Judging Books by Their Titles: More of the Best Book Titles of 2024

This is one of those titles that combine with its subtitle to kind of turn your stomach. The word “flesh” is the main, stomach-turning culprit, but the juxtaposition of it with the word “beauty,” which normally has positive connotations, had me flip-flopping a bit between revulsion and anticipating some, well, beauty. Altogether, the entire title is so effective at communicating how vile the state of the very digitized beauty industry is in just a few words.

As the self-appointed skin care expert among all my friends, “such lovely skin” sounds like it should be something I’d love to hear. But, there is something about it that makes my skin crawl—like someone’s skin (mine?) is being assessed in less than savory ways. And that’s even before I see lying Twitch streamer Viv’s head lying under her evil demon doppelganger’s.

When someone pulls up and they’re talking about how she and her people are about to be jaguars, you know that narrative is about to hit—maybe even make you want to do a lil something. A little activism, a little protesting, who knows. Like yes, Nenquimo, tell me about your childhood as part of the Waorani Tribe of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest and as a climate activist while I finish painting this picket sign.