In Episode 145, Susie Boutry (@NovelVisits) and I dive into micro genres — the niches within niches that we’ve come to adore. Over the past year, we’ve discovered even more unique themes and types of books that consistently captivate us. Today, we’re thrilled to present a special episode where we share an abundant list of our favorite micro genres, the books that define them, and the reasons why we find them so irresistible. 

This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).

Get Even More Summer Reading Recommendations with Summer Shelves:

• In addition to my annual 2023 Summer Reading Guide, I’m once again offering Superstars Patrons ($7/mo) exclusive access to Summer Shelves, featuring even more recommendations for the season.
• Summer Shelves features BACKLIST summer reading recommendations from 17 former podcast guests, our team members, and — for the first time — 20 Superstars patrons!
• The Summer Shelves design is clean, crisp, and unique and you’ll receive it in a PDF file format via Patreon.
• If you’d like to get the Summer Shelves companion guide, you can sign up to be a Superstars patron here. You’ll also get access to a monthly bonus podcast series called Double Booked (where Catherine or Susie and I share our own book recommendations in the same format as the big show) and my Rock Your Reading Tracker.

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Micro Genres We Love Romances that Deal with Fame [3:47]

Sarah

• The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta | Amazon | Bookshop.org [5:08]
• Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman | Amazon | Bookshop.org [5:15]
• Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld | Amazon | Bookshop.org [5:18]
• How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilder | Amazon | Bookshop.org [5:23]
• The Idea of You by Robinne Lee | Amazon | Bookshop.org [5:31]
• Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston | Amazon | Bookshop.org [5:44]
• Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan | Amazon | Bookshop.org [5:52]

Susie

• Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Amazon | Bookshop.org[6:06]

Speculative Fiction that Involves Climate Change(a.k.a. Cli-Fi) [7:02]

Susie

• The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton | Amazon | Bookshop.org [8:34] 
• The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger | Amazon | Bookshop.org [8:40]
• American War by Omar El Akkad | Amazon | Bookshop.org [8:48]
• Greenwood by Michael Christie | Amazon | Bookshop.org [9:18]
• Bewilderment by Richard Powers | Amazon | Bookshop.org [9:57]
• Migrations by Charlotte McConaughey | Amazon | Bookshop.org [10:05]

Other Books Mentioned:

• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel [7:31]
• The Power by Naomi Alderman [7:32]

Novels about the Dynamics of the Creative Process [11:35]

Sarah

• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel | Amazon | Bookshop.org [14:28]
• The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson | Amazon | Bookshop.org [14:31]
• If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio | Amazon | Bookshop.org [14:34]
• The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger | Amazon | Bookshop.org [14:40]
• Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson | Amazon | Bookshop.org[14:47]
• The Art of Scandal by Regina Black (August 1) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[14:52]
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin | Amazon | Bookshop.org [15:08]
• Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Amazon | Bookshop.org[15:17]
• The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton | Amazon | Bookshop.org[15:21]
• The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka | Amazon | Bookshop.org [15:47]
• Seven Days in June by Tia Williams | Amazon | Bookshop.org [15:50]
• Yellowface by R. F. Kuang | Amazon | Bookshop.org [15:53]
• The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz | Amazon | Bookshop.org [15:55]
• A Likely Story by Leigh Abramson | Amazon | Bookshop.org [15:57]
• The Wife by Meg Wolitzer | Amazon | Bookshop.org [16:01]

Susie

• City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert | Amazon | Bookshop.org [16:30]
• Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss | Amazon | Bookshop.org [16:41]
• Fake by Erica Katz | Amazon | Bookshop.org [16:44]
• Writers and Lovers by Lily King | Amazon | Bookshop.org [16:12]
• Groundskeeping by Lee Cole | Amazon | Bookshop.org [16:16]
• No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister | Amazon | Bookshop.org [16:19]

Other Books Mentioned:

• The Ensemble by Aja Gabel [12:40]

Novels With a Focus on Found Family [17:11]

Susie

• The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer | Amazon | Bookshop.org [18:42] 
• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara | Amazon | Bookshop.org [18:47]
• We Are the Light by Matthew Quick | Amazon | Bookshop.org [19:08]
• The Measure by Nikki Erlick | Amazon | Bookshop.org [19:12]
• The Celebrants by Steven Rowley | Amazon | Bookshop.org [19:33]
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel | Amazon | Bookshop.org [19:39]
• The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez | Amazon | Bookshop.org [19:45]
• Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda | Amazon | Bookshop.org [19:53]

Other Books Mentioned:

• The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue [20:49]

Literary Authors Leaping into Genre Writing [22:07]

Sarah

• When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain | Amazon | Bookshop.org [23:16]
• I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai | Amazon | Bookshop.org[23:26]
• Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld | Amazon | Bookshop.org [23:46]
• The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead | Amazon | Bookshop.org[24:17]

Susie

• On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel | Amazon | Bookshop.org [24:35]

Other Books Mentioned:

• The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai [23:29]
• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead [24:27]
• The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff [26:04]
• Watergate by Garrett M. Graff [26:04]
• The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe [26:54]
• The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne [27:22]
• A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne [27:32]
• The Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett [27:54]

Retellings of Classics or Beloved Books [29:10]

Susie

• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver | Amazon | Bookshop.org [31:45] 
• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano | Amazon | Bookshop.org [32:00]
• Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor | Amazon | Bookshop.org [33:06]
• The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo | Amazon | Bookshop.org [33:08]
• Circe by Madeline Miller | Amazon | Bookshop.org [33:16]
• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller | Amazon | Bookshop.org [33:19]
• Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes | Amazon | Bookshop.org [33:22]
• Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann | Amazon | Bookshop.org [33:25]
• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell | Amazon | Bookshop.org [33:32]
• Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi | Amazon | Bookshop.org [33:55]
• The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine | Amazon | Bookshop.org [33:58]
• Wicked by Gregory Maguire | Amazon | Bookshop.org [34:05]

Sarah

• Anna K by Jenny Lee | Amazon | Bookshop.org [36:36]
• The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson | Amazon | Bookshop.org [36:48]
• Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld | Amazon | Bookshop.org [37:11]
• Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson | Amazon | Bookshop.org [37:44]
  • Be spoiler warned: The murders and endings of The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie, Strangers on a Trainby Patricia Highsmith, The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne, Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles, Double Indemnity by James M. Cain, The Drowner by Robert Drewe, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and Deathtrap by Ira Levin are discussed in detail as noted in the book.  But many readers have lamented that the endings and main plots were also spoiled for The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and And Then There Were None, both by Agatha Christie.
• Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson | Amazon| Bookshop.org [37:56]

Other Books Mentioned:

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen [30:58]
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott [32:15]
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald [33:03]
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy [36:38]
• Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith [36:54]
• Emma by Jane Austen [37:02]

Character Twists [38:38]

Sarah

• The One by John Marrs | Amazon | Bookshop.org [39:51]
• The Marriage Act by John Marrs | Amazon | Bookshop.org [39:53]
• Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson | Amazon| Bookshop.org [40:01]
• The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue | Amazon | Bookshop.org[40:07]

Susie

• The Family by Naomi Krupitsky | Amazon | Bookshop.org [41:00]
• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano | Amazon | Bookshop.org [41:07]

Stories Taking Place in a Single Day (a.k.a. Circadian Novels) [41:24]

Susie

• Atomic Family by Ciera Horton McElroy | Amazon | Bookshop.org [42:55] 
• Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Amazon | Bookshop.org [43:04]
• I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid | Amazon | Bookshop.org [43:16]
• All Stories Are Love Stories by Elizabeth Percer | Amazon | Bookshop.org[43:51]
• The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:06]
• Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister | Amazon | Bookshop.org[44:32]
• Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler | Amazon | Bookshop.org [45:51]

Sarah

• One Day by David Nicholls | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:53]
• The Dinner by Herman Koch | Amazon | Bookshop.org [45:04]
• Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney | Amazon | Bookshop.org[45:19]
• If We’re Being Honest by Cat Shook | Amazon | Bookshop.org [45:38]

Other Books Mentioned:

• Ulysses by James Joyce [42:40]
• Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf [42:43]
• The Hours by Michael Cunningham [42:46]
• Foe by Iain Reid [43:41]

Intense, (Sometimes) F-ed Up Love Stories, that Most Definitely Are Not Romances  [46:00]

Sarah

• I Could Live Here Forever by Hanna Halperin | Amazon | Bookshop.org[46:37]
• White Fur by Jardine Libaire | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:23]
• Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:36]
• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:41]
• Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:47]
• Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler | Amazon | Bookshop.org [48:03]
• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara | Amazon | Bookshop.org [48:13]
• Normal People by Sally Rooney | Amazon | Bookshop.org [48:17]
• Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Amazon | Bookshop.org[48:28]

Susie

• The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue | Amazon | Bookshop.org[49:14]
• The Most Fun We’ve Ever Had by Claire Lombardo | Amazon | Bookshop.org[49:25]
• The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller | Amazon | Bookshop.org [49:33]
• Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff | Amazon | Bookshop.org [49:47]
• Big Swiss by Jen Beagin | Amazon | Bookshop.org [49:53]
• Everything’s Fine by Cecilia Rabess | Amazon | Bookshop.org [49:58]

Novels Where Musicians or the Music Industry Play a Dominant Role [50:15]

Susie

• Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Amazon | Bookshop.org[51:39] 
• The Ensemble by Aja Gabel | Amazon | Bookshop.org [51:50]
• The Storyteller by Dave Grohl | Amazon | Bookshop.org [52:15]
• The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez | Amazon | Bookshop.org[52:42]
• How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran | Amazon | Bookshop.org [52:55]
• The People We Keep by Allison Larkin | Amazon | Bookshop.org [53:20]
• Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie | Amazon | Bookshop.org [53:33]
• Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau | Amazon | Bookshop.org [53:35]
• The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton | Amazon | Bookshop.org[54:34]

Other Books Mentioned:

• Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner [54:00]