“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” – Mortimer J. Adler
The sentiment of quality over quantity is always one that strikes me when it comes to recommending books, podcasts or television series to others. As a child, I devoured books like sweets, obsessed with finding new characters and stories to immerse myself in. In secondary school, it was mandated that we read for a minimum of twenty minutes per day, and that we take a quiz on every book we read to prove we had understood the content. It wasn’t until I stopped reading completely that I realised the importance of discerning the kinds of literature you are choosing. Reading to fill a quota will not make you happy, and certainly won’t help you fulfil your goals.
The books I recommend here are books that have changed my outlook on myself, on the society I live in, and on the wider world. Even just one of these books can change your life, so I really do urge you to pick up a copy. Clicking on each book cover featured in this article will link you directly to Blackwells where you can purchase each book.
For accessibility and transparency, I have attached trigger warnings to books which I feel may cause upset or offence. If any edits to these warnings need to be made (i.e. adding a warning or changing the way a warning is worded) please let The Legal Side team know.
1. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
‘The Color Purple’ has quite rightly earned itself a number of awards- including the Pulitzer Prize- and is hailed as a classic by many members of the black and LGBTQ+ communities. A partially epistolary novel, ‘The Colour Purple’ centres on the character Celie, a young African-American woman living in 19th Century Georgia. It tells the silent stories of so many women of this period without sensationalising the hardships these women endured.
There are a great number of strengths to this book. Alice Walker not only enlightens us to the violent and senseless acts committed against women by strangers in far-away and impoverished places, but with great sensitivity, shows that misogyny, sexism and prejudice are just as rife in American cityscapes as in remote African villages. This book says what other books are afraid to say. It is terrifying and haunting, yet it doesn’t fail to acknowledge that with education and self-awareness, we can help heal the world of these social evils.
TW: This book contains physical and emotional abuse, rape, incest, sexual identity, and racism
2. The Ten Types of Human by Dexter Dias QC
I picked this book up in Waterstones on a whim because I figured that- at £3- if it was awful, I could just donate it to a charity shop. Be under no illusions, this book was a marathon to read, and a brick to carry around in my bag after I bought it. Much like a long run, however, I found it to be incredibly rewarding.
Laced with anecdotes, this is non-fiction like you’ve never read non-fiction before. This book gave me emotional whiplash: one minute I had lost all faith in humanity, the next I was in awe of the capacity that people have for kindness. I expected this book to be rather one-dimensional, setting out ten categories and leaving no room for deviation. Like any good human rights lawyer however, Dias is not afraid to speak to the nuances of the human condition, explaining that we are all capable of such ‘crimes’ and ‘heroics’ described, dependant on the circumstances we are faced with.
TW: This book contains themes of slavery, assisted suicide, FGM, acid attacks, and warfare
3. Night by Elie Wiesel
In September 2019, I visited Krakow with my school, a trip alongside my studies of A Level History. A week or so before the flight, my best friend thrust this book into my hand. “Read it”, she said, and so I did.
I knew what happened in World War Two, and the atrocities victims of the Holocaust faced at the hands of SS Officers and of those sympathetic to the Nazi regime. I had visited Belgium and France previously, I’d read letters and books of survivors, I’d seen a gurney on which disabled children were euthanised as part of Hitler’s ‘final solution’. Still, nothing had prepared me to read Wiesel’s account. At the turn of each page you find suffering. There is no escape from the fear and violence that followed Eliezer (the book’s narrator) in the ghetto and through the concentration camps. There is no way to read this book other than to simply walk alongside Eliezer, to sit in the cramped train carriage, to watch thousands murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and to move from camp to camp, losing family and friends along the way.
This book is heart-breaking, but it is beautifully written, and lovingly translated from Yiddish to English by Wiesel’s wife. If nothing else, the story surrounding how this book came to be a well-known English text is good enough reason to read it.
TW: This book contains themes of anti-Semitism, murder, torture, and issues related to the Holocaust
4. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Initially, I was very sceptical about Tolle’s work, having read seemingly similar New Age and pseudo-Buddhist literature previously. However, after being recommended it by a great number of people from a vast range of spiritual backgrounds, I decided to give it a try.
It is fair to say that Tolle’s message- living in the present moment is the true path to happiness- is no new or radical concept. It is adopted as a central belief by both New Age
and traditional spiritual groups and practitioners, and although common in the East, is no longer exclusive to this region. However, this book is written very simply and is easy to follow. It invites you to take breaks and to reflect on what you have read, which I see as a nice touch.
Understandably, many people dislike this book due to its roots in spirituality. I think, regardless of your belief system, it can be used as a great tool to understand how you think and how these thoughts may block you from spotting opportunity and being grateful for where you are in life. I wouldn’t recommend this book to everyone, but I think it has great potential if you are open to a new perspective.
5. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Twelve probably isn’t the correct age to read this book, nevertheless as an avid and mature reader at this age, it was recommended to me by my English teacher. He wasn’t wrong to tell me that it was a wonderfully crafted piece of literature, but maybe I was too young to understand the true depth of meaning Nineteen Eighty-Four holds, especially given the fact I had recently read Animal Farm and failed to spot its bold political statements.
I mostly recommend Nineteen Eighty-Four because it is a classic. It is a book that so many dislike while others rave about it. For me, I would say Nineteen Eighty-Four really set the scene for many dystopian novels that have since followed it. The book is short because all it really needs is a hundred or so pages- the message is sufficient without being dragged out in a series of 500-page novels. The characters are believable, and in an age with the technology and surveillance we have, so too is the society in which these characters reside. This book is terrifying because we can replicate it in our minds by aligning certain characteristics with our own landscape. It can truly impact your perception of power.
TW: This book contains themes of interrogation and torture
Meg is an incoming LLB International Law and Globalisation student at the University of Birmingham. Outside of her studies, she enjoys playing flute and piccolo and is a mentor to girls and young women as a member of Girlguiding UK.
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