This week I joined the ranks of late-20s dillydalliers. I still don’t know how I feel about that fact. One thing I do know, however, and as cliche as this may be, is that books have been with me for essentially all of those years.
I think the books we devour both reflect our feelings towards the life we have, and in turn, deeply impact our lives.
So, please enjoy this very self-indulgent list of books that have did both of those things for me; books that have found me at the perfect moment, and books that profoundly altered my thinking. I can’t wait to see how this list changes by the time I’m 30.
Fiction
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson.
Aside from containing the most beautiful prose I’ve ever encountered, this novel is a delicate tale of growth, love, mental health, and systemic racism in England.
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli.
A haunting story of the realities of Israeli state violence and control over Palestinian people. From the Nakba to modern day, never look away.Strumpet City by James Plunkett.
I’ve always thought fiction has an important role to play in the telling and democratisation of working-class history. This one is set around the 1913 Dublin lockout.Small Things Like These by Claire Foster.
An exposure of the hushed barbaric treatment and control of young women and local communities by the Catholic Church in Ireland via the mother and baby homes.Lie With Me by Philip Besson.
A tender, queer coming of age story set in France. One to read for a summer of yearning.South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami.
His writing style is disorientating and all-encompassing, like spending time in a dream.Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin.
A classic that everyone should read in their lifetime. This shattered me. I cried on the bus to work twice.
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch.
Set in Ireland, this book forces you to comprehend how close and real capitalism’s descent into fascism is, even if/especially if you think it could never happen here.Close to Home by Michael Magee.
Growing up in the same city, at approximately the same time as these protagonists, made everything feel suffocatingly real. The housing crisis, shite jobs, classism in the arts, a society borne out of and shaped by violence.Germinal by Emile Zola.
Similar to Strumpet City, this novel follows the lives within a French mining town as it fights for dignity. Spoiler alert: at one point the village women take revenge on a creepy local shop owner and his genitals ~end up~ on top of a stick, marched through town like a flag.We Play Here by Dawn Watson.
A collection of poem-stories following a friendship group of girls. It explores working-class girlhood, childhood innocence, and the impact of normalised violence. Not a single word was wasted.
The Stranger/Outsider by Albert Camus.
I only read this for the first time this year, and now I want to read as many philosophical novels as possible. What makes a human? Does life have universal meaning? Does that even matter? Who decides?
The Secret History by Donna Tart.
I think this might have been the first literary fiction book I ever read. The prose was stunning, the characters were insufferable. I adored spending time in this world. Nothing screams cosy autumn read more than this, obviously.Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
I was equal parts captivated and distraught the whole way through this book. It explores the creation of the short-lived state of Biafra, as well as the destruction and division created by western colonialism in the region.Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 - Cho man-Joo.
I doubt there’s a woman on this earth who can’t relate to at least one aspect of the constant stream of subtle and direct misogyny faced by our protagonist in this novel. Kim Jiyoung is all of us.
A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
Set during the independence movement in Kenya. I learnt a lot from this novel, read more about it here: Reading my coffee origins: Kenya
They Fell Like Stars From the Sky by Sheikha Helawy.
A collection of short stories on resistance, girlhood, and resilience of Bedouin Palestinian women and girls. I laughed, cried, and raged with every one of these women.
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez.
No other horror story has enlisted such intense physical responses from me before. My skin still crawls when I think about some of these short stories. Such brilliantly vivid writing.
Non-Fiction
Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
I feel like this one is a given if you take just two seconds to contemplate the world right now.
Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis.
A vital read for understanding how oppression is rooted within the capitalist system. Even though this was first published decades ago, there are an eerie number of directly applicable lessons for today.
Permanent Revolution by Leon Trotsky.
I think this is vital reading for those who wish to see the end of imperialism and colonialism. Who benefits? How can such systems be overthrown? Being from Ireland, it’s lessons were deeply enriching.
Common History, Common Struggle by Peter Hadden.
This is essentially the application of the theory of permanent revolution in the Irish context. It also provides an abundance of examples of cross-community struggle throughout our history which is consciously left out of our school curriculum.
State and Revolution by V.I. Lenin
The state is not a neutral actor, it exists to crush dissent in the name of the protection of capital. This could not be more clear today when we are witnessing ever-increasing policing of peaceful protests and pickets. But what do we do about it? Answers within.
Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels.
Does exactly what it says on the tin. In particular, this work explores how gender hierarchies have not always existed, but were created to defend private property and a developing class society. Sexism is not an inherent part of our nature, it can be overcome.
Lenin: A Study on the Unity of His Thought by Georg Lukács.
An excellent summary of Lenin’s theory, and the concept of the ‘actuality of revolution’.
A People’s Guide to Capitalism by Hadas Thier.
A must-read for anybody seeking a modern, sharp, and jargon-free manual for understanding Marxist economics.
Disobedient Bodies by Emma Dabiri.
A wonderfully cathartic read on the destructive impact of the beauty industry; how it came to be and how we can build alternative conceptions of beauty based on exploring our connections to each other and nature. Learning about Yoruba and Celtic conceptions of beauty and ageing was fascinating.