When COVID hit, I decided to start picking up books again.
When I was younger, I remember I would stay up in my room all night just to finish that last sentence of a Harry Potter book. Then, it would turn into staying up for the entire night reading the next book in the series.
As I got to high school and college, my reading declined. I didn’t have enough time, I was already burnt out by required academic reading and nobody read anymore. Everybody was talking about the next big thing, the next big TV show, the next big Marvel movie. It didn’t seem like books seemed relevant anymore.
As much as I have on my plate, I am forever grateful that I decided to pick up books again. Reading has changed my life and continues to do so by transforming my view of the world in a way that film can’t quite catch. That being said, here are some of my favorite books that I have had the privilege to read recently.
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Most people know this story because of the film, and some people I know had to read this for school (which I will forever be jealous of). Into the Wild tells the story of super-smart and super-conscious college graduate Chris McCandless, who was deadset on a life purpose of exploring the wild and leaving society. Not only does the book tell his story, but it goes into other true adventurers’ stories of what they did, when they did it and how they escaped society to go live in the middle of Utah. And the most chilling part is … none of them ever returned.
I read this book while I was living in a friend’s car for a month, traveling all around the country. While on this trip, I decided to delete all of my social media. I felt quite insane for finding my true happiness in places I felt small, in places away from everybody where I was obsessed with finding freedom as my home. Into the Wild made me feel not so alone.
You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
By the time I got to the end of this book, I was wiping away the tears from the pages. You Exist Too Much follows the life of a Palestinian-American woman as she is forced to face her biggest fear of herself. The book shows that no matter where you are and what you experience, it doesn’t matter how far you run from your own inner traumas. They will follow you and stick with you, and in this case, create a conflict of cultural, religious and sexual identities.
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
It’s not a classic Sally Rooney book unless there is a dramatic love triangle, a concerning age gap and the concept of capitalism and self-worth described in viciously agonizing detail. But just like a toxic ex, I fall for her novels every single time.
In this story, two college students create a friend group with a thirty-year-old couple, one a widely-recognized photojournalist and the other a B-list actor. But when wine, feelings and emotional immaturity get thrown into the mix, the plot thickens.
Most of these were read in the summer and during winter break when I had the most time. However, as spring break approaches, I am more than excited to explore even more books and become moved in a way that film simply cannot do.