Since starting her Bitches Gotta Eat blog back in 2009, writer-comedian Samantha Irby has amassed a cult following for her wildly witty, gritty, and unapologetic sense of humor. Her three essay collections – Meaty, We Are Never Meeting In Real Life, and Wow, No Thank You – take readers through misanthropic meditations on aging, friendship, fatness, anxiety, depression, and chronic illness with honesty and irreverence.
In a list of her own favorite reads for One Grand Books, Irby included a mix of mystery-thrillers, sci-fi, YA and funny fictions. From Gillian Flynn to Lynda Barry, find 10 of Samantha Irby’s favorite books below.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (also rec’d by Neil Patrick Harris)
“One of my friends gave me a hard time for liking this book when she saw my battered, much-loved copy out on the dining room table but I don’t give a shit: this book bangs.” -SI
They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib (also rec’d by Questlove)
“Cracks my heart wide open every time I read it, which I’ve done multiple times. The way he writes about music is straight up beautiful. Do you know who can move you to tears over fucking Fall Out Boy??? Hanif.” -SI
Made For Love by Alyssa Nutting
“This book is so funny, like gasping and crying funny, and I feel like if I was stuck on a desert island I would want to spend the time I wasn’t sobbing in despair laughing hysterically.” -SI
Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
“Terrifying. Horrifying. So good. I love Detroit so much, and thankfully I had my opinion solidly in place before reading this.” -SI
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
“This book is just the best. The best. Brit is incredible. You ride the emotional waves of this story right alongside her perfectly flawed and genuine characters.” -SI
The Oracle Year by Charles Soule
“Exhilarating science fiction, which is a wild thing for me to say because I am way too dumb to understand most science fiction. I love it so much and blew through it, which is also bananas because I can hardly read!” -SI
Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi
“I love YA and I really love books about sad and/or complicated moody teens, especially when there is romance involved. All I ever want is to go back to being consumed by every last one of my adolescent emotions.” -SI
Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna
“I am really into thrillers/mysteries because they are propulsive and go down easy, but I am especially into the ones where you get sucked into the personal lives of the crime solver? Like, yes I want this guy to find these missing girls but also: can his broken heart ever be mended??? Anyway, I would read Louisa Luna’s grocery lists if she published them.” -SI
The Outsider by Stephen King
“This is relatively new but I read it when it came out and I’m currently watching the HBO series which is creepy and great. And honestly you could stick any Stephen King book in here and I’d probably be happy? It’s not news that he’s a master storyteller and so good at what he does. Although I do wish he’d tweet less, damn.” -SI
One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry
“You can’t come of age in 90s Chicagoland without falling in love with Lynda Barry vis a vis her weekly comic in The Reader. I have every single one of her books (I mean, duh, come on!) but this one is my favorite.” -SI
(via One Grand Books)