Here are 38 books that Spoiled Brats fans have personally recommended if you like
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I’m a humor writer and stand-up comedian. I spend much of my time trying to get my comedy into the shortest form possible so it can “go viral,” but I’d rather work on projects that have space to breathe, like books. I don’t think enough people appreciate how funny books can be. Often, humor seems like the purview of more visual mediums. However, while books are quieter than TV shows and live performances, they have just as much capacity for humor. When a book truly makes me laugh out loud, I want to tell everyone. And the following five books do.
I’m a big philosophy fan, but I also appreciate anything that can poke fun at the great philosophers. I’m also generally a bit of a romantic disaster, and this book manages to weave together philosophical insight, wit, and dating advice (good or not) to create a thoroughly entertaining read. Most importantly, you’ll feel verysmart reading it.
What would Kant's sexts look like? How would Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir break up? What would Confucius think of Tinder?
Love Voltaire Us Apart is a hilarious spoof relationship guide with a philosophical edge, made up of philosophers' love letters, advice columns and breakup letters.
From Confucius learning the Golden Rules of dating to Simone de Beauvoir considering bangs after breaking up with Jean-Paul Sartre, comedy writer Julia Edelman views the love lives of prominent philosophers through a clever and contemporary lens. She points out that Margaret Fuller is the "Carrie" of transcendentalism, and Nietzsche will always find…
I’m a humor writer and stand-up comedian. I spend much of my time trying to get my comedy into the shortest form possible so it can “go viral,” but I’d rather work on projects that have space to breathe, like books. I don’t think enough people appreciate how funny books can be. Often, humor seems like the purview of more visual mediums. However, while books are quieter than TV shows and live performances, they have just as much capacity for humor. When a book truly makes me laugh out loud, I want to tell everyone. And the following five books do.
Katzenstein cleverly uses cartoons to take us into the brain of someone with OCD. This book is laugh-out-loud funny, but also highly educational. I love this book because it uses cartoons to present another way of understanding each other – in its drawings, it’s deeply empathetic. While I don’t have OCD, I do struggle with the feeling that words alone are not enough to convey to others what’s going on inside my brain, and this book made me feel less alone.
“A brilliant, honest, necessary book that exposes the intricacies of the human brain while showing us the way creativity and friendship can anchor us. This is a must-read for anyone who has ever wondered if they see the world a little differently.” –Ada Limón
A New Yorker cartoonist illustrates his lifelong struggle with OCD in cartoon vignettes frank and funny
Jason Adam Katzenstein is just trying to live his life, but he keeps getting sidetracked by his over-active, anxious brain. Mundane events like shaking hands or sharing a drink snowball into absolute catastrophes.…
Reading these books has given me people to relate to in a way that I didn’t have when I was younger, and it’s fun to see Black women learning how to thrive in both life and love since that’s not an image I’ve gotten to see very often in media. As a recent Ph.D. grad, immersing myself in fictional romantic worlds and humor has been a great way to unwind but also think through how I want to operate in the world as a (sort of??) adult. These books can appeal to anyone, but this has just been a bit of why they resonate with me.
I absolutely love Amber as a comedian, so when I found out she and her sister were writing a book about racism, I was all kinds of intrigued. This book is hilarious, of course, but it also highlights the inherent ridiculousness of racism in a way that can be difficult to show in fiction. I mean, how else can you be mistaken for a prominent historical figure who has been dead for centuries at the bank?
This book made me laugh, made me angry, and made me feel so seen. Sometimes, I need a spoonful of sugar to help the hard lessons go down, and this book offers a whole lot of humor to really drive home important messages about how society treats us as Black women.
Writer and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers Amber Ruffin writes with her sister Lacey Lamar with humor and heart to share absurd anecdotes about everyday experiences of racism.
Now a writer and performer on Late Night with Seth Meyers and host of The Amber Ruffin Show, Amber Ruffin lives in New York, where she is no one's First Black Friend and everyone is, as she puts it, "stark raving normal." But Amber's sister Lacey? She's still living in their home state of Nebraska, and trust us, you'll never believe…
I’m a humor writer and stand-up comedian. I spend much of my time trying to get my comedy into the shortest form possible so it can “go viral,” but I’d rather work on projects that have space to breathe, like books. I don’t think enough people appreciate how funny books can be. Often, humor seems like the purview of more visual mediums. However, while books are quieter than TV shows and live performances, they have just as much capacity for humor. When a book truly makes me laugh out loud, I want to tell everyone. And the following five books do.
I’ve never been pregnant before, but Viti’s book is one of the few things I’ve ever read that makes the idea seem appealing. Not because she sugarcoats the rougher parts, but because I now know that if I do get pregnant, I’ll have this hilarious book to keep me company. I’ve shared this book with all my friends who have ever been pregnant, and they agreed that it was a wholly original take on the endeavor.
Full of vibrant illustrations, annotated diagrams, and first-hand accounts, Be Pregnant is a fun and comforting companion for this exciting (and highly anticipatory!) time in a pregnant person's life. Eugenia Viti's charming mix of insider info and humor provide a much-needed laugh about:
- Strangers trying to touch your belly. - Feelings of inadequacy about stroller prices. - The all-powerful birth plan.
With quirky yet universal anecdotes, personal "Something That May Happen . . ." sections, and an inclusive illustration program welcoming all moms, Be Pregnant is the perfect gift for an expecting friend or baby shower.
As a 34-year-old memoirist, one of the most frequent questions I get about my genre, delivered with both curiosity and disdain, is: “Why?” After all, why? What could I, the life experience and literary equivalent of a pollywog, have to share about my journey—or, gasp, what I’ve LEARNED? The fun thing is, as someone who once broke my parents’ computer by using dial-up internet to download Napster, I’m used to disappointing people. Even more fun: as a millennial memoirist, I don’t believe in writing books that will tell people what I’ve learned. I hope my writing shows, through both merit and content, that I have indeed learned something.
If I could take one book to a desert island, it might well be this one. I’m hesitant to even describe it, in the same way, I’d hesitate to dole out unsolicited advice to any millennial—or human being, for that matter—who is staring down the kaleidoscope of their identity, asking, “Which one? Which one do I choose?”
Heti’s answer to that question—and to anyone asking her to pigeonhole her writing into one genre—is the same experience I’ve had in the many, many times I’ve read this glimmering text. Whatever you want, darling. Whatever you need.
Chosen as one of fifteen remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write in the 21st century by the book critics of The New York Times
"Funny...odd, original, and nearly unclassifiable...unlike any novel I can think of."—David Haglund, The New York Times Book Review
"Brutally honest and stylistically inventive, cerebral, and sexy."—San Francisco Chronicle
Named a Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, Flavorpill, The New Republic, The New York Observer, The Huffington Post
A raw, startling, genre-defying novel of friendship, sex, and love…
At The Financial Diet, I’ve written and produced videos about money, productivity, and work/life balance for the better part of a decade. I’ve come to the conclusion that most of our commonly held beliefs about money and work are incorrect: your job shouldn’t be your main purpose, and money shouldn’t be the end goal in and of itself. I’ve also been a longtime nonfiction reader, and I lead a monthly book club for our Patreon members. This list is composed of my favorite selections from those meetings (a few of which I’d read previously), and I hope they invite you to question your own relationship with work and money!
I am in awe of how Anne Helen Petersen was able to weave together a cathartic validation of how exhausted our generation is with a clear historical explanation of where American burnout culture actually comes from. As someone who has fallen victim to cycles of overwork despite my best efforts to inject my life with balance, I needed to read about how overworking is not my fault, but it is also not necessary.
This also gave me some great data points to cite in debates with well-meaning family members who still look upon our entire generation as lazy and entitled.
"Urgent and insightful book... Read this and get a much-needed perspective" Stylist
Are you tired, stressed and trying your best but somehow still not doing enough? Has the bottom half of your To Do list been locked in place for months? Is everything becoming work as your job seeps into your evenings, you monetise your hobbies and perform your leisure time on social media?
This is burnout - what increasingly like the defining feature of our lives. We are exhausted. But burnout is not a…
I own Aptus Financial and am a writer, financial columnist, and a Certified Financial Planner™. I also run 401(k)s (in high heels.) Financial literature and advice tends to nerd out with natural savers or shame debtors, but my passion is the folks in between—the break eveners. I believe that this group benefits from financial advice that nudges, not bludgeons. Also, many women don’t feel they belong in the world of personal finance, which is why I dedicate time to public speaking to women’s groups around the country. I am tapped into a network of financial ladysplaining authors and speakers who have collectively pulled ourselves up by our Mary Jane straps and are pulling chairs for other women at the financial table—right where they belong.
Money Honey is a quick and easy read that asks the reader “why are you here on the planet and why are you wasting your time living someone else’s life?” Richards’ story of saving and investing then essentially retiring from day job hours while in her 20s will get your attention. You will start asking yourself why you’re sitting on the couch scrolling social media when you could be making a business plan or increasing your savings rate. At its core, the concept is not just about money. It’s about using money for the purpose of living the life we want to live, the one “you” were designed for. She asks, why waste any time getting there? Her money bucketing system is spot-on for saving for long, intermediate, and short-term financial goals. I wanted to save so hard after reading this book.
**UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2020, now including a foreword by Paula Pant of Afford Anything!**
Adulting is hard, especially when it comes to money management… but it doesn’t have to be.
What if one book could dramatically change the way you think about money? What if you could finally do the things you know you should be doing but haven’t yet, like creating a budget, paying down debt, and investing in the stock market? What if you could finally learn about finance without your eyes glazing over?
In Money Honey: A Simple 7-Step Guide for Getting Your Financial $hit Together, bestselling author…
As a queer millennial myself, I’m fascinated by the many different approaches writers of my generation have taken to queerness. American millennials have, I think, a unique perspective—when we were kids, gay jokes were prevalent everywhere on TV. Now same sex marriage is legal. On the other hand, there has also been a hard swing of the pendulum, and LGBTQ rights are being curtailed once again. Celebrating the plurality of queer contemporary stories is important to me, a reminder that we’re always going to be here, and that just as queer artists always have, we’ll continue having an impact on the cultural landscape.
I really love books about artists, women who are able to get angry, queer flourishing, and difficult family dynamics, and this book is about all of this. Angelina has recently graduated college when a car accident causes her to lose work and need to move back in with her parents. She and her father have always had a difficult relationship and being under his roof now is harder than ever, especially as she knows he doesn’t appreciate her desire to have a career as an artist. When Angelina meets Janet, a young queer artist, the two begin a friendship that blossoms soon into something more, inspiring Angelina’s own work. The writing is so mesmerizing, and Bogart’s description of the artwork Angelina makes is beautiful. Also – there’s a dog in this book, a very good dog, and she lives.
The last place Angelina Moltisanti ever wants to go is home. She barely escaped life under the roof, and the thumb, of her violent but charismatic father, Jack. Yet home is exactly where she ends up after an SUV plows into her car just weeks after she graduates from college, fracturing her wrist and her hopes to start a career as an artist.
Angelina finds herself smothered in a plaster cast, in Jack's obsessive urge to get her a giant accident settlement, in her mother Marie's desperation to have a second chance, and in her own stifled creativity - until…
I have over four decades of experience working and innovating in the financial markets and have been a prolific contributor to academic and practitioner finance literature. I started my career at Salomon Brothers in 1984, where I became a managing director in the bond-arbitrage group, and in 1993 I was a co-founding partner of the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management. I founded Elm Wealth in 2011 to help clients, including my own family, manage and preserve their wealth with a thoughtful, research-based, and cost-effective approach that covers not just investment management but also broader decisions about wealth and finances.
This is the most concise book (just 45 pages) on investing and saving that exists, and it delivers valuable advice in a punchy, memorable style. It’s the first book I recommend to anyone who asks me to recommend a book with practical advice that will improve their financial lives if they follow what it says.
If You Can is a short, inexpensive e-booklet aimed at getting twenty-somethings with their first 401(k) started on the path to retirement saving and investing.
I own Aptus Financial and am a writer, financial columnist, and a Certified Financial Planner™. I also run 401(k)s (in high heels.) Financial literature and advice tends to nerd out with natural savers or shame debtors, but my passion is the folks in between—the break eveners. I believe that this group benefits from financial advice that nudges, not bludgeons. Also, many women don’t feel they belong in the world of personal finance, which is why I dedicate time to public speaking to women’s groups around the country. I am tapped into a network of financial ladysplaining authors and speakers who have collectively pulled ourselves up by our Mary Jane straps and are pulling chairs for other women at the financial table—right where they belong.
Do It For Yourself: A Motivational Journal is a great pairing with any of the books above. The beautiful and powerful designs ask questions and challenge thinking. They move you to action, like one particular page entitled, “Day One or One Day.” In a world of social media where we don’t keep up with the Joneses driving down the street but rather having the Joneses drive into our own living rooms, Ms. Kutruzzula reminds us that “Comparison Will Kill You.” Money requires action today, not promises tomorrow. It requires us to stick to our own goals and our own plan, not the plans of others. And it requires perseverance. This journal guides just that process.
A bold motivational journal for anyone seeking to boost their productivity
Whether you're embarking on a new project or planning your future, understanding what makes you tick is the crucial first step in making things happen. Do It For Yourself combines the pop-art-inspired graphics of Subliming with 75 thought-provoking prompts by creativity and productivity expert Kara Cutruzzula. Choose any goal and work through the five stages of the journal-getting going, building momentum, overcoming setbacks, following through, and seeking closure-or just open it to the phase you're in now. Each exercise is designed to help reorient your outlook, overcome roadblocks, and…
