19. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Ahhhh, so good. Pick this up and you will rip through it in one weekend. It's the fastest thing I've read all year. Like many things I read, made me regret that I didn't major in English at uni instead of doing a law degree. Also made me wish that I'd been more farsighted in my choice of universities and had applied overseas. Perhaps if I'd read this when it was released (1992) rather than on its 20th anniversary, it would have changed my life. It's still great now.

18. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson

Finished this on the train to Melbourne today. Such a good book. I love her honesty: "a volatile and difficult lover" who wants things she can't have and doesn't want what she can have and won't go to therapy. Also made me want to seclude myself reading English at Oxford, despite that being but a mere mention in the last-ish chapters.

17. The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe

Yes, I read this book because I read somewhere that Lena Dunham makes everyone who works on her show read this before they start. She's right, though. Written in 1958, but so modern. Work. Get fucked. Feel guilty. The end. Recommended. I finished this in October. Bit late with the post.