Hello, long-time lurker here!
As someone who’s been in anorexia recovery for a few years now, I know I’m ready to read these sorts of books without it affecting me.
So, I want to pick up books that give me more insight into and/or perspectives on eating disorders – not limited to one specific diagnosis. Books about body image, beauty standards and similar topics could also be interesting. I’m equally open for non-fiction and fiction – as long as the eating disorder isn’t overly romanticized. If it’s fiction or a memoir the eating disorder doesn’t necessarily need to be the main focus, but I want it to be a central theme.
A few books I’ve already read:
*Hunger: A Memoir of (my) Body* by Roxanne Gay – enlightening, but sometimes a bit too incoherent/nonchronological for me
*Paperweight* by Meg Haston – I liked it and even though I couldn’t relate to it (never been in-patient) it felt well-researched and realistic
*I’m Glad my Mom Died* by Jennette McCurdy – loved it (like most people)
*Acne: A memoir* by Laura Chinn – reminded me a lot of *I’m Glad my Mom Died*
*Heartstopper* by Alice Oseman – it’s cute, but can’t say it gave me a lot
*Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia* by Hadley Freeman – thorn about this one, sometimes great and sometimes it overgeneralized imo, also weird focus on gender dysphoria
Thank you for your recommendation(s)!
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by FairyMimikyu
10 Comments
Unbearable Lightness by Portia DeRossi is really good. She’s insightful, funny, and has a lot of self-awareness around just how unwell she was, but manages to describe it with the lens she had at the time. I usually don’t care for celebrity memoirs, but this one is unusually good. It’s also hilarious to watch Arrested Development afterward, knowing how happy she was at the time, and hear all the weight obsessed jokes her character (and her character’s mom) makes.
Reclaiming Body Trust: A Path to Healing & Liberation by Hilary Kinavey and Dana Sturtevant
Love love love this book in terms of recovery. Highly recommend
Smaller sister by Maggie Edkins Willis
Life without Ed by Jenni Shafer is a classic and is FANTASTIC. It really explained the therapy for ED process in a way that I could relate to in early recovery, and also still resonates years later.
The F*ck It Diet by Caroline Dooner was life-changing for me — it’s a memoir, not a diet book, despite the title
I’ve only read it once when i was much younger but Eve’s Apple struck me as a 20 something. Not sure how it would read as a 40 something now.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath really affected me when i was in the grip of my ED. Its heavy and historical, but its a classic for a reason
Wasted by Marya Hornbacher is a classic although she turned out to also have bipolar disorder and alcoholism
The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting by Evanna Lynch.
Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon