Books for writers

Hello everyone!! I’m a writer looking for book recommendations about topics I like to write about. I find that people often ask me who my literary inspirations are and I don’t always have an answer. I want to read more literary fiction by authors who are doing the kind of thing I am trying to do in my own writing. For a long time, I mainly read YA fiction but in more recent years I’ve been trying to read more literary fiction, since that’s more like what I want to write right now.

I write a lot about trauma and mental illness, especially focusing on generation trauma, religious trauma, and dysfunctional families. I often like writing about the healing process in adulthood specifically, instead of writing about the traumatic events as they happen, but sometimes I do a mix of the two. I also particularly enjoy writing about therapy— the good, the bad, the way it can heal and the way it can be weaponized.

Some books that I really liked that I think are similar to what I want to do are Normal People by Sally Rooney and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I also liked Beartown by Fredrik Backman and am planning to read more of his work! Another one is The First Time She Drowned by Kerry Kletter but I’m not sure if that one is considered YA or literary fiction.

Thank you!!!