5 books for 5 moods

Heartbroken, angry, out of the loop? There’s a book for that

Jul 14, 2024

There’s a reason I don’t often write book reviews or reading list recommendations. Although I’m constantly reading one thing or another, I suffer from the dreaded ‘book-nesia’ where, after two weeks, I can’t give any solid reasoning behind why I liked or disliked a book—it’s simply lost to the part of my brain where my social media passwords and online banking login also live.

Because of this, my recommendations tend to become rather ‘vibe-based’, which isn’t very useful for anyone wanting to glean real insight into a book. However, in the spirit of trying something new and testing my dusty old reading memory, I’ve decided to pull together a list of five books for five (admittedly rather specific) moods.

When you’re heartbroken but aren’t ready to give up on love

All About Love, bell hooks (2000)

When beloved writer bell hooks passed away in December 2021, my social media feeds were awash with quotes about love. Her non-fiction work, All About Love: New Visions, cemented hook’s legacy as someone who saw love as something much deeper and more community-based than most of us had been conditioned to believe. My own copy is fervently underlined, with passages such as: “We can face each other as we really are, stripped of artifice and pretense, naked and unashamed,” glueing themselves permanently into my value system. Importantly, hooks’ writing on love helps us to see it as everywhere, but also something that we must continue to practise, study and earn.

When you want payback for the patriarchy

Three Woman, Lisa Taddeo

Forget Batman, Lisa Taddeo is the master of vigilante justice. When reading Three Women, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that the three stories we’re being told are non-fiction. The story of Maggie, in particular, has stayed closely with me in the years since I first read her story. Branded a liar for coming out against her school teacher’s abuse, one might argue that Taddeo’s retelling of the story - which would go on to be a global bestseller - gave Maggie what the justice system couldn’t. A highly satisfying read for anyone out for the patriarchy’s blood.

When you want to read a classic, but hate classics

Dracula, Bram Stoker (1897)

I don’t get to use the word “romp” nearly enough. But Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the ultimate literary romp. Not only does it have a far more exhilarating pace than many classics, but you quickly develop a loyal camaraderie with every character. It’s the antithesis of the currently-trendy unlikeable narrator—in Dracula, every narrator is a delight. This could easily make for rather sickly reading, but the grim details of vampire attacks, stakes through hearts and sinister transformations give the book a nice (if you’ll excuse the pun) bite. Dracula also has a fascinating queer subtext for anyone interested. It’s widely assumed that Stoker himself was a closeted gay man, and there’s plenty of interesting allegory to uncover in the text that is both political and sensual. Well, aside from the fact that Stoker is constantly describing the Count’s bad breath. That did rather spoil the sexy mood at times.

When you want to see what all the fuss is about

Normal People, Sally Rooney (2018)

As someone who delighted in sharing scornful memes about anyone who received a proof of Rooney’s latest book, Intermezzo, you wouldn’t think I’d received an early edition of her most famous book Normal People. Sadly, it wasn’t because I was once a famous bookstagrammer. My best friend’s boyfriend happened to work for Faber and Faber - Rooney’s publisher - at the time and thought I’d like it. To understate my feelings towards the book by a mile: he was right. I read Normal People twice in the three months that I travelled across South America. I sobbed quietly into its pages on the backs of overnight buses through Mexico and I got inappropriately turned on in weird hostel rooms. The delicate, detailed relationship between Connell and Marianne completely consumed me and remains - no matter how many branded Rooney bucket hats are created and how many times I see their dramatised BBC faces online - firmly worth the hype.

When you want to read poetry, but hate poetry

Ada Limón, Bright Dead Things (2015)

Ada Limón is not an introduction to poetry, she is poetry. In her collection Bright Dead Things, she shows us that poetry can be written opaquely, but still be heavy with beauty and meaning. For anyone who gets lost in the complexities and hidden meanings of poetry, Limón makes every layer meaningful. The reader can dig as deep or shallow as they wish and still find some kind of treasure. My personal favourites are The Long Ride, the tale of an ex-police horse finally allowed to retire after causing a terrible accident, and Oranges and the Ocean, a window into self-acceptance in the face of the world’s reflected beauty.

For more writing and poetry, follow me on Instagram @alannaduffield