Weekend Books

Your book recommendations for the weekend

I only have one rule when it comes to reading books.

I’m not a literary snob who believes you should only read the canon; i.e. Austen, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Bronte, Chaucer. I don’t think less of anyone who reads romance novels or as the male literary critics like to call, ‘chick-lit.’ I don’t believe a book has to be worthy of the Booker to be good. I am a huge fan of a Mills & Boon novel and it’s a hill I’m prepared to die on. I went to the Maldives last January for a week and I read seven Mills & Boons novels. I had the most delicious time.

I don’t care if Fifty Shades of Grey is your favourite book. I once wrote an article defending the trilogy. I realise it’s fashionable to scorn those books and look down our literary noses at them, but E. L. James sold over one hundred and fifty million copies of her book and the backlash was nothing short of publishing jealousy. Plus, I enjoyed it, and that’s the bottom line of any book. If you keep coming back to the pages, desperate to turn the next one, who gives a shit what anyone else thinks.

However, like I said, I do have one rule: I don’t read male authors.

I am subjected to the male view every single day. We live in a world that was built by men, for men. The dominant worldview is male. It really is a man’s world, therefore, in my downtime, my precious reading time that I so treasure and adore, the last thing I want to do is enter the mind of a man.

You and I deal with male bullshit every day. In our workplaces, whether we’re getting talked over, passed over for a promotion, or just regularly belittled. Whether men are telling us off for our tone. Whether we’re dealing with incompetent brothers/uncles/fathers, who don’t do nearly as much as the women in the family do. Whether it’s the men we date. The ones we love. We are constantly subjected to the failings, the frustrations and the fuck-ups of the men around us.

I can’t think of anything worse, than spending my leisure time in the mind of a man. Also, I like to spend my money on female authors, who statistically get less marketing budgets from their publishing houses, less space on bookshelves, and fewer opportunities to promote their work.

But that’s just my rule. I’m not arguing for everyone to adopt it. In fact, if you’re at the beginning of your reading journey, it might serve you well to read male authors. However, after growing up reading the canon, after a degree in literature and a Masters in literature, and after many subsequent years reading male authors, I am done.

With that being said, allow me to recommend five of my favourite books, by women. A little something to take into your weekend.

1. Animal, Lisa Taddeo

I don’t think there is anyone writing the raw, disgusting, brilliant brutality of womanhood like Lisa Taddeo. No one puts womanhood on the page like she does. This is her first novel, and it was a book that left me shivering, hungry, ambitious, repelled, and horny all at the same time. It truly is a remarkable read. The book follows Joan, as she leaves New York and heads to LA, running from something that she witnessed as a child, running towards something she has always craved. Joan is the anti-hero that Taylor Swift sings about.

2. Circe, Madeline Miller

This book is about the Greek Goddess Circe. It’s full of mythology and legend, heroes and heroines, but really, this book is about what it means to be a woman in a man’s world. It’s about a woman finding her voice, her path, and defying what she’s supposed to do, to become the glorious witch she was meant to be. You don’t have to like or be interested in the classics to adore this book. It’s written so beautifully, with such searing insights into womanhood, that I often had to stop and read sentences twice, three times, just to savour them. It’s so so good.

3. The Whispers, Ashley Audrain

If you’ve ever watched my Instagram stories you will have seen me, on many occasions, raving about Ashley Audrain. She’s worth all the hype in the world. The Whispers is her second novel, and it’s set on one street and it follows the various families on that street, through the eyes of the women. It’s an excruciatingly brilliant examination of women’s lives. Whether they love being mothers, hating being mothers or desperate to become mothers. There were so many moments in this book that my jaw hit the floor and I looked around just to see if there was someone I could talk to about it. It’s truly phenomenal, and Audrain writes so brilliantly it makes me ache.

4. A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara

This is the most hyped book ever, and you’ve either read this or heard about it. I have to include it in my list, however, because Yanagihara is a remarkable writer, and this is one of my favourites. A master of her craft. She strings sentences together like magic and if you’re looking for something that is beautifully written and skilfully executed, this is the book for you. Yes, it’s sad, and yes, it will make you snot-cry, but my God it will make you feel all the spectrum of human emotion, and as a reader, all I ever want is to feel something. Interestingly, this is about four men, focusing mainly on one of them, Jude. The irony of not wanting to read the male perspective, while A Little Life is one of my favourite books, is not lost on me. But read it, spend some time in Jude’s world, and I think you’ll come to understand why this is one male perspective I’m willing to explore.

5. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells

I read this so many years ago, and to this day, it remains dog-eared, well-worn and much loved from all the times I’ve re-read it. Set in Louisiana, the heat and heartache of the deep south comes right off the pages. It’s one of the rare books that puts men, marriage, and children on the sidelines, and revels in the undying, unending glory of female friendship. It’s also about a mother/daughter relationship and the impossible, and often irreconcilable, complexities of that dynamic. It’s honestly gorgeous.

Sunday Cervix is growing, and part of that includes bringing new things to you. I hope, every Friday, to bring you recommendations for your weekend. So, curl up, grab yourself a cup of tea or hot chocolate, a slice (or three) of your favourite cake, and whittle the weekend away submerged in the lives of some glorious women.

With tea & cake,

Salma x

If you read, or have read, any of these, let me know what you think. There’s nothing more delightful than talking about books.

P.S

It would be downright silly of me not to add my own book to the bottom of this list, so if you haven’t read it yet, my novel about female friendship, These Impossible Things, is also, according to some of my mates (note, not all), a great read. It’s currently on offer for only 99p on Kindle.