A List of Books I Recommended to Autumn Christian for "Girl Like a Bomb"

"The Siren" by Tiffany Reisz

Let me say straight up, I am a Stan for Tiffany Reisz. I believe she is one of the most well-rounded writers out there. I did not recommend this book to Autumn because it is erotica. I recommended it because it is a brilliant book that just so happens to have ten more hot af sex scenes than the average literary novel. Every facet of great novel writing is there: a smooth and crafted third-person voice, memorable and multi-dimensional characters, and a great sense of pacing. Honestly, you could say this is a literary novel with sex scenes or an erotica novel that is literary—either would be true. 

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"The Pisces" by Melissa Broder

Another example of the grey area between literary fiction and erotica. Melissa Broder is super talented and has a great range as a writer. She is a poet, a Twitter brand, a killer essayist, and with The Pisces she has proven herself a great novelist as well. Sex and female desire is at the forefront of the story, but so is poetry, loneliness, and what it means to be human.

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"The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin's Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World - and Us" by Richard O. Prum

I believe in reading non-fiction to inspire fiction, especially when it pertains to the subject matter. The Evolution of Beauty really is a game changer in evolutionary psychology and challenges a lot of the dogma in certain studies. It focuses on how female choice shaped the evolution of all species, including humans. Part of what is interesting about Girl Like A Bomb is the fact that Bev’s ability to make humans better through sex is kind of the whole point. This book led to some interesting discussions about duck vaginas.   

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"The Sexy Part of the Bible" by Kola Boof

I’ve already talked about how awesome this book is in my Top 10 Transgressive Novels column. Kola Boof did something special with this one. It’s a genre bender with tight language and a wild story. Boof shows that surreal and transgressive stories can be moving, political, and entertaining. I recommend this book anyone who is writing anything that is even a tad weird.

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"Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson" by Camille Paglia

I think about 25% of this book is ridiculous and wrong, but 75% of it is really insightful, entertaining, and interesting. I appreciate what Camille Paglia has to say about art. Sexual Personae is Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy on steroids. Her ideas on Apollonian versus Dionysian energy and how sex affects art is fascinating, as she goes through some of the most influential writers of all time.   

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"The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles" by Steven Pressfield

I feel that old familiar demon as I write this list. There is a part of me that doesn’t want to put myself out there with books I have written or published. I care how Autumn's book does, but am nervous to say anything that could sound stupid. I always had this feeling, this negative voice inside my head, but The War of Art gave me the term for it—resistance. My job is to write through it and be a professional.  Pressfield's book showed me the way and I recommend it to anyone who is writing anything.

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"Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch

A lot of people know about Blake Crouch for his Wayward Pines novels. It’s a great series and a fun TV show, but he really proved himself with Dark Matter. It’s a great mix of science fiction, philosophy, literary fiction, and strong storytelling. Autumn’s last book was a good mix of those genres, and I thought Dark Matter would be great inspiration for future books she writes.

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"Moby Dick" by Herman Melville

I think everyone should read Moby Dick. I’ve been working on a retelling with frat boys—for real. Moby Dick is a great novel to look at to note what works and what doesn’t. I love the novel; it has a great voice and character in Ishmael, one of the best villains of all time with Ahab, and touches on some amazing themes. But the novel really needed an editor. There are whole chapters that should have been cut. It’s a good lesson for writers about putting in unnecessary info that slows a story down.

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"The Palace of Illusions: Stories" by Kim Addonizio

I’m not only a Stan for Tiffany Reisz; I'm also a Stan for Kim Addonizio. I believe she is one of the best poets of this century. I bought her collection at AWP just to get a book signed by her, thinking it would be cool to see what her fiction is like. Well, it might be my favorite story collection of the decade. It mixes genre with literary and horror. It also has maybe my favorite vampire story of all time.

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