By Sheila Heti

Service95 Recommends is the home of the books we love and reviews from our contributors. How Should A Person Be? by Sheila Heti is a darkly humorous, semi-autobiographical tour of one woman’s heart and mind.

What We Say: “Don’t let the title put you off, this semi-autobiographical novel isn’t totally existential. Sheila is in her twenties, has recently left her marriage, and is wondering how a person should be. She decides it simply must be her friend Margaux, an untortured painter who seems to live and create art effortlessly. It’s an autobiographical novel turned postmodern self-help book, where real emails and transcripts collide with contemporary fiction to make up Sheila’s experimental quest for authenticity. Come for the humour, stay for the chapter entirely dedicated to Sheila’s toxic lover’s... certain body part.” – Natalie Beecroft

What They Say: “A seriously strange but funny plunge into the quest for authenticity” –Margaret Atwood

Available on Bookshop.org, Waterstones, and Barnes & Noble 

For more book recommendations, subscribe to our newsletter 

Natalie Beecroft is a London-based writer and contributing writer for Service95 

How Should A Person Be?

Previous Monthly Reads

arrow
arrow
Dua's Monthly Read for June - Having Spent Life Seeking by Kae Tempest

2026 June

Dua's May Monthly Read - So Late In The Day by Claire Keegan

2026 May

Dua's Monthly Read for April for Service95 Book Club - Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth

2026 April

Dua Lipa With Her March 2026 Monthly Read, Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

2026 March

2026 February

2026 February

Dua's Monthly Read - Night People by Mark Ronson

2026 January

2025 December

2025 December

2025 November

2025 November

2025 October

2025 October

2025 September

2025 September

2025 August

2025 August

2025 July

2025 July

2025 June

2025 June

2025 May

2025 May

2025 April

2025 April

2025 March

2025 March

2025 February

2025 February

2025 January

2025 January

2024 November

2024 November

2024 October

2024 October

2024 September

2024 September

2024 July

2024 July

2024 June

2024 June

2024 May

2024 May

2024 April

2024 April

2024 March

2024 March

2024 February

2024 February

2024 January

2024 January

2023 November

2023 November

2023 October

2023 October

2023 September

2023 September

2023 August

2023 August

2023 July

2023 July

2023 June

2023 June

How Should A Person Be?