Want to know what books Joanna Kavenna recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Joanna Kavenna's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
His father and uncles are enchanters, his mother a powerful sorceress, yet nothing seems magical about Christopher Chant except his dreams. Night after night, he climbs through the formless Place Between and visits marvelous lands he calls the Almost Anywheres. Then Christopher discovers that he can bring real, solid things back from his dreams. Others begin to recognize the extent of his powers, and they issue an order that turns Christopher's life upside down: Go to Chrestomanci Castle to train to be the controller of all the world's magic. more His father and uncles are enchanters, his mother a powerful sorceress, yet nothing seems magical about Christopher Chant except his dreams. Night after night, he climbs through the formless Place Between and visits marvelous lands he calls the Almost Anywheres. Then Christopher discovers that he can bring real, solid things back from his dreams. Others begin to recognize the extent of his powers, and they issue an order that turns Christopher's life upside down: Go to Chrestomanci Castle to train to be the controller of all the world's magic. less 
Joanna KavennaI suppose the reason parallel worlds fiction appeals to children is because the child is a bit like a lunatic in some way – they don’t stand within these ordinary worlds’ orthodoxies. (Source)
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2
After being unjustly committed to a mental institution, Connie Ramos is contacted by an envoy from the year 2137, who shows her a utopian future of sexual and racial equality and environmental harmony.
But Connie also bears witness to another potential outcome: a dystopian society of grotesque exploitation. One will become our world. And Connie herself may strike the decisive blow... more After being unjustly committed to a mental institution, Connie Ramos is contacted by an envoy from the year 2137, who shows her a utopian future of sexual and racial equality and environmental harmony.
But Connie also bears witness to another potential outcome: a dystopian society of grotesque exploitation. One will become our world. And Connie herself may strike the decisive blow... less Joanna KavennaWhat’s really brilliant about this novel is that it could obviously all be in her head, about the way we create our own realities and how our sense of reality is totally determined by our own mental states. (Source)
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3
'Summer was drawing to a close, and I realized that the book was monstrous.'
Fantastical tales of mazes, puzzles, lost labyrinths and bookish mysteries, from the unique imagination of a literary magician.
Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems... more 'Summer was drawing to a close, and I realized that the book was monstrous.'
Fantastical tales of mazes, puzzles, lost labyrinths and bookish mysteries, from the unique imagination of a literary magician.
Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space. less Joanna KavennaBorges creates this world of bizarre, really occult coincidences that are completely unbelievable, unless you’re in his world. (Source)
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4
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
–H. P. LOVECRAFT
Welcome to the world of H. P. Lovecraft, the undisputed master of terror. His work has inspired countless nightmares, and this collection of some of his most chilling stories is likely to inspire even more.
Cool Air–An icy apartment hides secrets no man dares unlock.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward–Ward delves into the black arts and resurrects the darkest evil from beyond the grave.
The... more “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
–H. P. LOVECRAFT
Welcome to the world of H. P. Lovecraft, the undisputed master of terror. His work has inspired countless nightmares, and this collection of some of his most chilling stories is likely to inspire even more.
Cool Air–An icy apartment hides secrets no man dares unlock.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward–Ward delves into the black arts and resurrects the darkest evil from beyond the grave.
The Terrible Old Man–The intruders seek a fortune but find only death.
Herbert West–Reanimator–Mad experiments yield hideous results in this bloodcurdling tale, the inspiration for the cult film Re-Animator.
The Shadow Over Innsmouth–A small fishing town’s population is obscenely corrupted by a race of fiendish undersea creatures.
The Lurking Fear–An upstate New York clan degenerates into thunder-crazed mole like creatures with a taste for human flesh.
PLUS TEN OTHER SPINE-TINGLING TALES
less Joanna KavennaThe Lovecraft stories that I really love are these ones that some people call the Dreamland Cycle; about worlds that you enter through dreams. (Source)
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5
Alternate Cover Edition can be found here and here.
It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some twenty years earlier the United States lost a war—and is now occupied by Nazi Germany and Japan.
This harrowing, Hugo... more Alternate Cover Edition can be found here and here.
It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some twenty years earlier the United States lost a war—and is now occupied by Nazi Germany and Japan.
This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. Dick as an innovator in science fiction while breaking the barrier between science fiction and the serious novel of ideas. In it Dick offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to wake. less 
Antonio EramThis book was recommended by Antonio when asked for titles he would recommend to young people interested in his career path. (Source)
Joanna KavennaYou think you’ve acquired one truth: but that truth is really that there are infinite truths and infinite worlds, and nobody knows what the hell is going on, basically. (Source)
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