Why am I passionate about this?

I am a writer of speculative novels, captivated by fictional worlds that resemble ours and don’t, stories that travel to places we find strange (sometimes even unsettling) but can’t look away from, tales we feel in our minds and in our guts. For me writing and reading, though they seem sedentary activities, are actually physical acts we experience with our entire being and body—before I became a writer I was a professional ballet dancer, and I’ve never lost the sense that stories are movement, making you feel like you’re flying even if you’re sitting still. I’ve written seven books, and love that my job is leaping with readers.


I wrote

Our Eyes at Night

By M Dressler,

Book cover of Our Eyes at Night

What is my book about?

In a remote town in the desert Southwest, a house appears to remodel itself, a cemetery is rearranged, and an…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Never Let Me Go

M Dressler Why did I love this book?

This is one of the books that made me want to become a writer of “speculative” novels. It’s a beautifully engrossing alternate history, set in what appears to be a remote English boarding school. There we meet young people who have been told they have a special destiny, a special place in the world—but not what that destiny is. As his story unfolds, Ishiguro asks us to think about how far human beings might be willing to go to save themselves, what it actually means to be human, and how something as beautiful as empathy and caring can be used, if we aren’t careful, to serve its exact opposite. It’s stayed with me over the years not only for these questions and for its elegant writing, but because it reminds me how easily something precious—love, or even storytelling itself—can, in the wrong hands, become a weapon.

By Kazuo Ishiguro,

Why should I read it?

21 authors picked Never Let Me Go as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of the most acclaimed novels of the 21st Century, from the Nobel Prize-winning author

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize

Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewed version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now thirty-one, Never Let Me Go dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense…


Book cover of The Haunting of Hill House

M Dressler Why did I love this book?

I adore this book, often considered to be the mother of all contemporary haunted house stories. It’s another gorgeously written novel, and so subtle you might not realize at first how it is going to creep into your bones and linger between your ears. A group of “researchers” arrive at a mansion to discover if it is indeed haunted; the house begins to work its powers on visitors, preying on the most vulnerable and sensitive among them. It’s as much a study of psychology and need as it is a ghost story, and it taught me that the best haunted tales are about what we refuse to look at but should, what is right in front of us and yet we are afraid to confront it, because it might be some version of ourselves, our desires. Don’t expect big scares or gore in this scary house; it isn’t about that. It’s about what’s in the shadows. And that’s enough.

By Shirley Jackson,

Why should I read it?

36 authors picked The Haunting of Hill House as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Part of a new six-volume series of the best in classic horror, selected by Academy Award-winning director of The Shape of Water Guillermo del Toro

Filmmaker and longtime horror literature fan Guillermo del Toro serves as the curator for the Penguin Horror series, a new collection of classic tales and poems by masters of the genre. Included here are some of del Toro's favorites, from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Ray Russell's short story "Sardonicus," considered by Stephen King to be "perhaps the finest example of the modern Gothic ever written," to Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and stories…


Book cover of The Book of Strange New Things

M Dressler Why did I love this book?

I love books that are not just set in haunted or “alternate” places but also books set in space. It seems to me as both a reader and a writer I am attracted to stories that are set in worlds that are both imaginable and “strange.” Faber’s book is strange in the best possible ways. A husband and wife are separated when he goes to another planet to work for a corporation that wants religious teachings to take root on the planet. The “natives”—who can be wounded but can’t heal—embrace these new teachings eagerly, at the same time Earth, the world the religion came from, is collapsing (as the wife desperately reports) into utter chaos and ruin. This is a novel about love and separation and fear and harm and good, an imaginative and not-at-all-preachy book that will still have you looking up at the stars and wondering: if we do get there, what will be gained, what will be lost?

By Michel Faber,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Book of Strange New Things as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'I am with you always, even unto the end of the world . . .'

Peter Leigh is a missionary called to go on the journey of a lifetime. Leaving behind his beloved wife, Bea, he boards a flight for a remote and unfamiliar land, a place where the locals are hungry for the teachings of the Bible - his 'book of strange new things'. It is a quest that will challenge Peter's beliefs, his understanding of the limits of the human body and, most of all, his love for Bea.

The Book of Strange New Things is a wildly…


Book cover of Frenchman's Creek

M Dressler Why did I love this book?

This one might be a surprise on this list—the “other world” it is set in is the coast of Cornwall in the 17th century. The prologue is full of ghostly figures—then the story, in which a bored English noblewoman flees a life of carousing to find peace aboard a secretive pirate vessel, takes off. It sounds like it might be corny, but it isn’t. It’s deeply entertaining, beautifully written (can you tell I like beautifully written books?), and paints an extraordinary picture of a place and an era. But above all, it is about life choices—hard, hard choices. I read it when I was a young writer, just starting out in life, and I remember both loving it and it making me angry. It seemed to be saying it is never easy to have everything, everything you want. Now that I’m older, re-reading it, it seems to be about embracing both choice and regret. An inevitable combination. So you might as well get some swashbuckling in, eh?

By Daphne du Maurier,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Frenchman's Creek as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the author of Rebecca comes the story of a woman who craves love, freedom, and adventure-but it might cost her everything.
"Highly personalized adventure, ultra-romantic mood, and skillful storytelling." -New York Times
A lost classic from master of gothic romance and author of Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier, Frenchman's Creek is an electrifying tale of love and scandal on the high seas.
Jaded by the numbing politeness of London in the late 1600s, Lady Dona St. Columb revolts against high society. She rides into the countryside, guided only by her restlessness and her longing to escape.
But when chance leads…


Book cover of Death with Interruptions

M Dressler Why did I love this book?

I’ve saved my “riskiest” pick for last—you might not like this one, or at least you might be wondering for two-thirds of the book what the heck is going on, other than that you are reading about a country in which no one dies. The book starts by earnestly (and sometimes humorously) asking and answering questions: what do you do with so many living people? What do you do with people who are say, gravely wounded in an accident but can’t die and also can’t recover? What are not just the logistical but emotional challenges of no one departing? Would people want to live in such a country? Or flee it? Saramago was a philosopher before he was a writer, and he loves pondering things... And then, all of a sudden, the book shifts, it switches into another gear entirely and becomes a beautifully moving story about Death taking a much-needed holiday. Hang in there, and it will reward you—which really makes me think about how all books are “otherworldly,” and how, whether we are readers or writers or both, we’re asked to travel to their unexpected places, with an open heart, if we can. And then just see what happens.

By José Saramago,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Death with Interruptions as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Nobel Prize-winner Jose Saramago's brilliant novel poses the question—what happens when the grim reaper decides there will be no more death? On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This of course causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, morticians, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially celebration—flags are hung out on balconies, people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity: eternal life. Then reality hits home—families are left to care for the permanently dying, life-insurance policies become meaningless, and funeral parlors are reduced to arranging burials…


Explore my book 😀

Our Eyes at Night

By M Dressler,

Book cover of Our Eyes at Night

What is my book about?

In a remote town in the desert Southwest, a house appears to remodel itself, a cemetery is rearranged, and an ancient valley is suddenly haunted by a glimmering visitor. Called in to “clean” the unwanted dead, ghost expert Philip Pratt finds himself in territory at once familiar and unfamiliar, stalking the spirit of Emma Rose Finnis—a ghost who has come to this harsh place to see just how far a soul can go. In a cat-and-mouse game between the living and the dead, Pratt and Emma must each confront how far they are willing to travel into this stunning landscape, already filled with the people and spirits of the past. As their encounters become more and more dangerous, the living and the dead each become more certain they must control their own destinies—even if it means risking their souls.

Book cover of Never Let Me Go
Book cover of The Haunting of Hill House
Book cover of The Book of Strange New Things

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Sor Juana, My Beloved

By MaryAnn Shank,

Book cover of Sor Juana, My Beloved

MaryAnn Shank Author Of Sor Juana, My Beloved

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I once saw a play at the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Theatre. A play about Sor Juana. It was a good play, but it felt like something was missing like jalapenos left out of enchiladas. The play kept nudging me to look further to find Sor Juana, and so for the next five years, I did so. I read and read more. I listened for her voice, and that is where I heard her life come alive. This isn’t the only possibility for Sor Juana’s life; it is just the one I heard.

MaryAnn's book list on the mystical Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz

What is my book about?

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, this brilliant 17th century nun flew through Mexico City on the breeze of poetry and philosophy. She met with princes of the Church, and with the royalty of Spain and Mexico. Then she met a stunning, powerful woman with lavender eyes, la Vicereine Maria Louisa, and her life changed forever. As her fame grew, she dared to challenge the diabolical Archbishop once too often, and he threw her in front of the Inquisition, where she stood, alone.

Sor Juana's work is studied still today, and justifiably so. Scholars study her months on end; mystics…

Sor Juana, My Beloved

By MaryAnn Shank,

What is this book about?

This astonishingly brilliant 17th century poet and dramatist, this nun, flew through Mexico City on wings of inspiration. Having no dowry, she chose the life of a nun so that she might learn, so that she might write, so that she might meet the most fascinating people of the western world. She accomplished all of that, and more.

One day a woman with violet eyes, eyes the color of passion flowers, entered her life. It was the new Vicereine, Maria Luisa. As the two most powerful women in Mexico City, the bond between them crossed politics and wound them in…


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