The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Songbirds & Snakes was published during the pandemic, and as much as I loved the original trilogy, I simply couldn’t pick up dystopian literature in 2020. 

Collins paints a portrait of our favorite villain that makes him three-dimensional, and at times we even root for Snow. This is a magic trick that is worthy of the Covey, and I love that Collins has woven the Covey into her tale. This enriches the world that she paints and deepens my love for the series and the author. 

One of the things we say is that the deck is stacked and the cards are marked, but even so, when you start to win anyway, they will try to change the rules. Because Snow must always, always, land on top. 

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

2025

Tambourines to Glory by Langston Hughes

Novel form published in 1958

This is a rollicking good time.

Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison

Peapod Classics, 1952.

Another fairy tale for grown ups, this features the journey of a young woman as she encounters mythological creatures, is given a directive by none other than Odin himself, and makes her way in her life through uncertainty and into herself.

Mitchison’s prose is witty, scantly subversive, and delightful. Engaging as the tale is, the way its told is the real gem of this work, and I loved everything about it.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Published by Penguin, 2014

I fell in love with Ng when I read Little Fires Everywhere, and I adored Our Missing Hearts, so when I learned that her debut novel had somehow missed me, I picked up a copy straight away.

This exploration of family, parental expectations, racism, and society is a brilliant and beautiful work. Ng really sets us up with the first sentence and never lets us go after that. 

Brilliant, deeply moving, and powerful. 

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Published by Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993

I know I’m late to read this, and that even high school students have no read it as part of their classes, but I somehow hadn’t made time for this yet, and it seemed the perfect time to remedy that. 

I’m a big fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, and Butler delivers a compelling and powerful story of a world that shatters, falling apart along fissures and fault lines of its own making. 

Along the way, we find wisdom through spirituality, the comfort and necessity of companionship, and the human need to care for others. 

This is worth all the wonderful things that have been said about it, and yes, it’s perfect as a required reading entry.