Kali's Picks
This should be required reading for all humans.
I’ve been in love with dragons ever since.
Beautiful, heartbreaking, classic.
A magical retelling of a quirky creole folktale.
A wordless whirlwind of worlds within worlds.
A mouse secretly writes books, what more could you want?
A colorful elephant learns the importance of being himself.
These are as wonderful as they are strange, and for everyone.
My brother would fold me into this book like a taco. I am still looking on craigslist for the pickle car, to no avail.
I’m partial to the nureau in my bureau.
This is my all-time favorite, I’m rereading it for the 7th time now for school. It still amazes me how such a young person wrote so hauntingly prolific. If you have any concern for the godlike powers of modern science, have ever felt like a monster, or just want a really really beautifully written book, check this out. It’s a classic for a reason guys.
This one rivals Frankenstein for all-time favorite, though I’ve only read it one time through so far. In an apocalyptic plague, autobiographically based characters fight to find and forge meaning for the few left alive. Check out the Staff Picks section at Pegasus Downtown for my full-length, full-enthusiasm version of this blurb.
This is a deeply moving collection of poetry, no poetry collection is complete without it. It is full of potential favorites, but I’d say “Lady Lazarus” would have to be mine. For bonus points reread the collection after reading Janet Malcom’s The Silent Woman.
A young tomboy lost in the woods starts to lose her mind, and is haunted by a cold voice that may or may not be real and hunting her. There’s also some fun and motivational Tom Gordon hallucinations along the way. This book was particularly striking to me the first time around as I was the same age as the protagonist when I picked it up. A good first King book, and may even be okay for some YA readers.
When folks ask me about what I look for in good poetry, I say it has to make me swoon. This is the most swoonful poem I can think of, it just gets me every time, straight to the heart. A good read for feelings, sonority, and simply beautiful wordplayings.
This is one those books I keep extra copies of so I can gift them and sometimes forcibly lend them to friends and family. You’ll never look at rivers the same.
Some good old fashioned French existentialism for ya, tons of sensational imagery, and a sweetly dark ending. “Lay [your] heart open to the benign indifference of the universe”
Everybody will be a little better off after reading this. It was assigned to me in high school, when I was in immediate need of the lessons therein, but it is still an inherent part of my day to life and decision making.
For a lot of my adolescence I only wanted to read memoirs about mental hospitals. Unfortunately they are not all nearly as wonderful as this one. A must read for anybody who feels a little off sometimes, and consequentially interrupted by it.
I am a huge Blake fan, and as much as I love it all, this collection really takes the cake for me. His harsh criticisms and stark juxtopositionings give goose bumps and leave you with a smug grin. Brilliantly diabolical.