Right now I have had more free time than I have had in a long time as many others are experiencing. It has been hard learning what to do with all my free time while trying to remain productive and make sure I am taking care of myself. Recently I have been trying to set aside time to read. In the first few weeks of quarantine, it was easy to turn on a T.V. show as a way to relax, but after a few weeks, it felt very passive. Reading requires your full attention and more active participation. Reading is a great way to take your mind off of our current situation and escape into someone else’s thoughts and immerse yourself into the author’s or main character’s life.
- Normal People by Sally Rooney
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Normal People captures a modern-day young love story set in Ireland. Main characters, Marianne and Connell, begin their romance in secondary school where they first build a physical connection which blossoms into a deeper connection. The story follows Connell and Marianne through University and shows how the characters grow into adults to show whether they are together romantically or platonically. A bonus is that Hulu just released an adaptation of the book into a 12 episode series!
- Black Swans
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Black Swans is a collection of stories about Eve Babitz’s life experiences. Babitz describes her life as an “it girl” in Hollywood during the 1980s. Her stories include her friends and lovers who largely impacted her life, and also how the culture of Los Angeles shaped her life. Babitz describes a period where Hollywood was changing drastically through stories of AIDS, Rodeo Drive, learning how to tango, and friends from the other coast. She is able to highlight the real-life behind the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
- Verified Stangers by Lena Dunham
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With shipping delays on Amazon, book stores being closed, and libraries closing their doors it might be hard to get your hands on a physical copy of the next book you want to read. Lena Dunham has recently written a romance novel, which was all published on Vogue’s website. The story follows Ally, a 32-year-old navigating life while getting over heartbreak. Each chapter ended in a cliffhanger where Dunham left it up to readers to decide which direction the story would take.
- Can’t and Won’t Stories by Lydia Davis
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Can’t and Won’t entail a collection of stories that often span only a page or even only a sentence. All the stories carry weight regardless of their length and touch on subjects such as love, death, and dreams. It is an easy book to pick up and put down whenever the stories are rather short. Davis is able to turn mundane subjects such as frozen peas, cows, and dog hair into much more.