book recommendations based on tweets
a niche reading list
When I was likely procrastinating doing an actually productive task a few days ago, I ended up scrolling through my Twitter / X bookmarks. Amidst the recipes I’m never going to make and the long threads about historical events I’m never going to read, I discovered I had bookmarked a lot of short, seemingly random tweets. It took me a while to remember that I had saved those with the intention of making this post - a book recommendation list based on those particular tweets.
One of my favourite hobbies is to pair books I read with other content I consume (songs, films, tv shows etc.), so why not extend that to the tweets I like? I think it’s a rather creative way to recommend some books and curate a niche reading list with common themes, if I do say so myself.
Books about living in a capitalist hellscape:
Ripe - Sarah Rose Etter
A year into her dream job at a cutthroat Silicon Valley start-up, Cassie finds herself trapped in a corporate nightmare. Between the long hours, toxic bosses, and unethical projects, she also struggles to reconcile the glittering promise of a city where obscene wealth lives alongside abject poverty and suffering.
There’s No Such Thing As An Easy Job - Kikuko Tsumura
A thirty-something Japanese woman takes on a series of temporary jobs as she tries to assess what she wants to do with her life.
Diary Of A Void - Emi Yagi
A woman fabricates a pregnancy to avoid menial office tasks and workplace harassment.
Green Dot - Madeleine Gray
An ultra-educated and underemployed 20-something woman falls into accidental love with a married colleague.
Books about cults:
The Girls - Emma Cline
An isolated and unloved Californian teenager is drawn into a Manson-like cult, leading her down a path towards dangerous violence.
Godshot - Chelsea Bieker
In a drought-stricken town in California, a teenager is abandoned by her alcoholic mother and left to navigate a crumbling community ruled by a manipulative cult leader promising rain.
Cultish - Amanda Montell
A non-fiction examining the power of language used by cults and cult-like organisations. It unpacks how words can manipulate and control people, offering insights into the psychology behind these influential groups.
Educated - Tara Westover
A memoir chronicling Westover’s journey from a secluded, survivalist Mormon childhood in rural Idaho to a PhD program at Cambridge University.
Books about toxic men / toxic relationships:
Acts Of Desperation - Megan Nolan
Follows the toxic, all-consuming relationship between an unnamed twenty-something narrator and Ciaran, an aloof but beautiful writer whom she meets at an art gallery opening.
Piglet - Lottie Hazell
After her husband-to-be reveals a shocking betrayal 2 weeks before their wedding, a woman is forced on a journey of hungry self-revelation.
Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
A young woman marries the wealthy widower Maxim de Winter and moves to his lavish estate, Manderley, where she’s haunted by memories of his late wife.
Kairos - Jenny Erpenbeck
The story of Katharina and Hans, whose passionate but toxic relationship unfolds against the backdrop of the crumbling East German state.
Books about messy family dynamics:
East Of Eden - John Steinbeck
A rivalry between 2 generations of brothers parallels the Biblical story of Cain and Abel.
The Bee Sting - Paul Murray
The Barnes family face financial ruin and struggle with their personal secrets in the aftermath of Ireland’s economic collapse.
Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng
The Lee family descends into chaos after the tragic death of the middle and favourite daughter, Lydia.
Crossroads - Jonathan Franzen
Follows the Hiddlebrant family in the 1970s as they navigate personal and moral crises.
Books about female rage:
Die, My Love - Ariana Harwicz (trans. by Sarah Moses & Carolina Orloff)
In a forgotten patch of French countryside, a woman is battling her demons, grappling with the confinements of motherhood and marriage.
Animal - Lisa Taddeo
Joan, a woman deeply scarred by past traumas and male violence, seeks to understand and reclaim her power by driving to Los Angeles to find Alice, a woman connected to her past.
Boy Parts - Eliza Clark
Follows Irina, a photographer in Newcastle who takes explicit photos of men she finds on the street, amidst her violent downward spiral.
The Days Of Abandonment - Elena Ferrante
A woman in her late 30s is left by her husband for a younger woman, leaving her to care for their two children and navigate a profound emotional crisis.
Books that’ll teach you something:
Doppelganger - Naomi Klein
A somewhat cultural criticism, exploring the nature of identity, the spread of misinformation, and the erosion of democratic values in the digital age.
Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class - Owen Jones
An exploration into how British government policy has been used as a political weapon to disenfranchise the working class, and pit working class communities against each other.
The Transgender Issue - Shon Faye
An exploration into how issues of social class, employment and housing insecurity, police violence and prisons, and sex work affect transgender people.
Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire - Akala
A memoir-polemic that explores the intersection of race, class, and the legacy of the British Empire in contemporary society.
OMG! So Good! We need pt.2!
I wished this post 'literary' never end 😗