The most recommended books on hedonism

This book is eerie and unnerving, from its first few pages to the alarming revelations that ensue. I started reading this late one night and couldn’t resist the urge to stay up and finish it! Claire Fuller’s detailed prose will entice, grip, and haunt you well beyond the final scene. 

I have always loved the central premise of the book, that a human being might never age, and yet a portrait of him ages as the years go by.

I love the way that Wilde used elegant and lyrical prose, always boosted by a flamboyant irony, in describing the dissolute life of an aesthete while putting it in the context of a philosophical pursuit of beauty and art. Dorian Gray himself is a deeply flawed moral character, and that is key to the success of the novel.  

The heart of this fantasy trilogy, rife with complex, believable, and heart-breaking politics, is the relationship between Tansen, the unwilling witness to civil war, and Josarian, the face of that war that Tansen swears to protect. I love how Resnick uses their friendship to animate the conflict between patriotism and pragmatism, and the dynamic between the believer and the “once burnt, twice shy” cynic. Unforgettable.

This was one of those "stay up all night, call out of work so you can read just one more chapter" kind of books.

Henderson is an absolute master of worldbuilding and suspense, and her take on vampire lore perfectly showcases this. This story of a lower-class "blood maid" moving into a Victorian manor home in service of a mysterious, vampiric employer had such phenomenal explorations of class differences and power imbalance, absolutely bubbling sensual tension, and so many twists that I often had to put the book down and stare at a wall to digest.

I adored the way that queerness was an accepted and ingrained part of this world, along with the examples of female friendship and the steampunk Victorian gothic vibes throughout.

My best friend recommended this book, and then when I hadn’t read it sent it to me. Obvs she knows me well; I love it!

I always thought I didn’t like horror, but it turns out I didn’t know what it was. The stories in The Changed Man felt like something I could write. They were weird and sometimes poignant. They are a slice of life that left me feeling uncomfortable but also curious and inspired to write, read, and think outside the box.

"Fat Farm" is one of the most brilliant short stories I’ve ever read. It so perfectly illustrates how short-sighted our thinking is around beauty, how our hedonism and values are a betrayal of ourselves. It’s so yummy! 

I found this mystery unusual because there are two protagonists, the fledgling detective Truman and his reluctant friend Celeste. I grew up with a canny mother and sisters, and seeing Celeste tacitly guide Truman in his new career, using her broader understanding of the world, feels familiar. The pair confront a blackmailing bully and try to shut down his operation. Their hedonistic approach to life, even in the most intense moments, is lighthearted and fun, and any woman who’s had a gay best friend or vice versa will recognize the humor in the pair of them chasing the same guys.

An accidental academic edge and idealistic, boosterish teacher lands Larkin’s non-entity protagonist in Oxford. Behavior degenerates from the tongue-tied comprehensive boy, ill at ease in the louche public school mob, to a fellow hearty and then a rowdy. After that, he becomes a stalker and gradually loses his marbles. Larkin has the protagonist write letters in the voice of the stalkee, Jill, and so imitate the assumed mindset of the innocent young girl primed for romance. Larkin would try something of this intimate interlocution again (passing himself off, as an author, as a retired headmistress) with his eroticized Enid Blyton-like novellas, Trouble at Willow Gables and Michaelmas Term at St Bride’s (dodging lesbian clinches with predatory older girls during late night Latin lessons in the dorms, frequent spankings from the headmistress, etc).

All this is brilliantly comic, proto-Angry Young Man and proto-punk, and counters the chilliness of post-war austerity with… show more.

The swinging sixties are commonly thought of as hedonistic days (if you remember them you weren’t there). It was a period when young people threw off the trappings of their parents and, allegedly fuelled by drugs, sex, and rock ‘n roll, set out to put the world to rights: a time without precedent.

But was it really like that? What are the women of that generation up to now; and what do they remember of those times? Is sixty the new forty?

Despite pursuing careers, raising families, with quite a few as grandparents, others caring for their own aging parents, could it be true that the once hipsters – a few now with literally new hips – have an undiluted appetite for life?

This fascinating book looks back over the lives of 67 women in their sixties, all of whom lived through ‘The Sixties’, to explore these questions through their… show more.

The authors are two women who want to live outside the lines -- spontaneously, extraordinarily, and without alcohol. Their book offers instructions (and a road map) for finding joy without booze including sober dating and zero-proof cocktails, among others, so readers can indulge in life. It offers a unique perspective that maybe readers might not have considered before! 

In my next pick, I love the way Ruby Moone plunges us into the racy setting of Regency London in this short but sumptuous MM romance. When Jasper Black, the owner of the Perdition Club, an exclusive gaming hell, comes across Alexander White, desperate to win some money by gambling, sparks fly, and misunderstandings abound. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the richly drawn setting, the central romance (with a touch of kink), and the wonderful supporting cast, especially Alexander’s adorable younger brothers. This was an emotionally engrossing read that ticked all the boxes for a Regency romance.