Weekly Reading List

by Stuti Jane

Though fall is coming to a close, the time to curl up with a good book never ends. This week I’ll be posting a series of books that have changed the way I view the world, focusing on themes of femininity, beauty, and mental health. Let me know in the comments which books you enjoyed!! 

1. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath 

This one’s a classic. A gritty, clinically detached portrait of despair and madness, Plath tackles a topic with analytically brilliant prose in a way most authors have never been able to replicate. 

2. The Cranes Dance by Meg Howry 

A terribly underrated book, through the medium of dance Meg gives us a satirical, cutting portrait of perfectionism, pain, and the ruthlessly seductive pursuit of greatness, in a way reminiscent of The Black Swan. Perfect for anyone who loves stories of obsessed artists, ballet, and the gritty underside of grace. 

3. Bluets by Maggie Nelson 

As someone who has always felt a strangely ethereal connection to the colors, this haunting lament felt like being pulled under the ocean. 

4. I Would Leave Me If I Could by Halsey 

A vibrant, intense, and musical book of verse exploring themes of bipolar disorder and obsessive love. 

5. Girl, Interrupted 

This is one of my favorite books ever. It questions the very way we define madness.. After all, is anyone really sane? 

6. Girl, In Pieces 

A tender, terribly sad story of a girl who suffers from depression, that doesn’t try to be anything but what it is. Its simplicity is what makes it universal. 

7. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson 

This book changed my life. A haunting portrait of two girls suffering from anorexia, it portrays disassociation, the desire to escape, and the crushing existential despair with a fragmented, poetic style.