Amazing real-life stories to escape into this summer

Nothing puts you in another person's shoes like a good book, and summer is the perfect time to try some on for size - whether it's revolutionaries, athletes or ordinary people surviving extraordinary circumstances. Here's our pick of the best real life stories for 2019, from the hilarious to the ridiculous via several jaw-dropping detours. Who will you be spending your summer with?

Having made her name as a dating columnist, you might expect tales of romance to make up the bulk of Alderton's memoir. But dating woes play just a small part in this series of poignant and hilarious personal essays that also includes lists, stories and even recipes. Above all , Everything I Know About Love is an ode to female friendship which explores the highs and lows of life in your twenties: the hedonism and hangovers, the unspoken mourning that occurs when everyone starts to get into relationships. Everything I Know... feels like spending time with a wise and worldly friend - who can also make you snort out loud laughing when she feels like it.