An Eccentric Bibliophile's (Yet Incomplete) Guide to Dark Academia Reading, Because Who Needs Sunlight Anyway?
Lo and behold, the inevitable moment has arrived. You find yourself engrossed in Donna Tartt's 'The Secret History' for the umpteenth occasion (it never loses its luster, does it?), and you've diligently explored the whole dark academia canon. Or have you really?
I've made this post to collect the lesser-known tomes (because, you see, I'm well-acquainted with the exquisite agony of the quest). So, without further ado, let the revelry commence!
Disclaimer: the current version of the list has the links that lead to Goodreads. Also, the current version of the list seriously lacks books written by non-white authors. I hope that we'll collectively gain a cultural momentum and make this list better in this sense. I, personally, would love a recommendation!
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The volumes that are often bestowed with the dubious honor of canonical status, or, simply put, the ones that are most recommended dark academia reads.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
The Atlas by Olivie Blake
Alex Stern series by Leigh Bardugo
Lesser-Known Dark Academia Titles
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Intellect reigns supreme, arts and philosophy hold us captive, and we can't forget our undying affection for those delightfully lifeless languages. Oh, and let's not overlook the timeless charm of tweed. Simply put, less known but not less great titles that have all the canonical elements of dark academia. I've also added a few words about those that I love most.
The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte: a 15th-century painting has the key to a Renaissance murder, and the question Quis Necavit Equitem is answered by a modern-day art expert
Cornish Trilogy by Robertson Davies: a defrocked monk, some scholars of a university lovingly called "Spook" and a girl named Maria Magdalena Theotoky try to find out what to do with the vast estate of the recently deceased millionaire and art collector Francis Cornish
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas: a selective admission process gets Ines in an experimental liberal arts school called Catherine House. The alumni of this school became, at their own time, prize-winning authors, artists, inventors, Supreme Court justices and even presidents. But how exactly did that happen?
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee: no such thing as witchcraft exists in the world. That's probably not the case for Felicity, who is still trying to find out who killed five Dalloway students (supposedly, witches). Enter Ellis Haley, a young prodigy and a literary darling, who writes books about murders by re-enacting said murders...
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
Hex by Rebecca Dinerstein Knight
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever
Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella
The Cloisters by Katy Hays
In These Hallowed Halls: A Dark Academia Anthology
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
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These books might as well be the quintessential dark academia reads, but the only element that isn't bedecked in romanticism is higher education itself. Murders continue to unfold in the most peculiar manner, occult knowledge flourishes, and suddenly, the folks with a smidge of Latin under their belts are the life of the scholarly soirée. Simply put, a book that a dark academic might read and love if they are not that fond of remembering their own school days.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco
The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson
All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez
Hare House by Sally Hinchcliffe
Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters
The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Metropolitan Stories by Christine Coulson
Piranesi by Susanne Clarke
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanne Clarke
The Laundry Files series by Charles Stross
Alchemical Journeys series by Seanan McGuire
The Cadfael Chronicles by Ellis Peters
Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French
Please, by all means, feel at liberty to append additional entries to the inventory - or, simply put, feel free to add to this list.
