Rec
Some of my faves are coming of age memoirs by women carving out their space in the world in dialogue with culture, close relationships, and creativity of different kinds <3
- The Outrun by Amy Liptrott - a gorgeous exploration of identity and nature in the wreckage of, and then recovery from, alcoholism. Set in 2010s London and Orkney (very neurodivergent coded).
- Mean by Myriam Gurba - electrifying coming of age as a queer mixed-race Chicana. So original and sharp.
- Just Kids by Patti Smith - beautiful coming of age as an artist in late 60s/early 70s NYC in companionship with a creative best friend.
- Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley - essays on navigating disability and identity as a child star with a dysfunctional family.
- The Plague and by Betty MacDonald - gorgeously witty account of life in a tuberculosis sanatorium in the 1940s.
- The Outrun by Amy Liptrott - a gorgeous exploration of identity and nature in the wreckage of, and then recovery from, alcoholism. Set in 2010s London and Orkney (very neurodivergent coded).
- Mean by Myriam Gurba - electrifying coming of age as a queer mixed-race Chicana. So original and sharp.
- Just Kids by Patti Smith - beautiful coming of age as an artist in late 60s/early 70s NYC in companionship with a creative best friend.
- Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley - essays on navigating disability and identity as a child star with a dysfunctional family.
- The Plague and by Betty MacDonald - gorgeously witty account of life in a tuberculosis sanatorium in the 1940s.
1d ago
Related Recs
Rec
🤓memoirs:
finding me - viola davis - she's truly had such an interesting life
wild - cheryl strayed - memoir about a women walking the pct and all about her crazy life that lef her to that point
crying in h mart - michelle zauner - about a musician coping with her mother's death
educated - tara westover - about a woman who grows up in fundamentalist mormon family
i'm glad my mom died - jennette mccurdy - about her childhood as an actor and her relationship w/ her mother
the glass castle - jeanette walls
the anthropocene reviewed - john green - he reviews aspects of human life and shares parts of his own very interesting life
just kids - patti smith - about her life as a musician in nyc
kitchen confidential - anthony bourdain
down the drain - julia fox
engaging non fiction; - seconding the patrick radden keefe rec below - also his books empire of pain and the snakehead - cultish - amanda montell - about the language that cults use - so you've been publicly shamed - jon ronson - slouching towards bethlehem - joan didion - sharply written essays mostly about 60s culture
books on art: - ways of seeing - john berger - funny weather: art in crisis - olivia laing - notes on 'camp' - susan sontag - the art thief - micharl finkel
books on food: - small fires: an epic in the kitchen - rebecca may johnson - chop suey nation - ann hui - eating animals - jonathan safran foer
engaging non fiction; - seconding the patrick radden keefe rec below - also his books empire of pain and the snakehead - cultish - amanda montell - about the language that cults use - so you've been publicly shamed - jon ronson - slouching towards bethlehem - joan didion - sharply written essays mostly about 60s culture
books on art: - ways of seeing - john berger - funny weather: art in crisis - olivia laing - notes on 'camp' - susan sontag - the art thief - micharl finkel
books on food: - small fires: an epic in the kitchen - rebecca may johnson - chop suey nation - ann hui - eating animals - jonathan safran foer
Nov 13, 2024
Rec
📚According to one Mouse:
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke - a magical, mysterious book unlike any other I’ve read and possibly my favourite of all time. A story told in journal entries of Piranesi, a man who lives in a huge labyrinth filled with statues.
Memorial by Bryan Washington - a gorgeous tender story of a gay couple told from both sides. Stunningly empathetic and just perfect in its humanity, and use of food as character and relationship device.
Milkfed by Melissa Broder - a weird bisexual masterpiece. Sex, food, obsession.
Helgoland by Carlo Rovelli - a history of quantum physics written by the man known as “the poet of physics”. written so as to be understood by anyone, mostly to tell us that even the physicists cannot fully grasp the reality of it.
Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith - ghost story depicting a decade of Vietnamese folklore and history. Magical, powerful, mysterious. I couldn’t believe it when I found out this was a debut novel and when I finished it I just sort of sat there for a while.
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield - a woman’s wife comes back from sea, but she is changed, and continues to change. Gay, magical realism. A beautiful allegory that can be read in a day.
White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Smith - surrealist retellings of fairytales by my all time favourite short story writer
Recollections of My Nonexistence by Rebecca Solnit - a memoir and potent exploration the silencing and erasure of women by men
Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh - all three of her books her 5 stars, she’s not missed yet. Blue Ticket is like Margaret Atwood meets Angela Carter. Dystopian feminist speculative fiction told with an almost surreal minimalism at times and almost magical vibrancy at others.
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi - a scientist born of immigrant parents studying addiction, after her brother died at its hands. Grapples with grief, faith, identity, religion and love with unparalleled skill and tenderness.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke - a magical, mysterious book unlike any other I’ve read and possibly my favourite of all time. A story told in journal entries of Piranesi, a man who lives in a huge labyrinth filled with statues.
Memorial by Bryan Washington - a gorgeous tender story of a gay couple told from both sides. Stunningly empathetic and just perfect in its humanity, and use of food as character and relationship device.
Milkfed by Melissa Broder - a weird bisexual masterpiece. Sex, food, obsession.
Helgoland by Carlo Rovelli - a history of quantum physics written by the man known as “the poet of physics”. written so as to be understood by anyone, mostly to tell us that even the physicists cannot fully grasp the reality of it.
Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith - ghost story depicting a decade of Vietnamese folklore and history. Magical, powerful, mysterious. I couldn’t believe it when I found out this was a debut novel and when I finished it I just sort of sat there for a while.
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield - a woman’s wife comes back from sea, but she is changed, and continues to change. Gay, magical realism. A beautiful allegory that can be read in a day.
White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Smith - surrealist retellings of fairytales by my all time favourite short story writer
Recollections of My Nonexistence by Rebecca Solnit - a memoir and potent exploration the silencing and erasure of women by men
Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh - all three of her books her 5 stars, she’s not missed yet. Blue Ticket is like Margaret Atwood meets Angela Carter. Dystopian feminist speculative fiction told with an almost surreal minimalism at times and almost magical vibrancy at others.
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi - a scientist born of immigrant parents studying addiction, after her brother died at its hands. Grapples with grief, faith, identity, religion and love with unparalleled skill and tenderness.
Rec
📓one of my forever favs have read nothing like it / punky techno feminist dystopian
“kitchen-sink realism, told from the perspective of the one stuck doing the dishes.”
explores relationships / gender / desire / detachment / sucker punch pop song / wildly clever n devastatingly prophetic
Alien Daughters Walk Into The Sun - Jackie Wang “An almanac of extreme girlhood” abolition/underground/biking across countries/accidentally falling into success Not so much a collection of short stories but diary entries, tumblr posts, zine archives, “essays“, poems Contents titles are: The Hard-Femme years / The Punk House Years/The Desert Years/The Getting-My-Shit-Together-Years/
I also remember enjoying Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson!
“kitchen-sink realism, told from the perspective of the one stuck doing the dishes.”
explores relationships / gender / desire / detachment / sucker punch pop song / wildly clever n devastatingly prophetic
Alien Daughters Walk Into The Sun - Jackie Wang “An almanac of extreme girlhood” abolition/underground/biking across countries/accidentally falling into success Not so much a collection of short stories but diary entries, tumblr posts, zine archives, “essays“, poems Contents titles are: The Hard-Femme years / The Punk House Years/The Desert Years/The Getting-My-Shit-Together-Years/
I also remember enjoying Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson!
Apr 20, 2024
Top Recs from @mindy
Rec
- Tremendous Eritrean food
- Mostly vegan menu
- Excellent price point
(💸cash only preferred)
(💸cash only preferred)