6 books to read in 2018

In need of a good read? If reading more was part of your New Year resolutions, 2018 has got you covered with a range of reads from self-help books, thrillers, fictional sagas you name it. Discover what you like and discover an incredible and fulfilling way to spend your extra time.

That said, it’s time to put your phone down, grab a blanket and get a good book to read. But what can you read?

Here are some of the very many choices of books you can start with.

Slay in your lane

This is by best friends Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinene two black British women who turned lemons into lemonade. Illustrated with stories from their own lives and interviews from successful women, this uplifting book recognizes and celebrates the strides black British women have already made whilst providing practical advice and inspiration for those who want to do the same and forge a better, visible future.

This Will Be My Undoing

Only in her 20’s, Morgan Jerkins has already established herself as an insightful and brutally honest writer. In her book, she brings out what it means to ‘be,’ to live as and to exist as a black woman in this day and age? Her collection of linked essays interweaves her incisive commentary on pop culture, feminism, black history, misogyny and racism with her own experiences to confront the very real challenges of being a black woman today.

She becomes both narrator and subject to expose the social, cultural and historical story of black female oppression that influences the black community as well as the white male-dominated world at large. 

The Recovering

In this book Leslie Jamison talks about intoxication and its aftermath. She shares a personal and seamless blend of memoir, cultural history, literary criticism and journalistic reportage. She gives the reader a clear understanding of the traditional addiction narrative demonstrating that the story of recovery can be every bit as electrifying as challenging. In her book she also has ongoing conversations with literary and artistic geniuses whose lives and works were shaped by alcoholism and substance dependence.

She excavates different emotions of the human experience from the craving for love that both devours us and shapes who we are.

And Now We Have Everything

When Meaghan O’Connell got pregnant accidentally in her 20’s she decided to write a book on motherhood. She talks about the fears of being a mother at a young age, people judging and stepping into a new uncomfortable identity which most women can relate to! She channels fears and anxieties that are still taboo and often unspoken. The book is described as an unflinchingly frank, funny and a visceral motherhood story for our times about having a baby and staying, for better or worse, exactly yourself.

Not that Bad

This book is edited by bestselling and loved author, Roxane Gay. It looks at the end in sight to the difficult work of examining rape, assault and harassment. Roxane collects original and previously published pieces that address what it means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence and aggression they face, and where they are ‘routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, bullied’ for speaking out.

Contributions include essays from established and up-and-coming writers, performers and critics including actors Ally Sheedy and Gabrielle Union.

The Financial Diet

This is a guide to getting good with money written by Chelsea Fagan and designed by Lauren Ver Hage. The Financial Diet gives you tools to make a budget, understand investments and deal with your credit. A good read for those who want some financial discipline, the book gives you the tools to negotiate a raise and the perfect cocktail recipe to celebrate your new salary. Chelsea Fagan has tapped a range of experts to help you make the best choices for you, but she also knows that being smarter with money isn’t just about what you put in the bank.

It’s about everything from the clothes you put in your closet, to your financial relationship habits, to the food you put in your kitchen.