Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly wears the guise of sci-fi noir, kicking off with a troubled lawman trying to do the right thing in a force from the future. But the plot (like the protagonist himself) quickly disintegrates into something entirely different. You expect laser battles and apocalyptic destruction, but the story is far more grounded–and heartbreaking. Dick was writing a story about addiction, the force that took many of his good friends in real life. Someone is always spaced out during this story, and the protagonist’s brain becomes so decayed that the author ends up referring to him as an “it.” There are glimmers of hope at the end, but no heroism. Beneath all the scanner suits and split personalities, A Scanner Darkly is a tribute to the dead and an inescapable warning for the living. Thankfully, this message comes wrapped up in a well-written story guided by an endlessly creative brain. You’ll not only learn something from this book, but enjoy the lesson.

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis is a long, ennui-filled rant on the desolation of yuppie life, spiced with occasional pieces of torture porn. It is also a truly magnificent book: well-written, intense, and darkly funny. The plot is a roller coaster without direction or good seat belts, and the writer has a wondrous disregard for our comfort. I think that Ellis showed incredible courage when he put this story into the world. It’s not easy to describe the mechanics of raping a women with a live rat in the same 300+ pages as a tribute to Huey Lewis and the News. It also takes strength to reject all the stereotypes of a crime novel, and skill to do build a good story without them. Reality bends under Mr. Ellis’s fingers, breaking and rebuilding into a bizarre new mosaic. You came away confused, disturbed, world-weary–and hungry for more.

V by Thomas Pynchon is a series of interconnected short stories linked by one or more of three characters: the self-loathing Ben Profane, the obsessive Herbert Stencil, and the ever-changing V. Pynchon flips through a variety of plots, tones, and styles over the course of this work. His writing is at turns funny, horrific, meditative, or philosophical. The novel can be dull at times, but Pynchon still manages to prove himself as a talented and intense writer. One particularly shattering sequence is his description of a British atrocities in Africa during 1904, which invite comparisons to the Holocaust. Overall, V is a fractured story of a fractured twentieth century. Pynchon is not so much telling a story as painting a picture of a world: a world of merry drunks and falling bombs, secret identities and flailing revolutions, weary Bohemians and brief moments of beauty. This world can be a grim and confusing place, but I think that we could all benefit from visiting it.

When I first ordered Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor, I was worried that it would a disappointing–or worse–irritating read. The writing seemed stiff, I didn’t know the author, and the plot threatened to turn into yet another girl-goes-on-a-magical-journey-to-save-her-people epic. However, what I found instead was a lyrical story that is by turns funny, instructive, horrifying, and beautiful. Our hero is a young woman named Onyesonwu, which means “Who Fears Death?” She is a child of rape living in a post-apocalyptic world where ancient magic and present conflicts take on a futuristic cast. With the help of her incredible powers, Onyesonwu attempts to stem the racial conflicts that continue to boil the landscape of what was once Sudan. Her battle for peace turns stereotypes on their heads, not to mention the laws of reality. Okorafor has built an impossible world where hate can be cured, ghost trees are homicidal, people live inside sandstorms, and the act of conception can be weaponized. However, she also teaches us some very real lessons about trauma, sacrifice, and the eternal battle between love and hate. Her characters are carefully built, complicated structures that we grow to believe in and understand. Who Fears Death is a intense, rich story that will take your breath away. I’m going to request more Nnedi Okorafor for Christmas, and I think you shouldld, too.

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem resembles a parody of a traditional noir novel. The hard-bitten private “detectives” are damaged children who have grown up into criminals, the mysterious dame is Zen Buddhist, the looming hoodlums are reassigned (and hysterically incompetent) doormen. Our hero, Lionel Essrog (aka “The Human Freakshow”) is a grim figure on a strange case, but he doesn’t suffer from alcoholism or a weakness for dangerous women. Instead, he’s crippled by the far more debilitating Tourette’s, which makes for some hilarious conversations, but also painful isolation. Lionel’s mind and speech may be fractured by his order, but he is nonetheless determined to solve the murder of Frank Minna, his beloved mentor. His quest proves to be a well-written tale with suspenseful plotting, a sympathetic protagonist, and many layers. It’s a mystery, it’s a black comedy, it’s a coming-of-age epic, it’s a tale of overcoming adversity. At it’s heart, however, it’s a painfully relevant depiction the grim effects that mental illness and neglect have on children and adults. The cracks of our society is full of troubled souls like Lionel, and we should all do our best to give them the respect and patience they deserve.

My name is Aurora McKee, and I am proudly addicted to books. I can read very quickly, allowing me to finish a three-hundred page novel in a day. This blog will consistent primarily of reviews for books that I’ve read and found particularly interesting. I honestly don’t know if anyone will ever read this, but I’m going to try to have fun anyway.

“I am a fountain of blood in the form of a girl.”

—John Ajvide Lindqvist (because it’s a cool ***ing line, not because I’m depressed or anything. If I was depressed, you’d know it.)

My name is Aurora, although I also like the name Rory, and I am hooked on books the way other people of my generation are hooked on Instagram. I set up this blog so I could work on my righting skills, drool about my favorite books, and possibly connect with other word junkies. Ink bless you all.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.