"when the messenger is hot" by elizabeth crane
a priority for you is making good conversation, regardless of how emotionally attached you are. your tongue is fast and sharp. crane’s debut story collection has that in common with you. although each flows easily with each other, the overall diversity in tone and topic makes when the messenger is hot a read impossible to put down. you’ll enjoy the whiplash because i get the feeling you’re a bit of an adrenaline junkie.
"who will run the frog hospital?" by lorrie moore
you’re not sure what you yearn for, but you know it’s debilitating. the girls in who will run the frog hospital search for the root of this yearning as a quick fix for the anxiety an undetermined future always brings. you want for a definition almost more than to solve the want itself, even if the definition might make the want impossible to get rid of. you can’t shake the feeling there’s something more you aren’t doing. you might be floating aimlessly; at least you aren’t alone.
"valley of the dolls" by jacqueline susann
keep your cards close to your chest. you like to trust, and do it compulsively, even if you know half of the time it’ll end explosively. valley of the dolls follows the friendship dynamic of three starlets who would sacrifice their lives for the others but not their fame. i want to know which girl you relate most to, and if it makes you feel anger or empathy or both at the same time.
"my antonia" by willa cather
you acknowledge that life is about practicality and survival. despite this you can’t help dancing a little whenever you hear a song you love or stop to watch two squirrels chasing each other on a tree stump. cather’s girls embody this dual nature most women experience, simultaneously too young and too old for life to know what to do with them. warning, this book might make you cry.
"animal" by lisa taddeo
more often than not you feel distant and feral. life goes without you wanting it to, maybe even as you hold it under the water to stop it from doing so. somebody else out there is making all these decisions you’re not sure you support. returning to a baser, animal instinct doesn’t sound so bad sometimes. animal is all feral all the time. it is bite marks on your own wrist to stop yourself from screaming uncontrollably.
"the guest" by emma cline
attention is important to you, whether you want to admit it or not. it doesn’t really matter who it’s from as long as someone else is acknowledging you’re alive. even if you know it, have always known it, you don’t value your opinion all that much. don’t detach from reality to escape your own thoughts and feelings. instead, read about the guest doing it for you.