Here are 100 books that Recollections of My Nonexistence fans have personally recommended if you like
Recollections of My Nonexistence.
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I’ve loved everything that has to do with writing all my life. My mother was a best-selling children’s book author, my father wrote a best-selling book about the music business, and writing was central to how I grew up. All the books on my list have to do with writers, whether they’re writing memoirs, novels, interviews, or keeping a diary. My passion for books about writers extends to having written Great Adaptations: Screenwriting and Global Storytelling (Routledge – 2nd place winner, 2019 International Writers Awards), but these books all had me hooked regardless of whether they made good movies. I love books – especially these!
I love The Tale of Genji for its brilliant depiction of a prince and his many lovers.
I’m in awe of the fact that this is one of the first novels ever written by a woman – a court lady of the Heian era of ancient Japan, writing in the early 11th century. The love affairs of the prince reminded me of the early days of coeducation at Yale, when the Sexual Liberation movement was in full swing.
Of course, there are many differences between the romances of ancient Japan and life on college campuses today, but as I immersed myself in all 1,200+ pages of this book, I found myself relating to the women whom the Shining Prince seduces, one after another, and their heartache. Even though it was a long book, I couldn’t put it down.
In the early eleventh century Murasaki Shikibu, a lady in the Heian court of Japan, wrote what many consider to be the world’s first novel, more than three centuries before Chaucer. The Heian era (794—1185) is recognized as one of the very greatest periods in Japanese literature, and The Tale of Genji is not only the unquestioned prose masterpiece of that period but also the most lively and absorbing account we have of the intricate, exquisite, highly ordered court culture that made such a masterpiece possible.
Genji is the favorite son of the emperor but also a man…
The scenario we are facing is scary: within a few decades, sea levels around the world may well rise by a metre or more as glaciers and ice caps melt due to climate change. Large parts of our coastal cities will be flooded, the basic outline of our world will…
I’ve loved everything that has to do with writing all my life. My mother was a best-selling children’s book author, my father wrote a best-selling book about the music business, and writing was central to how I grew up. All the books on my list have to do with writers, whether they’re writing memoirs, novels, interviews, or keeping a diary. My passion for books about writers extends to having written Great Adaptations: Screenwriting and Global Storytelling (Routledge – 2nd place winner, 2019 International Writers Awards), but these books all had me hooked regardless of whether they made good movies. I love books – especially these!
What I loved about Bridget Jones’s Diary was the fun that its author had in writing a book that plays with the themes, characters, and some of the plot points of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
It’s wonderful when a writer knows her literary history and is comfortable enough to let us enjoy its evolution and laugh at it. Having lost 30 pounds in the last couple of years, I can honestly say that I appreciate a writer who not only references Jane Austen, but can write with wit and candor.
This was such an entertaining read, especially in its casual format – diary entries kept by a working woman who wants to lose weight. I also enjoyed the 2001 movie.
A dazzlingly urban satire on modern relationships? An ironic, tragic insight into the demise of the nuclear family? Or the confused ramblings of a pissed thirty-something?
As Bridget documents her struggles through the social minefield of her thirties and tries to weigh up the eternal question (Daniel Cleaver or Mark Darcy?), she turns for support to four indispensable friends: Shazzer, Jude, Tom and a bottle of chardonnay.
Welcome to Bridget's first diary: mercilessly funny, endlessly touching and utterly addictive.
Helen Fielding's first Bridget Jones novel, Bridget Jones's Diary, sparked a phenomenon that has seen…
I’ve loved everything that has to do with writing all my life. My mother was a best-selling children’s book author, my father wrote a best-selling book about the music business, and writing was central to how I grew up. All the books on my list have to do with writers, whether they’re writing memoirs, novels, interviews, or keeping a diary. My passion for books about writers extends to having written Great Adaptations: Screenwriting and Global Storytelling (Routledge – 2nd place winner, 2019 International Writers Awards), but these books all had me hooked regardless of whether they made good movies. I love books – especially these!
I don’t usually like commercial fiction, but as an L.A. filmmaker, I found this story of a scandalous actress in Hollywood and her love affairs with men and women irresistible.
Told partly through the eyes of a young journalist interviewing a fading star, and partly through Evelyn Hugo’s own words, the intergenerational relationship also intrigued me: Would Evelyn’s influence on the younger, ambitious woman be beneficial, or lead to disaster?
I thoroughly enjoyed the many unexpected twists and turns between husbands and lovers in Evelyn Hugo’s life.
"If you're looking for a book to take on holiday this summer, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo has got all the glitz and glamour to make it a perfect beach read." -Bustle
From the New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & the Six-an entrancing and "wildly addictive journey of a reclusive Hollywood starlet" (PopSugar) as she reflects on her relentless rise to the top and the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is…
Part travelogue, part buddy story, part memoir, The Twenty is a journey across a rugged island of stunning beauty, little known outside Europe.
Marianne Bohr and her husband, about to turn sixty, are restless for adventure. They decide on an extended, desolate trek across the French island of Corsica —…
I’ve loved everything that has to do with writing all my life. My mother was a best-selling children’s book author, my father wrote a best-selling book about the music business, and writing was central to how I grew up. All the books on my list have to do with writers, whether they’re writing memoirs, novels, interviews, or keeping a diary. My passion for books about writers extends to having written Great Adaptations: Screenwriting and Global Storytelling (Routledge – 2nd place winner, 2019 International Writers Awards), but these books all had me hooked regardless of whether they made good movies. I love books – especially these!
I loved the courage of Chris Kraus in undertaking the writing of this semi-autobiographical novel: she was neither afraid of manifesting intellect and erudition nor of expressing female sexual desire.
The experimental style of the book, alternating between nonfiction research passages and letters of infatuation, amused me. In the 1990’s, when this book first appeared, there weren’t enough novels that expressed women’s sexuality from a female perspective, so I appreciated Chris Kraus’s pioneering efforts.
When Chris Kraus, an unsuccessful artist pushing 40, spends an evening with a rogue academic named Dick, she falls madly and inexplicably in love, enlisting her husband in her haunted pursuit. Dick proposes a kind of game between them, but when he fails to answer their letters Chris continues alone, transforming an adolescent infatuation into a new form of philosophy.
Blurring the lines of fiction, essay and memoir, Chris Kraus's novel was a literary sensation when it was first published in 1997. Widely considered to be the most important feminist novel of the past two decades, I Love Dick is…
As a queer first-generation Cuban-American woman, reclaiming my magic from oppressive religious dogma and societal bigotry has been the foundation of my art practice since the mid-90s, when I started writing my fanzine, the Green’zine. Although my trajectory comes from punk rock, reactionary feminist art, and coming-of-age graphic memoirs about sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll—healing the soul is interwoven into all of my published works. When I eventually began work on the Next World Tarot, I knew I had to enrich my gritty soul with divine compassion; as well as forgiveness towards the versions of myself that did not accept ancestral magic and spirituality as part of my own healing.
Michelle Tea is an inspiration to witches and punk rockers alike, allowing us to delve into our magic without fear, shame, or submission to dogmatic religions. I would not have written a tarot deck without her inspiration and guidance, as it was originally a collaboration between us.
As Next World Tarot became more and more of a platform for my ancestral magic, Michelle Tea delved into this masterful text on Tarot itself. I love this book because it is a beacon for anyone who wants to access their intuition through tarot but does not find comfort or connection towards the gatekeeping culture behind it.
Tarot is complex and historical and feminist and revolutionary—and we do not learn that in most historical contexts. Luckily, Michelle Tea has both documented and exercised this truth for us. This book exposes Michelle’s unique experience and wisdom, merging humor, truth, grit, and tradition with our…
The beloved literary iconoclast delivers a fresh twenty-first century primer on tarot that can be used with any deck. While tarot has gone mainstream with a diverse range of tarot decks widely available, there has been no equally mainstream guide to the tarot-one that can be applied to any deck-until now. Infused with beloved iconoclastic author Michelle Tea's unique insight, inviting pop sensibility, and wicked humor, Modern Tarot is a fascinating journey through the cards that teaches how to use this tradition to connect with our higher selves. Whether you're a committed seeker or a digital-age skeptic-or perhaps a little…
Growing up, I used to say, “I like reading sad stories.” It was my way of coping as I grieved the loss of my father, learned about my mother’s mental illness, and shuttled back and forth between grandparents' homes. Now, my old sentiment of reading “sad stories” has transformed into enjoying books that dive into a mixture of psychology, self-help, memoir, and graphic memoir. It supports me and my interest to learn other people’s stories, gain perspective, and journey through life with a healthy mind, body, and spirit. I carry the love with me that I was raised with, so in life, I look through the lens of love.
I’ve read this book twice and I would read it again and again because it taught me so much about myself in relation to how I want to approach and understand love. It affirmed my feelings about love and gave me the language and tools to understand the dynamics of love in platonic relationships, familial relationships, or romantic relationships.
I enjoyed how Hooks discussed themes such as spirituality, values, trauma, and greed. I consider this book to be an essential read and one I will always go back to when exploring concepts of love.
"The word "love" is most often defined as a noun, yet...we would all love better if we used it as a verb," writes bell hooks as she comes out fighting and on fire in All About Love. Here, at her most provocative and intensely personal, the renowned scholar, cultural critic, and feminist skewers our view of love as romance. In its place she offers a proactive new ethic for a people and a society bereft with lovelessness. As bell hooks uses her incisive mind and razor-sharp pen to explore the question "What is love?" her answers strike at both the…
On August 8, 2020, 40-year-old Stephanie Lincoln seemingly had the perfect life. She just had the wedding of her dreams, owned a successful business, and was traveling the country in an RV with her husband and 3 dogs. An innocent choice to go on a short hike in the Olympic…
As a person who reads solely for pleasure regardless of research, I make it a mission while writing to read books I actually enjoy on topics I wanna learn more about. I chose the books on this list because I’m also a person who reads multiple books at once in various genres, it keeps me honest; aware of holes and discrepancies in my own work and pushes me towards some semblance of completion. All the writers on this list do multiple things at once and I admire their skill and risk in coupling creativity with clarity.
What bell hooks has shown me about the possibility of personal narrative and memoir writing is endless because she consistently shows that your story is never-ending. But mostly bell hooks likes to hurt me on purpose. This is my favorite memoir by her because it centers on two of my favorite topics: words and whirlwind romance that refuses to interfere with the words at stake, and I knew this book would be one I would return to in order to figure out my own priorities once I read, “I’m willing to give up everything I love if it means I won’t be crazy.”
“bell hooks’s brave memoir of struggling to find her own work, love, and independence.” ―Gloria Steinem With her customary boldness and insight, brilliant social critic and public intellectual bell hooks traces her writer’s journey in Wounds of Passion. She shares the difficulties and triumphs, the pleasures and the dangers, of a life devoted to writing. hooks lets readers see the ways one woman writer can find her own voice while forging relationships of love in keeping with her feminist thinking. With unflinching courage and hard-won wisdom, hooks reveals the intimate details and provocative ideas of the life path she carved…
I have loved history since I was a girl, visiting my grandparents in Virginia and reading American Girl books. I began to focus on women’s history when I learned in college just how much the women’s movement of the generation before mine had made my life possible. So much changed for American women in the ten years before I was born, and I wanted to know how that happened and how it fit into the broader political changes. That connection, between women making change and the bigger political scene, remains the core of my research. I have a B.A. in history and English from the University of Kentucky, and a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Virginia.
By looking at three local NOW chapters around the country, Gilmore shows that the leading organization of 1960s feminism wasn’t nearly as centralized as people think. Memphis NOW, for example, was a radical feminist group simply by being a feminist group in the South. San Francisco NOW, by contrast, made coalitions with many more radical groups as they worked together to make change. A great read and an important insight into how NOW actually worked as an organization.
Groundswell: Grassroots Feminist Activism in Postwar America offers an essential perspective on the post-1960 movement for women's equality and liberation. Tracing the histories of feminist activism, through the National Organization of Women (NOW) chapters in three different locations: Memphis, Tennessee, Columbus, Ohio, and San Francisco, California, Gilmore explores how feminist identity, strategies, and goals were shaped by geographic location.
Departing from the usual conversation about the national icons and events of second wave feminism, this book concentrates on local histories, and asks the questions that must be answered on the micro level: Who joined? Who did not? What did they…
Nearly 200 years passed between the first English settlements and the American Revolution. Yet Americans today have a static view of women’s lives during that long period. I have now published four books on the subject of early American women, and I have barely scratched the surface. My works—Liberty’s Daughters was the first I wrote, though the last chronologically—are the results of many years of investigating the earliest settlers in New England and the Chesapeake, accused witches, and politically active women on both sides of the Atlantic. And I intend to keep researching and to write more on this fascinating topic!
Gelles has written several books and articles about Abigail (and John) Adams, but this is my favorite. Not a classic cradle-to-grave biography, It examines a series of episodes in Abigail’s life and her relationships with her husband, two sisters, and her children, especially her daughter Abigail junior (Nabby) and her son John Quincy. The series of well-crafted vignettes convey great insight into this important “founding mother,” the wife of the second president, mother of the sixth, and a lively intellect in her own right.
"Portia, a new study of Abigail Adams-modern feminism's favorite Founding Mother-is a refreshing change of pace." -San Francisco Chronicle
" . . . very well done, highly perceptive, and full of fresh ideas." -Wilson Library Bulletin
" . . . Adams's strength, courage, and wit (as well as her bouts of depression and gender conservatism) emerge more fully than they have in any previous work. . . . a well-rounded portrait of a remarkable figure." -Choice
"In this important and fascinating biography, Edith Gelles not…
Sea Sagas of the North is about story and transformation.
Story is a simple device common to every human culture. Put simply, the patterns of good story match the shapes of our lives. Story was once tales told at every flickering fireside, the children’s faces upturned and wide-eyed. Now it…
As an author of historical fiction, I have a number of time periods that I go back to again and again. Both the 1960s (specifically, the late 1960s) and the 1990s are two of those eras that I just can’t get enough of. The parallels between these two time periods are very compelling: both were times of political upheaval and amazing music, with young people leading the charge, hoping to create a better world than the one they were disenchanted with.
A sweet story of a young woman named Joanne, coming of age in California during the height of the Flower Power movement, who meets and falls in love with a “hippie”, much to the chagrin of her parents.
Martin introduces her to a world of drugs, protests, and music, and her life will never be the same.
It's 1967 and fifteen-year-old Joanne's San Francisco neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury has become inundated with hippies for the "Summer of Love," which thrills her but appalls the rest of her family. In the midst of preparations for her sister's wedding, Joanne meets Martin, an enigmatic and irresistible hippie, and begins to see him secretly. Over the course of the next year, Joanne discovers a world of drugs, antiwar demonstrations, and psychedelic dances that both fascinates and frightens her. As this world collides with her family's values, Joanne must decide whether to stay with her middle-class family and pursue her love of…
