dogra magra
yumeno kyuusaku's masterpiece, dogra magra follows an amnesiac protagonist who wakes up in a hospital and uncovers his past. the perfect anti-mystery novel -- no synopsis can encapsulate just how insane this novel is in its scope and how fun it is to read.
earthlings
my favorite of sayaka murata's novels, earthlings is a coming-of-age-ish narrative about a woman who wants to escape 'the factory,' her perception of society. gut-wrenching, disturbing, and really gripping. similar in thematic material to convenience store woman but much darker.
giovanni's room
a novel that will kill you on impact. you will cry. every word james baldwin wrote is worth reading, but giovanni's room will especially move you. an american in paris begins an affair with an italian barman, knowing his fiance will return soon.
the demon of the lonely isle
my favorite rampo! ero guro nansensu abounds, but kotou no oni is surprisingly emotionally touching and profound. minoura, the world's most heterosexual man, goes on a revenge / murder-solving quest after his fiancée's locked-room-mystery demise.
the city & the city
what is a city, even? china miéville turns a standard detective story into a reflection on ignorance. two cities overlap, but are separated entirely by inhabitants of one simply refusing to acknowledge the other. the setting takes center stage here but the noir crime thriller shit is good too!
the universal baseball association
an ahead of its time satirical novel about escapism, americana, and sport traditions. ugh i love robert coover... henry is the commissioner of a baseball league that exists wholly in his mind, the outcomes of games decided by dice rolls. when one of his star players meets tragedy via hit-by-pitch, he begins to spiral.
and then there were none
the mystery novel to end all mystery novels. the best christie! 10 guests arrive at a private island, unsure of who exactly invited them -- their hosts are nowhere to be found. one by one, they start dying. paranoia abounds, past sins are revealed, and then... there were none >:)
the inugami curse
quintessential honkaku mystery. weirdo detective kosuke kindaichi is tasked with solving the murder of the head of the wealthy inugami family. iconic methods of murder, iconic crime-solving, iconic character archetypes, iconic out-of-nowhere gay shit, what more can you ask for?
the glass bead game
a fictional biography of a historical figure of the future. hermann hesse examines the structures of academia and the format of the biography, and the presence of games in our culture. you'll never learn the mechanics of the mysterious glass bead game, but its effect on the people of the novel's society is profound.
nightwood
near-incomprehensible post-modern nightmare about the worst people alive, who love to talk at length about really weird and offensive stuff. queer (awesome lesbian stuff is happening), messy, sprawling, did i say messy? reading this will make you feel insane, i cannot recommend it enough.
suicide
second-person point-of-view stream-of-consciousness about the "you" who has killed himself. author édouard levé hanged himself 10 days after sending this to his publisher. autobiographical in the sense that it's about the reader as much as it's about the author.
fish swimming in dappled sunlight
tense relationship drama that takes place over the span of one night. aki and hiro may or may not have killed their guide on a mountain hike, and each believes that the other is a murderer. who is responsible, and what is their motive? riku onda is an underrated af author, and this is my favorite of hers.