Arguably, hot girl reading has never been more popular. Colleen Hoover’s sequel to It Ends With Us was recently released, four of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s best sellers were picked up by production studios, and the Red, White, and Royal Blue collector’s edition is sweeping across BookTok.
The consumption of contemporary romance, thrillers, and fiction novels is on fire amongst college-aged women, inspiring even those who have not read for fun since elementary school to become avid readers.
While trendy fiction novels like, Carrie Soto is Back and We Were Liars are undoubtedly readable, they also can lead to the dreaded reading slump. After reading all of BookTok’s most popular selections, you’re bound to need a break from sentimental romances and Stepford Wives-centric thrillers. But, how do you go about finding a book that’s different enough from your past picks but similar enough that you’ll still enjoy it? I present to you: memoirs.
As a self-certified hot girl reader, I have searched far and wide for books that would grab my love and attention just as much as Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and The Silent Patient. I found them through my new favorite genre of memoirs.
Here is a list of formidable female-written memoirs that will soon become your favorite reads of 2022.
Educated by Tara Westover
Educated by Tara Westover was the first memoir I read this year and also the most captivating. Westover takes us through her school years, from elementary school to graduate school abroad, causing readers to critically think about their own educational experiences and their personal significance. The kicker that makes this story so compelling is Westover’s unique challenge to achieving an education because of her upbringing. Westover was raised by a Mormon survivalist family in Idaho who did not allow her to go to the doctor after facing debilitating injuries, let alone allow her to attend the local school. She ended up teaching herself enough algebra to enroll at Brigham Young University and eventually worked her way up to a fellowship at Harvard. Educated is not so much about the logistics of Westover’s remarkable expedition. Although her journey is incredible, it focuses more so about the importance of a formal education for those who were not given the opportunity to accomplish one.
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad
Between Two Kingdoms follows Jaouad’s heartbreaking four-year battle against acute myeloid leukemia. We meet Jaouad as a healthy 22-year-old living abroad in Paris with her boyfriend. She is young and hopelessly in love when her life takes a 180-degree turn, and she is diagnosed with cancer, thus given a 35% chance of survival. Jaouad takes a twist in her storytelling that is effortlessly thought-provoking and unlike anything I have ever read before. Jaouad asks the question, “What now?” after going into remission and begins a cross-country jaunt to learn how to live again as a former cancer patient. She meets with people, from Massachusetts to Michigan to California, who wrote to her during those turbulent four years about their own experiences with death, disease, and uncertainty. This is the most reflective book I have ever read; it is so engrossing you won’t want to put it down.
Girl Interrupted by Susana Kaysen
Girl Interrupted is a memoir and also a historical piece as it takes place during the late 1960s. This book follows a year in Susana Kaysen’s life after she moves into an all-girls psychiatric hospital in New England. Kaysen is admitted by a psychiatrist following a suicide attempt, and she is promptly diagnosed with borderline-personalty disorder. Throughout Girl Interrupted, we see the psychiatric world of the 1960s through Kaysen’s eyes, who is someone actually living it, causing readers to speculate the credibility of many of the patient’s diagnoses. We also meet the friends Kaysen makes during her stay, giving readers first-hand insight into the minds of those dubbed “insane” during the time period. Girl Interrupted is extremely character-driven and a work of immersive storytelling. It is fascinating, honest, and slightly disturbing, and the best part is, once you finish the book, you can watch the movie adaptation starring Winona Ryder, which is equally as phenomenal.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is a special book, as it follows Gottlieb, who is a therapist in therapy. Gottlieb begins her book by being broken up with by the man she thought she was going to marry. Now, an emotional wreck, Gottlieb seeks out therapy to deal with her feelings about her relationship wreckage and comes to realize that her anxieties and sadness may be prompted by more than meets the eye. The book also switches between chapters, telling the stories of Gottlieb’s own patients who are in therapy for various reasons, like one newlywed who recently received a fatal cancer diagnosis or a young woman who may or may not have a drinking problem causing her to always choose the wrong men. Gottlieb takes us on multiple expeditions through therapy, which is culturally relevant now more than ever.
Memoirs are an easy way to dip your toe into the non-fiction pool while still retaining the narrative storytelling that all of our current favorite books possess. Memoirs are a first-person account of a season in the author’s lifetime that is often emotional, poignant, and thus one hundred percent enjoyable.