The Bear by Andrew Krivak takes place at the end of civilization when there are just a girl and her father left. She learns to live in complete harmony with the land. It made me so glad to have air conditioning and taco trucks and movies. Sorry nature!

Unfit by Ariana Harwicz was a stream of consciousness story about an Argentinian woman who married a man and lives with his family in the French countryside. Domestic violence leads to her losing custody and setting fire to their home and kidnapping the children.

A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor: I never read her before and I enjoyed it but I already forgot everything that happened.

The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei: translation of a 1980’s Hong Kong queer sci-fi about an aesthetician that lives in a domed city at the bottom of the ocean. I read a lot of books where people live underwater and idk if our scientists are even working on this!

The White Bear by Dutch Nobel winner Henrik Pontoppidan was two novellas, the first about a priest who comes back to the city after living life amongst the arctic Greenlanders the second a couple One a conservative romantic and the other an anarchist artist. Spoiler: It didn’t work out.

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez, another favorite author I learned about in 2025, creepy gothic horror stories that take place in Argentina feel dystopian but I guess that’s just life.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans was a story told through letters mostly by an older woman who didn’t realize she was lonely until she had people in her life.

My favorite of the run The Names by Florence Knapp: 3 alternate realities about a family struggling through domestic abuse. Each story picks up with the family 7 years where each reality has been influenced by what the youngest son was named. Bear was one name that became a recurring theme for me.

On the Calculation of Volume, Book I by Solvej Balle: a Groundhog Day type story about a woman who is trapped living the same boring day as a married book collector over and over. Only in the end does she meet others like her and it sets up a series but I don’t think I’ll continue.

Saltcrop a pair of sisters go searching for their missing older sister sailing through the wasteland of the not to distant future where massive crop failure caused by toxins has caused starvation and mutations and made people dependent on evil corporations by Yume Kitasei. This one= not hilarious

The Road to Tender Hearts by, one of my favorite authors I found in 2025 Annie Hartnett. told the hilarious story of two kids being adopted by their lovable drunk uncle who never recovered from his daughter’s death after their parent murder suicide and subsequent road trip. With soap opera twists!

Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang was a similar theme of wanting to be someone else but through a more ridiculous set-up: one poor twin finds her adopted rich twin dead and slips into her influencer life to find the cult of the internet isn’t fun at all.

Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang was #scifi about obsession in the art world. The book proposed what if you actually could live in someone else’s brain and steal their spark. I love this author and the way she writes, very engaging!

I don’t see how it’s even a contest between him and the Texan.

Everybody know the war is over everybody knows the good guys lost. The poor stay poor the rich get rich, that’s how it goes.