Call me a nerd all you want, but I love a good book. Indigo is my safe place. Since I spent most of my time devouring fiction, I thought I share a few of my favourites with you. Let's call these the essentials:

1. Looking for Alaska by John Green

In my opinion, this is John Green at his best. Hint: "Alaska" doesn't refer to the state. You'll want to read it a second and third time - once just isn't enough.

2. Funny Girl by Nick Hornby

I read this book on a bus ride to New York, and it's always stayed with me. It's a goody. It exposes the life of the writer in a way you totally never thought of before.

3. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Great books often break your heart. This is one of them.

4. The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

The Nest has so many twists and turns that I sometimes had to put it down and take a break. It's a wild ride.

5. The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall

Speaking of wild rides, The Best Kind of People will cause you to miss your subway stop. A stunning portrayal of rape culture as we unfortunately know it so well, Whittall's novel will keep you pondering the ending long after you've finished reading.

6. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

This book was hard to read. In a brutally honest portrait of race relations, Picoult takes on the voice of a white supremacist in a way that may or may not have kept me up at night.

7. The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The title says it all. Anthony and Gloria's love story may be a disaster, but it's a glamorous one.

8. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

I can't leave out my main man Hemingway. This novel is incredibly problematic, but I'm firm in saying that it deserves a closer reading. We should all go through it once.