by Sonya Dado
My bookshelf is tucked away inside my closet, and is quite literally overflowing with books. I call myself a lover of literature, and pride myself on how well I can pitch and recommend books to friends and family. However, I have gone weeks and even months without reading many times in my life. The cause of the reading slump isn’t what’s relevant. The important part is how to get out of it and continue doing what you love.
A new piece of literature might do the trick for you. Here are the top ten books that I always come back to when I enter that familiar slump.
10. We Were Liars: E. Lockhart
Lockhart’s 250 page novel is about a young girl’s summer on her family’s private island. She is suffering from a head injury and is attempting to piece together the events of last summer. The plot twist in this novel is unmatched, in my opinion, despite the heated debate on TikTok about whether or not it was predictable and falls-flat. The genre is a psychological thriller, recommended for ages 13 and up.
Top quote: “Everyone has duplicates of themselves in these other worlds. Different selves with different lives, different luck.”
9. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret: Judy Blume
This delicately explores exactly how it feels to be bordering on the entrance of puberty for girls. The religious title shouldn’t alter your perception; Margaret’s difficult relationship with religion is a vice to represent her changing emotions towards herself, her parents, and her friends. Everytime I had to put the book down I was already looking forward to picking it back up. This coming-of-age book is suitable for ages 13+.
Top quote: “As long as she loves me and I love her, what difference does religion make?”
8. My Sister’s Keeper: Jodi Picoult
For an undeniable feeling of hurt, betrayal, confusion, and love, you must read Picoult’s novel. Following a family that has one daughter with leukemia, and another who reluctantly gives up her own body parts to help her sister, this book is a hyper-engaging tear jerker. This genre is domestic fiction, recommended for ages above 13.
Top quote: “It’s the things you cannot see coming that are strong enough to kill you.”
7. The Summer I Turned Pretty (Series) : Jenny Han
These pages follow 16 year old Isabel “Belly” Conklin as she balances a love triangle and growing pains. The romance, which went completely viral during summer of 2022, is enough to get any reader flipping pages. However, there is a deeper narrative at play here, when Belly is forced to reevaluate her summertime goals when unexpected news begins to shake her perfect beach-house escape. This YA fiction is great for ages 12+.
Top quote: “For me, it was almost like winter didn’t count. Summer was what mattered. My whole life was measured in summers.”
6. I’m Glad My Mom Died: Jennette McCurdy.
For anyone that grew up watching “iCarly”, McCurdy's new novel can instantly become a favorite. About the realities of working as a child actor to support your family, she recounts the decisions that her mom made for her and how they continue to impact her. Ages 16+ would enjoy this autobiography.
Top quote: “Why do we romanticize the dead? Why can’t we be honest about them?”
5. Looking For Alaska: John Green
This was the book that got me into reading. Miles meets Alaska at his new boarding school and she instantly hooks his interest. These characters live through a storyline that you’ll think about at least once a week if you’re anything like me. This YA novel has heavy themes, best for readers 16+.
Top quote: “When adults say, ‘Teenagers think they are invincible’ with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don’t know how right they are.”
4. The Girl on the Train: Paula Hawkins
Hawkins’ novel has a thriller kick to it that, in my opinion, keeps readers as engaged as a rom-com would. I tried to unravel this mystery from the second I read the first page. Each decision is shocking, yet you can’t complain since it develops a plot unlike any you’ve ever read. This mystery is suitable for ages 16+.
Top quote: “But I did become sadder, and sadness gets boring after a while, for the sad person and everyone around them.”
3. Everything Here is Beautiful: Mira T Lee
Lee simultaneously handles themes of mental health, heritage, immigration, and family all at once. I’ve re-read this novel a least 5 times now. They’re eerily realistic relationships she's built from character to character. Miranda, the older sister, tends to her younger sister, Lucia, after the death of their mom. She persists through mental illness and culture shock to be there for her family. Along with stopping a slump, I believe this book can permanently affect how you read and interpret literature for the rest of your life. This fiction is best for people 15+.
Top quote: “Our mother might have said this: that immigrants are the strongest, that we leave our homes behind and rebuild. Everywhere we go, we rebuild.”
2. Normal People: Sally Rooney
This book deserves every bit of hype it receives on social media, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, and anywhere else you can find it being praised. The style of writing is effortlessly unique, with minimal punctuation and paragraph breaks used practically as often as a space bar. The novel flows naturally, in a similar vein to how one’s stream of consciousness would. In combination with the character’s, who are so realistic they practically jump off the page, create a novel that you won’t be able to put down. While this is a romance, I’d recommend this book for readers 15+.
Top quote: “I’m not a religious person but I do sometimes think God made you for me.”
1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: Taylor Jenkins Reid
I read this book in 7 hours the last time I was stuck in bed, putting it down to briefly stand up or stretch. This novel has a unique plot, characters to love and to grieve, and a memorable plot twist.. Set in Old Hollywood, in the late 1950’s, there is also plenty of world-building that can transport any reader out of their slump. This novel is a great piece of YA fiction that readers 13+ could enjoy.
Top quote: “They are just husbands. I am Evelyn Hugo.”
Comments