Have you really enjoyed reading a work that qualifies and want to recommend it to others? This is the prime spot to help people out with those recommendations.
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It’s About Time:
The passage or manipulation of time is a major theme or plot driver. HARD MODE: Backward in time, not forward.
Won’t fit the hard mode, but Charles Sheffield’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow was an interesting read. The first third wasn’t really my thing, but after that the book goes way far into the future.
What’s Yours Is Mine:
Theft, piracy, fraud, or espionage is a major topic or plot point. HARD MODE: No MacGuffins.
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
The Recognitions by William Gaddis
It Takes Two:
Written by two or more authors. HARD MODE: Written by three or more authors.
Family Drama:
Family is important, but sometimes it’s also the cause of problems. Family dynamics are fundamental to the narrative. HARD MODE: Involves three or more generations of family members.
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
- The Sandman Graphic Novels by Neil Gaiman
- The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
“100 Years of Solitude” Gabriel García Márquez (this works for HARD MODE)
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Disability Representation:
A main character has or gains a disability to which they must adapt. This disability must be grounded in reality: if a 4,000 year old Prince of the Shokan lost an arm, that would count; if he became a werewolf, it would not. HARD MODE: The piece is at least partially from their perspective.
Older Than You Are
Published before your birthdate. HARD MODE: Published before 1924.
- Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
- Ulysses by James Joyce
Bookception:
Features a book-related aspect. HARD MODE: Something other than a book, like an author or library.
Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie:
A light, popcorn-worthy read that’s not real deep (see also “beach read” and “airport novel”). HARD MODE: You actually read it while on a vacation/staycation.
Plays With Words:
Written in a stylistically unconventional way. HARD MODE: Fits the definition of Experimental Literature.
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
- Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
- House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Independent Author:
Self-published by the author. Works later published though a conventional publishing house don’t count unless you are reading it before the switch, and it’s republished before April 30th, 2025. HARD MODE: Not published via Amazon Kindle Direct.
Institutional:
Set at a non-commercial institution or facility, like a school, science lab, or prison. HARD MODE: Not a school.
The institute, by Stephen King
Stranger in a Strange Land:
The primary PoV is dropped into a completely unfamiliar situation or location. HARD MODE: Not portal fiction or isekai.
Water, Water Everywhere
The title refers to some form or body of water. HARD MODE: Not liquid water.
LGBTQIA+ Lead:
A main character identifies as LGBTQIA+. HARD MODE: Includes a significant romance between characters that identify as LGBTQIA+.
Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller would fit the hard mode here, for those interested.
Debut Work:
An author’s first work. HARD MODE: The author is widely regarded as having a profound impact on the genre/topic.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, with the caveat that her early work is a bit racist. Styles, for example, I recall having an n-word casually dropped into a conversation, along with a couple of antisemitic remarks. If you don’t mind reading around that, however, it’s a nice little Poirot case.
I had a similar experience when I was working through some of the early “The Shadow” pulps and was surprised a couple times at just how blatant the racism was.
