At least half of the books I was forced to read in high school bored me to sleep. I was a frequent-flyer on Sparknotes and could B.S. my way through any English class discussion. It was a talent, honestly.
The catch is that I truly do like to read. Is that weird? Like, I actually enjoy reading and analyzing literature – we exist! Reading is so much more enjoyable when you aren’t reading something written in 1804 by some British dude, I promise.
Have I convinced you to start reading for fun yet? Below is a list of books that won’t put you to sleep. Most of them you could read in a day – you probably won’t be able to put them down.
- The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer
Hilarious, obviously. I’ve forced at least three of my friends to read this because I love it that much.
- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
A coming-of-age story told through the poetry of a 15-year-old girl living under the roof of her strict Dominican parents. Relatable and eye-opening at the same time. I couldn’t put it down.
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
If you want to #StayWoke, read this. Coates brilliantly exposes the reality of racism in the U.S. in this book, which is actually a letter to his teenage son.
- Bossypants by Tina Fey
Does Tina Fey do anything wrong? I don’t think she is capable of producing a boring piece of work.
- Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
If you haven’t noticed, I love female comedians. (Comediennes?) I feel like I’m best friends with Mindy Kaling after reading her autobiography. Office fans, this one’s for you. Read this, and then read Mindy’s second book.
- We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Remember the feature in the middle of ***Flawless by Beyoncé that goes “Feminist: the person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes”? That’s who wrote this book.
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Random, I know. It will tear your heart into a million pieces and send you into a depressive episode, but better from a book than a boy, right?
- Bad Girls Throughout History by Ann Shen
This is literally a picture book of your feminist heroes, so there is no excuse to not read it. (P.S. – shout out to my fellow HCKU writer Sheli for gifting this book to me.)