Raindrops on Roses & Dust-Cover Spines

Written By Kalyn Lady

These are a few of my favorite lines…

This list is my ode to books—narratives that deepened my empathy, developed my taste in words, and taught me which stories linger. From haunting novels to devastating prose, consider this our literary compatibility test—whether you're thinking of working with me, or falling for my inner world.

Favorites: Fiction

    • A Song to Drown Rivers (2024)

    • And I Darken (2016)

    • Now I Rise (2017)

    • Bright We Burn (2018)

    • Delta of Venus (1977)

    • Divining Truth (2012)

    • Designing Truth (2015)

    • Flowers in the Attic (1979)

    • Forbidden (2010)

    • House of Incest (1936)

    • Interview with the Vampire (1976)

    • The Vampire Lestat (1985)

    • Leviathan (2009)

    • Behemoth (2010)

    • Goliath (2011)

    • Life of Pi (2001)

    • Memoirs of a Geisha (1997)

    • Perfect Chemistry (2008)

    • Rules of Attraction (2010)

    • Chain Reaction (2011)

    • Recursion (2019)

    • Red Rising (2014)

    • Golden Son (2015)

    • Morning Star (2016)

    • Ship Breaker (2010)

    • The Drowned Cities (2012)

    • Stolen (2009)

    • Tarnish (2013)

    • The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

    • The Diabolic (2016)

    • The Empress (2017)

    • The Nemesis (2020)

    • The Forest of Hands and Teeth (2009)

    • The Dead-Tossed Waves (2010)

    • The Dark and Hollow Places (2011)

    • The Host (2008)

    • The Hunger Games (2008)

    • Catching Fire (2009)

    • Mockingjay (2010)

    • The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020)

    • The Memoirs of Cleopatra (1997)

    • The Poppy War (2018)

    • The Dragon Republic (2019)

    • The Burning God (2020)

    • The Song of Achilles (2011)

    • The Winner's Curse (2014)

    • The Winner's Crime (2015)

    • The Winner's Kiss (2016)

    • Uglies (2005)

    • Pretties (2005)

    • Specials (2006)

    • Unwind (2007)

    • UnWholly (2012)

    • UnSouled (2013)

    • UnDivided (2014)

Favorites: Non-Fiction

    • All You Can Feel (2014)

    • Angel Without You (2013)

    • Black Quantum Futurism: Theory and Practice, Volume I (2015)

    • Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View (2007)

    • Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why (1998)

    • Detecting Lies and Deceit: The Psychology of Lying and the Implications for Professional Practice (2000)

    • Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization (1995)

    • Genius and the Mind: Studies of Creativity and Temperament (1998)

    • Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology (2018)

    • Hallucinogenic Plants: A Golden Guide (1976)

    • The 21st Century Screenplay: A Comprehensive Guide to Writing Tomorrow’s Films (2010)

    • The Adventure of I: A Journey to the Centre of Your Reality (2013)

    • The Art of Seduction (2001)

    • The Psychology of Totalitarianism (2022)

    • The Rebirth of Rapunzel: A Mythic Biography of the Maiden in the Tower (2016)

    • Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins (2015)

Favorites: Poetry

    • Crush (2005)

    • The Lords and the New Creatures (1970)

    • Wilderness (1988)

    • Love and Misadventure (2013)

    • Lullabies (2014)

    • The Universe of Us (2016)

Favorites: Biography

    • Alexander the Great (2010)

    • Barbara: An Affair of State (2022)

    • Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life (2015)

    • Bonnie and Clyde: The Lives Behind the Legend (2008)

    • Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day (2012)

    • Caesar: Life of a Colossus (2006)

    • Forget Me Not (2008)

    • Heinrich von Kleist (1975)

    • Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest (2011)

    • Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster‍ (1997)

    • Just Kids (2010)

    • PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story (1990)

    • The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World (2014)

    • The Lover (1986)

    • The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy (2009)

    • The Rose of Paracelsus: On Secrets & Sacraments (2015)

    • The Voyages of Fishers Hornpipe (2006)

    • Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (2010)

    • West with the Night (1942)

    • Wind, Sand and Stars (1939)

Favorites: Children

    • The Bad Beginning (1999)

    • The Reptile Room (1999)

    • The Wide Window (2000)

    • The Miserable Mill (2000)

    • The Austere Academy (2000)

    • The Ersatz Elevator (2001)

    • The Vile Village (2001)

    • The Hostile Hospital (2001)

    • The Carnivorous Carnival (2002)

    • The Slippery Slope (2003)

    • The Grim Grotto (2004)

    • The Penultimate Peril (2005)

    • The End (2006)

    • Fever 1793 (2000)

    • Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China (1989)

    • To Catch A Pirate (2007)

Understudies: YA Fiction

    • Angels of Death, Vol. 1 (2016)

    • Angels of Death, Vol. 2 (2016)

    • Angels of Death, Vol. 3 (2016)

    • Angels of Death, Vol. 4 (2017)

    • Angels of Death, Vol. 5 (2017)

    • Angels of Death, Vol. 6 (2017)

    • Angels of Death, Vol. 7 (2018)

    • Angels of Death, Vol. 8 (2018)

    • Angels of Death, Vol. 9 (2019)

    • Angels of Death, Vol. 10 (2019)

    • Angels of Death, Vol. 11 (2020)

    • Angels of Death, Vol. 12 (2020)

    • Ashes (2011)

    • Shadows (2012)

    • Monsters (2013)

    • Black Hole Sun (2010)

    • But I Love Him (2011)

    • Caraval (2017)

    • Legendary (2018)

    • Finale (2019)

    • City of a Thousand Dolls (2013)

    • Empire of Shadows (2014)

    • Eleanor and Park (2012)

    • Halo (2013)

    • If We Were Villains (2017)

    • Incarceron (2007)

    • Sapphique (2008)

    • Keturah and Lord Death (2006)

    • Lexicon (2013)

    • Once Upon a Broken Heart (2021)

    • The Ballad of Never After (2022)

    • A Curse for True Love (2023)

    • Possession (2011)

    • Surrender (2012)

    • Abandon (2013)

    • Under the Never Sky (2012)

    • Through the Ever Night (2013)

    • Into the Still Blue (2014)

    • Uninvited (2014)

    • Unleashed (2015)

    • Skinned (2008)

    • Crashed (2009)

    • Wired (2010)

    • Starters (2012)

    • Enders (2013)

    • The 5th Wave (2013)

    • The Infinite Sea (2014)

    • The Last Star (2016)

    • The Bar Code Tattoo (2004)

    • The Chosen One (2009)

    • The Cruel Prince (2018)

    • The Wicked King (2019)

    • The Queen of Nothing (2019)

    • The Last Namsara (2017)

    • The Caged Queen (2018)

    • The Sky Weaver (2019)

    • The Unidentified (2010)

    • The Wrath and the Dawn (2015)

    • The Rose and the Dagger (2016)

    • The Young Elites (2014)

    • The Rose Society (2015)

    • The Midnight Star (2016)

    • These Broken Stars (2013)

    • Twilight (2005)

    • Eclipse (2007)

    • Vicious (2013)

    • Vengeful (2018)

Understudies: aDULT fICTION

    • A Touch of Darkness (2019)

    • A Touch of Ruin (2020)

    • A Touch of Malice (2021)

    • A Touch of Chaos (2024)

    • Circling the Sun (2015)

    • Empress (2003)

    • Gone Girl (2012)

    • Henry and June: From the Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin (1986)

    • The Almafi Curse (2025)

    • The Da Vinci Code (2003)

    • The Ghost Bride (2013)

    • The Paris Wife (2011)

    • Tell the Wolves I’m Home (2012)

    • Upgrade (2022)

    • Willing Prey (2024)

Understudies: Non-Fiction

    • A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003)

    • A Vindication of Love: Reclaiming Romance for the 21st Century (2009)

    • Cosmos (1980)

    • Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge (1992)

    • Holy Shit: A Brief History of Swearing (2013)

    • Passionista: The Empowered Woman's Guide to Pleasuring a Man (2006)

    • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2014)

    • Steal like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative (2012)

    • The Art of Travel (2002)

    • The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge (1998)

    • The Doors of Perception (1956)

    • The Gentle Art of Tramping (1926)

    • The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs: Use Outdoor Clues to Find Your Way, Predict the Weather, Locate Water, Track Animals—and Other Forgotten Skills (2014)

    • Pukka's Promise: The Quest for Longer-Lived Dogs (2009)

    • The Story of Art (1950)

    • You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Story: The 21st Century Survival Guide to Not Just Writing Stories but Building Super Stories (2017)

Understudies: Poetry

    • Betting on the Muse: Poems & Stories (1996)

    • Illuminations (1886)

    • Lilith’s Legacy: Prose Poems and Short Stories (2018)

Kalyn Lady
Next

Disney, the Triple Goddess, and the Villainization of the Mother in Modern Fairy Tales