Best books of 2015

So many books, so little time. Luckily, I did have time to read these 12 brilliant books, my favourites of the year...

Book review: Headscarves and Hymens - Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution by Mona Eltahawy

I thought I already had enough anger in my body at all the injustices done to women around the world, but while reading Mona Altahawy's Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution, I discovered that at 5ft 2ins my body can hold a lot more rage than I thought.

Eltahawy wrote an essay after being sexually assaulted in Tahrir Square while covering the Egyptian Revolution, an essay titled Why They Hate Us that ticked off quite a few people. Now, in this book, she expands on the topic of that essay, taking a deeper look at how the Middle East is largely home to societies built on sexism and misogyny, and how men use religion to control women's rights, women's minds and women's bodies.

Headscarves and Hymens mixes the intensely personal - Eltahawy's experience of getting groped while on Hajj and her struggle with deciding to lose her virginity are among the stories included - with statistics and stories of women she has met. This is part autobiography, part investigative report, part call to arms. All come together to form a heartbreaking look at a group of people treated as second class citizens just because of their gender. I say heartbreaking, because there are stories in this book that made me shut my eyes after reading them, hoping that because I couldn't see the words on the page, the horror of what they described would go away.