Weird... Thanks!
By Jules Rivera
I love a weird book. I absolutely adore a book where I close it and think… what just happened? What did it all mean? What didn’t it mean? Should I wash my hands? Take a shower? Here are some books that are so weird I don’t really know how to explain what happened, but I’ll sure try!
Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung
This book opens with a head that sprouts from the toilet that calls the story’s protagonist “mother” and it only gets weirder from there. A woman gets pregnant from taking birth control pills. A fox can speak and bleeds gold. This collection of short stories is a crazy journey. Every story is stranger and more grotesque than the next- you’ll want a full novel version of every one. I have no clue how Bora Chung did it, but wow!!!
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
This one came to me per Amali’s recommendation after I talked about how I wanted to read another book about cannibalism (that’s another blog post!) and I’m so glad I did. This one is a story about Natsuki who convinces herself she must be an alien because she doesn’t fit in with those around her. She’s got a plush hedgehog who talks to her. And remember, there’s a hint of cannibalism! That’s the basic skeleton- nothing else can describe the kooky and uncouth this story is.
The Hike by Drew Magary
Ben takes a business trip to Pennsylvania, and before his work dinner decided to go on a hike. Quickly, he discovers he’s on an Alice in Wonderland/Labyrinth-esque journey: one with magical tools, massive bugs, demons, and potions. His only way out is through tracking down the creator of this strange new world: the only being who is able to free him. This book is NUTS and supper surreal! Also the cover, wow oh wow!
Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval
Hold on for this one: Jo is living in a new country in a house with no walls. That’s all I can give you. It’s a magical realism… experience, to say the least. It’s fun, its gross, it’s crazy. Also: there’s a lot of pee in this one. Be warned.
The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman
A therapist is contacted by a man who claims he’s different from other guys and that his situation is a bit… funky. Little by little as Victoria, the therapist, learns more about him, she assumes he’s delusional (reasonable). She refers to him as Y__, who turns out to be a scientist. He claims to have stolen a cloaking technology from some underground top-secret government project that now makes him almost entirely invisible. What does he do with this newfound undiscoverable existence? Spy on people’s lives! Creep! He lives off of seeing people at their most vulnerable. Victoria becomes so obsessed with this case she becomes close to losing everything important to her. What???
Hysteria by Jessica Gross
This book is about a young girlie who is on the bender of a lifetime. She goes to her local bar to find that there’s a new bartender what she’s yet to meet. He looks familiar to her, and post-horrible decision making, she comes to the conclusion that this bartender is indeed Sigmund Freud himself. The two then collaborate for the evening and she’s able to break down and crack into the deep recesses of her psyche. Such a cool debut from Jessica Gross!
Candelaria by Melissa Lozada-Oliva
So, first and foremost… Melissa is a genius. I’ve been looking forward to her second book since finishing Dreaming of You (the novel in verse about a main character, named Melissa, who brings Selena Quintanilla back to live via ritual). This book is a surreal masterpiece. It follows the points of view of Candelaria, a grandmother, and her three granddaughters before and after an earthquake. It’s a mess of generational trauma, spanglish, cannibalism (again, blog post coming!), bad coping mechanisms, and scrumptious metaphors. A quarter of the way through I realized I loved it so much I already wanted to reread it. Out in September, preorder and check it out!!!
