Every high school student reaches a point where they have been drained of any will to read outside of school. With literary and rhetorical analyses being assigned left and right, reading can seem more like a chore than anything else. The trick to overcoming these discouraging feelings is to receive recommendations. There are vast numbers of brilliant works done by incredible authors, so a source of literary wonder is never far off. Listed here are a few basic book recommendations to jump start a passion for reading once again.
The Night Circus: Erin Morgenstern has crafted a novel that soars above the expectations of any reader. A thoughtful and wonderfully ornate story following the lives of two magicians pit against each other in a competition, ruled above them. This story of love, loss, and freedom provokes a woeful tone and thoughtful reflection from the reader.
Morgenstern is an artist, and through art she brings her story to life. Page after page, the night circus breathes as if the reader holds a living creature within their grasp. It turns black and white tents into palaces as the reader is made to fly above the pointed tops of a circus into the midnight sky.
The main characters Celia and Marco make their way through their opposing lives only to come together as their souls and minds are joined inevitably, tied together in an invisible bond. The book holds such strong ties to a fantastical world while existing in an average reality. By combining the fantastical and realist worlds, the reader is swept away and left questioning what is truly real. It is a book for any reader seeking to escape their world which may seem too average to bear. Once the book is finished, the reader returns to their reality with a new sense of life breathed into their world.
All the Light We Cannot See: Stories of the second world war have been told in many ways, from many perspectives. The horror of the war is impossible to encompass in one story. The suffering of children, men, and women has been shared through painful narratives. The story, All The Light We Cannot See holds a spot among those books which share the horrors of the war. The book follows the perspectives of two unlikely characters, a blind french girl and a young German boy. The stories remain more intertwined than the reader may think, and pain from the war reverberates for both of the characters. It may seem unlikely that a book from the thoughts of a blind girl would be able to share much of a view on the world, but the book proves that sometimes those who can not see physically, are still more aware than others who remain truly blind through their lives.
The Giver: This classic written by Lois Lowry was one of the first books to introduce dystopian themes to readers which many novels now such as Divergent and The Hunger Games drew inspiration from. A story following members of a seemingly perfect society with a dark history search for meaning in their world. The Giver is the first book in a series which follow various characters through this dystopian society, facing various challenges. The books face many moral dilemmas with themes like innocence and naivety. The books pose the question if innocence is truly bliss. A mind opening story of how people are truly meant to coexist and comprehend their world by Lowry is a necessary read. Such a unique and thought provoking story which is heavily influenced by censorship within a society brings forth vital messages.
I like the Giver the novel much better than the movie. The two that follow in the series are just as powerful. I want to read the night circus.