By Ahtiya Liles
As we propel into the new year, thoughts of defining one’s self or self-improvement may be at the forefront of our minds. While there’s always a plethora of self-help books, sometimes what we need is a solid work of fiction to act as a mirror and help us sift through our own internal hurricane. Here are 6 fiction books that provide a stage for self-discovery and personal evolution:
1. In Lizzie Damilola Blackburn’s Yinka, Where Is Your Husband?, we follow Nigerian-British and single Yinka as she tries to garner a date to her cousin’s wedding. With mounting familial pressure and recent unemployment woes weighing on her shoulders, Yinka starts to slowly unravel at the seams. Readers will smile (or grimace!) at Yinka’s relatability in how she’s constantly searching for the next way to (supposedly) improve herself, which sometimes results in her completely straying from her own moral code and beliefs. Yinka acts as a mirror for readers, and it’s the unflinching way in which we see Yinka falling apart that can sometimes make this work of fiction feel a little too uncomfortable. You’ll be unable to pull away from watching Yinka spiral due to Blackburn’s expert writing but also because the character of Yinka indeed is so relatable. We are all Yinka at some point, and it’s this realization that makes us cheer on Yinka from the sidelines as she rises and triumphs over her woes.
2. The marker of an impactful read for me is when I think about said book for months to come, and with it being 18 months since I read Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell, I can say Taj McCoy’s debut fits the bill. After being dumped by her utterly garbage longtime boyfriend because he wants to “upgrade”, protagonist Savvy Sheldon begins to take a hard look at her life. What makes her feel happy? Do the things that make her happy align with what she’s always thought she wanted from life? Savvy starts a simultaneous home renovation and full-life renovation, where she begins to have feelings for her contractors who she also unintentionally insulted once in a coffee shop. Coupled with mounting pressure from her job and feeling inadequate, Savvy also begins to re-examine the relationship she has with her body in an attempt to make it more positive and fulfilling, all with an awesome quad of friends at her side and the goal of reclaiming her happiness.
3. One of my favorite reads of 2023, Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou is a trippy, disorienting, off-kilter, and hilarious novel that follows protagonist Ingrid as she maneuvers through the bowels of academia and confronts her own internalized self-hate. There’s poignant commentary on the Model Minority Myth, race relations between non-White people in academia, race relations between white people and BIPOC on college campuses, and the question of “who gets to write what and why” that will have you nodding along and shaking your head at the same time. Ingrid’s growth is messy, cringe-worthy, heartbreaking, and cathartic all at once; you simultaneously want to laugh at her but also feel for her and are rooting for her.
4. In Rhonda McKnight’s The Thing About Home, we follow mega-influencer Casey Black after she’s left by her husband on the day of her life-streamed vow renewal. After an emotional breakdown on Instagram Live, Casey retreats inward and flees to the South to meet and spend time with the people she’s always longed to know: her father’s family. While learning to work the land and perhaps stumbling upon a new romantic prospect, Casey embarks on a journey to find out more about her family and more about herself, as well. As she thinks about all the ways in which she can reinvent herself and reclaim her narrative, Casey begins to rediscover lost loves that make her soul sing and give her more joy than her current profession. The Thing About Home is cozy and reflective, and you’ll find yourself always rooting for Casey as she finds her way back to herself.
While we may redirect our thoughts and re-evaluate our habits at the start of the new year, hopefully these works of fiction help us remember that it’s okay to be a work-in-progress 365 days a year. There is no time limit on self-discovery and no specific way to become our own masterpieces.
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Photo by Dina Nasyrova: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-ceramic-mug-on-white-textile-3808243/
