Get out of the reading recession and back into the books this year with these five compelling novels! Whether you read a few pages each day or binge the whole story all at once, these books are worth the time. Essayist and professor Noel Perrin defines binge-reading in the Washington Post as “a one-to- two-day period when you do nothing but lie around and read a single huge book.”
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy perfectly fits Perrin’s idea of “a single huge book.” It is divided into eight parts and 239 chapters, offering beautiful descriptions of the outside world while revealing character’s inner feelings. Tolstoy called it his first true novel. If you love immersing yourself in a single story, this book is a great choice.
Louise Penny’s Still Life is a thrilling tale following Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. He is called in to determine if a woman in the village of Three Pines died in a hunting accident. If you love building attachments to the characters you read about, consider checking this one out- and the rest of Penny’s works as well.
If you want something a little lighter, How the Penguins Saved Veronica is perfect. A heartwarming family tale involving some cute animals, Veronica McCreedy is inspired by a documentary on birds to travel to Antarctica at 85 years old. Estranged from her family and with most of her life behind her, she makes the trip in search of a worthy cause to leave her money. However, meeting her grandson may change her mind.
A classic and iconic story to get lost in is The Chronicles of Narnia. While everyone is familiar with the title and may have seen the movies, reading the books is like experiencing it all over again with even more riveting details. The first book in the series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, follows the four Pevensie children who attempt to save Narnia from an eternal winter.
The Percy Jackson series is loved by many who closely follow the demigod son of Poseidon and his friends on their adventures through different realms such as the Tartarus and Niflheim. The latest Disney series only covers the events of the very first book. The rest of the book series reveals where the characters end up without audiences having to sit in anticipation waiting for filming to finish.
While sitting down and finishing a whole entire book might feel impossible, there are more opportunities for reading than you might think. Free periods, long bus rides, and that hour-long lunch are all great times to crack open a book and explore new worlds.
