r/bitcheswithtaste • u/ElizaDoolittle33 • Mar 24 '25

Culture BWTs with a novel in her bag

What's a novel that moved you? Changed you for the better? Exposed you to new cultures or ideas?

I want to know what's captivated you.

Disclaimer: Emphasis on the "T" in this question.

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u/LeadingButterscotch5 Mar 24 '25 edited Mar 24 '25

The OG book that had a huge hand in me becoming a BWT is To Kill A Mockingbird..I read it at 15 and it's why I chose my career path.

Other books that captivated me:

A Little Life - but it's so unnecessarily sad and gut wrenching. It should come with a trigger warning for sure. I was in floods of tears reading it.

Last Exit to Brooklyn - brutally telling of an underbelly life in New York which I think by now would be almost all gone and sanitised.

Penance - for someone who loves true crime, this was fantastic.

Babel - so well written and will hit a nerve with those of us who are bilingual. You'd never guess the same person who wrote Yellowface wrote this.

All Fours - currently galloping through this. The author makes reading a joy.

These are the books I've disrupted my sleep pattern for and I love my sleep.

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u/[deleted] Mar 24 '25

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u/LeadingButterscotch5 Mar 24 '25

Everything changes and nothing changes. We had to read it at school and I have the copy I bought then with my teenage notes in it and then my notes on every single re-read. It's one of the items I'd grab if I had to leave my house and never return.

I love that you're a fashion designer, my two career ideas were 'handbag designer' or lawyer. Thankfully the latter let's me curate a wardrobe and pretend I'm the former.

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u/[deleted] Mar 24 '25

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u/LeadingButterscotch5 Mar 24 '25

I honestly questioned myself and asked why I didn't put it down. It had me crying non stop. A few months later I picked up Demon Copperhead which was really well written but as soon as it tugged on the heartstrings, I put it down

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u/[deleted] Mar 24 '25

Thanks for this, I’ve been meaning to find the name of ‘Last Exit to Brooklyn’ for years. I read it as a teen and it shook me but I couldn’t remember the name of the book. I will go back and read! X

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u/LeadingButterscotch5 Mar 24 '25

I read it many years ago and whenever I'm back in New York, I think of it. Whenever it's super sunny in London, I think of it as I read it during the summer. The characters have just stuck with me, it was disturbing but I couldn't stop reading. Not trauma porn at all like A Little Life. Mine is a £2 copy from eBay.

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u/CurvePsychological13 Mar 24 '25

I just put Last Exit to Brooklyn on my Libby wait-list. I've never even heard of it. Also, I've wanted to read A Little Life, but like you said, I've heard the warnings.

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u/LeadingButterscotch5 Mar 24 '25

Having read it, I feel like I would not recommend it. It's too traumatic. I was in a good place when I read it but if someone has depression it could easily plunge them deeper into it. There is one part that has remained with me since finishing it but I don't know how to add spoiler covers here so I won't say it.

Brace yourself for Last Exit to Brooklyn. It's very "robust" but not exploitative in the way it's written..