I'm Glad My Mom Died

What it's about

Jennette McCurdy was six when her mother put her in her first audition, and she spent the next decade as a child actor, eventually starring on Nickelodeon's iCarly, all to make her mother happy. Behind the scenes, her mother controlled everything, from her showers to her eating, teaching her the calorie restriction that became years of eating disorders. This is Jennette's account of that childhood, the fame she never wanted, her mother's death, and slowly learning who she is without her.

Why it's worth reading

The title is shocking, but the book is the opposite of cheap: it's funny, brutally honest and full of hard-won wisdom about family, control and recovery. It speaks to anyone who has loved a difficult parent.

You'll love it if you liked

Educated, The Glass Castle or Born a Crime

Good to know

It deals frankly with eating disorders, addiction and emotional abuse, often in a darkly comic tone. It's short and fast, and the audiobook is read by Jennette herself.