5 Books I Think Everyone Should Read 📖 📚// Book Recommendations!

Hi Everyone!

I’m so excited to do this blog post! I love geeking out about my favorite books, and I love telling people about books I think they might like!

Now, I’m not going to go into a whole lot of detail about what I like about these books in this particular post. I want to be able to give each one it’s own in-depth review later on, wherein I’ll get into more of the nitty-gritty of each book, so for now I’m just going to tell you how much I love each one and why you should love it too.

Let’s get started!

1. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

I first came across Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro when I first started my master’s program at Southern New Hampshire University. We were given a reading list and asked to choose a book that fit the genre we were planning to write our thesis in. Now, my thesis is dark fantasy but the only things they had listed under “speculative” were science fiction stories, so I chose Klara and the Sun because it sounded the most interesting, and I wasn’t wrong!

Klara and the Sun is so beautifully written, and the worldbuilding Ishiguro did in this novel is impeccable. Truly a

situation. Everyone should read Klara and the Sun at least once in their lives, so if you’re looking for a new story to put on your TBR list, this is one I highly recommend.

That being said, this is a . . . recommendations list. So . . . like . . . aren’t they all ones I recommend you put on your TBR list?

But . . . like . . . I really recomend it. But the fact that it’s on a list should tell you right away that I recommend it so . . .

Well anyway, let’s move on to the next one on the list! Which iisss . . .

2. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu (“women’s writing”). Some girls were paired with laotongs, “old sames,” in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.

With the arrival of a silk fan on which Snow Flower has composed for Lily a poem of introduction in nu shu, their friendship is sealed and they become “old sames” at the tender age of seven. As the years pass, through famine and rebellion, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful. With the period detail and deep resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship.

I can’t remember how I first came across Snow Flower and the Secret Fan but I’m so glad I did. I love this book to pieces, and will always have it on my bookshelf. It’s such a powerful depiction of female friendship and the writing is so incredibly lyrical. The protagonists, Lily and Snow-Flower, feel like real and genuine human beings instead of “story protagonists.” They make mistakes, they screw up—sometimes in huge ways that cannot be undone—and yet they learn from them and grow. They’re easy to relate to, at least for me, and I will always shout this book’s praises from the rooftops.

3. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?

This book. This book right here. I read this book so many times I’ve lost count by now. For a good few years this used to be my go-to book if I wanted a solid read and was in a slump. I hadn’t expected much out of the book when I first picked it up but I fell immediately in love with it and now it’s one of the most well-loved books in my collection. I remember this being one of the very few books that actually made me ugly cry out-loud, and that’s something I’ll never forget about this piece.

As of right now I haven’t read the other books in the trilogy, but I think I’ve got one on my shelf waiting for me to stop re-reading my old favorites and give something new a shot.

4. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny, biting, and passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare but she is paying a price for the illusion of perfection. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for a nanny. She comes with a mysterious past and a sadness beyond her years. These three women are at different crossroads, but they will all wind up in the same shocking place.

Much like Me Before You, I was totally obsessed with Big Little Lies for the longest time—and even as I’m typing this out right now, I’m thinking about picking it up off my shelf and reading it again for about the bazillionth time. It’s such an incredible story that, actually, integrates unconventional storytelling styles within the conventional narrative style in a way that keeps the suspense going all the way through the novel. I love stories that take on unconventional storytelling styles. It’s part of why I like The Road by Cormac McCarthy so much (but that’ll be a review post later! ^_~) and it’s just something you don’t see much of anymore. Big Little Lies definitely does it well!

5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with Jay Gatsby, the mysterious millionaire with an obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.

Oh-ho-ho I bet you thought I wasn’t going to put The Great Gatsby on the list!

Of course I was going to put it on this list! This is a post about the books I think everyone should read, and I think everyone should read The Great Gatsby! Not just because I consider it one of my favorite novels either (though that does play a big part in it!) but because it’s such a great exploration of love and loss, the inability to recover the past, and the corruption of what was previously considered incorruptible. I love, love, love The Great Gatsby and think it deserves all the love and attention in the world.

Which, I mean, it’s a classic so it already has a ton of love and attention, so that’s good!

And there you have it! My 5 Books I think Everyone Should Read! I hope it helped you guys get some ideas for your next read! Let me know what you guys think of what I picked, and if you have any recommendations of books you think everyone should read!

Until next time~!