Coming from a lame English major who grew up reading any book I could get my hands on, even I have no idea what I want read half the time. I spent years in a reading slump, having trouble even reading the required books for my classes. It wasn’t until last year, and a good push from Stephanie Meyer publishing “Midnight Sun”, that I slowly began to read for pleasure again. And I had totally forgotten how much I love it! It’s an escape bubble, where I can just relax, light a candle, get some coffee, and just read about faraway places and interesting characters. Especially because I was stuck inside the entirety of 2020 (thanks COVID), it helped to go back to my favorite old hobby instead of potentially going insane. If you’re thinking of reading, or just can’t figure out which book to pick up on your next spur of the moment Barnes and Noble run, here are just some books that I find interesting in each of my favorite genres.
Contemporary: “Geekerella” by Ashley Poston
I love this Cinderella retelling with all my heart! It’s so geeky and quirky, and it was just so fun to read. This retelling is about a geeky girl named Elle, who is in love with this book’s version of Star Trek, called “Starfield”. She decides to enter a cosplay contest, for the chance to win a meeting with an actor who is slated to play a character named Prince Carmindor in the reboot. Darian, the actor, used to love Starfield, until he got famous, so now he hates cons. But, this Cinderella and Prince Charming have a chance encounter, and I’m pretty sure you can guess where it goes from there.
Fantasy: “The Gilded Ones” by Namina Forna
This recently published book has one of the prettiest covers I have seen in a while, so before I could even read the description I had already added it to my tbr list on Goodreads. It’s about a girl named Dekha, who finds out after a blood ceremony that she has gold blood, meaning she is impure. This is terrifying, but a mystery woman gives her a choice, stay and submit to a fate worse than death, or join an army for the emperor. This army is filled with girls called Alaki, people with rare gifts. Dekha, after joining this army, finds mystery while yearning for acceptance.
Fiction: “Circe” by Madeline Miller
Based on the ancient myth of the witch Circe, Madeline Miller explores the narrative of one of the first literary witches. I loved this book, and it was so magical and beautiful it’s hard to describe. It follows Circe as she grows up, surrounded by gods and monsters, and how she came to be trapped on an island all by herself, where she encounters the characters from other ancient myths, as she grows into her powers.
Paranormal: “Ninth House” by Leigh Bardugo
Alex, a girl with a terrible past that involves her being the sole survivor of horrific, unsolved multiple homicides, is given a mysterious full ride to Yale University. Her mystery benefactors have given her a catch: she has to monitor Yale’s secret societies. But these secret societies are super creepy, and they harbor dark occult magic and power, filled with some of the richest and powerful people in the world.
Classic: “Emma” by Jane Austen
I read Emma for a class once, and it stuck with me. It was super fun, more than I expected from a classic book. It was upbeat and easy to read, and surprisingly funny. Of course, the social systems in the book are a little outdated, but I still feel like there are parts where modern audiences can relate with. It’s about Emma, a beautiful and rich girl in 19thcentury England, who decides to play matchmaker with her friends and family, except her ideas, never turn out exactly right. If you love the movie Clueless, I definitely recommend you try the book it’s based on!
Poetry: “The Poet X” by Elizabeth Acevedo
This novel is told through slam poetry, as a girl named Xiomara navigates an emotionally and physically abusive mother while going through high school. I also read this book for class and I am so glad I did. The character is Latina, like me, so I really connected with her, and her viewpoints about the world when it came to young women of Latin heritage.
Sci-fi: “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury
A fireman named Guy Montag lives in a dystopic world where firemen actually start fires, and they burn books. But he eventually begins to question the world he lives in, and why everyone is afraid of the written word.
YA/NA: “From Blood and Ash” by Jennifer L. Armentrout
This high fantasy novel follows a girl named Poppy, who is the Maiden, meaning she is meant to live a solitary life. She won’t be spoken to, looked at, or have any friends in order to be found worthy by the gods. This book has such an interesting take on vampires and werewolves and mythology, that it makes it such a refreshing read.
Honorable mentions: “The Infernal Devices” by Cassandra Clare, “Chain of Gold” by Cassandra Clare, “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller, “The Wrath and the Dawn” by Renee Ahdieh, “When You Were Everything” by Ashley Woodfolk, “They Both Die at the End” by Adam Silvera, and “Gods of Jade and Shadow” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia