I had my last exam on Tuesday and I’m now done with school for four months (do you hear those angels singing too?). After months of memorizing facts and Italian verbs, I am reading to read and read without any guilt. There have been so many times in my life where I want a good book, but I just can’t seem to get into anything. I decided that today, I would share five of my favourite reading-rut-bashing-books. These are the top five books that I would always recommend when I was working in a bookstore, and they are always the type that I go back to when I just need to immerse myself in a novel.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Written completely in letters (one of my favourite styles), this is the story of Juliet Ashton, a writer who corresponds with the founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. It takes place in the 1940s and revolves around the German Invasion of the island of Guernsey. Not only is this an easy read because of its epistolary nature, but the characters are so vivid and really become your friends. Prepare for a heart warmed to perfection and moments of wishing you lived in a different time.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. This novel mixes narration through first person narrative and a mixture of letters, e-mails, invoices and school notices. This story follows Bee, a fifteen-year-old girl trying to find her mom, Bernadette who has suddenly disappeared. I loved the ease of Semple’s writing, the subtle and sarcastic humour. When I found out that she used to write for Arrested Development, I completely understood why I liked this one so much.
The Storied Life of A.K. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. If you have ever worked in a bookstore, you need to read this book! This novel follows A.J. Fikry, a bookstore owner living in a place called Alice Island. He is a deep lover of literature, who is isolated and likes it that way — until something special comes into his life. You will laugh. You will cry. This one just made my heart so happy, and the fact that I worked in a bookstore for four years only had a bit to do with that.
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella. I’ve been a fan of Kinsella’s Shopaholic series for many, many years and considered adding Confessions of a Shophalic to this list, but decided that Twenties Girl slightly less chick-lity, thus more universal. Like the rest of Kinsella’s work, this has the traditional laugh-out-loud-so-glad-that-isn’t-me-but-I-love-reading-about-it thing, which I love. Twenties Girl is the story of Lara a young woman who starts to see a ghost, namely the ghost of her great-aunt Sadie — but trust me, it’s not your typical ghost story (if it were, I would not be reading it). I remember when I read this a few years ago, I stayed up until 2 or 3 in the morning, because I just couldn’t put it down (that rarely happens to me).
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. This was my favourite book of 2013, and the sequel was definitely one of my favourites of 2014. The Rosie Project is the story of Don Tillman, a brilliant scientist who isn’t so great with social situations. After learning from multiple studies that being married leads to a long life-span, Don decides that he needs to find a wife, and so begins what he calls The Wife Project. If you’re a fan of Sheldon Cooper at all (before Big Bang Theory got super boring), you will love Don.
Have you read any of these? What is your favourite read to get you out of a slump?
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