My latest novel Exalted is about a cynical internet astrologer. I started writing it because I was reading birth charts online at the time, collecting all this useless knowledge and feeling like a scam artist. Like my protagonist, I was obsessed with astrology but I wasn’t sure I believed in it. I mostly enjoyed it as something to think about and talk about, a method to organize a mostly chaotic universe, and a way to make some cash. For a while, I even made money matching weed products to Zodiac signs for a cannabis startup.
At the height of my obsession, I was constantly categorizing things — books, music, fictional characters, inanimate objects — by sign. It was a soothing, low stakes task for my brain, something pleasant to think about as I drifted off to sleep. It is still nearly impossible for me to read a book without looking up the author’s zodiac sign and, if I enjoy the book, their entire birth chart. (The fact that Chris Kraus’s birthday is not available online keeps me up at night.) I would always try to guess the author’s sign before I looked it up, mostly based on the vibe of the book.
This is all to say, I’ve spent a lot of time determining where certain books exist in the stars, knowledge I never thought I’d have use for. Until now! Below, I’ve matched each Zodiac sign with a book that I believe matches the sign’s energy.
