Saw this post in another sub about song recommendations

I’m looking for literary fiction similar to The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek, AND Madonna in a Coat by Sabahattin Ali

I specifically want a female protagonist who is sexually repressed or frustrated, longs for romantic love and male desire, but experiences rejection, unrequited longing, humiliation, or the pain of never being chosen.

Strictly female protagonists, please. I’d prefer literary fiction rather than romance novels.

Gothic horror, preferably no heavy romance. Anything with medieval ghosts, vampires or other supernatural creatures living amongst humans. High fantasy works with these elements is fine too.

Im looking for a fantasy romantic book that has this ethereal vibes...

Hi! Im looking for a really specific kind of book. I would really appreciate it if you gave any suggestions or recommendations 💗
I’m looking for a book that feels cozy, preferably one in which the story takes place during the fall season (because it’s my favourite season!). I would also really like for it to include a really kind supportive family, and for it to talk about nature. I really don’t enjoy horror, or fantasy.
I enjoy Donna Tartt’s and Tara Westover’s style of writing very much.

Looking for protagonists/plots that feel like:

- Sarah Linden from “The Killing”
- Danvers & Navarro from “True Detective: Night Country”
- Mare Sheehan from “Mare of Easttown”
- Camille Preaker from “Sharp Objects”

Looking for imperfect women investigators with peak grittiness, broken/breaking families, and busted coping mechanisms.

Bonus points for supernatural / horror / gothic elements

Bonus, bonus points for BIPOC characters

Something akin to discovering untouched nature. Cozy, slightly melancholy, but hopeful!

(Light romance is ok, but not the focal point!)

I’m looking for an epic book set in the country where the earth is not so much a setting as a character. I also want it to focus on the simple everyday aspects of human life. Preferably focused on family who might live in a solitary location but still have a community.
Some of my favourite books that have elements of this vibe are East of Eden, A Far-Flung Life, Buckeye, Lonesome Dove and 11.22.63.
They don’t all have the same country aspects to them but they have the heart of what I’m looking for.
I wouldn’t mind something that touches on our relationship with the earth either.

What fantasy books have this Breath or Tears vibe? Looking for something that captures the atmosphere, exploration, and solitude of Zelda.

I tonya and black swan was the main inspo.

Books like Roadside Picnic or Annihilation, or the video games S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Active Matter, Pacific Drive and ZERO Sievert. What interests me most is the Zone itself as a central character: a singular, strange place within an otherwise ordinary world, where the laws of nature no longer apply.

I am NOT looking for post-apocalyptic fiction like the METRO 2033 series, unless for some reason an Anomalous Zone is a major conceit of the story.

I've already read "In the Miso Soup" and love it.. Magical realism is okay, too. I just love these alleyways in Tokyo where people are eating and drinking, and who knows what else is happening behind the scenes.

Novels that come to your mind after watching Bong Joon Ho's Memories of Murder.

I’m looking for small town mystery books. Whether it be missing peope or a dead body shows up. The decade that it was published in or takes place in doesn’t matter. It can be really unknown or really popular book. Please recommend me stuff that fits the bill.

It can be fiction or non-fiction. Preferably taking place in Athens, but other Greek cities are also welcome. I'm looking for books that capture the spirit of Ancient Greek society, other than that anything goes: could be philosophical, or a non-fiction detailing the political history of the city (/country), or a fantasy book (maybe about the Greek gods?) that happens to take place in this setting.

Books I've already read/added to my TBR list:

Stoner by John Williams
The New Me by Halle Butler
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshtegh

I don't need a happy ending. Give me your best, gut-wrenching recs, if you have to.