Books to Get You Out of a Reading Slump!

Reader’s burnout, lack of motivation and dedication, and reading bad books in a row really take a toll on our reading rhythm. Happened to all of us, right? Well, here are some book recommendations to get you out of a reading slump and get you back on track!

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Genre: Adult, Speculative, Contemporary

Matt Haig has created a wonderful fantasy based on everyone’s number one regret: “What if I had done this differently”. Armed with such a premise of unlimited possibilities, sprinkling it with dark humor and a likable and relatable protagonist, the book reads like a breeze. There’s a good amount of emotional depth to the proceedings as well, making the reader and the protagonist both wonder, think, and fill you with an unexpected sense of optimism.

“That was how she had felt most of her life. Caught in the middle. Struggling, flailing, and trying to survive while not knowing which way to go. Which path to commit to without regret.”

This book hooks from the first page and you would not want to put it down. The story follows Nora Seed, a woman who has given up and decides to take her own life. Nora ends up in a place between life and death called The Midnight Library where she is allowed to try out infinite variations of her life to try and answer the age-old question of ‘what if?’ By traveling to different versions of what could have been in her life and discovering that her own potential is limitless, Nora begins to question how to best embrace life itself.

This book takes a deep dive into depression, the nature of happiness and sadness, the weight of regret, and discovering the potential in which your life has to offer. Nora’s journey is honest, unexpected, and at times completely heartbreaking. It gives such a raw look into depression, loneliness, and self-discovery.

This book is very cleverly done and an easy read with short chapters and Matt Haig’s flowing writing style. The concept of the Midnight Library was done wonderfully and was described in a way that builds a very clear picture in your mind. Nora’s character develops so smoothly through the story. This book will mean something different to every person who picks it up. It is a beautiful read that shows you that you are never completely stuck in life & provides a little bit of hope that we all need in our days especially during times like this.

Midnight Library is that jolt of “Espresso Reading” that will make you laugh, ponder, maybe a little teary-eyed here and there, and culminate into a good reading experience.

Read more about this award-winning book here.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Genre: Adult, Romance, Hate to Love, Vacation

This book gets you hooked as soon as you start reading it. Although you can figure out early on what is going to happen, the way it is written makes it such fun to read it. The pace is so good! I do feel like some characters could have had more depth but considering they were not main characters, I guess it was fine. If you are trying to revive your love for reading, this one is a great start.

Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.

Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of… lucky.

It is a refreshing take on misfortune, good luck, and love and would certainly get you out of a reading slump!

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

Genre: Adult, Thriller

No visitors, no nights spent away from the apartment, disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.

As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story—until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.

Searching for the truth about Ingrid’s disappearance, Jules digs deeper into Bartholomew’s dark past and the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building’s hidden past, and escape Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.

Now with a plot like this, some say that it’s a convoluted mess. Others love the high level of tension and suspense. If you’re not into thrillers, this will definitely get you into some. And if it doesn’t, at least it’ll pull you out of a reading collapse!

If We Were Villains by ML Rio

Genre: Adult, Dark Academia, Literary Fiction, Thriller-ish

Diving into the themes of Shakespearean plays, If We Were Villains is a novel about fate and free will, obsession, ambition, and secrets. It spans multiple years and characters, but it zooms in on a tightly knit group of seven lyric-mad Shakespearean thespians who seemed to prefer each other’s company to anyone else’s, thereby offending the rest of the world. But at some point, something dark had sown hatred in them and wedged its way between them. And that friendship, once beautiful, later held something worth fearing. At some point, they’d become fewer friends and more things for each other to hit.

Then, almost inevitably, a murder.

Now, ten years later, detective Colborne feels every choice he’d made, every action he’d taken that fatal night, as a weight he carried with him. There were so many versions of the story everyone had made up—neat distillations of what happened.

Only one person can say which one was true.

The secrets Oliver Marks had kept had sharp edges. Now, no longer prison-bound, with the realization that there was no darkness Colborne could send him to rival what he’d endured already, Oliver is ready to put the last specter of the past where it belongs, his brain going there, dredging up those years again, churning them to the surface to be rewound and replayed.

This book is riveting, exhilarating in the nicest ways possible and you wouldn’t want to put it down. And if this doesn’t persuade you enough to read it already, I don’t know what will?

Albatross by Terry Fallis

Genre: Fiction, Golf, Passion Over Success

Should you lead a life in a way that follows success or that follows passion?

This is the exact question this book tends to try its hands with. Adam Coryell is your average high-school student–well, except for that obsession with fountain pens–when his life changes forever. Based on a study by a quirky Swedish professor that claims that every human being, regardless of athletic inclination, has a body that is suited to excel in at least one sport, it turns out that Adam is good–very good, in fact–at golf. Even though he’d never even picked up a golf club.

Almost instantly, and with his coach, hard-nosed Bobbie Davenport by his side, Adam and his new-found talent skyrocket to prodigy-level stardom that includes tournament titles, sponsorship deals, throngs of fans following his every move, and fodder for tabloids.

But here’s the catch: Adam doesn’t really like golf. And as the life he once knew slips away–including the love of his life, the dream of being a writer, and everyday normalcy–he can’t help but wonder if all this success and fame is worth it . . . or if it’s enough for him.
Heart-warming and funny, sweeping and entertaining, Terry Fallis’ new book takes readers on a journey of self-discovery. Oh, but you don’t have an interest in golf? Neither does the protagonist haha. You not really caring about golf is only going to add to the story. Trust me!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Genre: Adult, Sci-Fi, Video Games, Book to Movie Adaptation

Overall, the story is super original and interesting the more you dive into it. Whether you are a sci-fi fan, a gamer, a stoner, or just someone who likes adventure and a good story, pick up this book because it’s incredible.

Ernest Cline’s “Ready Player One” is a book filled with references to video games, virtual reality, ’80s pop-culture trivia, geek heroes like E. Gary Gygax, and funny-sounding cult items like Frobozz and Raaka-Tu. Yet it works for people who like books without pictures too. The book gets off to a witty start, with Wade and his cronies slinging insults about one another’s knowledge of fantasy films and using ’80s-vintage movie quips like “Don’t call me Shirley.” (From “Airplane!” of course.) And if they are capable of arguing endlessly about “Star Wars” trivia, they’re also living in a 27-sector virtual-reality world arranged like a Rubik’s Cube and where the “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” realms are right next door to each other.

So the breadth and cleverness of Mr. Cline’s imagination get this daydream pretty far. But there comes a point when it’s clear that Wade lacks at least one dimension, and that gaming has overwhelmed everything else about this book.

It shows we all have to take responsibility now more than ever. While that is an overused statement, it’s the truth so if you’re reading this, please sit down now and think of ways to better the world.

Read about Privilege here.