By,
Mackenzie Boyce
Despite reading being a primary interest of mine throughout my entire life, I would be lying if I said I’ve never experienced a reading slump. During high school, I watched my passion for reading dwindle, as the constant assigned readings took up all my time, and in all honesty, struggled to keep me interested. Like so many other teenagers and young adults, the lack of interesting reading material in the classroom killed my spark, but thankfully when I had a job that did not allow phones, reading became a way to pass the time. In recent years, I have rekindled my love for literature, and these are some of my favorite books that helped me find myself as a reader again.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
This collaboration by David Levithan and John Green is one that we need to talk about more. I stumbled upon this book at a book sale, and despite being partially written by John Green, I had never heard of it. You know a book is good when you have to finish it in one sitting! The book follows two teenagers, coincidentally both named Will Grayson, who navigate their very different lives that are unknowingly intertwined. The novel is funny, while also focusing on important topics, such as teen mental health struggles. If you like other books by John Green, I would definitely recommend this one.
Book Lovers
Honestly, any book by Emily Henry has me hooked. “Beach Read,” “People We Meet On Vacation,” and “Book Lovers,” are all consistently beautifully written romance novels. Her most recent, and arguably her best novel, “Book Lovers,” follows Nora and Charlie, a literary agent and editing duo who happen to hate each other. In a lovely enemies-to-lovers story, these two find each other in a small town, of course, but the novel stands out from other similar stories by acknowledging the cheesy aspects of it. Nora is a character we don’t normally see in romance books, as she is strong, independent and overall tougher than other female protagonists. If it’s on your TBR list, this is your sign to start it now!
Verity
I’m going to preface this by saying Colleen Hoover is often a hit-or-miss author for me. This book was recommended to me, but I was weary starting because I had not liked her previous works I had read. Even with the hesitancy I felt, I ended up absolutely loving this book. I stayed up all night to finish it because I could not sleep without knowing how it would end (if you know you know). Even if you don’t enjoy Hoover’s writing, I would still recommend giving this one a try. The thriller differs from her other writing and tells the story of Lowen, a new writer who is offered the job of a lifetime but learns dark secrets in the process.
The Love Hypothesis
If you want to read this novel, I need you to know it is a very cheesy romance in the best way possible. If you hate stereotypes and some cringey lines, I would not recommend purchasing this. However, if you love enemies to lovers, or fake dating tropes (my two personal favorites), this book is the perfect combination of both. As part of Ali Hazelwood’s women in STEM series, we watch a Ph.D. student, Olive, end up in a fake relationship with the campus’s most hated professor. One of my favorite reads of this year for sure!
The Mortal Instruments Series
While romance books are obviously my favorite, the first book that truly brought me out of my three-year-long reading slump was “City of Bones” by Cassandra Claire. The first book in her Mortal Instruments series falls under the young adult fantasy genre, but nonetheless, it kept me just as interested as my usual choices. The novel follows Clary Fray, who learns on her eighteenth birthday that she is a shadowhunter, and she must use her new perspective on the world to find her missing mother. Although it took me years after it was published to finally read his series, it embodies everything we loved about the dystopian novel era, and it made me excited to finish a book for the first time in years.