Working at a library has given me insight on what the hottest books are now and what new ones are yet to come. It has also given me the ability to check books out at my leisure, enough to determine what ones are the best. Here are five books you need to read when your downtime allows.
1. "Perks of Being a Wallflower"
This book rocks. It accentuates multiple areas in life that often aren't addressed or spoken about, such as high school parties, drugs, and depression. It sounds insanely dark, but Charlie's sweetness will sweep you off your feet in minutes as you dive into his story and his freshman year of high school.
2. "Eleanor and Park"
Your not-so-classic love story about an Asian and a red-headed girl, what's not to love? Not to give anything away, but Eleanor's home life isn't the best and Park comes to her rescue. Their love story is envious, so check it out if you're in the mood for a good romance novel that isn't Nicholas Sparks or "The Fault in Our Stars" for once.
3. "Looking for Alaska"
Read. This. Book. It has to be one of my all-time favorites books. If you're not too into cliché ideas and you're concerned about this being a John Green novel, don't worry. There's a reason fans are begging for a movie on this book. Alaska's wit and charm will leave you and Pudge speechless, begging for more.
4. "Carry On"
Ultimately, this book is a sequel to Rainbow Rowell's "Fan Girl", but I jumped into this book without reading "Fan Girl" first; If you're in this situation, you're fine. You aren't missing any sort of important facts. Basically, the character in "Fan Girl" is obsessed with a fictional novel...and then Rainbow Rowell wrote that fictional novel. If you like Harry Potter it's somewhere along the lines of that, but it has enough uniqueness so that it isn't a complete play-off of J.K. Rowling's hit.
5. If I Stay
Very cliché, I know. I'm the kind of person that says "I'm not reading that just because everyone else is", and then I read it and realize why everyone else is reading it. This is one of those scenarios. I refused to jump on the band wagon but as soon as I did this book captivated me. I read it in less than 24 hours. Give the cliché a chance and read about the captivating story of Mia and her family car accident.
I know that everyone is busy with life, work, school, and Netflix, but if you take time out of your day to read these books I promise that your outlook on life will be changed. Reading is knowledge, knowledge is power - take it from your fellow library worker. I love books, give these a chance!