This book was a bit of a publishing sensation when it came out in Finland 2020, and it’s been translated as: The Women I Think about at Night: Traveling the…
Naiset joita ajattelen öisin by Mia Kankimäki, trans. Douglas Robinson
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Another November/December non-fiction book that I really, really enjoyed reading. I found this memoir deeply touching and raw. It’s a gritty memoir in the sense that it looks at grief…
You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
Palestinian-Italian-American Zaina’s memoir about embracing her queer identity, going from US school years to summers in Palestine and Jordan with chaotic checkpoints and feelings of “otherness”, is a touching story…
Books about Women’s Health: Medical Memoirs & History
I’ve got a bit of a thing for books on women’s health: whether that is an empowering memoir of dealing with pain and frustrating diagnoses, or hard-hitting reports on the…
A Body Made of Glass: A History of Hypochondria by Caroline Crampton
Ever heard of the glass delusion – the established fear of being made of glass? Did you know that before glass was commonplace, people used to think they were made…
Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir by Lamya H.
This was a really powerful and engaging read: an anonymous memoir rooted in a very specific moment in time, marked by rising Islamophobia and increasing global mobility. The narrator, a…
Poor by Katriona O’Sullivan
This is a powerful memoir, full of heart-stopping moments in a “wrong side of the tracks” childhood. It’s a topical book about what happens to children who grow up in…
Gritty Childhood Memoirs: Survival & Hope In Equal Measure
Why are we so drawn to difficult childhoods in literature? Do difficult childhoods make for great writers? There is something cathartic and compelling about reading stories of childhood survival and…
Deborah Levy’s Living Autobiography Series: Feminism, Writing & Space
Deborah Levy’s Living Autobiography series is a fascinating blend of memoir, essay, and narrative reflection. Comprising three books—Things I Don’t Want to Know, The Cost of Living, and Real Estate—the…
Unquiet by Linn Ullmann (Review)
This book was such a joy to read—thoughtful, intelligent, and surprisingly funny. I hadn’t been aware of Linn Ullmann before, but after receiving messages from people praising her work, I…
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench
This was a really great read that I hoovered up. I actually listened to it in audio, which was a really great way to appreciate Shakespeare’s language! Judi herself reads…
84 Charing Cross Road & The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
Two books in one, and what a treat these are! These works are absolutely iconic, and the first one catapulted Helene to instant cult fame. I can really see why….
The Sculptor’s Daughter (Bildhuggarens dotter/Kuvanveistäjän tytär) by Tove Jansson
My first Finnish-language book in years, and what a banger to start with!! Reading this in snowy Helsinki and visiting Tove’s childhood street and looking up at the studio she…
Real Estate by Deborah Levy
The final instalment of the Living Autobiography series! These books have been super easy for me to read. Not necessarily always wholly relatable, they are beautiful, satisfying, and full of…
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (Review)
I’d seen a lot of hype around this book, and I was curious to see how the title and the story would play out. I’d seen some promotional material, so…
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
Can you believe this was my first ever audiobook?! What a way to start. When I saw that Fern Brady had written a book about her autism diagnosis and that…
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Wow, what a powerful read. Jeannette, New York journalist, tells us the story of her chaotic childhood with her charismatic alcoholic father and her depressive artist mother. With her three…
Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, The Flesh, And LA by Eve Babitz
I didn’t know I’d love this as much as I did! Eve Babitz is a bit of a legend, a Hollywood muse, and I thought it was really powerful to…
Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation by Rachel Cusk
Now, I love Rachel Cusk and have hoovered up a lot of her work. This one is more of a memoir than some of the other Rachel Cusk stuff I’ve…
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
This has become a book I recommend on a regular basis! An important piece of investigative journalism led to this book that intersects topics such as race, medical ethics, gynaecology,…
Things I Don’t Want to Know by Deborah Levy
The first book in her “living autobiography” series, this is a response to George Orwell’s “Why I Write” which I read so long ago that I don’t really know in…
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy
Started with #2 of a trilogy and have no regrets: this is part of her “living memoir” series. There are some lovely vignettes here that explore different aspects of divorce…
Ask Me About My Uterus by Abby Norman
I’ve read a few of these medical memoir/survival story/gyno pain narratives. It’s a weird thing to say you enjoy, but I do. It’s a really interesting and informative topic to…
A Life’s Work by Rachel Cusk
Reading this, I’m reminded how much I like Rachel Cusk’s writing. There is something very raw and relatable in all her books. This is a claustrophobic post-partum memoir where Cusk…
Night Walks by Charles Dickens
A wonderful premise, this is a collection of stories, essays, and observations written under the guise of Dickens’s insomniac walking around London. Not so much an article of psychological self-exploration,…
A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar
My kind of travel memoir where the personal intertwines with travel, art, and politics. It’s a short book that I feel like anyone would enjoy, but my heightened interest in…
Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson
This was honestly amazing! The sort of memoir that takes you all over the world, and I loved the poetry and philosophy interludes. It’s fascinating to see behind a cultural…
Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen
Three books in one, Tove Ditlevsen’s Copenhagen trilogy was a revelation! A well-known Danish poet and writer, Ditlevsen tracks her life growing up in Copenhagen, grafting, writing, and figuring out…