When was the last time you read a book not related to your uni work?

Reading more books won’t only make you smarter, but it’ll make you a more interesting and empathetic person. Not to mention raising your dinner party chat to a whole new level.

Curl up with this quintet of coolness, our top five books du jour. After reading all five, you’re going to feel way more in touch with the times, because you will be.

#1 The First Bad Man, Miranda July

Raised with the internet at your grimy fingertips, nothing shocks you anymore, right? Try reading The First Bad Man. This book reaches new extremes of storytelling that will leave you feeling exposed and maybe slightly confused. Very NSFW.

July toys with reality by delivering the story through the eyes of an extremely unreliable narrator. It’s a book that could stand alone on its ability to live in the delusional-yet-coherent world of the protagonist but raises its game for the heart-wrenching final quarter. It also includes a good quote to pull out on a bad tinder date: “Real comes and goes and isn’t very interesting.”

The book is genius – try to be seen reading it.

#2 Hunger, Roxane Gay

“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.”

This Muriel Rukeyser quote should be stamped on the cover of Gay’s new memoir, as much a warning as a commendation.

Everything Gay writes is must-read cool. Her work is about withstanding the difficulties of life and telling it how it is. Hunger is harrowing for offering that truthfulness. Gay pulls apart desires and the torture of pursuing them, what it is to be “so much more than hungry”.

#3 The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt

Donna Tartt’s long-awaited The Goldfinch is a shamelessly enjoyable adventure with vibes of Charles Dickens.

The novel opens within the traumatising landscape of a museum in the immediate aftermath of an explosion. We then follow the protagonist through different destinations and formative experiences in true coming-of-age style.

Tartt’s latest novel will give you NYC art-world vibes. The novel has been the source of much debate. Is it a masterpiece, like the painting for which it is named, or does it infantilise the reader? Choose a side and be scathing.

#4 The Argonauts, Maggie Nelson

Maggie Nelson does things you often see from white male authors, like name-dropping a tonne and constantly referencing heavy theories.

The Argonauts is a fictionalised autobiography that features a type of relationship you may not often see in books. Alongside fancy philosophical theories like Wittgenstein and Irigaray, Nelson also cites her partner’s thoughts or retelling of a memory as a source.

The Argonauts proves its worth in sheer freshness and radical form. It’ll grant you cultural capital just for reading it.

#5 The Refugees, Viet Thanh Nguyen

Be relevant, read The Refugees. For us in Australia right now – despite its mainly American setting – this book is vital.

It’s a collection of stories about ‘boat people’ fleeing Vietnam in one of the largest mass exoduses in modern history. It’s about their descendants but it’s also a ghost story. The ghost of Saigon reaches into each tale, a reminder that trauma leaves an imprint and echoes in the lives of different people and their children.

Viet Thanh Nguyen is an author to bring up in conversation as often as you can.

Holly Voigt writes from Melbourne using their own experience and experiences projected onto others. Witness their feisty twitter @faceoddity.