There’s a little unspoken forfeiture that comes with being a writer (and keep in mind I don’t consider writer synonymous with published author. If you write, you’re a writer).
Reading is our most treasured pastime, but when we start writing and learning how to write properly, a tragedy occurs: we start paying attention. Worse still, when we try to stop, we still notice everything. I can’t watch a movie without judging the plot development and the originality of the characters. There’s an uncontrollable part of me that has to put down any book with a description like this:
“Susan was a normal girl until she met Harley, a mysterious boy with a past that would change her life forever. But what will be do when Tom, an uptight hunk with an unspoken grudge against her, begins to warm up? Oh, and it’s the end of the world.”
Y’all, I can’t.
Writing has ruined reading! The ‘high literature’ that I get from classes has the opposite problem: a bunch of smart people trying to prove they’re smart to other smart people with books that take weeks to decipher and send a message to change the world. Books should change the world! But they should also be fun to read.
So! I have officially made a list of some of the books that I can read now and still be engrossed. The writing, the characters, word choice, it’s not predictable, it’s enjoyable and possible to follow along, and they’re real hard to put down.
I just posted a drawing to instagram where the background is a bookcase. Ordinarily, I think those are time-consuming and difficult to draw, but I had fun this time around, filling it with some of my favorites!
THE LIST
(that looks amazingly melodramatic)
1.
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
We know Jane Austen is a classic good read, but Northanger Abbey is one of her less-known books. In fact, this is the first book she ever wrote for publication. Like all great writers, her first attempt didn’t pan out and it was only published after her death.
You can tell this was written when she was young because it’s a fun book. It’s a parody of Gothic Fiction while simultaneously being Gothic Fiction, it’s amazing. Anything predictable is done with irony.
2.
The Time traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Oh boy, one of my favorites of all time, I recently reread this books to see if it was as good as I remember. It is! The narration is just stunning and easy to keep up with. I feel like I’m close friends with each of the protagonists. Don’t let the time-jumps scare you; I have a rule that time travel has never been done very well except for this book. Dates are provided and it’s not hard to follow along. It’s such an unconventional romance and somehow simultaneously thrilling while celebrating the wonders of mundanity.
3.
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
I like to read these comics before I go to bed. It’s just so comforting to see a kid with his tiger make you laugh and think at the same time. It engages that part of the brain that goes to work when you solve a math problem or discuss philosophy while soothing you with pretty drawings and humor.
4.
Robert Frost
Okay, yes, this is vague. But Frost is just good fun for poetry fans. His use of rhythm is amazing and I like memorizing his poems and saying them outlaid when I go for walks, they’re just so satisfying to roll off the tongue.
A worthy disclaimer is that Robert as a person was well, a little sketchy. He had a rough time and he wasn’t super nice, but his poetry is pretty.
5.
Emily Dickenson
Ah, another vague name. Unlike Mr. Frost, Emily Dickinson is just all-around awesome. Any women who pursue writing can give her mad props. Her meter is amazing, she’s super smart and the rhyme is fun without being forced (or what my poetry professor calls “hallmark style”), and I can think of no downsides. Go! Read her poems, now!
6.
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Alright, important note: I haven’t actually read Matilda yet, but it is next on my own reading list (also, y’all, never shame people for not reading a classic book. I only read Jane Eyre for the first time last year, don’t make people feel dumb, it’s no fun).
I watched the movie when I was a kid so many times in a row that not only do I still have it memorized, but my parents had to ban it because the whole house had it memorized. It’s just a nice story: a girl with magic powers, a nice teacher, refusing to be suppressed, all the good stuff.
7.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
This might just be my current favorite book. With a title that cool and ominous, how can it not be? The book is like the aftermath of a murder mystery with super weird characters and some fun dark stuff going on constantly. No one is normal in this book and it’s just delightful. Here’s the first paragraph so you can get excited:
“My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead.” (Jackson, p.1)
Need I say more?
8.
Greek Myths
This one is easy. Get a big book of old greek myths like I have, and read the original stories. You’ll have a lot of ooooh moments when you fill in our fragmented knowledge of them, and honestly Percy Jackson is some of the best middle grade fiction out there, but draw your own conclusions about the stories.
(Also you can find gems like the fact that Pandora came about because Zeus was mad at Prometheus for the whole fire thing and the worst thing he could think of to mess with humanity was a woman.)
9.
Chasers of the Light by Tyler Knott Gregson
If you like short poems that pack a punch, this is the book for you. I opened it once in a bookstore and was so blown away I had to own it instantly (by purchasing. with money. pink promise). Quotes like there is so much more to life than just surviving and don’t spend so much time treading water that you forget how much you have always loved to swim (I’m badly paraphrasing but you get the idea).
10.
Space Struck by Paige Lewis
This wasn’t even initially on my list, nor is it in the drawing but I just remember the line I’m the Vice President of panic and the president is missing and that alone should be enough for you to go and read this spectacular collection.
11.
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
I read all of these when I was a kid, and if you love descriptions, this is for you. It’s certainly unlike anything I’ve ever read before, seeing as the characters, little people living under the floorboards, face problems unlike any of those we’ll understand. Norton has a knack for making walking across a carpet seem like a thrilling adventure (and wait until she meets the big people living in the house!)
12.
We’re going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
Personally, this is one of my favorite children’s books. Yes, it was designed for toddlers but I think we can all learn a little for the illustrations and the journey.
13.
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
This book has a little bit of everything; compelling characters, mystery, beautiful descriptions, drama, the wonders of the every-day, etc. (I almost suggested The Circular Staircase as well because that’s a great mystery expect for it really not aging well and the protagonist being, well pretty classist and racist. So you might have to squint if you read that one.)
It’s about a woman (who is never named, much to my frustration, despite being the protagonist, which is a bold move) who marries a man with a giant estate, Manderly, which is as much of a character as anyone, and she has to compete with the memory of his deceased perfect first wife.
14.
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
The cool thing about this book (besides is being a pretty unconventional story about two friends, told completely out of spite), is that Elena Ferrante is a pseudonym and no one is completely sure who the real author is. Not to mention the protagonist is named Elena too and she’s an old woman talking about her childhood. So there are like three layers of Elena and I feel like each is adding their own perspective to the story. Good bit of drama and adventure here.
(I also might have an essay about this book somewhere on the website if you’re interested)
15.
Fairytales
Pick up a book of Grimm Brothers or Hans Christian Andersen, and ruin your childhood by finding out what Disney movies are really based on. It’s dark, y’all, delightfully dark. They tend to be pretty short so it’s a low-commitment read that messes you up every time. Good stuff.
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think about these books and hit me up if you want more recommendations or if you have any books for me to read! I’ve got some play recommendations if anyone is interested.
Have a wonderful day and stay inside everyone!
Sabrina Parra Díaz 