When I’m bored, one of the things I enjoy doing is picking up a good book. I often end up binging the book if I enjoy the story well enough. So, I have rounded up some books that I feel are binge worthy. This quarantine that’s happening is hopefully getting people to read more with all the time they have at home. I’m generally recommending books that either I binged or that I would’ve binged if I had the time when I read them.
Important note: I will be linking all the books to their Amazon web pages so that you don’t have to go searching for the books. (Disclaimer: this post does NOT include any affiliate links).
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas: Ever wanted to read about a badass female assassin? Then this is the YA fantasy book series for you and it’s 7 books long. That many books will surely keep you occupied if you’re bored in your house right now. I haven’t even totally finished the series but I will say that the first book hooked me in so well that I bought the next three that were out the day I finished Throne of Glass. I think I finished what was released at the time within a couple of weeks.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas: This may be my favorite series of books of all time. It’s an adult fantasy beauty and the beast retelling that is much darker and much more intense than the Disney movie that we’re all familiar with. This series is a trilogy (but there are some spin-offs either published or in the works). The thing about trilogies that usually turn people of of them is the “middle book syndrome” which is when the middle book feels more like a filler rather than essential to the storyline. But this trilogy doesn’t have that. The middle book is actually my favorite of the three. Now, I did say this was adult but it has that label purely because of content. I feel that it reads closer to YA in terms of writing style.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: I will go ahead and say that I haven’t read this in a long time, but I still remember it relatively clearly. It’s a historical fiction WW2 novel that takes place in Nazi Germany. What I find interesting about this WW2 novel is that it’s told from an uncommon perspective: death. Death is the narrator of the story and you could probably argue that death is a character in the story. The story is mainly about a young girl named Liesel who learns to love books. I believe that anyone would enjoy this book, even if you aren’t a huge fan of historical fiction.
The Giver by Lois Lowry: This utopian/dystopian book is one of the books that I was required to read in school, but it was one of the very few required books that I actually genuinely enjoyed. The whole idea of how society is run in this book is so interesting. This book is one that I find that once you get into the story, you won’t want to put it down until you finish it.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan: This is a book series that I feel most people have at least heard of. It’s technically middle grade because of the content and writing style, but I believe that it’s a book series that adults will absolutely love. This 5 book series can be read on its own but it is essentially the start of a long saga, for lack of a better word. I do recommend that you read everything that Rick writes within this world, but there is a sort of order you should follow so that you understand the context of what’s going on either within stories or in the background. The order is Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Trial of Apollo. Now, you don’t have to read all of the series, but I highly recommend it. I’m technically still in the process of getting through all of Rick’s books because he writes and publishes so fast lol. But even if you just stick with the first series in this saga, you’ll still want to binge it because of how well written the story is, and in all honesty how quick you can get through them. And I’ll go ahead and say that you’ll likely want more after the first series. 😛
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline: Do you love futuristic sci fi video game books and 1980’s pop culture? Ready Player One encompasses all of that into one stand-alone book. The people in this futuristic version of our world live 90% of their lives in a VR video game, only leaving the game for survival essentials(like getting food, sleeping, going to the bathroom, etc). But there’s a challenge that starts where the players have to find this easter egg through riddles and other small, but still difficult, challenges. The easter egg is essentially the net worth of the creator of the game who passes away before the book starts. When I started reading this, I don’t think I put it down while I was awake. 80’s pop culture is integrated in the challenges but it’s not hard to follow the pop culture references even if you don’t really know the thing that’s being referenced. For example, The Shining movie is mentioned but you don’t need to go watch that movie to understand the references. It’s such a fun read and I don’t think you’ll want to stop reading it until you’re done.
Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson: This book is VERY different to the ones I previously recommended in this post. It’s a YA contemporary romance about a girl who needs to travel across the country because her family is moving. She is traveling at a different time than the rest of her family so her neighbor, Roger, helps her get to her new home by driving the whole way. The format of the book is very different to a “normal” book because the author put playlists and photos and other memorabilia of the trip that Amy and Roger go on into the book. I know that once I started reading this book, I struggled to put it down until I was completely finished with it.
I hope that during this crazy time of quarantines and lockdowns that you get the chance to pick up a book, any book to help you pass the time. I know that I’ll be doing my best to get back into reading.
❤ Kimberly
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