Dolly Alderton
Everything I Know About Love
Dolly Alderton candidly explores love, friendship, the failures and successes of your teens
and 20s in Everything I Know About Love. Through Alderton’s humorous wit and brutal
honesty she invites the reader to gain an insight into her life. Although the book is a memoir,
it is universally accessible to many women around the world. The book is guaranteed to make
you laugh, cry and reflect on your life decisions.
Edith Eger
The Choice
Dr Edith Eger’s book The Choice is an inspirational memoir. Dr Eger was sent to Auschwitz
in 1944 as a sixteen year old. Her memoir details her life before, during and after the
holocaust. She became a psychotherapist, throughout the memoir she uses pseudonyms to
introduce the reader to her patients and their stories. Each chapter in the book is dominated
by themes of loss, shame, guilt and anger. However, the book inevitably serves to enlighten
the audience that “even in hell, hope can flower”. I read the book in a single day. When I
closed it’s covers, I sighed a breath of relief and cried for approximately an hour. Happy,
enlightened and hopeful tears. It brings the reader on a melancholic journey of hope and
healing.
Matt Haig
The Midnight Library
Matt Haig’s fictional novel, The Midnight Library details the life of protagonist Nora Seed, a
lady in her 30s who questions whether her life is worth living. Nora is transported to the
midnight library where she gets a chance to read different versions of her life, had she made
different choices. At its core, the book is a philosophical read that details the themes of
depression, loneliness and regret in an authentic, accessible way.
Louise O’Neill
Asking For It
Although this book was released in 2015, the content and themes ring apt and true in 2022.
This fictional work is about an Irish teenager, Emma who is raped. It explores her
relationship with her body following on from the rape. It explores rape culture in an Irish
setting which can be universally translated. The book forces its reader to confront topics of
rape, consent and prejudices they may have. This book is a raw depiction of the reality for
many rape victims. In 2015 it won the Bord Gáis Energy Book of the Year award.
kathleen Keane
Image credit: The Guardian