Before the clock struck 12 on December 31, 2022, I set a goal for myself in the upcoming year: I would read 40 books. It seemed ambitious but I read 30 books throughout 2022 so 10 more seemed relatively doable. As the year comes to an end, my bookshelves are fuller than ever. My goal is wrapping up and since it is the holidays, my gift to you all is some of my book recommendations out of the 40 I’ve read this year!
Side note: My favorite books usually center around very flawed women just going through the motions of life i.e. some sort of trauma. Think Sylvia Plath and Ottessa Moshfegh. Most of the books you’ll find below will coincide with that thematic structure. Warning: Books about mental illness ahead!
Romance + Relationships:
“Beautiful World Where Are You” by Sally Rooney ✰✰✰✰
We all know Sally Rooney as the master of romance. I’ve read her other books and completely fell in love with the way she writes the push and pull of love and relationships, romantic or otherwise. I read most of the book on a plane ride to and from my family’s vacation destination which was nice because it gave me an excuse not to interact with people but also because it is genuinely such a good book. It is incredibly introspective, sexy, and endearing like all of Rooney’s books are. Give it a read if you like “will They, won’t they” stories and beautiful writing that still gives a bit of raunchiness.
Read the summary here: Beautiful World, Where Are You? | Goodreads
“Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir” by Dolly Alderton ✰✰✰✰✰
So. Freaking. Good. You might think this book is solely about romantic love but really, Alderton touches on the love that she has fostered in her friendships with women. Alderton describes her fun-loving friend group in a way that made me want to transfer to a college in England and form a rat pack of feral women to hang with. It’s fun, it’s funny and it gives a beautiful perspective on life outside of romantic love.
Read the summary here: Everything I Know About Love | Goodreads
“Acts of Service” by Lillian Fishman ✰✰✰✰
I briefly mentioned the raunchiness of Sally Rooney books but you should buckle up for this one…I’m not a huge fan of smut in its original sense. But there are a few books I enjoy that I would define as “introspective erotica.” It’s not about the act of sex but the idea of sex, the implications of sex, the oddities of sex, how sex makes us feel, why we do what we do in the bedroom, etc, etc. Sexy books are fun to read but I especially like when there is some “oomph” behind them. This book calls upon the power dynamics of sex. It makes you question the ethics of sexual relationships and where one can or should draw the line between pleasure and pain, manipulation and integrity, love and insatiable lust. It really makes you think. And it is truly…very…detailed.
Read the summary here: Acts of Service | Goodreads
“Milk Fed” by Melissa Broder ✰✰✰✰✰
This book could also fall under my umbrella of “introspective erotica” but it focuses more on the human body and less on what we do with it. Fair warning, this book does focus on a woman with an eating disorder in an incredibly honest, and sometimes graphic, way. It converges physical pleasure with physical appearance through the voice of a crude and controlling 24-year-old who has a destructive relationship with her mother. The protagonist kept me guessing throughout the story and felt similar to “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” by Ottessa Moshfegh except it’s set in L.A., not NYC, and has a cast of only Jewish characters. Another book I couldn’t put down.
Read summary here: Milk Fed | Goodreads
Classics:
“The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath ✰✰✰✰✰
I know I’m late to the party with this one but the party doesn’t start til I walk in. Tragic, beautiful, and painful, this book jump-started my “sad girl summer” theme of reading, which you will recognize with the next books I read. I mean, you just can’t top Miss Plath. It also shows how mental health can be consequential. You can be beautiful, talented, and well-liked but still wish you were something entirely different. Or nothing at all. Don’t read all in one go, unless you want to spiral about the meaning of your life.
Read the summary here: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath | Goodreads
“The Virgin Suicides” by Jeffery Eugenides ✰✰✰✰✰
This is my new favorite book upon reading. Partially because of how beautiful and haunting the writing is but also how much I took off the page. Eugenides really accentuates how men view the feminine experience and how despite their voyeurism, will never understand it. The Lisbon sisters’ thoughts and feelings are more dramatic and more impactful than the feelings of the men who watch them. Under the nostalgic landscape of a small town in the 1970s, the reader is cursed with the same insatiable curiosity of the boys who narrate the story, always itching to see more of the girls. But be forewarned, this book will make you want to sew a man’s name into your underwear and hang your bra up on your bedroom wall. And I even found the book better than the Sophia Coppola movie.
Read the summary here: The Virgin Suicides | Goodreads
“Girl, Interrupted” by Susanna Kaysen ✰✰✰✰✰
More reading about women with mental illness, I know… but there is a reason why all of these books are incredibly popular! It’s great literature. So good in fact, that Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie signed on for the movie back in the ‘90s. And if you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know that a lot of Angelina Jolie’s lines have become popular to use on TikTok. That in and of itself makes it worth the read! The text is also quite short if you’re looking to knock another book off your own reading goal. It’s full of angst and the smallest pieces of joy. Think “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” but it’s all women (better).
Read the summary here: Girl, Interrupted | Goodreads
Feminisms:
“Girl” by Camille Laurens ✰✰✰✰✰
I cried reading this and I don’t cry while reading books. I might wince or squirm or need to take a break from reading for a bit, but rarely do I cry. I not only cried from this book but I wept! To be completely candid, I bought the book for the cover which was a beautiful shade of pink. I don’t subscribe to the idea of not judging a book by its cover. I’ll do whatever I want when it comes to the books I want to read and if I want to read the pink book, I’m reading the pink book! Anyway, “Girl” takes the reader through the motions of girlhood; from daughter and sister, to teenager, to sex object, to wife, and to mother. I don’t know if this book will make you cry like it did me, but if you too feel that you’ll be a teenage girl forever, go grab a copy.
Read the summary here: Girl | Goodreads
“My Body” by Emily Ratajkowski ✰✰✰✰
I had only known Emily Ratajkowski from her appearance in the “Blurred Lines” music video and maybe a cameo on Vine back when that was around. But this book put her on the map for me as an influential woman in the media that I look up to. She outlines her career as a model and explains how such a job defines her based on her physical appearance and not her intelligence. Of course, this is a predictable problem for a model but Ratajkowski goes deeper than that. She gives her opinion about how the entertainment industry fetishizes women and girls, taking advantage of their appearance. I understand that it’s hard to listen to hot people talk about the problems that come with being hot, but aside from Emily Ratajakowski’s undeniable hotness, her experience in Hollywood is fascinating and worth the read.
Read the summary here: My Body | Goodreads
“Women Talking” by Miriam Toews ✰✰✰✰✰
This was another book that I couldn’t put down over the summer. Yes, another sad read, I’m sorry to be so predictable. But again, there is a reason this book is so popular and the book and the movie adaptation have won so many awards. Just based on the title, I thought it would be something I’d like to read. Not only am I a woman, but I also love to talk! Even more, I love to talk to other women! This book has nothing to do with women gabbing over lattes, but it’s truly a world-shattering story about women and girls uniting and adapting in the hopes of making change. It emphasizes the way women protect each other and take care of each other, even when the odds are against them and even when they disagree with each other. You’d think a book that consists only of women talking in the loft of a barn would not be too entertaining, but trust me, the stakes are much higher than you think.
Read the summary here: Women Talking | Goodreads
“Off With Her Head” by Eleanor Herman ✰✰✰✰
Calling all history buffs! I’ve got a GREAT read for you. You know how everyone sort of has that one niche historical moment they’re obsessed with? Well, my favorite is the life of Marie Antoinette and how she has been demonized throughout history simply for slaying the day away. Yes, yes, and spending public funds are her many incredible gowns. Once I saw this book in the store, I knew I had to become obsessed with more women who suffered a similar fate to my girl Marie. This book unpacks women’s wrongful wrongs throughout history and the modern day, specifically those they were blamed for or tricked into by men. It also shows pieces of misogyny that linger from the old days, through our language, our culture, our clothing, etc. If you want to catch up on how women have been getting screwed literally forever, this book is for you!
Read the summary here: Off With Her Head | Goodreads
And those are the highlights from my reading in 2023. If some of these books look good to you, it’s not too late to add them to your Christmas list or take a stop at your public library over winter break! And if you want to look through other books I’ve read or want to read, check out my Goodreads account: @Caraline. I’ll be back in 2024 with more recommendations. They’ll probably be about more angry, sad, lovely women.