Parisian Phoenix Publishing

Books that’ll make you wish you wrote them / that’ll make you ugly cry

A list of books outside the Parisian Phoenix universe compiled by Sheena Stimpfl as part of our “Top Five Countdown List” series, where various members of our universe contribute some of their favorites to share with you.

Sheena Stimpfl is a poet, writer and editor whose poetry book, I Might Imagine Wild Things, came out last fall. She anticipates at least one novel releasing in 2027.

•All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker— After I read this book, I posted about it on my IG stories, expressing how gutted I was after finishing it. I tagged the author and lo and behold, he responded to me. I can’t remember what he said, but I was thrilled about it. Gutted is probably the best word to describe how it made me feel, so we’ll stick with that. This one spans over the course of decades, blending a missing-person mystery, a serial killer, and a love story. It follows two best friends, whose lives are shattered when one goes missing.

•Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabriel Zevin— Spanning 30 years, this novel is about friendship and the worlds people build together, both digital and real. It follows Sam and Sadie, who become famous video game designers. I had a hard time putting this one down. Zevin did an amazing job at what Stephen King calls, showing vs telling. You can map every decision each character makes that leads to a specific outcome. Books like this can be frustrating, when you see a better way for a character to take, but they choose the other fork in the road. I sometimes squirm in my seat, knowing it won’t go well, but willingly decide to go along for the ride. It’s simultaneously heartbreaking and beautiful. This book surprised me (I’m not into video games at all). I even had a Notes page on my phone dedicated to one-liners and entire passages from the book, since I didn’t want to dog-ear the thing to death.

•Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane—This book was shocking and unpredictable in so many ways. Keane captures the complexities of family, love, and forgiveness so beautifully in this novel. I honestly can’t wait to read it again. It follows two neighboring families whose lives become intertwined and ultimately tested by a tragic event that divides them, then brings them back together through the bond between their two children, Kate and Peter.

•Go as a River by Shelley Read— This was one of those books that I would constantly set down after reading a particular line that moved me, so I could really take it in. Read is one of those writers that always makes me wonder how they do it. It’s a coming of age story set in Colorado in the late 1940s about a girl that must manage her family’s farm after her mother dies. Her life changes after meeting a drifter and she is forced into the mountains, eventually confronting the Gunnison River that threatens her homeland. The story is inspired by true events.

•The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller— Some writers just really know how to take you right into the setting of their novel and Cowley Heller does just that. Set at her family’s summer home on Cape Cod, Elle, after making a life-altering choice, must decide between the life she knows and the life she’s always imagined. The story flashes back to reveal traumatic events that shaped Elle’s life, leading to her situation.