Getting things done fictionally
June 30, 2022 1:14 PM Subscribe
Seeking: Books where characters figure out their goals/ make progress on their goals. This can be any genre, really, but I want books where the protagonists like where they are in the end. I feel like I've mostly found this in fiction, mystery, and romance genres but it doesn't have to be in those (And I'm not the most into sex scenes but if they're part of the book they're fine - I say romance because of the tendency to have characters figure out their lives.)
Books I've liked that have elements of this: Writers and Lovers by Lily King is my ur-example. I also liked Mia P. Manansala's Arsenic and Adobo and Homicide and Halo Halo and Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie. I especially like it if these are by queer and/or BIPOC authors.
Books I've liked that have elements of this: Writers and Lovers by Lily King is my ur-example. I also liked Mia P. Manansala's Arsenic and Adobo and Homicide and Halo Halo and Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie. I especially like it if these are by queer and/or BIPOC authors.
I don't have a lot of specific author/title recommendations, but, as a genre, you might check out memoir/autobiography.
Figuring out goals, making progress on them, and liking where they are in the end are not quite ubiquitous, but all are very, very, common in the genre.
Maybe a couple specific suggestions: Angela Davis's 1972 'Angela Davis: An Autobiography,' Saeed Jones's 'How We Fight For Our Lives,' and Alison Bechdel's 'Fun Home' and 'Are You My Mother?'
posted by box at 1:45 PM on June 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Figuring out goals, making progress on them, and liking where they are in the end are not quite ubiquitous, but all are very, very, common in the genre.
Maybe a couple specific suggestions: Angela Davis's 1972 'Angela Davis: An Autobiography,' Saeed Jones's 'How We Fight For Our Lives,' and Alison Bechdel's 'Fun Home' and 'Are You My Mother?'
posted by box at 1:45 PM on June 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Future Feeling is very queer and i think fits the rest of your brief very well too.
posted by ominous_paws at 1:47 PM on June 30, 2022
posted by ominous_paws at 1:47 PM on June 30, 2022
Sheila Heti's How Should A Person Be may fit the bill in a sense.
posted by derrinyet at 2:14 PM on June 30, 2022
posted by derrinyet at 2:14 PM on June 30, 2022
The Midnight Library is all about this.
"Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place."
posted by evilmomlady at 3:23 PM on June 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
"Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place."
posted by evilmomlady at 3:23 PM on June 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
In Emily Henry’s enjoyable Book Lovers, the main character is a high powered literary agent and her pregnant sister plans a sisters’ getaway to a small town made famous by a bestselling novel (author represented by the lit agent of course). The sister makes a list of goals for them: (the single sister will) meet and have a romance with a local, they will save a struggling local business, they will ride a horse, etc.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 6:08 PM on June 30, 2022
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 6:08 PM on June 30, 2022
There is a sub-genre of fantasy calls "Progression Fantasy" that covers this pretty well, though the quality of books varies tremendously.
posted by genrand at 6:58 PM on June 30, 2022
posted by genrand at 6:58 PM on June 30, 2022
I’m not sure this is the vibe you’re going, for, but The Life and Love of a She-Devil is the book that leapt to mind. It’s very dark though.
posted by bq at 7:39 PM on June 30, 2022
posted by bq at 7:39 PM on June 30, 2022
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posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:25 PM on June 30, 2022 [5 favorites]