
How to Fall in Love With Anyone by Mandy Len Catron
Abandon Me by Melissa Febos
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
I Can't Believe It's Not Better by Monica Heisey
Sounds Like Titanic by Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman
Tonight I'm Someone Else by Chelsea Hodson
The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison
The Recovering by Leslie Jamison
The Reckonings by Lacy M. Johnson
One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson
The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater by Alanna Okun
Swimming Studies by Leanne Shapton
Land of Enchantment by Leigh Stein
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra

BOOKS ABOUT WRITING & MAKING ART
Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, & the Artistic Process by Joe Fassler
What Editors Do by Peter Ginna
Things Are What You Make of Them: Life Advice for Creatives by Adam J. Kurtz
Scratch: Writers, Money, & the Art of Making a Living ed. by Manjula Martin
Welcome to the Writer’s Life by Paulette Perhach
The Autobiographer's Handbook: The 826 National Guide to Writing Your Memoir ed. by Jennifer Traig

ANTHOLOGIES
A Map Is Only One Story by Nicole Chung and Mensah Demary
Burn It Down: Women Writing About Anger by Lilly Dancyger
What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About by Michele Filgate
Rookie On Love by Tavi Gevinson
Women in Clothes by Heidi Julavits, Leanne Shapton, and Sheila Heti
Indelible in the Hippocampus: Writings from the Me Too Movement by Shelly Oria

podcasts I like

Bodies
Cavern of Secrets (standout episode: #6: Jillian Tamaki)
Dear Prudence
The Dream (I loved the first season)
FOUND (standout episode: # 3: Baby)
Heavyweight
Homecoming
Love Me (standout episode #7: Make Believe)
Mystery Show 
Reply All (standout episode #158: The Case of the Missing Hit)
The Shadows
The Sleeper Hit (standout episode: #24, the one where I am a guest!)
Terrible, Thanks For Asking (standout episode: Horrible and Wonderful and Figuring it Out)
WHY OH WHY (standout episode: #8: How Will I Know)
Why Won’t You Date Me?

last update: 7/21/2020 
photos by Maria Alba