If you had told me at twelve years old that I would grow up to read upwards of fifty books a year on average in ten years, I would have never believed you. It’s not that I hated reading growing up. I didn’t. I recognized that nothing was greater than finding a great book that you were really able to become immersed in. A book so great, that you forgot who you were and where you were when you read it. However, when I was younger and I found a book that good, I would then give up on reading for a few months, as I was convinced I would never find a book as good again.
Growing up, my sister was the reader of the family. She would be able to read a book in only a few hours, and plow through every book my parents gave her like she was being timed. As we grew older, my sister and I swapped places; and I became the one who was reading everyday, picking up any book I could get my hands on. A lot of the friends I met in college always ask me how I became such a reader, and when I tell them I wasn’t always this way, many of them don’t believe me. Something I pride myself very highly on is being able to convert many of my non-reader friends into giving books a try, and many of them have even found favorites. So, if you’re trying to get into reading but think that it’s just impossible, here are my top three book recommendations to try starting with.
1. “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro
This first book was a required reading for my first English class here at URI and it changed my life. It is a coming of age story that follows the friendship of three friends – Kath, Tommy and Ruth – who grow up together as they attend a boarding school called Hailsham. Eventually the characters have to leave the school and make their way into the real world. Ishigure uses beautiful language and metaphors to describe friendships and how they grow and evolve. A quote in the book that illustrates the beauty of lasting friendships is “It never occurred to me that our lives, until then so closely interwoven, could unravel and separate over a thing like that. But the fact was, I suppose, there were powerful tides tugging us apart by then, and it only needed something like that to finish off the task. If we’d understood that back then – who knows? – maybe we’d have kept a tighter hold of one another.”
While in college, I found this quote easy to relate to. Being away from home is when you start to find yourself and grow away from the people you thought you would be friends with forever. While this is normal, growing apart from long term friendships can be hard to navigate and can feel isolating, but “Never Let Me Go” shows that everyone goes through it.
2. “Daisy Jones and the Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
One thing I think helps non-readers get into a book is if the book is fast-paced. The kind of book that is easy to read, so much so that anyone could read it in a day or two. This makes books seem less like a task, and something to look forward to. The next book I have to recommend actually is one of those that is quick to read, and that is because it is in an interview format. Books that are written in unique formats, such as text messages, emails, letters, or in this case, interviews are another great way for non-readers to get into reading.
“Daisy Jones and the Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a retelling of the incredible career of classic rock band, Fleetwood Mac. I have been in love with all things Fleetwood Mac since I was 15, so when I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. What I didn’t know was that I would love it so much I would read it two times back to back.
While the novel is about rock and roll, drug abuse, growing up in the spotlight, feminism, and music, but, to me, “Daisy Jones and the Six” is about soulmates. What they are, how we find them, and how we lose them.
3. “A Study in Charlotte” by Brittany Cavallaro
Lastly, if you’re a lover of classics, murder, or mysteries, I could not recommend more this book enough. A modern day retelling of the classic Arthur Conan Doyle novels about the teenage descendants of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes find themselves at the same boarding school their junior year of high school and they try to avoid each other. However, when a fellow classmate is killed and both Watson and Holmes are framed, they must work together to not only prove their innocence, but to save their classmates. Of course, just as their ancestors did, they find friendship along the way.
No matter what book you pick up, just know there is no such thing as a “non-reader” anyone can be a reader, as long as you pick up a book. In my eyes, everyone deserves the magic that comes with a good book, and everyone can have it, too. You just have to know where to look.
Hi! My name is Liz Fusco and I am a senior here at URI double majoring in English and journalism. When I’m not writing blogs for campus rec you can find me working as one of the News Editors at URI’ student newspaper The Good Five Cent Cigar or working as the Vice Chair of the English Undergraduate Student Advisory Board. I love writing, reading, teaching dance and spending time with my friends, family and my dog Talullah.