Since moving to Chicago, I have spent at least an hour on public transit every weekday, and have in turn become a voracious reader. You know that saying “so many books, so little time?” I don’t have that problem.
I’ve summed up some of my favorites that I’ve read so far this year – enjoy! (Descriptions below)
- Little Bee
- Little Bee is the story of a young Nigerian refugee who flees the danger of her country and lands in the UK. Note: This is not a true story, as I thought until the very last page. Oops. Still great, nonetheless!
- Me Before You
- Lovable, heartwarming, and a beautiful story about caring for a paraplegic man and the meaning of life. The complexes of this book are apparent, and you will definitely spend some time on this novel, but I highly recommend it!
- We Were Liars
- This book is SO chilling, and you’ll never see the ending coming. That’s all I’ll say.
- Station Eleven
- This pre-and-post apocalyptic story follows some wonderfully deep characters through a flu that kills off most of the world. It’s a thinker and not as depressing as it sounds. It’s definitely in my top favorite books ever!
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
- This book is about Henrietta Lacks, a woman whose cells were used for scientific research without her or her family’s explicit permission. HeLa (named for Henrietta) cells are the first known human immortal cells, and have been used for years and years for medical research. Henrietta’s cells were used to help find the vaccine for polio, and many questions have been raised as to the ethics of the situation. Though a bit mundane at times, this book fascinated me, and definitely got me thinking about the ethics of organ donation.
- The Lover’s Dictionary
- This definitely isn’t what it sounds like, I promise. The Lover’s Dictionary goes through each letter of the alphabet with different words describing the relationship between a couple. My favorite part about this book is that it doesn’t identify if the couple is heterosexual or not – that’s all up for your interpretation.
- Modern Romance
- UGH, I just hate dating so much. It’s so painfully awkward and everyone is playing games all the time and I just hate it. This book sympathized with me in more ways than one and I found that with every page turn I was nodding my head “yup, yup, yuuuuuup!” If you’re single (or a parent that won’t leave me alone about being single, ahemmmm), you should definitely pick this one up. Oh, and it’s by Aziz Ansari, so you’re bound to chuckle at least a few times.
- Luckiest Girl Alive
- This is another one that I can’t say too much about without spoiling it, but it’s about a woman who seemingly has the perfect life. Another page turner – I finished it in 4 days!
Any suggestions for more books to put on my list? Comment below!
