We've all heard it: "Read this! You won't regret it!"
But they're always those books that our high school teacher told us to read over the summer that we never actually got around to reading.
Let's have a moment of silence for the hours we lost to SparkNotes trying to find out what the theme of To Kill A Mockingbird is.
But let us focus on the present. Now there's no one peering over our backs waiting to see if we've read chapter five before class starts or making sure our characterization is on point. We have a whole different problem as adults: no one will stop recommending things to read. How are we supposed to choose between the next NYT Bestseller or the secret to decluttering your life?
Simple. Here's the next five books you need to drop everything and read. They'll speak to your teenage angst, explain the fickleness of the human condition, and everything in between. Let's take a look:
1. The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath
"There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure. But I don't know many of them."
Plath beautifully examines the intricacies of the mind in this novel, leaving no dark corner untouched. Esther Greenwood is chasing an internship in the Big Apple, but is constantly sidetracked by the deterioration of her emotional stability. The prose moves seamlessly from past to present and back again. Some even say that The Bell Jar mirrors Plath's own battle with mental illness. As her only published novel, each reader receives a rare chance at walking beside Esther and feeling all of her feels.
Find it here!
2. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
"I'm tired of saying 'How wonderful you are!' to fool men who haven't got half the sense that I've got, and I'm tired of pretending I don't know anything so men can tell me things and feel important while they do it."
Scarlett O'Hara is the I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T you know what I mean, bey-sleying lady of the South. There's no man or societal rule that can tell her what to do. Even when all of the men go off to war and the women in Atlanta gather together to sew flags and raise money with their snickerdoodles, Scarlett won't settle. But standing in his own infamous glory is Rhett Butler (frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn) who is chasing after her pinafore until finally...
Just kidding. Toss one back and read it y'self.
Find it here!
3. Wuthering Heights by Emilie Bronte
"I wish I were a girl again: half-savage, and hardy, and free."
There's nothing like an old ghost story. The only thing better is a ghost story with a life/love twist. The best way to get through this book is to draw a character map: who's who and what's what will drive you crazy right up until the last page, but every word is worth it. Said to be Emily Bronte's greatest work of art, Wuthering Heights truly shows that love has no bounds.
Find it here!
4. White Oleander by Janet Finch
"The pearls weren't really white, they were a warm oyster beige, with little knots in between so that if they broke, you only lost one. I wished my life could be like that, knotted up so that even if something broke, the whole thing wouldn't come apart."
No one does teenage angst like Janet Finch. White Oleander, now also a major motion picture starring Michelle Pfeiffer, is the story of a young girl enchanted by her free-spirited gypsy mother. With no stability, security, or promise of tomorrow, Astrid moves throughout the midst of the world. Sometimes she falls between the cracks, but sometimes she rises like a phoenix from the ash. It's the perfect opportunity to see the beauty in the battle of becoming a woman.
Find it here!
5. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
"Oh yes. I've no doubt that we've been invited here by a madman - probably a dangerous homicidal lunatic!"
A group of strangers are stranded on an island in the middle of a storm. The help is a little creepy and they were all summoned under false pretenses. Sound like a place you'd want to be? Not likely. Agatha Christie is the mother of thrillers and absolutely delivers shivers and all in this nail biting novel.
Find it here!
Happy reading loves.
