What Your Astrological Sign Needs to Read This Month

Tauruses are known perfectionists, often hardworking and resistant to change. Therefore, they are often thorough when making decisions.  The Midnight Library revolves around the idea of parallel universes, or rather a library full of novels based around what could have been had our protagonist, Nora, made a different life decision. At a time in her life when she’s rethinking every decision, Nora visits the library to read the different iterations of her life. But after living through all of the possibilities, will she ever find the best decision for her?

Although typically deemed as social butterflies, Geminis are extremely multifaceted. They are often curious and ever-changing, and Happy Place will take you on a complex journey of emotion, laughs, romance, and memories. For the last ten years, Harriet and Wyn have joined their friends on a week-long vacation full of salt air and seafood to a coastal town in Maine. However, a sudden sale of the cottage will make this vacation the friend group’s last one. Harriet and Wyn don’t dare to tell their best friends that they broke up six months ago. Jumping from past and present timelines, the novel follows our two opposing lovers as they deal with social and emotional obstacles of pretending to still be in love while wondering if they ever really fell out of love.

Cancers are often considered a sensitive sign; they have strong memories and they are dreamers with a vast imagination for new ideas for their future. As a child growing up in the South, Jacob Tobia didn’t know where they stood on the gender spectrum, but their feminine actions labeled them as “gay,” “girly,” and most notably, a “sissy.” However, a gender binary wasn’t going to confine younger Jacob and their dreams to make an impact on the world. Following Jacob from their upbringing in North Carolina to their studies at Duke University and experiences in activism and television, Sissy takes readers on a journey of pain, healing, humor, and self-discovery. It’s a thought-provoking story that every sensitive sign will enjoy.

Leos live for the drama, and this dark yet hilarious novel is nothing short of it. Korede has always lived in the shadow of her older sister, Ayoola. Her awkwardness and intellect could never compare to her sister’s natural charisma and attractiveness. Ayoola has it all: beauty, charm, and a repeating pattern of killing her ex-boyfriends. Though she claims it’s always in self-defense, Korede questions her sister’s motives when her third ex-lover gets the ax. But, family blood runs deep, and Korede is always there with a jug of bleach and a body bag. It’s what sisters do for each other. Until Ayoola begins dating Tade, Korede’s coworker she’s been in love with. Dating Tade may be where Korede finally draws the line. Grab your popcorn and enjoy this deliciously dark comedy where sisterhood is put to the test.

Virgos are systematic and ambitious. They continually look for answers to further their intellect. Chloe Benjamin’s novel about living your life even if you know how it ends is the perfect match. In 1969 New York City, the four Gold children — Simon, Klara, Daniel, and Varya — go to a psychic to discover which days each will die. The book then follows each of the siblings as they consider how this information will affect their lives. Following the four characters within their individual timelines and locations, Benjamin excellently captures the authenticity of the character’s surroundings and experiences. It’s a story about family and how much of our fate is left in our own hands and destinies.

Libras crave balance. They think and pick apart information to seek justice for everyone. Sara Novic’s True Biz is a coming-of-age novel and a guide to the history of the deaf community and American Sign Language. True Biz follows the perspectives of two characters: Charlie, a deaf student with faulty cochlear implants who recently transferred to the River Valley School for the Deaf, and February, the school’s headmistress and a CODA (child of deaf adults). Having never learned ASL, Charlie struggles to adapt to the school environment and often feels alienated by the hearing and deaf communities. As the novel progresses, it transforms into a political awakening of deaf culture; Novic interweaves themes of identity, civil rights, justice, and loneliness while educating on sign language, lip-reading, accessibility, and the hardships faced by members of the deaf community. For Libras, this book is a great read about overcoming obstacles and discrimination to achieve inclusion and equity in a community.

Scorpios have a sharp edge, love authenticity in what they read, and aren’t afraid to engage in something more taboo. In this darkly comedic novel, former Pakistan pilot Ali Shigri only has one thing on his mind: revenge. When his father dies of mysterious circumstances, Ali embarks on a quest to take out the man responsible, dictator General Zia ul-Haq. He assembles an oddball team of fighters to help him but eventually realizes that his revenge plan may not be as easy as he had hoped. Written in the background of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, this political satire has betrayal, love, and crude humor to keep you from putting it down.

Sagittariuses are born adventurers and love a journey. In A Burning, Jivan is a young Muslim girl wrongfully accused of planning a terrorist attack. On a journey to clear her name, Jivan discovers that former faces are intertwined in this scheme, Her former gym teacher, PT Sir, assisted in accusing Jivan to impress a right-wing political party, and Lovely, a trans actress who Jivan once tutored, is being recruited as a witness to hopefully absolve Jivan. Offering different points of view, Majumdar’s political novel has the excitement of an adventure intertwined with the question of achieving success in an extremely political climate.

Capricorns are often deemed constructive critics, looking to improve themselves. In Brandon Taylor’s Real Life, Wallace searches for his sense of self and who he’s meant to be while studying at his small Midwestern University.  Identifying as Black and queer, Wallace struggles to find acceptance while escaping past moments of uncertainty and heartbreak. Capricorns will love this glimpse into the mind of Wallace, written as an open abyss of emotions of self-critique.

Aquarius is a sign of changing for the better. Patricia Lockwood’s No One Is Talking About This is a genre-defying story split into two parts. In part one, an unnamed narrator who has recently achieved massive social media fame discusses her day-to-day thoughts and experiences while playing with the portal — an internet social media platform. In the second part, a family emergency forces her to step away from the portal, prioritize her sister, and realize that true goodness exists in the world. Patrica Lockwood’s novel is a love letter to the current internet technology and a lesson about what truly matters in life. Aquariuses will love to follow our narrator on this journey as she develops a stronger relationship with herself and her loved ones.

Pisces are empathetic and compassionate with an intelligent and understanding mind. Klara is an Artificially Intelligent friend with a well-created intellect and a curiosity for humans and the natural world. In Ishiguro’s dystopian world — both shocking and unsettling, yet eerily familiar — Klara sits in the store and hopes for a human customer to purchase her. She watches human behavior and the ever-changing world around them, wishing to learn the secrets to human life and feelings. Like Pisces, Klara wants to understand the world around her, searching for connections and the chance to feel what others feel. Klara and the Sun is an exciting and suspenseful novel that provides the reader with thought-provoking questions on love and the morality of human behavior.