Reading is one of my favorite hobbies to pass the time with, but I am one of those people who can read one book a day before I randomly fall into a reading slump that lasts months at a time, and as someone who loves to read, reader’s block is the absolute worst. Thanks to being introduced to Booktok in late 2020, though, I got out of my reading slump and haven’t fallen back into it since. However, I know the absolute pain that comes with being a reader that feels physically incapable of reading, so here is a list of some popular books guaranteed to get you back into reading again.
Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This book is worthy of every bit of hype it gets. One rainy morning over the summer I curled up into bed and picked up this book, and I did not leave my bed until I finished the last page eight hours later. This book will make you laugh, cry, and smile through the tears all within pages of each other. Reid has a way with words that sucks you into the glitz and glamour of 1950s Hollywood, then strips it all away to show the darkness behind the spotlight. She puts you through the same whirlwind of emotions that the characters are experiencing. It is a fast-paced easy read centered around a story of tragedy, love, and everything in between. Take my word for it and start it asap, you will not regret it.
The Invisible Life of addie larue by v.e. schwab
Readers might have a bone to pick with me over including this one in the list considering one of this book’s main critiques is its slow pace. But since this is my favorite book of all time, it wouldn’t make sense for me to just leave this book off the list. This is another read that I finished in one day, because this book was everything I wanted in a book and more. In a final attempt attempt to escape an arranged marriage being pushed onto her in the late 1700s, young Adeline Larue makes a deal with a dark God, Luc, to live forever. Luc fulfills her wish on the condition that everyone she meets will forget all about her existence the second they leave. This happens to Adeline time after time again until after 300 years, someone in NYC finally remembers her. The book’s short chapters and Schwab’s writing style, which favors single sentences over dense paragraphs, makes this book easily digestible despite its pace which is slow at times. With each chapter ending on a cliff hanger and jumping between timelines, it keeps you wanting to read on to find out what happens next. Its genre is historical romance with elements of fantasy woven into it, includes enemies to lovers, and has three main characters you can’t help but adore. The writing is beautiful and keeps you thinking about the story long after you close the book. Overall, this book is the perfect introduction back into reading and I cannot recommend it enough.
a Court of thorns and roses by sarah j. maas
One random day during quarantine I picked up the ACOTAR books after hearing all my literary friends raving about them, and the rest is history. I had to include this series in the list because these books got me out of a reading slump that I’d been stuck in since the last Hunger Games movie came out back in 2015. There was never a dull moment in any of these books. This is a classic choice if you want a series that’ll introduce you to the fantasy genre with well-developed, but comprehendible world-building. Its fast-paced plot keeps you engaged with a ship to rave over. This is the best series to get you back into reading. I will warn you, though, while I’ve read many books since then that are, technically speaking, better than ACOTAR, no book has lived up to the magic that this series has.
Caraval By Stephanie Garber
While this series gets some attention on Booktok, I consider it one of the app’s more underrated series, and one that is guaranteed to have you fall in love with reading again. This author leads its readers on a scavenger hunt through an enchanted circus world, and in a story where nothing is as it seems and the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred, the plot twists will and the book’s ending will have you running to Amazon to buy the next book. Truthfully, this is one of the only books where I did not figure out the major plot twist before it was finally revealed to me. Its fast pace and the fact that there isn’t a single word in this story that goes to waste, makes it a read that doesn’t drag on page after page, but one that has you wanting to keep reading.