I’m not sure if any of you have noticed, but I’m not known for being particularly perky or cheerful.

I have been told by many that I have a very “dry” sense of humor, but I honestly do not understand what that means. I do know that I tend to be introspective and highly value my solitude (aka Laura practically requires applications for in-person interaction). Accordingly, (and thanks to Sarah’s nudging) I veer towards books that feature angst, in all its pensive glory, with a heaping side dish of sarcasm.

So, after reviewing my Goodreads “read” list, I’ve compiled a list of my all-time favorite—but not already heavily featured here on CEFS—angst-filled books.

Holier Than Thou by Laura Buzo

“Finishing Year Twelve had been a blessed relief. Although, having read Looking for Alibrandi several times since Year Eight, I was disappointed when Year Twelve did not bring me a handsome, salt-of-the-earth boyfriend and ultimate emancipation from all that ailed my teenage soul.” 

Holly Yarkov has mid-twenties ennui. There’s nothing particularly wrong with her life, but neither is there anything profoundly fulfilling. She grieves for relationships fading or faded away, while trying to decide if her current job and boyfriend are enough. Rewind my life a decade and you have me, albeit with a different job and a different boyfriend on a different continent, frightened of becoming stuck, frightened of making a change, and frightened of what I mistakenly believed was a winding down of options the further I inexorably moved into adulthood. With terrifically sarcastic wit and poignant dialogue, author Laura Buzo skillfully depicts the crossroads between the nostalgia for youth and the tentative embracing of adulthood.

(Holier Than Thou is only available in Australia, but can be purchased from Fishpond with free shipping.)