You enjoy exploring lives different from your own, and you’re intrigued by horrifying and gruesome stories.

On the outside, The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein presents itself as a gory tale of crime scenes and decay. But it’s really a journey of self-discovery. It tells the true story of Sandra Pankhurst, who cleans up the messes left by deaths, drug labs, and hoarding, and who struggled for many years with presenting herself as her assigned gender before finding the strength and courage to be her true self. Winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature, this book gets ugly at parts, but Pankhurst’s determination and kindness through it all left us inspired.