When I tell people I read books for leisure to relax my mind during stressful times, they look at me like I’m crazy. But, if you’re like me and plan on reading between finals to give your mind a rest, here are a few recommendations:
- Lilac Girls
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If you love historical fiction novels, this book is for you. This story follows three women in different countries during WWII who are experiencing the war from completely different perspectives: Caroline, a socialite living in NYC; Kasia, a Polish teenager; and Herta, a young German doctor who’s recruited to work at a concentration camp. Their lives are brought together by a string of fateful events and it’s really such a heart-tugging story to read.
- Before I Fall
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I’m sure you’ve already heard of the movie that was based off this great book, but I highly encourage you to read this book, too, if you haven’t already. For those of you who don’t know this story, the plot revolves around Samantha King who has it all going for her until she dies in a car crash and has to relive her last day over and over until she fulfills her destiny. Samantha is your stereotypical “mean girl” at the beginning of the story, but through living the same day again and again she learns a lot about herself and it opens her eyes to the struggles of the ones around her. It’s a very emotional story at times, but it’s SO good. No surprise they eventually adapted it into a movie!
- The Sun and her Flowers
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So this one is actually a poetry book, but the poems in it are super positive and empowering and can definitely give you some motivation that can be applied to finals week, too.
- The Neverending Story
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If you really want a book that will take your mind to a whole new world and help you completely forget about the stress of finals week for a bit, this is a great choice. The Neverending Story is a classic, in my opinion, and if you haven’t read it yet I highly encourage you to! The story is about a young boy named Bastian who comes across an old book in an attic and is literally transported into the world. There’s so much to it and I definitely don’t want to spoil it, but the story is such a cool concept and will keep you enthralled until the very (never)end. See what I did there?
- Marked (House of Night Series #1)
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I recently started re-reading this entire series. It used to be my favorite series of all time in high school. If you love vampire stories and fantasy fiction stuff, this is 100% for you. The story is about a girl named Zoey who finds out she’s actually a vampire and is sent to a special college to learn about her powers and how to effectively use them. Of course, there are a bunch of crazy things that happen on the way to create this 12 part series, and if you’re looking for a new series to delve into after finals week is over I would definitely recommend starting with the House of Night series!
i hope you all have a great finals week and I hope one of these books is able to help take some of that mental stress off your shoulders. Good luck!