If you’re like me and are preparing for a staycation this spring break, you may be looking for activities to keep you occupied while you’re at home. With all the free time offered by spring break, there’s no better time to find your new favorite book or rediscover your love for reading. I rarely read during high school, but I recently found my love for reading again during my first semester of college. Of all the books I’ve finished since then, I picked five that would be perfect to read in a week during spring break. Whether you like cute romance novels or action-filled dystopian stories, this list has you covered.
- A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, by Holly Jackson
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If you’re stuck in a reading slump or just looking for a book you can’t put down, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is perfect for you. This book is fast-paced and contains so many twists and turns that are sure to keep you hooked. Before reading A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, I’d seen it all over social media, and it lived up to the high expectations set by its current popularity online. While I’ve never been the biggest fan of mystery novels, I read this book in less than two days; it even encouraged me to add other mystery novels to my TBR (to be read list). If you enjoy A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, you can also check out the other two books in the series: Good Girl, Bad Blood and As Good As Dead.
- Daisy Jones and the Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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I’d never read a book quite like Daisy Jones and the Six before, but it was this book that truly brought me out of my five-year-long reading slump. It’s a quick read due to the fact that the novel is set up as a series of interviews. The main characters in the story are all interviewed many years after their fame, and seeing the story through the many different perspectives is fascinating. The ending of Daisy Jones and the Six felt so real and left me thinking about the story for days. Once you finish the novel, there is a 10-episode TV series on Amazon Prime Video that does a really good job capturing the energy of the novel and allows you to hear songs from the band, many of which are now on my personal playlist.
- Dance of Thieves, by Mary E. Pearson
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While I have not seen Dance of Thieves discussed on any social media platforms, I think it deserves the same hype as the other books on this list. The story is a perfect blend of action, fantasy, and romance, and all the pieces of the plot move quickly as the story continues. While I found the first few chapters of this book slightly confusing and slow, the plot picks up quickly after the very beginning, so reading those first couple chapters is definitely worth it. For most of the story, I was hooked thanks to the many different plot lines it explored and its perfect enemies to lovers romance. When you finish this book, I guarantee you’ll want to read the sequel, Vow of Thieves, right away, so I would suggest checking out both books at the same time.
- Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
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If you’re looking for a slower-paced story that will really make you think, Where the Crawdads Sing is a good choice for your spring break read. As I mentioned, this book is slow. The beginning is especially slow, but while I typically need a story to be fast-paced in order to stay interested, the beautiful writing style of this story kept me hooked. The mystery embedded into the plot constantly keeps you guessing and unfolds beautifully at the very end, which was my personal favorite part of the novel. After reading Where the Crawdads Sing, I would definitely recommend checking out the movie on Netflix.
- Red, White, and Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston
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Anyone looking for a cute romance book should definitely check out Red, White, and Royal Blue this spring break. It’s such a fun read, and each chapter never failed to make me laugh. While the story is, at its core, fun and romantic, the characters are all very complex and well-written. The book is able to dive into more serious issues such as racism, homophobia, and societal expectations while still being a fun romance novel. Even the supporting characters in this novel have detailed personalities (you’ll surely love Nora), and the story portrays a female president of the United States, which I appreciated reading about. The movie on Amazon Prime Video is also worth the watch once you finish the book!
I hope you get a chance to check out some of these books during your spring break staycation! Happy reading!
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