Disclaimer: All of the explanations have been edited and/or changed in order to fix grammatical errors and to fit the proper format of this article. All sentiments, books, and names have been maintained from the team member’s original testimonials.Â
I’m always looking for new book recommendations, but I never know who to turn to for suggestions. So, I figured that my friends at HerCampus at uOttawa were the perfect people to ask! It would only be fair for me to share everyone’s suggestions with our readers—here are some of the team’s favourite books:
Eve – Writer (me):
My favourite book is Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. I know that it may seem very senior-year-high-school-english-class of me, but I have to say it’s my favourite book of all time. Not only because of the lore surrounding it, the legendary summer that Mary Shelley spent writing it, or the numerous horribly inaccurate film adaptations that have come from it, but it’s also incredibly written and has a very sophisticated layered narrative. As an 18-year-old girl, Mary Shelley invented the science-fiction genre with this novel and it surprisingly has very little to do with love (which was very uncommon for the time). I could go on forever about this book, but all I’m going to say for now is how much I wholeheartedly suggest it! It’s such an amazing book and it’s a decently quick read.Â
Teaghan – Former Campus Correspondent:
The Seven Wives of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, partly because Gwen (a senior editor on our team) recommended it to me, and partly because it’s the queer romance/drama that I didn’t know I needed. I was actually so entranced by the book that I read the entire thing on my train ride home as soon as I got it!Â
Gracie – Writer:Â
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh, because it has a perfectly complicated and unlikeable female protagonist. She seemingly has a perfect life, she’s beautiful and has family money but still decides to give up on life for a year to literally sleep full time.Â
Carolina – Entertainment Editor:
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I’m obsessed with Hosseini’s writing style and I love all of his books! But I have to say, as a woman this book hits the hardest for me—it’s so captivating and heart-wrenching. The story shows how resilient and loving women are even in societies that constantly oppress and dehumanize them.
Emily – Writer:
Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover is in my top three favourite books because of how personable it is. It has a happy ending but a rollercoaster of emotions all throughout which I think a lot of people can relate to. It talks about hard-to-talk-about subjects like grief, being dealt with a series of unfortunate events and unluckiness, and moving on even when it seems impossible to do so. This book is a must-read for anyone in any stage of life as it talks about what life is for a lot of us: unpredictable. Plus, nearly every one of Hoover’s books has an amazing and intense storyline that lets you know about each of the characters without filler and sugarcoating. I don’t know why I connected to this book as deeply as I did, it just made me feel all of the feels!
Faith – Writer:
One of my favourite books is The Burning God by R. F. Kuang! It is a fantastic conclusion to an amazing fantasy series. This book is a true representation of female rage, which I love! It also deals with social issues such as colourism and wealth. On top of all of that, the characters are all so complex and compelling and I would recommend this book, but mostly the series as a whole to everyone!
Emma – Writer:
One of my favourite books is Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow. This one is definitely on the sadder side but it is so beautifully written and articulated in my opinion! I highly recommend searching up the trigger warnings before reading because there are three major ones in this book (I won’t give them away I know that some people like going into books completely blind) but it is definitely one of those books that makes people feel less alone in their struggles and that others are going through it as well.
Noah – Events Team:
Favourite book? For me, that is a tough call. Honestly, I used to be a big reader and I’m trying to get back into that, but if I had to pick one book, and I know this is going to seem like a very common favourite book for a lot of people, I would choose The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I read it for the first time when I was in grade 4 and I loved it, revisited it in grade 10 during the pandemic and found that a lot of the deeper political messages were a lot easier to understand my second time around. Besides the political side of the book, I really like it for its themes of survival and teamwork, which become more apparent as the book progresses. Be warned though, if you do get emotionally attached to a character there is a reasonable chance the odds will not be in their favour…
I’ve only read a handful of these books and I can’t wait to get started on the rest from this list! All of these books have been added to the very top of my TBR. I love to get book suggestions from people as I think a person’s favourite book tells a lot about them. Every book recommendation is a glimpse into what makes someone the person that they are. Frankenstein is important to me, not only because it was written by a young woman, and it created the science-fiction genre (my favourite genre to read), but it’s also a beautiful 18th Century novel, which is something that I will be studying next year.