Book Recommendations for Every Reader

I’ve written a lot of pieces in the past about coping mechanisms and hobbies, but one of my favorite hobbies is reading. Seeing yourself represented in a book can be powerful—it’s often something you didn’t realize was missing until it’s there. Representation can help us feel seen, valued, and understood. When it comes to books, there is something for everyone. In this piece, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite book recommendations for different genres and niches.

While BookTok (a corner of TikTok where books are shared and discussed) can be controversial, it is how I’ve discovered some of my favorite books. When I was in a year-long reading slump, and my attention span felt demolished by social media, I needed an engaging and easy-to-read author to pull me out of it. I found that in Taylor Jenkins Reid. I love character-based stories, and her accessible writing style, quick pace, and engaging format made it easy to read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six, Malibu Rising, and Carrie Soto is Back consecutively. Each of these books follow successful women in three different time periods but within the same universe. I could read a million sequels to those books.

I also love queer literature and queer young adult novels. I love books from the “queer literary canon” (books that have helped shape the genre of queer literature) like Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin and A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood. Their writing styles are pretty accessible, but they do have that classic feel to them. I’ve enjoyed a lot of the queer fiction I’ve read lately. Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston absolutely lived up to the hype, as did Less by Andrew Sean Greer. One I haven’t heard many people talk about but that I adored is The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain. In it, shy and rather lonely Albert Entwistle is forced into retirement. With so much time on his hands, he confronts his past, when he was forcibly separated from his lover, George. He sets out to reconnect with George and find acceptance of a part of himself he’s kept hidden for so long. Outlawed by Anna North was also fantastic. It’s a fresh twist on the old Western, with a queer band of outlaws robbing banks and taking names. If you’re into graphic novels, there’s obviously Heartstopper (I’m obsessed with the books and the show) and Alice Oseman’s other works that all feature diverse casts of queer characters.

Whenever anyone asks me for book recommendations, I immediately think of my two favorite books ever – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is the poignant coming-of-age story about young Francine in New York at the turn of the 20th century. Books rarely make me cry, but this book captured all of the small, forgotten nuances of growing up so well. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was one of the most decorated books of 2022, following friends Sam and Sadie through meeting as children to starting their own video game company. The book continues to follow them throughout every major milestone of their adult lives. The characters, the writing style, and the in-depth portrayal of the human experience are all super appealing in this book – I could talk about this book for hours. This is Zevin’s magnum opus; I read it slowly because I didn’t want it to end. I love Zevin’s writing style and read another one of her books, The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, about a lonely bookseller who adopts a baby. It was very good, just simpler and shorter if you’re not ready for the 450-page saga of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. 

There are also a few tropes in fiction that I can always rely on, like books about books, an older person rediscovering life, or female rage. An example of “a book about books” is Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. If you’re into secret societies, dusty old books, and computer nerds cracking codes, this is a great book for you. Some “older person rediscovers life” classics are A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (heartwarming AND heartbreaking), and Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune (technically a dead person rediscovering life, but cozy and moving nonetheless). If you’re into Girl, Interrupted-style female rage, check out Bunny by Mona Awad, which is hard to explain without spoiling. Additionally, The Girls by Emma Cline, which is about a young girl who is entranced by a cult, is also great. 

If you’re not really into long novels, I also have some novella recommendations. Two novellas that greatly impacted me despite their brevity are A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers. They take place in a solarpunk-style, utopian version of Earth where people recognize the error of their ways and have thus switched over to self-sustaining villages integrated with nature. They follow a tea monk and a robot they met along the way as they search for their purpose in life. These books were like a warm hug I desperately needed. Toeing the line between prose and poetry is The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, a series of brief coming-of-age stories following a girl living in the Latine quarter of Chicago in the 1960s. The flowery language and wry humor were a treat for me in between longer novels. 

Reading has always been one of my favorite ways to explore new stories and escape reality. I hope this list has something that catches your eye, whether you’re seeking complex characters, heartfelt journeys, or just a quick, powerful story. There are countless voices and worlds waiting for you in the pages of a good book, so dive in, and maybe you’ll find a story that resonates as deeply with you as these have with me.