The winter season is around the corner and do you know what that means? Curling up next to the fireplace and reading a good book. These five classic books consist of great stories that will allow you to create a visual of your own while reading. You will dive into these novels with excitement, sympathy, laughter, growth, emotion, and much more. Before purchasing these novels, consider checking out your local library and borrowing from there!
- little women by Louisa May Alcott
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This novel shares the lives of four sisters (Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy) and their mother in the Civil War era. With their father fighting in the war, their journey from childhood to womanhood is described as their struggle between family and personal growth. Each sister has a different personality: Jo is a tomboy, Meg is materialistic, Beth is introverted, and Amy is self-absorbed. These sisters share anger and hate with one another but at the end of the day, they are a loving family. Louisa May Alcott portrays a classic, emotional, creative, fun, and endearing novel that is easy to read. If you are looking for a novel that dives into the lives of four teenage sisters who search for themselves through love, jobs, experiences, and each other. This heart-warming, charismatic novel is a must-read during the winter season.
Where to pruchase: available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Columbia Pictures / Sony - the wisteria society of lady scoundrels By India Holton
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This historical romance novel takes place in the Victorian era where pirates, thieves, and flying houses all exist. A proper lady thief, Cecilia, has been a junior member of the Wisteria Society for as long as she can remember. With no hope in sight of a promotion, Cecilia’s father, Patrick Morvath, plots to destroy the Wisteria society by capturing all of its members. Cecilia, one of the few members to escape, must go on a trip with a charming, pirate assassin, Ned Lightbourne, to save her aunt and all the other members of the Wisteria Society. India Holton fills this novel with comedy, romance, and adventure as two young adults go and save an entire society while developing a romantic connection. Will this get her to be a part of this society once and for all? Will she ignore what is prohibited and fall for the pirate? This novel will rise more questions that will make you want to finish it in a few days!
Where to purchase: available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
- the great gatsby By f. Scott fitzgerald
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This classic novel, published in 1925 in New York, tells the story of Jay Gatsby and his romantic pursuit of Daisy Buchanan. With the difference between old and new money, Gatsby dictates his entire life, even becoming a millionaire, over being reunited with Daisy until death. The story is told through the eyes of Gatsby’s neighbor, Nick Carraway. Fitzgerald does a good job of implementing the moral that the American Dream is an illusion. Gatsby became a millionaire to achieve Daisy’s standards and remained lonely until his death. With all the extravagant parties he threw to fill up this void he created physically and emotionally, he always ended up alone. This novel teaches the reader that love does not have to be about who has wealth and that the love between Gatsby and Daisy is about Gatsby’s obsession to redo his past self. Along with the many themes this novel has to offer, there is also symbolism that makes the reader understand the story even more.
Where to purchase: available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
- the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid
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This novel is about the story of Evelyn Hugo, an old Hollywood actress who wants to be at the top of the industry and will do whatever it takes to achieve it. She chooses an unknown reporter, Monique Grant, to share her life story with. Throughout her journey of achieving this goal, Evelyn married seven husbands and outlived them. She reveals truths and lies, the love of her life, and her journey as an actress. Reid discusses how this novel is loosely based on many different actresses which makes the novel more interesting. This book is described as emotional and mysterious, and will make you become very engaged. Evelyn describes herself as not perfect, not a good person, and making more mistakes than accomplishments. Reid shows the audience how human Evelyn is and that dealing with raw emotions is normal. This novel will provoke many questions such as who Evelyn was in love with and why she chose Monique to tell her story.
Where to purchase: available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
- the glass castle By jeannette walls
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This memoir describes a unique and dysfunctional family through the lens of Jeannette Walls. Jeannette’s father is vibrant and smart, as he teaches Jeannette and her three siblings some science, but mostly life lessons. Jeannette’s mother homeschools Jeannette and her siblings, as they never got a chance to go to school due to the FBI being after them. With moving around constantly, the children get a chance to travel around America and learn what each state has to offer. While this life may sound fun to some children, her father is an alcoholic who cannot keep a steady job and spends most of his income on alcohol rather than his family, which prevents him from being able to ensure his promise to Jeannette to find gold and build a massive glass castle. As time goes on and the promise vanishes, Jeannette goes to college and has a life of her own, as she becomes financially stable while her parents are left homeless. With many obstacles and experiences, this memoir is emotional and raw, as Jeannette learns strength and character through her mother and father’s non-interfering parenting style. My personal favorite is Jeannette’s determination to get past the good and bad experiences. A sense of never giving up, frustration, and other feelings make her become another human and relatable to the reader.
Where to purchase: available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Each of these novels shares different personalities, experiences, and life lessons that you can use after reading. All of these characters are unique in their own ways with encounters that can be eye-opening. With these fictional stories, loosely based novels, and memoirs, these novels will make you want to finish them within days of starting. The perfect winter reads that will exercise your imagination and make you ponder different themes and genres.
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