Trigger warning: Brief mentions of SA, abuse, and EDs.
Reading can be a real challenge. I used to be a big reader in elementary school, hurdling through the Harry Potter books in just a few weeks and begging my mom to buy me the next one. As I got older, though, it became harder for me to budget reading time into my days, and the longer I stayed away from books, the harder it was for me to stick my nose into another one again. I’ve told myself that I’m too busy, I have better things to do than reading for leisure, and I have to get every possible to-do under the sun done before I can dedicate myself to reading. Mysteriously, though, I happen to have more than an adequate-enough amount of time for watching TV, listening to podcasts, and the ultimate time sucker – scrolling on Instagram. So after all, I do have time for reading, and you do too. But where do you start, when the last book you read was Catcher in the Rye for your AP Lit class (which you only really skimmed), or the Divergent books in middle school?
Obviously a good starting point is genre. I personally am a music person, so I know that most music memoirs will pique my interest. However, no matter how interesting the subject matter is to you, it sometimes fails to keep your attention. I must admit that Elton John’s autobiography is still sitting on my bookshelf, untouched still, since it was gifted to me on Christmas of 2020.
Another recommendation of mine is to go back to young adult/children’s books. This might sound odd, but the combination of nostalgia and less complex writing could be a great opening for you to get back into reading – go ahead and break out your old copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The point of this particular list, however, is to give you some suggestions that are captivating, easy to read, and hopefully new to you. I’ve read every single one of these books and finished them in as short of a timespan as a week! I thoroughly enjoyed all of these reads, and they are extremely varied in style, so I’m hoping you will find one here that you enjoy too.
I’m Glad My mom died
I know you’ve all been seeing this one on Booktok, but it is absolutely worth the hype. I read this one in four days, and would sit down and read 80 pages at a time without even realizing it. It’s funny, poignant, and undoubtedly captivating. As a former iCarly fan, it is fascinating and often sad to get a glimpse into what was going on behind the scenes. Just as a warning – even though the book can be really funny most of the time, it’s also heavy stuff. She goes in-depth about abuse by her mother, her battle with EDs and body image, and substance abuse. If you feel like you’re not at a point in your life where you can safely read this kind of content, then maybe leave it for another day. However, if you’re okay with reading about the challenges McCurdy goes through, it is most definitely a meaningful experience to understand the burdens and suffering that child stars undergo.
I’m With the Band
This is Miss Pamela Des Barres’ fabulous debut, a tale of the wild stories that made up her life as a groupie in 60s and 70s, primarily. If you are a classic rock fan, this book is for YOU. From collecting encounters with each of the Beatles, to a long affair with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. It is an up-close portrait the LA rock scene of the 1960s and 1970s, a portrait that is both ugly and beautiful, and always tantalizing. If you’re not a classic rock fan, this book is STILL for you. The way she describes her adolescent thoughts encapsulates what it feels like to be a teenager, yearning for a fast life, for adventure, for lust, for love. And what ensues after her teenage years is all of the things she wished for coming true, which makes for a thrilling journey of a book. Throughout this memoir, Miss Pamela confides in you about it all – her closest-held secrets and musings, her star-studded one-night stands, and her unrequited crushes. Getting to live vicariously through Miss Pamela was such a treat for me, and I know it will be for you too.
Woman at Point Zero
Woman at Point Zero is a drastic change from these other books on this list. Even though it was a school-assigned book, I happily read it, and did so quickly! It’s a short novel by Nawal El Saadawi, but is both action and emotion-packed. It’s the coming-of-age story of a young Egyptian woman, Firdaus, told from the perspective of a journalist who is interviewing Firdaus in prison. It does cover heavy topics such as genital mutilation and sexual assault, but is a valuable look into the oppression of women in Egyptian society, and a shrewd commentary on patriarchy as a whole. It’s an intense and quick read, and will most definitely leave a lasting impact on you.
The Girls
Over the years, I’ve stumbled upon this novel in many bookstores and probably have it on five different “read next” lists of mine. It always allured me, from the sensational Manson family-like plot to the fact that it always had the little “staff recommendation” tag in the front. I finally invested in a copy this fall and got to reading it over Thanksgiving break. It was the first book to break my dry reading spell – I had started about five different books over the past months before and never gotten past page 30. The Girls tells the story of a young teenage girl who falls in with a cult-like group not-so-loosely based off of the Manson family, up till the grizzly murders that take place at the end (again, not-so-loosely inspired by the infamous Manson murders). For horror, crime, and suspense fans, this book is definitely eerie and disturbing, albeit in a more psychological manner. For those of us who are not big fans of gore – not to fret. There aren’t many violent descriptions of anything, especially the murders at the end which are described implicitly, whilst assuming that the reader can fill in the blanks, knowing the history of the murders that did actually take place in 1969. Besides the intrigue that the plot brings to the table and the escapism of 60s setting, the depiction of teenage girls’ thoughts was accurate almost to the point of being as eerie as the plot. All of the rawest parts of adolescence are on display in this novel, the jealousy, the heartbreak, the desire to assimilate, the internal nastiness that comes with want. The slow but spine-chilling pace of this novel will keep you on your toes, definitely to the point of wanting to finish the entire thing.
High Fidelity
High Fidelity is one of my favorite books, movies, and TV shows! I recommend all three to you, because they’re all wildly different from each other while still retaining their comedic and musical cores (will forever be holding a grudge against Hulu for canceling the Zoe Kravitz-led adaptation of High Fidelity). It’s about an English record shop owner named Rob, who is suffering the blues of recent heartbreak. The reason I’m putting this book on this list is that it’s built around lists. He lists his top 5 heartbreaks, top 5 favorite books of all time, and many, many, lists of songs. To me, this makes the book much more digestible than books formatted “regularly” because it breaks up the constant churn of paragraphs. I’m a list person (as you might be able to tell from the format of this article), so I happen to adore the way this book is written. If you can take the intense wallowing that Rob sustains throughout the bulk of the story (I had to stop a re-read because I myself was in a wallowing mood and I felt that I couldn’t keep piling on), then it’s a funny, heartfelt, and entertaining read that I wholeheartedly recommend.
I hope that at least one of these books, if not all, resonated with you and will motivate you to start reading again. Reading makes us all more peaceful, smarter, and seasoned! Click off Instagram and pick up a book, except if it’s to look for more book recommendations from other bookworms ;)