My Reading List

When I start reading a book like that, I unconsciously start searching for a quote from it that I will engrain in my head forever or the character who will make me fall in love with them and force me to keep reading just because I imagine I am the narrator of this character’s life and when I stop reading, their life is put on pause until I carry on.

So if you're anything like me looking for a book, here is a list of books I personally recommend and guarantee will be an enjoyable read. They aren’t necessarily new releases, some are classics, others modern chart toppers, but they are all definitely worth picking up.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundra.

Released in 1984, the book is the philosophical story of four people and a dog who lived in 1968 communist Czechoslovakia.

“But when the strong were too weak to hurt the weak, the weak had to be strong enough to leave.”

Veronica Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho

Written in 1998 and made into a film in 2009, the novel portrays the life of young Veronika attempts an unsuccessful suicide and becomes institutionalized in her home country Slovenia. In the mental hospital, being already labeled a mental patient, she frees herself from all restrictions and decides she has nothing to worry about and can do as she pleases and not be criticized for it. She then develops a new-found love for life just as her doctor tells her she is terminally ill.

“A powerful wizard wanted to destroy a kingdom. He placed a magic potion in a well. Everyone who drank of the well went mad. The exception was the king and his immediate family who had their own private well. Concerned at the loss of public order, the king issued edicts to restore public order. The chief of police who had drank at the public well refused to obey the edicts as he thought the king had gone mad. The citizens were convinced the king had gone mad as he was issuing nonsensical orders and resolved to remove him from the throne. The king only survived by drinking from the well of madness. Order was restored, the subjects revered the king who displayed such wisdom.”

Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern

Released in 2004, this book is the story of childhood friends Rosie and Alex told in epistolary form. Rosie and Alex have been best friends since the age of five, but never confessed their love to one another until they were 50. Their story is told through emails, letters and messages between the two.

“There’s no limit to what you can dream. You expect the unexpected, you believe in magic, in fairy tales, and in possibilities. Then you grow older and that innocence is shattered and somewhere along the way the reality of life gets in the way and you’re hit by the realization that you can’t be all you wanted to be.”

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

On the New York Times' bestseller list for 95 consecutive weeks, this Albom novel portrays the afterlife in a completely different way than the way we grew up believing it would be like. It tells the story of maintenance man Eddie who dies and goes to heaven to meet five people who have completely altered his life.

 “Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that by hating someone we hurt them. But hatred is a curved blade, and the harm we do to others, we also do to ourselves.”

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Written in 1953 and adopted for the big screen in 1966, the novel depicts a future where reading is banned. The author later said the novel was about how television kills people’s interest in reading and so knowledge becomes perceived as factoids and incomplete information that is devoid of context.

- “If you don't want a house built, hide the nails and wood. If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none."

Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Auster

 Published in 2007, it tells the story of an old disoriented man who wakes up with amnesia in a room that he can’t identify. He tries to make sense of who and where he is while reading a manuscript in the room he is locked in. It’s quite a confusing story, but it makes for a great novel to interpret in many different ways.

“We might be the ones to suffer, but there’s a reason for it, a good reason, and anyone who complains about it doesn’t understand what it means to be alive.”

Outsiders by S. E. Hinton,

Written by the 16-year-old Hinton, the book was released in 1967 and depicts the difficulties high school students from different socioeconomic status go through.

“They grew up on the outside of society. They weren't looking for a fight. They were looking to belong.”

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Set during the Dust Bowl, this novel is one of Steinbeck's most iconic, chronicling the friendship of two migrant field workers, one of whom with limited mental abilities. While carrying many historical and socio-political undertones, the story is really about true friendship.  My favorite quote:

"I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog."