This month, the Service95 Book Club turns three. To celebrate these years of reading the world differently together, across 34 Monthly Reads handpicked by Dua, we’re taking a moment to reflect on how books can guide you through every twist and turn life can bring. We’ve asked some literary friends of Service95 to share the books that capture specific decades in life, from your twenties to your sixties (and beyond).
For the thirties, Service95 founder Dua, who turned 30 last summer, hand-picks the reads that have set the tone for the decade ahead.
Reading is my superpower. It allows me to shut out the noise. Wherever I am, whatever the distractions, I can get lost in a book. In the airport, on the tour bus, in the studio: there is always a book in my bag.
Some books stay with you long after you finish them. Some are so good you wish you could read them again for the first time. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is that novel for me. Yes, it’s a dystopian horror story, but really it reads like a hymn to love, friendship and what it means to be human. I remember the first time I was moved by how tenderly he writes about youth, innocence and friendship.
The older I get, the more I understand how books can carry you through certain periods of your life. My twenties were magic. They brought me so much, but being in my thirties feels like I’m hitting my stride. Being in my thirties makes me feel invincible. There’s so much to draw from, and still so much ahead.
That spirit is what I have tried to capture here: these are the books that have found me in this decade (plus one bonus transitional read I couldn’t help but bring with me from my late twenties). Here’s to the thirties, and whatever they might bring!
Dua x
Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Rosalind Harvey
If you are a woman in your thirties, you are going to have endless conversations about motherhood. Still Born asks thorny questions from all the angles and doesn’t shy away from the tough stuff. Ultimately, it’s life affirming, whichever side of the parenting fence you sit on.
Just Kids by Patti Smith
This spellbinding account of NYC in the 1960s and 1970s makes me wish I could time travel. Patti’s story of her evolution as an artist is as inspiring as it is exciting. This book found me in my twenties (so I understand why Nelio chose it for his list, too!). What’s special about it is how it teaches you how to transition out of the hustle of your twenties into the confidence of your thirties, without compromising an inch.
Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
I found poetry intimidating for the longest time. When I hit 30, I decided to get over it. The key is finding a poet that works their magic on you – you don’t need to understand why or how. For me, that’s Anne Carson – pick whoever works for you and just surrender to it.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
It’s the 30th anniversary of this 1,000+ page epic and I’ve given myself my thirties to read it. I know David Foster Wallace divides opinion, but if he’s good enough for George Saunders, he’s good enough for me.
The Right to Sex by Amia Srinivasan
This is one of those rare books that makes you think differently about something you thought you already knew – and your thirties might bring more appetite to be challenged. A collection of essays that tackles pornography, desire and power, it concludes that consent, for all its importance, is too blunt an instrument to capture the full complexity of sex. Your thirties may bring more appetite to be challenged. This book meets that appetite.
