In the chaos of life, books are an anchor that keeps you calm. It is truly magical how much a good book can comfort you, can keep you sane. When things aren’t going exactly as planned, or when life isn’t being its kindest, it is books that we readers turn to. We try to find solace in them so that we can carry on.

Here’s a list of books that we think will make you a good companion the next time you need some emotional support.

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney is a book about friendships and trying to find your place in the world.

The book centres around two friends, Alice and Eileen, who found each other in college and quickly developed a deep friendship. The story is set a few years later, when Alice has moved away from Dublin. The two still communicated via emails, where they ruminate about the condition of the world, how all art is now commodified, and basically everything that is wrong with the world. 

At the core of the novel is their love for each other and despite the characters being almost 30, it is still a coming-of-age story of sorts. It is Eileen trying to find a place in this world when all her life she has been treated as an inferior. It is Alice slowly getting back on her feet, finding her solace somewhere far from her friends. It is Simon, his unwavering faith and his desire to do better in this world. And it is Felix, with his callous attitude, yet a softness for the people around him. The characters are raw, flawed, and beautifully fleshed out. It is comfortable to read about these characters who are just as human, diffident, and in search of affection as us. In a world that is chaotic, tiring, and often lonesome, reading about these relationships brings forth a comfort that maybe we are not all truly alone.

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang

Sometimes the only thing that can comfort you is reading a book way past your bedtime. To consume a book page after page, breathe in the words, because you simply cannot stop. I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang does exactly that.

Sadie Wren is struggling, but she would rather swallow glass than admit it. She has to be perfect, all the time. However, Sadie’s emails, or more correctly, hate-mails to the other students, get anonymously leaked. The emails were her safe space. Her screech into the void because Ms. People Pleaser could not confront others to save her life. What follows is pages of pure entertainment, as Sadie tries to do damage control. But at the centre of it all is Julius, her nemesis, and probably the only person who isn’t surprised at receiving a hate email from Sadie.

This book is an academic rivals-to-lovers executed to perfection. But, like all of Ann Liang’s books, there is so much more than that. Sadie Wren is sinking; she needs help, and more importantly, she needs to breathe. But all her life, she has been so focused on being the best, on being the one who helps her family, that she has nothing left for herself. It is a story of being burnt out and still trying to find the spark. The book is beautiful, complex, and yet funny. The perfect book to read when all you want to do is think about someone else’s problems and forget about your own.

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Enemies-to-lovers? Between the son of the American President and the Prince of England? Nothing screams comfort quite like this.

Made into a famous movie, Red, White, and Royal Blue is a book that will make you laugh, cry, and scream all at the same time. Characters that are incredibly lovable and humane this book is for everyone who is looking for a silver lining.

Alex is chaotic, messy, and has a heart that is on fire. Henry is definitely not the one for him. But the Henry he knows is not the real one, and the more time the two of them spend together, the more they realise how much they have in common. What blossoms is a beautiful friendship based on late night calls and text messages turn into hour long conversations.

Soon, Alex and Henry realise what they truly mean to each other, but some romances are more difficult than others. And the one between the First Son of America and a Prince is definitely one of them.

With a beautiful ensemble of characters, the book is rife with incidents that make your heart flutter and break. The email exchanges between Alex and Henry are so imperative and make the story so much more richer. Red, White, and Royal Blue is like a comforting cup of coffee, not the one that wakes you up, but the one that calms you down.

Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach

A coming-of-age novel about a girl who has worked all her life for the spot of editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, and a guy who gets the spot simply because he is more likeable.

Not Here to Be Liked is a story about understanding what you want in life, and unearthing parts of yourself you didn’t even know existed. Eliza Quan is perfect. She works hard. She gets the good grades. She had all the qualities. So what if she’s a little assertive, a bit too serious. She has the talent, and at the end of the day that’s what matters. But apparently, it wasn’t enough. Len DiMartile, ex-jock, the one with the easy personality, is the one who gets the spot. What follows is Eliza spiralling into a mess of hate, anger, and disappointment.

Her frustration carries forward the momentum of the story as she cries about patriarchy and how she was denied her spot all because of her personality, but there is so much more than that. What Eliza doesn’t know is that soon she will be the leading face of a feminist movement in her school with the school asking her to team up with Lin, as a show of good nature and civility. Eliza’s life spirals further out of control as she realises that she might be falling for the face of patriarchy.

The book is light-hearted, and yet manages to touch on the subtility of being a feminist in this society. The casual incidents of Eliza being called a ‘fem-n*zi’ and being made fun of, might seem benign in the start, but what they showed were how people didn’t like a women with a voice. At the centre of it all is the blossoming romance between Eliza and Lin. The book is perfect when you want to have a good laugh and want characters to root for.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

An 18th century Englishman touring Europe with his best friend and sister before being forced to take over his family estate? Romantic tension? Hilarious commentary?  The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue is the perfect book when you are looking for some comfort.

Henry ‘Monty’ Montague is the epitome of spoiled brat. His devil-may-care attitude is nothing short of a pain. His best friend Percy is the only one who can get through to him. Probably because Monty has been crushing on Percy forever.

The book follows Monty, Percy, and Felicity, as the tour through Europe. The book is filled with grand events, beautiful writing, and hilarious dialogues. But behind the façade of his nature, Monty is fragile and afraid. When Percy’s medical condition comes to the front, he is forced to let go of his childish antics and step up. The book is deeply entertaining, and surprisingly intense. It is wonderful to see Monty’s character develop as he takes a step back and sees beyond himself. The friendship, and later the romance between him and Percy is soft and irresistible. Each character has something unique to offer to the story. The perfect read to brighten up a gloomy day.

What are some of your comfort reads? Do tell us in the comments below!

The post Five Books That Are Like A Warm Coffee On A Rainy Day appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

If you’re looking to escape the ordinary without leaving home, here are some staycation-ready books that offer all the summer vibes, wanderlust, and escapism you need.

If you’re looking for a cozy escape:

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

This wholesome, found family story is perfect for cozy vibes.

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

This fun, cute fantasy about an orc opening a coffee shop is perfect for escaping the real world while still staying comfy in your own home.

If you want books that feel like vacation:

Beach Read by Emily Henry

This is a smart contemporary romance perfect for readers looking for summer, beachy feels.

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

This memoir set in the Italian countryside is perfect for readers who want to travel vicariously through the adventures of others.

If you like coming-of-age in the summer books:

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

This time travel story features father-daughter relationships, New York City summers, and encourages the reader to consider their own place in the world.

Beautiful World, Where are You by Sally Rooney

This emotional read explores the relationships and friendships of four young Irish people as they search for meaning in a bleak world.

If you like something with a little heat:

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This sibling-focused family saga takes place in 1980s Malibu and dives into the drama that unfolds at their annual end-of-summer party.

Every Summer by Carley Fortune

This second-chance romance is full of nostalgia, with alternating timelines that remind the reader of teenage summers and the heartbreak that often follows them.

Whether you’re looking to laugh, cry, swoon, or simply escape for a few hours, there’s a story on this list that can take you there.

So pour yourself a cold drink, find the shadiest tree in the yard, and get lost in a book that brings summer right to you.

Do you have ant other recommendations? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Staycation Reads: The Best Books to Take You Away Without Ever Leaving the House appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

As we approach the halfway mark of 2024, it’s time to start looking ahead to the phenomenal new books that will be hitting shelves over the rest of the year!

We’ve put together a small sample of anticipated releases that you should keep an eye out for with new books from the likes of Rainbow Rowell, Stephen Graham Jones, Casey McQuiston, Ransom Riggs, Jodi Picoult, Sally Rooney, Richard Osman, Sabaa Tahir, Courtney Gould, Darby Kane, and so many more, plus even some debuts you should definitely have on your radar!

Read on to discover just a few of our picks and keep an eye out for when we round up further upcoming releases for the YA, Fantasy & Sci-Fi, Romance, Fiction, and Middle Grade genres.

Let us know in the comments below if you’re looking forward to any of them or if you have other recommendations!

JULY 2024

The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Get ready for a new series that brings readers deeper into the lush, romantic, and puzzle-filled world of the #1 bestselling Inheritance Games series (over 3 million copies sold!), set a year after we last saw Avery and the Hawthornes.

Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell

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From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and Attachments comes Slow Dance—a bright, beaming power ballad of a novel about a love so true it refuses to be forgotten.

It’s Elementary by Elise Bryant

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A fast-paced, completely delightful new mystery about what happens when parents get a little too involved in their kids’ schools, from NAACP Image Award nominee Elise Bryant.

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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A young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine — but the real drama is behind the scenes in this sumptuous historical epic from the author of Mexican Gothic.

The Haters by Robyn Harding

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The bestselling author of The Party and The Drowning Woman returns with a twisted tale of fame, obsession, and the dark recesses of social media.

The Blackbird Oracle by Deborah Harkness

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Diana Bishop journeys to the darkest places within herself—and her family history—in the highly anticipated fifth novel of the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling All Souls series.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

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A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez

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Two broken hearts decide that the best way to get over their first loves is with a no-strings-attached relationship in this spicy and charming debut romance.

Our Wicked Histories by Amy Goldsmith

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A teen girl’s attempt to make amends with her former friend group takes a sinister turn during a weekend getaway at an ancestral Irish estate in this atmospheric, literary horror from the author of Those We Drown.

The Night Ends With Fire by K. X. Song

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Infused with magic and romance, this sweeping fantasy adventure inspired by the legend of Mulan follows a young woman determined to choose her own destiny—even if that means going against everyone she loves.

The Hollywood Assistant by May Cobb

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Offered a dream job in Hollywood with a famous director and his actress wife, an insecure woman becomes their personal assistant where their secrets and lies place her in the crosshairs of a murder investigation.

I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones

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From New York Times bestselling horror writer Stephen Graham Jones comes a classic slasher story with a twist—perfect for fans of Riley Sager and Grady Hendrix.

AUGUST 2024

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

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In #1 New York Times bestselling author Casey McQuiston’s latest romantic comedy, two bisexual exes accidentally book the same European food and wine tour and challenge each other to a hookup competition to prove they’re over each other—except they’re definitely not.

You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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When cracks start forming in an influencer’s curated life, she finds out that jealousy is just as viral as a video in this riveting suspense novel by bestselling author Jesse Q. Sutanto.

Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson

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From the bestselling author of the Truly Devious books, Maureen Johnson, comes a new stand-alone YA about a teen who uncovers a mystery while working as a tour guide on an island and must solve it before history repeats itself.

Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by MJ Wassmer

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White Lotus meets Kevin Wilson in this whip-smart social satire about a man who finds himself trapped on an island resort after the sun literally explodes, and suddenly must choose whether to save himself from the chaos, or help fellow guests make it off the island alive…

Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer

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A tender, laugh-out-loud debut romance about a woman who ends up in over her head after a little white lie . . .

Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown

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When a young woman is found dead on her college campus, her sister doesn’t believe it was an accident—and her search for answers leads her closer to home than she ever would have imagined in this thrilling debut novel from an exciting new talent.

The Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow

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A young woman chosen as the crown prince’s bride must travel to the royal palace to meet her new husband—but her world is shaken when she discovers the dark truth the royal family has been hiding for centuries—in this lush fantasy debut perfect for fans of Song of Silver, Flame Like Night and Violet Made of Thorns.

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

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From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ava Reid comes a reimagining of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare’s most famous villainess, giving her a voice, a past, and a power that transforms the story men have written for her.

A Werewolf’s Guide to Seducing a Vampire by Sarah Hawley

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Ben Rosewood never meant to be bound to a vampire succubus, especially one as sexy-yet-terrifying as Eleanora Bettencourt-Devereux, but he has to admit there are some fang-tastic perks….

The Volcano Daughters by Gina María Balibrera

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A saucy, searingly original debut about two sisters raised in the shadow of El Salvador’s brutal dictator, El Gran Pendejo, and their flight from genocide, which takes them from Hollywood to Paris to cannery row, each followed by a chorus of furies, the ghosts of their murdered friends, who aren’t yet done telling their stories.

Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry by Ransom Riggs

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Visionary storyteller Ransom Riggs weaves the familiar with the peculiar in a stunning loss, triumph, friendship and magic, reminding readers everywhere that true heroes are made, not born—and that when you’re never the chosen one, sometimes you have to choose yourself. 

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

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From the New York Times bestselling co-author of Mad Honey comes an “inspiring” (Elle) novel about two women, centuries apart—one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—who are both forced to hide behind another name.

SEPTEMBER 2024

A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft

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A sharp-tongued folklorist must pair up with her academic rival to solve their mentor’s murder in this lush and enthralling sapphic fantasy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic.

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

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For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude―a period of desire, despair, and possibility; a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking.

An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

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A student will find that the hardest lessons sometimes come from outside the classroom in this stunning dark academia novel from the acclaimed author of The Year of the Witching and House of Hunger.

Us in Ruins by Rachel Moore

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With a blend of humour, magic, and love, Rachel Moore crafts another stand-alone adventure rom-com full of double- and triple-crosses, hilarious shenanigans, and frustration-fuelled banter, where the best treasure is true love.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

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Combining the heart and humour of The Thursday Murder Club with a puzzling international mystery, welcome to the blockbusting new series from the biggest new fiction author of the decade, Richard Osman.

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel

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A Hitchcock fanatic with an agenda invites old friends for a weekend stay at his secluded themed hotel in this fiendishly clever, suspenseful new novel from the international bestselling author of Darling Rose Gold.

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma

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The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House in this dangerously romantic dark academia fantasy, where a lost heiress must infiltrate an arcane society and live with the vampire she suspects killed her family and kidnapped her sister.

The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop

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A candid and captivating memoir from award-winning and beloved actress Kelly Bishop, spanning her six decades in show business from Broadway to Hollywood with A Chorus Line, Dirty Dancing, Gilmore Girls, and much more.

The Lovers by Rebekah Faubion

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A second chance at love is in the cards for two women working a stylish California wedding in this charming debut romance.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune

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Somewhere Beyond the Sea is a story of resistance, lovingly told, about the daunting experience of fighting for the life you want to live and doing the work to keep it.

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

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Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning.

How to Hide in Plain Sight by Emma Noyes

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The unbreakable bonds of family and love are explored in this brilliant and tender story from the author of Guy’s Girl.

OCTOBER 2024

The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni

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Two sisters. A lost imperial treasure. The world’s greatest puzzle master has twenty-four hours to solve the most dangerous mystery of his life . . . or die trying.

This Cursed House by Del Sandeen

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In this Southern gothic horror debut, a young Black woman abandons her life in 1960s Chicago for a position with a mysterious family in New Orleans, only to discover the dark truth. They’re under a curse, and they think she can break it.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch

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Red, White & Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas in a sexy, quirky rom-com where the golden-hearted Prince of Christmas falls for the totally off-limits Prince of Halloween.

Heir by Sabaa Tahir

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Beloved storyteller Sabaa Tahir interweaves the lives of three young people as they grapple with power, treachery, love, and the devastating consequences of unchecked greed, on a journey that may cost them their lives—and their hearts. Literally.

Swordcrossed by Freya Marske

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The cozy, low stakes of Legends & Lattes meets the scorching bodyguard fantasy of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s From Blood and Ash in this enemies-to-lovers romance where, yes, the swords do cross.

Throne of Secrets by Kerri Maniscalco

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Two rivals torn apart by a dark memory reunite on a deadly hunt—and in an irresistibly twisted fairy tale—in the next steamy standalone fantasy romance from New York Times bestselling sensation Kerri Maniscalco.

Don’t Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews

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As alluring as it is unsettling, award-winning author CG Drews’ debut YA psychological horror will leave readers breathless and hesitant to venture deeper into the woods.

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak

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From the bestselling author of Hidden Pictures comes a breathtaking work of suspense about a father trying to save his daughter from a life-altering decision that will put everything he loves on the line.

Fledgling: The Keeper’s Records of Revolution by S. K. Ali

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The first book in a gripping duology from acclaimed author S.K. Ali introduces a fractured world on the brink of either enlightenment or war.

A Dark and Secret Magic by Wallis Kinney

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A warm, spellbinding tale about a witch and the secrets her coven has been keeping from her, with echoes of the classic Hades and Persephone story, in the tradition of Practical Magic and Witch of Wild Things.

I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong

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From New York Times Bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a spellbinding new tale of supernatural horror involving a haunted-house, seances, lost loved ones, and a sinister spirit out for blood…

The Book of Witching by CJ Cooke

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A mother must fight for her daughter’s life in this fierce and haunting tale of witchcraft and revenge from the author of A Haunting in the Arctic.

NOVEMBER 2024

The Author’s Guide To Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White

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Agatha Christie meets Murder, She Wrote in this witty locked room mystery and literary satire by New York Times bestselling team of novelists: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White.

Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez

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Where the Library Hides is Isabel Ibañez’s stunning conclusion to the story that started in What the River Knows. A lush immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, and a rivals-to-lovers romance like no other!

Games Untold By Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Romance, luxury, and secrets abound in this thrilling new collection that takes readers deeper into the world of the #1 bestselling Inheritance Games series.

Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens

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From the New York Times bestselling author of This Time Next Year, a hilarious love story about a disillusioned divorcée who agrees to let her children play matchmaker.

Pony Confidential by Christina Lynch

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In this one-of-a-kind mystery with heart and humour, a hilariously grumpy pony must save the only human he’s ever loved after discovering she stands accused of a murder he knows she didn’t commit.

The Estate by Sarah Jost

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For fans of The Cloisters and The Cartographers comes a gripping speculative suspense that follows one woman with the ability to enter the dimension of art, who finds herself trapped in a French estate as the pawn in a rich man’s game…

The Jewel of the Isle by Kerry Rea

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Two very indoor people rough it on a remote island after getting swept up in an archaeologist’s hunt for a famed jewel in this dazzling new adventure rom-com by Kerry Rea, author of Lucy on the Wild Side.

I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call by Jamison Shea

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Jamison Shea’s sharp and unflinching voice will bring readers to terrifying new heights in this vicious sequel to the “relentlessly gory and almost euphoric in its embrace of the horrific” (NPR) I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me.

The Empty Place by Olivia A Cole

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A powerful and imaginative story about a girl fighting to find her way back home from a mind-bending land of the lost.

The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson

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From NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Mary E. Pearson comes a thrilling romantic fantasy full of dangerous fae, dark secrets, and addictive romance

The Songbird & the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent

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New York Times bestselling author and BookTok sensation Carissa Broadbent returns with a brand new novel in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, Songbird and the Heart of Stone, where A Court of Thorns and Roses meets Dante’s Inferno, in an epic fantasy romance of love and treachery between mortals and gods.

An Insignificant Case by Phillip Margolin

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A new standalone legal thriller from the international bestselling author of GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.

DECEMBER 2024

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

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An enchanting novel about a witch who has a second chance to get her magical powers—and her life—back on track, from the national bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.

What the Wife Knew by Darby Kane

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Darby Kane, author of the #1 international bestseller Pretty Little Wife, returns with another twisty domestic thriller about a wife wondering who tried to kill her husband twice before finally succeeding… because that was supposed to be her job. 

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao

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Zetian must balance dangerous politics with a new quest for vengeance in the sequel to the #1 New York Times bestseller Iron Widow, a blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction.

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould

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Yellowjackets meets Girl, Interrupted when a group of troubled teens in a wilderness therapy program find themselves stranded in a forest full of monsters eager to take their place.

Alter Ego by Alex Segura

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Alex Segura, LA Times Book Prize–winning author of Secret Identity, returns with a clever and escapist mystery set in the world of comic books. In the present day, a comics legend is given the chance to revive a beloved but forgotten character. But at what price?>

A Monsoon Rising by Thea Guanzon

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Two hearts circle each other in the eye of the storm in this highly-anticipated follow-up to The Hurricane Wars—prepare for more enemies-to-lovers romance, magical adventures, and political schemes in this Southeast Asian-inspired world.

Roland Rogers Isn’t Dead Yet by Samantha Allen

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It’s the gig of a lifetime for this ghostwriter, except there’s a the client, a closeted A-list actor finally ready to come out in his memoir, is an actual ghost.

The Shutouts by Gabrielle Korn

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A brilliant queer dystopian novel from the author of Yours for the Taking, following a cast of characters on the margins of a strange and exclusive new society.

The Close-up by Pip Drysdale

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A struggling author discovers the dark side of fame when a stalker begins reenacting violent events from her thriller in this electrifying and twisty new novel.

A Cruel Thirst by Angela Montoya

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A fledgling vampire and a headstrong vampire huntress must work together–against their better judgment—to rid the world of monsters in this irresistible romantic fantasy.

The Party by Natasha Preston

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Set against the backdrop of a sprawling English estate, Natasha Preston’s latest thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat until the party’s over…

The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt by Chelsea Iversen

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A young woman channels the magic of the lush, fantastical plants that adorn her crumbling estate in The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt, a darkly enchanting novel for fans of The Magician’s Daughter and Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries. ​

What books are you looking forward to releasing in the second half of 2024? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Get Your Hands On These Anticipated July To December 2024 Book Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

If I say the words coming-of-age story, what do you think of? Probably one of the classics, right? Catcher in the Rye, Little Women, To Kill a Mockingbird… As a kid, I thought that only books focused on children and teenagers could be classified as stories of growing up, because, once you reach the ripe ol’ age of twenty, you’re already a full-fledged adult. You’re mature. You’ve been in love once or twice. You know how to pay taxes.

Ha.

Now, at 28 years old, I know how wrong I was. A person can “come of age” at any age. Growing up isn’t about living for a certain number of days; it’s about figuring out who you are and what you want to do with the life you’ve been given. My upcoming novel, GUY’S GIRL, focuses on exactly those themes. And in anticipation of its release, I’m sharing my list of all-time favorite coming-of-age books. I hope you enjoy.

NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney

To me, the best books are the ones that articulate emotions you didn’t even know you had until you saw them laid out for you on the page. In NORMAL PEOPLE, Sally Rooney does that with bone-dry, deceptively simple prose, the result of which is a coming-of-age story that made me cry for twelve hours straight while reading it—not because it was tragic, but because reading it felt like holding up a mirror to some of the most difficult parts of myself, then being hugged and told that everything is going to be okay. It’s one of my favorite books ever, and I will never stop recommending it.

TALKING AT NIGHT by Claire Daverley

Written in a similar style to NORMAL PEOPLE (no quotation marks, shifting perspectives, told over a long stretch of time), TALKING AT NIGHT is another gorgeous, lyrically-written love story that begins at high school age and continues long after. Will and Rosie couldn’t be more different, but they are drawn together in an almost fated way, often drifting apart but always coming back together. Over the years, we watch them explore themselves and each other, weathering loss, illness, and much more before they get their happily ever after.

SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid

Based on this list so far, can you tell I love a good love story? Of course, coming-of-age is about far more than just romance. It’s also about wrestling with questions of identity, race, roots, privilege. One of my favorite novels that explores all these themes and more is SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid. The story follows Emira Tucker, a young, black college graduate who works part-time babysitting for an affluent white family. An incident where Emira is accused of kidnapping the white child she babysits sets off a fast-paced book that I absolutely couldn’t put down.

THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin

I remember so clearly the day that my old roommate handed me this book. Chloe Benjamin’s captivating novel follows four siblings who, early on in life, learn the dates of their eventual death. THE IMMORTALISTS takes a very unique spin on the coming-of-age trope, as we follow not one but four different stories: Las Vegas magician Klara; artistic Simon who moves to San Francisco just before the start of the AIDs epidemic; serious military physician Daniel; and Varya, whose section was one of the most accurate depictions of living with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder that I’ve ever seen. Together, these stories do an incredible job of showing how those who start in the same place can still grow into vastly different lives.

THE SONG OF ACHILLES by Madeline Miller

I would be remiss without mentioning the novel that blew up BookTok. Madeline Miller’s stunning work of mythology/historical fiction/romance-guaranteed-to-make-you-ugly-cry (I don’t even know how to categorize it) is the doomed story of Achilles (of the heel) and his best friend, Patroclus. Though it’s set against a sweeping backdrop of war, gods, and monsters, THE SONG OF ACHILLES is, at its heart, a queer love story about two young men who find solace in each other inside a tumultuous world.

The post Emma Noyes’ Favourite Coming-of-Age Books appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve devoured the books or seen Keira Knightley running through a field, sporting a bonnet and petticoats or not—everyone knows something about or at least has heard of Jane Austen. Her literature can be seen in modern adaptations, such as Clueless (1995) or parodied in Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), there are tours of the homes she lived in, theories over her love life, and her face is even on the ten-pound note. Since her death, Austen has become a character in herself. So, in our modern times of technology, socially acceptable showing of the ankles, and Harry Styles, who is our new “Jane Austen”?

Well, the name of this article is misleading because simply there cannot be another Jane Austen as her cultural impact remains her own and there can never be someone whose career and life align perfectly with her. We will never have another Austen, just as we will never have another Shakespeare or Chaucer, however, that does not mean we will not have ground-breaking romance and contemporary novelists following in the steps of our beloved writer. Brilliant in their own right, we’ve rounded up just a few stellar authors!

EMILY HENRY

Do you want friends to lovers? Or is enemies to lovers more of your cup of tea? Do you love fiction about people that also love fiction? Emily Henry is your gal. The queen of the summer romance novel, Henry keeps delivering bangers of a novel time and time again. The stories she continuously creates and has you devouring will undoubtedly leave you smiling and giddy. Henry has currently written three novels, Book Lovers (2022), Beach Read (2020), and People We Meet on Vacation (2021). Her newest book Happy Place released in April.

SALLY ROONEY

Now if you’re looking for something that has the intimacy of an Austen novel and the societal observations of an Austen novel, but without the required happily ever after, Sally Rooney is the author for you. Rooney rocketed to authorial fame through her novel Normal People, which looked at the lives of two teenagers and how society and class identities get in the way of their love for one another. Think, Marianne in Sense and Sensibility without the charming Colonel Brandon to come and eclipse her love John Willoughby. Rooney has three published novels under her belt, two of which have been turned into TV shows of the same name—Normal People (2018), Conversations with Friends (2017) and Beautiful World, Where are You (2021).

TAYLOR JENKINS REID

This is a must-read author for cinema and TV fans with multiple of her works currently being adapted for screen and TV. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a powerhouse, who is constantly working on mastering different types of genres—all under the umbrella of contemporary fiction. If you’re looking for some heartwrenching romance, Reid has books such as One True Loves (2016), which has just been released starring the magnificent Phillipa Soo, and Forever Interrupted (2013). Or if you’re a fan of Fleetwood Mac and all the drama that went into the fabric of their music, you should try Daisy Jones and the Six (2019), which released earlier this year on Prime Video.

It would take an entire article to go through all of Reid’s wonderful novels, but the one that prompted the Taylor Jenkins Reid fan frenzy was the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (2017), also in production to be become a film. Evelyn Hugo will leave you believing in love again and crushed to the core, Mr Darcy is nothing compared to Cecilia St. James, but he’s a whole lot better than Mick Riva.

TIA WILLIAMS

As many an literature teachers will tell you, Austen’s characters were complex. You just needed to look at the details of what they did and spoke. Tia William’s takes these romantic, flawed, three dimensional characters and gives them space to express themselves beyond implications and connotations. Williams has written and published six books, her two most famous books being Seven Days in June (2021) and The Perfect Find (2016), which is being turned into a movie. Her beautiful work gives romance to the everyday person. She does not gloss over the character’s issues and she does not make that a reason for them not to deserve a happy ending because, after all, everyone deserves a happy ending.

HOLLY BOURNE

One aspect of Austen’s novels that are often ignored is the female sisterhood that is promoted. Think of Anne Elliot in Persuasion, who is always there for her sister Mary and shows no hostility towards Louisa and Henrietta whilst they flirt with the man she loves. Holly Bourne takes this sisterhood and focus on female friendships and turns it up to the max. In her novels we have the romantic love story, but what really shines in Bourne’s writing is the platonic friendships and their importance in our lives. She brings to centre stage the beauty that is friendship and celebrates all its iniquities. Plus, her books are wonderfully and promotingly feminist, an extra bonus. The Spinster Club Trilogy is a brilliant place to start when reading Bourne’s work as you follow a trio making their way through college and discovering themselves in the least cliché ways imaginable. 

SARA DESAI

Another aspect of Austen’s novels which literature teachers will sing about is that her novels are funny. Yes, some of her jokes do not translate as well in modern day and often they fall flat in comparison to the works of Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Romesh Ranganathan, but she is funny. A brilliant romance author, who prioritises the comedic aspects of her novel with the intimate moments of her novel is Sara Desai. Sara Desai’s most popular works are The Dating Plan (2021), The Marriage Game (2020) and The Singles Table (2021). Desai gives us funny, sexy female protagonists that make us laugh and leaves us applauding when they get their man. She also constantly provides a fun, enjoyable family dynamic that helps push the story forward and creates a more enjoyable reading experience.

So, here are six wonderful female identifying authors who are taking the romance genre by storm. They may not be Austen, they are their own magnificent selves and have done and will do amazing things within the genre or whatever genres they decide to explore next. And just remember, if anyone tries to shame you for reading romance novels, remember people once did the same to the original readers of Austen’s work. Look who’s laughing now!

The post Who Is The Modern Jane Austen? appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

After coming up with book recommendations inspired by Taylor Swift’s folklore in this post, I thought it would be fitting to give evermore a similar treatment since this album is just as imaginative and evocative. These two albums were incredibly poignant and the stories they told easily made me connect them with various books that had similar themes and evoked strong emotions in me just like Swift’s music. Down below are 17 books, one for each of the songs from the deluxe version of evermore, hopefully you will find some new favourites among them.

willow – Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan

Willow is a song that reminds me a lot of Percy and Annabeth because it’s mainly about soulmates finding each other and trying to overcome difficulties in order to stay together. Something that I adore about their love story was their devotion to each other—no matter how many creatures they’ve had to face, how many difficult quests and trials, they still made it work (The more that you say, the less I know/Wherever you stray, I follow/I’m begging for you to take my hand/Wreck my plans, that’s my man/Wait for the signal, and I’ll meet you after dark/Show me the places where the others gave you scars).

The marine and mythical motifs also make me think of Percy and Annabeth’s heritages, both of them having godly parents and being warriors (I’m like the water when your ship rolled in that night/Rough on the surface, but you cut through like a knife/As if you were a mythical thing/Like you were a trophy or a champion ring/And there was one prize I’d cheat to win).

champagne problems – The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Many people pointed out the similarities between Little Women and champagne problems, but I can’t attest to that because I haven’t read the second part of the book yet. But when I heard the line “This dorm was once a madhouse”/I made a joke, “Well, it’s made for me”, it instantly made me think of Esther refusing Buddy’s marriage proposal and him telling her she’s crazy for never wanting to marry.

The Bell Jar is a touching tale about mental health, the story focusing on Esther and her desire to write a novel, to be someone special, to achieve great things in life. But as she graduates and completes her internship, she doesn’t feel quite ready to face the real world. The societal pressures to get married, to have an amazing career, it all overwhelms her and her mental health worsens as a consequence (I never was ready so I watch you go/Sometimes you just don’t know the answer/’Til someone’s on their knees and asks you/”She would’ve made such a lovely bride/What a shame she’s fucked in the head,” they said/But you’ll find the real thing instead/She’ll patch up your tapestry that I shred).

gold rush – House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Wharton’s protagonist, Lily Bart, knows the hardships and the advantages of being extraordinarily beautiful. She gets plenty of opportunities to marry rich and escape poverty once and for all due to her looks and charm. But she’s also thrown into horrendous scandals because of the same qualities.

When I listen to gold rush, I imagine this might be how Lawrence Selden sees Lily Bart (Gleaming, twinkling/Eyes like sinking ships on waters/So inviting, I almost jump in/ I don’t like that anyone would die to feel your touch/Everybody wants you/Everybody wonders what it would be like to love you/What must it be like to grow up that beautiful?/With your hair falling into place like dominoes)—a great beauty that he can’t quite stay away from even though he understands that she’s not meant for him, that they wouldn’t fit well together because she has high aspirations of becoming rich and securing her place in the high society while he’s satisfied with a quiet, not-quite-as-shiny life. Their love story is essentially a will-they-won’t-they romance and it fits Swift’s song like a glove (At dinner parties I call you out on your contrarian shit/And the coastal town we wandered round had never seen a love as pure as it/And then it fades into the gray of my day-old tea/’Cause it could never be).

‘tis the damn season – Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell

Pumpkinheads is the story of Deja and Josiah who are seasonal best friends. They work together from the beginning of September until the end of October at the same pumpkin patch and they never really interact with each other after Halloween.The book starts with their last year together as they are both going away for college and deals with the nostalgic feelings they have about their friendship, their autumns spent at the patch and everything they did and didn’t. Deja is determined not to let the blues destroy their last night at the patch, so she tries to take Josiah to all the good rides, eat the most delicious sweets and help him talk to the girl he has a crush on.

Their adventure is exciting and will definitely give you happy feelings, you will also root for these two to explore the hidden feelings they harbour for each other (‘Tis the damn season, write this down/I’m stayin’ at my parents’ house/And the road not taken looks real good now/Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires/Now I’m missing your smile, hear me out/We could just ride around/And the road not taken looks real good now/And it always leads to you and my hometown). But even though it’s a light book, it’s also filled with wistfulness and homesickness just like Swift’s song (And wonder about the only soul/Who can tell which smiles I’m fakin’/And the heart I know I’m breakin’ is my own).

tolerate it – The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

This is my favourite song off the album, it tells the story of a strained marriage – the wife is very dedicated and loving while the husband just tolerates her. The Penelopiad is a retelling of The Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope, the faithful wife of Odysseus who waited for him to come back from Troy year after year without losing hope in him. Atwood challenges the mythical image of the loyal, patient, and uncomplaining wife and tries to dig deeper into her character showing some unseen sides of her—that she was perhaps bitter, jealous and angry with her husband for his infidelity (I greet you with a battle hero’s welcome/I take your indiscretions all in good fun/I sit and listеn, I polish plates until they gleam and glistеn/You’re so much older and wiser and I).

I also think the relationship between Penelope and Odysseus fits this song so well because they are both incredibly clever, but only Odysseus gets real recognition for his skills while Penelope ends up being known for her dedication rather than her shrewdness. She also has to trick the suitors years upon years, yet Odysseus gets the credit for dealing with them (While you were out building other worlds, where was I?/Where’s that man who’d throw blankets over my barbed wire?/I made you my temple, my mural, my sky/Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life/Drawing hearts in the byline/Always taking up too much space or time/You assume I’m fine, but what would you do if I/Break free and leave us in ruins/Took this dagger in me and removed it/Gain the weight of you, then lose it/Believe me, I could do it). A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes has a very similar vibe and you should definitely check it out!

no body, no crime – The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

There’s a whole sub-genre dedicated to marriage thrillers and probably most of those books would match Swift’s haunting and very bold song perfectly (off the top of my head, Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train could fit the bill very well). But I believe The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey is the best match for this song. At its heart, this book has a deadly love triangle with a shocking spin to it.

Evelyn’s husband has been cheating on her with her genetically cloned replica (Her husband’s actin’ different, and it smells like infidelity/She says, “That ain’t my Merlot on his mouth/That ain’t my jewelry on our joint account”/ I think he did it, but I just can’t prove it) and now Evelyn doesn’t have to face only the consequences of the affair, but also the fact that her clone had murdered her husband and they now have to cover up the whole thing (Good thing my daddy made me get a boating license when I was fifteen/And I’ve cleaned enough houses to know how to cover up a scene/Good thing his mistress took out a big life insurance policy/They think she did it, but they just can’t prove it/No body, no crime). This is a very thrilling novel that will keep you on the edge until the very end.

happiness – My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

I’ve recently read Ferrante’s highly acclaimed tetralogy and I really adored how gritty the first book is. While it tackles very important themes like violence, poverty, sexism, abusive relationships, at its very core it is about the tumultuous, long-lasting friendship between Elena and Lila (Past the blood and bruise/Past the curses and cries/Beyond the terror in the nightfall/Haunted by the look in my eyes/That would’ve loved you for a lifetime/Leave it all behind/And there is happiness). It’s fascinating to watch these two girls grow up and see how their friendship also changes and matures in time. Their connection is very complex—while they are loyal to each other to a fault, there is also an insidious envy between these two. They are always competing with each other and because of this, end up hurting one another more than once (Tell me, when did your winning smile/Begin to look like a smirk?/When did all our lessons start to look like weapons/Pointed at my deepest hurt?/ I can’t make it go away by making you a villain/I guess it’s the price I paid for seven years in Heaven).

The lyrics in happiness remind me a lot of their struggle to get out of their brutal, very poor neighbourhood and how they find solace into each other even as Elena continues to learn and seemingly has a brilliant future ahead while Lila is forced by her parents to go to work instead and marry young (But now I’m right down in it, all the years I’ve given/Is just shit we’re dividin’ up/Showed you all of my hiding spots/I was dancing when the music stopped/And in the disbelief, I can’t face reinvention/I haven’t met the new me/ There’ll be happiness after you/But there was happiness because of you/Both of these things can be true/There is happiness).

dorothea – Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney

Alice and Eileen were once roommates in Dublin and best friends. Now Alice is a renowned author with numerous awards and accolades, and retreated in a more secluded part of Ireland to get away from fame while Eileen is stuck in her job as a literary assistant at a literary magazine that pays her close to nothing. Despite how different their lives are, they still communicate via long emails about politics, relationships, and the (awful) current state of the world (do you ever stop and think about me?/When we were younger down in the park/Honey, making a lark of the misery/A tiny screen’s the only place I see you now/And I got nothing but well wishes for ya).

Eileen would definitely love to have Alice back in Dublin, by her side (Ooh, this place is the same as it ever was/Ooh, but you won’t like it that way/It’s never too late to come back to my side/The stars in your eyes shined brighter in Tupelo), but she knows that what Alice needs is to be in a place where nobody knows her at least for a little while (Ooh, you’rе a queen sellin’ dreams/And if you’re ever tired of bеing known for who you know/You know that you’ll always know me, Dorothea). As it’s a Rooney book, this is full of uncertainty, miscommunication, feelings of insecurity, inadequacy, and whether anything matters in the end (But are you still the same soul I met under the bleachers?/Ooh, I guess I’ll never know/Ooh, and you’ll go on with the show).

coney island – Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s latest book tells the story of the vibrant Riva clan – the marriage between June and Mick, the birth of their children, the many affairs, the separations and the reconciliations, and the tragedies that followed. Mick’s dream from the very start is to become a famous musician and give June the life she deserves with a beach house in Malibu and nothing to long for (And do you miss the rogue/Who coaxed you into paradise and left you there?), but as soon as those dreams come true, their relationship becomes to crumble in pieces.

Mick makes his fame and his career his centrefold, forgetting all about his family (And I’m sitting on a bench in Coney Island/Wondering where did my baby go?/The fast times, the bright lights, the merry go/Sorry for not making you my centerfold/The question pounds my head/What’s a lifetime of achievement/If I pushed you to the edge?/But you were too polite to leave me). Their relationship is full of love and they seem completely meant to be, but the mistakes he makes give their love story a bitterness that is oddly familiar to the one described in coney island.

ivy – The Absolutist by John Boyne

Forbidden love, jealousy and betrayal are important themes in this tragic and haunting tale about two soldiers who fall in love while serving the British army in the World War I (How’s one to know?/I’d meet you where the spirit meets the bones/In a faith-forgotten land/In from the snow/Your touch brought forth an incandescent glow/Tarnished but so grand). Tristan and Will have very different outlooks when it comes to war—Tristan is trying to be pragmatic about it and make peace with the fact that there’s not much to do beside fighting and hoping he’d make it out alive (I just sit here and wait/Grieving for the living) while Will is becoming more and more fascinated with pacifistic ideas to the point where he doesn’t want to fight anymore because he thinks the war is completely meaningless (I wish to know/The fatal flaw that makes you long to be/Magnificently cursed).

Besides this, the fact that Will struggles with accepting his sexuality and the constantly hiding gives their relationship this inaccessible and forbidden aura that Taylor Swift is singing about in ivy (What would he do if he found us out?/Crescent moon, coast is clear/Spring breaks loose, but so does fear/He’s gonna burn this house to the ground/How’s one to know?/I’d live and die for moments that we stole/On begged and borrowed time/So tell me to run/Or dare to sit and watch what we’ll become). Even though there’s a lot of anguish and cruel words spoken on both side, these two can’t really stay away from each other (Oh, I can’t/Stop you putting roots in my dreamland/My house of stone, your ivy grows/And now I’m covered in you).

cowboy like me – These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

These Violent Delights is a thrilling dark academia book, it has it all—twisted love story, crime and plot-twists that you will never see coming. It tells the story of Paul and Julian, two highly intelligent, kind of pretentious and very dark university freshmen. They become friends after discovering they have very similar ideas on research ethics and afterwards, they keep borrowing books from each other and discussing philosophy, literature and more. Their intellectual friendship soon evolves into obsessive love and the drama gets more and more explosive after Julian’s very rich family comes into the picture as well (Oh, I thought/This is gonna be one of those things/Now I know/I’m never gonna love again/Perched in the dark/Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear/Like it could be love/I could be the way forward/Only if they pay for it/You’re a bandit like me/I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve/Takes one to know one/You’re a cowboy like me/Never wanted love/Just a fancy car).

Paul’s constant self-loathing and the way he worships Julian makes their relationship feel suffocating for both of them. So, they have to do something to keep things working between them, something that will unite them forever. What they are going to come up with will definitely shock you (Never thought I’d meet you here/It could be love/We could be the way forward/And I know I’ll pay for it/And the skeletons in both our closets/Plotted hard to fuck this up/And the old men that I’ve swindled/Really did believe I was the one/And the ladies lunching have their stories about/When you passed through town/But that was all before I locked it down).

long story short – The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

I had a hard time coming up with a book for long story short because it seemed to allude to finding the right one after being through absolute hell and I couldn’t settle on one book to illustrate that theme. After much reflecting, I realised it reminds me a lot of June and Nick from The Handmaid’s Tale. June or Offred is a Handmaid in Gilead, a dystopian society where fertility rates have been going down and the regime decided to eradicate women’s rights and separate them in categories (wives, daughters, aunts, handmaids, unwomen, Marthas) with distinct roles.

Handmaids are an asset to the government only while they are fertile as their sole purpose is to give birth. On her third assignment as a Handmaid, June meets Nick who works as a driver for the Commander she’s been assigned to and they find solace and mutual understanding in each other. They are both trying to make the most out of their situations, rebelling in their own ways against a dystopian world that is very hard to escape from (Fatefully/I tried to pick my battles ’til the battle picked me/Misery/Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep/And you passed right by/I was in the alley, surrounded on all sides/The knife cuts both ways/If the shoe fits, walk in it ’til your high heels break/Long story short, I survived). Their love story is all about finding comfort in a kindred soul who can make you forget, at least temporary, about the chaos in your world (And he’s passing by/Rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky/And he feels like home).

marjorie – Jane: A Murder by Maggie Nelson

Nelson’s Jane is a real story told in verse about the murder of her aunt who was just a student at the University of Michigan when it all happened. The author is trying to navigate both her grief and her family’s despair through the years as the search for the murderer hit a wall again and again. What’s interesting is that Nelson’s been told all her life that she’s very similar to her aunt, and as she starts to dig through Jane’s poems, correspondence, she gets a strange feeling of recognition even though her aunt was murdered a year before her birth (What died didn’t stay dead/What died didn’t stay dead/You’re alive, you’re alive in my head/ All your closets of backlogged dreams/And how you left them all to me). This is a hard-hitting read, very emotional, and definitely captures the grief that is so present in marjorie, but also those tender feelings of total admiration and longing for a loved person who is gone. 

closure – The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

This tragic story is closure on steroids, basically. As the title suggests, this book is about an affair that has come to an end which is very befitting of Swift’s song. Maurice thinks he has no tender feelings left for Sarah after they separated because of his jealousy and her refusal to divorce her husband. When Maurice meets Henry, Sarah’s husband, by chance and finds out that she might be seeing someone else, his jealousy is reignited and he soon discovers that the love or obsession he had for her might still be present. He attempts to find out whether Sarah still has feelings for him, but she maintains her position that they should stay apart despite the evident turmoil she’s going through (It’s been a long time/And seeing the shape of your name/Still spells out pain/It wasn’t right/The way it all went down/Looks like you know that now/ I know I’m just a wrinkle in your new life/Staying friends would iron it out so nice/Guilty, guilty, reaching out across the sea/That you put between you and me/But it’s fake and it’s oh so unnecessary).

There are so many twists and turns even though the story seems old as time on the first glance and Greene’s writing is incredibly powerful and beautiful (Don’t treat me like/Some situation that needs to be handled/I’m fine with my spite/And my tears, and my beers and my candles/I can feel you smoothing me over).

evermore – If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

This is the first Baldwin that I’ve read, but definitely not the last because he’s incredible and so masterful at writing poignant and emotional stories. If Beale Street Could Talk focuses on Tish and Fonny who are having a baby and want to get married when Fonny is falsely accused of rape and then imprisoned (Gray November/I’ve been down since July/Motion capture/Put me in a bad light/I replay my footsteps on each stepping stone/Trying to find the one where I went wrong/Writing letters). Tish and their families start to militate for his release, try to do anything possible to convince the jury that a racist policeman had set Fonny up for it and that the real culprit is free.

The similarities between book and song reside especially in how well they capture those opposite feelings of desperation and uselessness on one side (Hey December/Guess I’m feeling unmoored/Can’t remember/What I used to fight for/I rewind thе tape, but all it does is pause/On thе very moment all was lost/Sending signals) and then, hope and commitment on the other side that are very representative for the way Tish fights for Fonny, but also has moments when she feels like she can’t do it anymore—the pregnancy and this fight for justice, and she gets down and hopeless about the possibility of a future without Fonny in her life (Can’t not think of all the cost/And the things that will be lost/Oh, can we just get a pause?/To be certain, we’ll be tall again).

This is a hard-hitting story about love, devotion, and racism—it’s one of the most beautiful and saddest love stories I’ve ever read (And when I was shipwrecked/I thought of you/In the cracks of light/I dreamed of you/It was real enough/To get me through).

right where you left me – Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan

When Nolan’s unnamed narrator meets Ciaran at a gallery event, she instantly falls in love with him. She’s intrigued by his beauty and the way he carries himself with such ease, like he’s completely unaffected by his surroundings. She likes how cold he is and how much she has to work for his affection, his touch, everything. Their relationship is tumultuous and they break up, get back together, cheat on each other—it’s such a mess that the readers will invariably ask themselves how these two are still together. Even the narrator admits that their relationship is abusive, that if she had more self-esteem, she would give Ciaran up, but it takes very long for her to break it off once and for all and start her journey of healing and that’s mostly because of how directionless she feels after their break-ups (Help, I’m still at the restaurant/Still sitting in a corner I haunt/Cross-legged in the dim light/They say, “What a sad sight”/I, I swear you could hear a hair pin drop/Right when I felt the moment stop/Glass shattered on the white cloth/Everybody moved on, I, I stayed there/Dust collected on my pinned-up hair/They expected me to find somewhere/Some perspective, but I sat and stared/Right where you left me).

Ciaran is very handsome and all of her friends think so, way out of her league, and considering she has a dead-end job and nothing interesting going on for herself, Ciaran seems to be the only thing that matters in her life, that sets her apart (Did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen?/Time went on for everybody else, she won’t know it/She’s still twenty-three inside her fantasy/How it was supposed to be/Did you hear about the girl who lives in delusion?/Breakups happen every day, you don’t have to lose it). A hard-hitting story about abuse, toxic relationships – the monologues are so well written that you won’t be able to put this down.

it’s time to go – The Project by Courtney Summers

This haunting song reminded me a lot of Courtney Summers’ latest release that focuses on the way a cult destroys the relationship between sisters. After their parents die in a car accident, Bea is the one who’s supposed to pick up the broken pieces and look for her younger sister, Lo, who’s gravely injured in the hospital. The fear that Bea will lose her sister as well and the pressure to be a grown-up all the sudden must have been too much for her as we find out that she left Lo and joined a cult (When the words of a sister come back in whispers/That prove she was not in fact what she seemed/Not a twin from your dreams/ That old familiar body ache/The snaps from the same little breaks in your soul).

As the years pass, Lo tries to connect with her sister and convince her to come back home, but it’s to no prevail and that intrigues her in a way. It makes her wonder what is so special about Lev’s charm and beliefs that he has her sister wrapped around his little finger. This is a fascinating look into cults, what it takes to join a cult and even more, to leave one (Fifteen years, fifteen million tears/Begging ’til my knees bled/I gave it my all, he gave me nothing at all/Then wondered why I left/Now he sits on his throne in his palace of bones/Praying to his greed/He’s got my past frozen behind glass/But I’ve got me/Sometimes to run is the brave thing/Sometimes walking out is the one thing/That will find you the right thing).

What recommendations do you have? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Book Recommendations Based On Taylor Swift’s ‘Evermore’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

With half of 2021 almost behind us, it’s now time to start looking towards the next six months, and more importantly, the new books releasing between July and December 2021! Your to-buy lists are about to become even longer as it’s packed with books you’ll want to have your hands on ASAP from debut authors, as well as releases from some favourites, including Elizabeth Lim, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Samantha Downing, Anthony Ryan, TJ Klune, and so many more!

Read on to discover a few of our picks and be sure to tell us in the comments if you are looking forward to any of them too, plus stay tuned for our genre specific round-ups!

JULY 2021

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
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A fast-paced, thrilling horror novel that follows a group of heroines to die for, from the brilliant New York Times bestselling author of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
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Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl” who is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town… where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong. 

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
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Mulan meets The Song of Achilles in Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun, a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from an amazing new voice in literary fantasy.

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
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A princess in exile, a shapeshifting dragon, six enchanted cranes, and an unspeakable curse… Drawing from fairy tales and East Asian folklore, this original fantasy from the author of Spin the Dawn is perfect for fans of Shadow and Bone.

The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel
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The New York Times bestselling author of the The Book of Lost Names returns with an evocative coming-of-age World War II story about a young woman who uses her knowledge of the wilderness to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis—until a secret from her past threatens everything.

These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan
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From New York Times best-selling author Lexi Ryan, Cruel Prince meets A Court of Thorns and Roses in this sexy, action-packed fantasy about a girl who is caught between two treacherous faerie courts and their dangerously seductive princes.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
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In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Hugo Award-winner Becky Chambers’s delightful new Monk & Robot series gives us hope for the future.

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing
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USA Today bestselling author Samantha Downing is back with her latest sneaky thriller set at a prestigious private school—complete with interfering parents, overeager students, and one teacher who just wants to teach them all a lesson…

AUGUST 2021

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould
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Courtney Gould’s thrilling debut The Dead and the Dark is about the things that lurk in dark corners, the parts of you that can’t remain hidden, and about finding home in places―and people―you didn’t expect.

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier
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A sweet, queer teen romance perfect for fans of Heartstopper and Check, Please!

The Pariah by Anthony Ryan
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The Pariah begins a new epic fantasy series of action, intrigue and magic from Anthony Ryan, a master storyteller who has taken the fantasy world by storm.

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
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From the author of the beloved national bestseller Migrations, a #1 IndieNext pick, a gorgeous and pulse-pounding new novel set in the wild Scottish Highlands.

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker
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Beloved author Lucy Parker pens a delicious new romantic comedy that is a battle of whisks and wits.

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
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From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a “delicious, twisted treat for lovers of noir” about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome enforcer, and the mystery of a missing woman they’re both desperate to find.

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
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The Hating Game meets I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter in this irresistible romance starring a Mexican American teen who discovers love and profound truths about the universe when she spends her summer on a road trip across the country.

The Desert Prince by Peter V. Brett
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A brand-new epic fantasy adventure set in the beloved world of the Demon Cycle, following a new generation of heroes, from New York Times bestselling author Peter V. Brett

SEPTEMBER 2021

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
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From the New York Times bestselling author of Sorcery of Thorns and An Enchantment of Ravens comes a thrilling new YA fantasy about a teen girl with mythic abilities who must defend her world against restless spirits of the dead.

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
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Beautiful World, Where Are You is a new novel by Sally Rooney, the bestselling author of Normal People and Conversations With Friends.

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
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In this witty and heartwarming romantic comedy—reminiscent of Red, White & Royal Blue and One to Watch—an awkward tech wunderkind on a reality dating show goes off-script when sparks fly with his producer.

Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
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A Man Called Ove meets The Good Place in Under the Whispering Door, a delightful queer love story from TJ Klune, author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
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Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction for YA readers.

Nice Girls by Catherine Dang
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A pulse-pounding and deviously dark debut, written with the psychological acuity and emotional punch of Luckiest Girl Alive and All the Missing Girls, that explores the hungry, angry, dark side of girlhood and dares to ask what is most dangerous to a woman: showing the world what it wants to see, or who she really is?

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
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From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, a gloriously entertaining novel of heists, shakedowns, and rip-offs set in Harlem in the 1960s.

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
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From the New York Times bestselling author of the Nevernight Chronicle, Jay Kristoff, comes Empire of the Vampire, the first illustrated volume of an astonishing new dark fantasy saga.

OCTOBER 2021

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
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The highly anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed, multiple award-winning novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is an achingly romantic, tender tale sure to captivate fans of Adam Silvera and Mary H.K. Choi.

All the Feels by Olivia Dade
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Following Spoiler Alert, Olivia Dade returns with another utterly charming romantic comedy about a devil-may-care actor—who actually cares more than anyone knows—and the no-nonsense woman hired to keep him in line.

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
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USA Today bestselling author Alix E. Harrow’s A Spindle Splintered brings her patented charm to a new version of a classic story.

The Mother Next Door by Tara Laskowski
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From award-winning author Tara Laskowski, The Mother Next Door is an atmospheric novel of domestic suspense in which the strive for perfection ends in murder…

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
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Cassandra Khaw’s Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a gorgeously creepy haunted house tale, steeped in Japanese folklore and full of devastating twists.

City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn
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As darkness closes in on the city of shattered light, an heiress and an outlaw must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other.

Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest
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A psychic travel agent and a Seattle PD detective solve a murder in this quirky mystery in the vein of Lisa Lutz’s The Spellman Files and Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden series.

Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper
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Chilling Adventures of Sabrina meets The L Word in this fresh, sizzling rom-com by Lana Harper.

NOVEMBER 2021

Her Name is Knight by Yasmin Angoe
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A smash debut novel from rising star Yasmin Angoe, Her Name Is Knight features an elite assassin heroine on a mission to topple a human trafficking ring and avenge her family.

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
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From africanfuturist luminary Okorafor comes a new science fiction novel of intense action and thoughtful rumination on biotechnology, destiny, and humanity in a near-future Nigeria.

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
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Red White & Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in debut author Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light, featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies.

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman
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The blockbuster co-writing debut of Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman, All of Us Villains begins a dark tale of ambition and magick…

You Can Go Your Own Way by Eric Smith
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When a huge snowstorm hits, Adam and Whitney suddenly find themselves trapped inside the arcade. Cut off from their families, their worlds, and their responsibilities, the tension between them seems to melt away, leaving something else in its place. But what happens when the storm stops?

Never Fall for Your Fiancée by Virginia Heath
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The first in a new historical rom-com series, a handsome earl hires a fake fiancée to keep his matchmaking mother at bay, but hilarity ensues when love threatens to complicate everything.

Blue-Skinned Gods by S.J. Sindu
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From the award-winning author of Marriage of a Thousand Lies comes a brilliantly written, globe-spanning novel about identity, faith, family, and sexuality.

Everything We Didn’t Say by Nicole Baart
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From the author of Little Broken Things, a “race-to-the-finish family drama” (People) following a mother who must confront the dark summer that changed her life forever in order to reclaim the daughter she left behind.

DECEMBER 2021

If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich
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Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich’s “If This Gets Out is an absolute showstopper! Equal parts edgy and adorable, this bright, joyful book has everything I look for in a queer YA romance.” ―Phil Stamper, bestselling author of The Gravity of Us

A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw
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The New York Times bestselling author of The Wicked Deep weaves a richly atmospheric adult debut following three residents of a secluded, seemingly peaceful commune as they investigate the disappearances of two outsiders.

The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska
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The Wicked Deep meets House of Salt and Sorrows in this new standalone YA fantasy set in a snow-cloaked kingdom where witches are burned, and two enchantresses secretly compete for the heart of a prince, only to discover that they might be falling for each other.

Absynthe by Brendan Bellecourt
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In his sci-fi debut, Bellecourt explores an alternate roaring 20s where a shell-shocked soldier must uncover latent telepathic abilities to save himself and the people around him.

Safecracker by Ryan Wick
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In this wicked debut, safecracker Michael Maven must pull off the most dangerous theft of his long career–or his friends and family will be killed.

Here’s to Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
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Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera reunite to continue the story of Arthur and Ben, the boys readers first fell for in the New York Times bestselling rom-com What If It’s Us.

Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino
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A whip-smart, piercing debut novel, Smile and Look Pretty follows four assistants who band together to take on their toxic office environments in the ultimate comeuppance.

I Know Your Secret by Daphne Benedis-Grab
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One of Us is Lying meets Pretty Little Liars for middle-grade readers.

What 2021 releases are you looking forward to releasing between July and December? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Get Your Hands On These Anticipated July To December 2021 Book Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Ever since Taylor Swift released Folklore back in July, I have been completely obsessed with this mystical and immersive album. It makes you feel like you’re wandering in the forest all by yourself, lost in your thoughts, and searching for something that’s so much bigger than yourself. If you enjoyed it as much as I did, then you’re probably wanting to relive some of the emotions you’ve had while listening to Folklore and what better way to do it than to read some books that are in the same vein! I’ve paired each song with a book or a series that I consider very similar in tone and themes, so hopefully you will find these books as magical as Folklore…

The 1 – On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
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On Chesil Beach is the story of a young love that failed due to miscommunication. Florence and Edward’s wedding night is somewhat of a fiasco because they are both unexperienced and they both harbour a huge fear of letting the other down. Instead of talking openly about those worries and their desires, they keep trying and failing to interpret what the other wants. Shortly after their wedding night, they get a divorce which makes the rest of the book be full of ‘what-ifs’ that are reminiscent to Swift’s lyrics in The 1 (You know the greatest films of all time were never made/But we were something, don’t you think so?/Roaring twenties, tossing pennies in the pool/And if my wishes came true/It would’ve been you).

Cardigan – The Winner’s Curse Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski
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These lyrics from Cardigan (Sensual politics/When you are young, they assume you know nothing/But I knew you’d linger like a tattoo kiss/I knew you’d haunt all of my what-ifs/The smell of smoke would hang around this long/’Cause I knew everything when I was young) remind me so much of Kestrel, the protagonist of the series who is such a great strategist. Everybody keeps underestimating her all through the series because she’s young, but her intelligence and political skills always make her come on top. Her relationship with Arin also matches the lyrics very well as he’s the only one who really sees her for who she is, he appreciates her and makes her feel valued (And when I felt like I was an old cardigan/Under someone’s bed/You put me on and said I was your favorite).

​The Last Great American Dynasty – What Would Boudicca Do? by Elizabeth Foley & Beth Coates
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What Would Boudicca Do? is a spectacular non-fiction book that introduces you to so many wonderful women that changed the world for the better by not following the rules, by being bold and creative (There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen/She had a marvelous time ruining everything/Flew in all her Bitch Pack friends from the city/Filled the pool with champagne and swam with the big names/And blew through the money on the boys and the ballet/And losing on card game bets with Dalí). The book also gives amazing advice to modern women on how to solve their problems from dealing with men that keep interrupting them in business meetings to dealing with the pressure social media puts on you to be perfect – all based on how women like Cleopatra, Coco Chanel, and Frida Kahlo acted in similar situations.

Exile – The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
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The Queen of Nothing is the final instalment in the The Folk of the Air trilogy and it explores the aftermath of Jude’s exile, which has been imposed by her fae lover. The two have a very tumultuous enemies-to-lovers relationship that includes constantly trying to best each other, misinterpreting the signals they receive and denying their feelings which reminds me very much of this song (We always walked a very thin line/You didn’t even hear me out/You never gave a warning sign/All this time/I never learned to read your mind/I couldn’t turn things around/’Cause you never gave a warning sign). I can definitely see it playing in the background while Jude is trying to pinpoint the exact moment that lead to her exile.

My Tears Ricochet – A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
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I was struggling to find a book that deals with a betrayal that’s as brutal and heartbreaking as the one depicted In My Tears Ricochet, but then I thought of A Ladder to the Sky which is an incredible fit. Maurice has no remorse while he climbs up the ladder of success by stealing the stories of those who loved him. He plagiarises, he betrays, he destroys lives only to make sure that his name will be immortalised. If the book focuses on Maurice’s perspective and is the account of a ruthless opportunist, the song would present the victims’ perspective (You know I didn’t want to have to haunt you/But what a ghostly scene/You wear the same jewels that I gave you/As you bury me/And when you can’t sleep at night/You hear my stolen lullabies).

Mirrorball – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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One of the most glamorous songs off the album, mirrorball is very similar to Reid’s book in terms of atmosphere. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is about a retired Hollywood movie star who’s ready to finally tell the truth about her scandalous and captivating life that included lots of parties, film premieres and fancy clothes (I’ll get you out on the floor/Shimmering beautiful/ You’ll find me on my tallest tiptoes/Spinning in my highest heels, love/Shining just for you). The protagonist relished being the centre of attention back in the day, had a love life that got everyone talking and her ambition and charm secured her movie icon status (I’m a mirrorball/I can change everything about me to fit in/I’m still trying everything/To keep you looking at me). The book is bigger than life and so is the song, this dramatic flair that they share will have you completely under their spell.

Seven – Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
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Bridge to Terabithia is about Jess Aarons whose biggest dream is to be the fastest runner in his grade and about Leslie Burke, the new girl that outruns him on the very first day of school. It’s about the power of imagination, pure friendships and how much easier things are when you are a child (Please picture me in the trees/I hit my peak at seven/Feet in the swing over the creek/I was too scared to jump in/But I, I was high in the sky/With Pennsylvania under me/Are there still beautiful things?). Just like Swift’s Seven, the book doesn’t shy away from the grittier subjects – it’s not all about getting lost in magical worlds, it’s also about loss, dealing with grief and bullying (And I think you should come live with me/And we can be pirates/Then you won’t have to cry/Or hide in the closet/And just like a folk song/Our love will be passed on).

August – They Say Sarah by Pauline Delabroy-Allard
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They Say Sarah tells the story of a passionate and obsessive love affair between two women, a single mother who is trying to navigate the newly divorced life and a vivacious and talented violinist. The unnamed narrator has a gloomy perspective on life, every day seems to blur into the other, she doesn’t like her job as a teacher anymore and her love life is quite boring all until she meets Sarah. They have a very magnetic connection from the beginning, but there is also this sense of constant desperation at the prospect of their relationship ending (And I can see us twisted in bedsheets/August sipped away like a bottle of wine/’Cause you were never mine). Sarah is very spontaneous and volatile which means that their relationship is full of clandestine meetings, intense break-ups and even more intense reconciliations (To live for the hope of it all/Cancel plans just in case you’d call/And say, “Meet me behind the mall”/So much for summer love and saying “us”/’Cause you weren’t mine to lose/You weren’t mine to lose, no). 

This Is Me Trying – Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson
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This Is Me Trying reminded me very much of Matson’s protagonist, Emily as the lyrics are filled with regret, self-doubt, uncertainty and longing for a time when everything was just fine. In the beginning of the book, we find Emily trying to adjust to an unexciting life without her best-friend, Sloane, the one who always brought her out of her shell and made sure they were always having a great time. The only thing Sloane leaves her is a list of crazy and way out of Emily’s comfort zone activities which she decides to complete hoping that they will bring her closer to Sloane and help her understand why she had left so suddenly (I’ve been having a hard time adjusting/I had the shiniest wheels, now they’re rusting/I didn’t know if you’d care if I came back/I have a lot of regrets about that/Could’ve followed my fears all the way down/And maybe I don’t quite know what to say/But I’m here in your doorway/I just wanted you to know/That this is me trying). Since You’ve Been Gone is a fun summer book about friendships and finding who you are even if it’s scary.

​Illicit Affairs – Normal People by Sally Rooney
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I believe Normal People could have worked for more than one song off this album, but Illicit Affairs fit it perfectly in particular. The book is about Marianne and Connell who start dating each other in secret at the beginning of their senior year of high-school, there are socio-economical differences, their respective reputations at their school and miscommunication that keeps them from admitting that they are together (Make sure nobody sees you leave/Hood over your head, keep your eyes down/Tell your friends you’re out for a run/You’ll be flushed when you return/And that’s the thing about illicit affairs/And clandestine meetings and longing stares/It’s born from just one single glance/But it dies and it dies and it dies/A million little times). Normal People explores the depth of their relationship as the years pass, it shows how strong human connections can be and how the love of someone else can change you for the better. It’s also very angsty at times because of how intense their on-and-off relationship is (Don’t call me kid/Don’t call me baby/Look at this idiotic fool that you made me/You taught me a secret language/I can’t speak with anyone else/And you know damn well/For you I would ruin myself/A million little times).

Invisible String – Lovely War by Julie Berry
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Invisible String is all about fate and a meant-to-be love that could defy all, which made me think of Lovely War almost instantly. Lovely War is about two couples that fall in love during World War I and it’s definitely similar in themes with the song as Aphrodite intervenes on many occasions to make sure that their love will last and they have to overcome so many obstacles in order to stay together (Time, mystical time/Cutting me open, then healing me fine/Were there clues I didn’t see?/And isn’t it just so pretty to think/All along there was some/Invisible string/Tying you to me?). It’s a beautiful tale that similarly to Swift’s song will make you believe that love can conquer it all.

Mad Woman – Sin Eater by Megan Campisi
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Sin Eater is the story of May who is punished to become a Sin Eater after stealing bread, her responsibilities include listening to the confessions of those who are about to die and then eating various foods that are associated with the confessed sins. This was an actual medieval spiritual practice that ensured people will be absolved of their sins and granted passage to heaven as the Sin Eater took all these sins on. Because of this, Sin Eaters are outcasts – no one is allowed to touch them, speak to them unless it’s during a confession which definitely made May feel angry and isolated (And there’s nothing like a mad woman/What a shame she went mad/No one likes a mad woman/You made her like that). There’s the feeling of being wronged, the topic of witches coming up and a whole mystery surrounding a court that is very similar to Elizabeth I’s that make this book so similar to the song (And women like hunting witches too/Doing your dirtiest work for you/It’s obvious that wanting me dead/Has really brought you two together/I’m taking my time, taking my time/’Cause you took everything from me).

Epiphany – The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
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The Nickel Boys is an incredible and haunting book, it’s inspired by real life events which makes it even more heart-breaking. It tells the story of Elwood Curtis, a black boy who is unfairly sentenced to the Nickel Academy, a reformatory school. The Nickel Boys go through so much there, there’s racism, abuse in all of its forms, so much corruption and injustice, it broke my heart to read about it. The writing is so good that it makes you feel all that powerlessness and anger that the characters feel. The fact that we get to see some characters after they get out of the juvenile prison and they are still trying to make sense of what they’ve seen and what they’ve endured there so many years later reminded me a lot of Swift’s song (“Sir, I think he’s bleeding out”/And some things you just can’t speak about/Only twenty minutes to sleep/But you dream of some epiphany/Just one single glimpse of relief/To make some sense of what you’ve seen).

Betty – P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
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I think Betty (I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anything/But I know I miss you) reminds me so much of what happens in the second book of the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy as it presents similar situations – people messing up because they are young and they don’t know any better. I think both try to send the message that you can love someone and still mess up pretty badly (You heard the rumors from Inez/You can’t believe a word she says/Most times, but this time it was true/The worst thing that I ever did/Was what I did to you). I can’t reveal much of the plot as it’s a sequel, but the whole trilogy is a very adorable coming of age journey – the characters make mistakes, they grow up, they are complex and you will root for them until the very end.

Peace – Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
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Serpent & Dove is the story of Lou, a witch who is in hiding after fleeing her coven and who ends up marrying Reid, a witch hunter. As you can imagine, the situation is kind of tricky as she ends up living in a place full of witch hunters and she has to hide her identity not only from her husband, but also from everyone else. The dynamics between Lou and Reid remind me especially of this song – Lou is very fiery and impulsive while Reid is the more level-headed one, Lou also makes fun of Reid so many times of his proper manners and how full of integrity he thinks he is in comparison with her and the witches (But I’m a fire and I’ll keep your brittle heart warm/If your cascade, ocean wave blues come/ Your integrity makes me seem small/You paint dreamscapes on the wall/I talk shit with my friends, it’s like I’m wasting your honor). Their initial fake marriage and then the way they develop real feelings for each other, devotion and how they’re capable of sacrificing everything for one another also reminds me of Swift’s lyrics (All these people think love’s for show/But I would die for you in secret/The devil’s in the details, but you got a friend in me/Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?/And you know that I’d swing with you for the fences/Sit with you in the trenches/Give you my wild, give you a child/Give you the silence that only comes when two people understand each other).

Hoax – Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
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Anna Karenina is the story of a woman who has it all and chooses to give it all up for love. At the beginning everyone envies her for her money, her good marriage and her beauty. After she divorces her husband in order to be with her true love, Count Vronsky, she becomes somewhat of an outcast, her reputation is tainted, everyone gossips about her, her husband won’t let her see her son – the entire world turns on her and it makes her rethink all of her choices. Her love for Vronsky remains a constant even if it’s a faithless love (My only one/My smoking gun/My eclipsed sun/This has broken me down/My sleepless night/My winless fight/This has frozen my ground/ Stood on the cliffside screaming, “Give me a reason”/Your faithless love’s the only hoax I believe in/Don’t want no other shade of blue but you/No other sadness in the world would do).

Do you have any other recommendations? Tell us in the comments below!

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If you love reading YA books, but you’re also looking to expand your reading tastes, you are just in the right place! Or you might feel like you have outgrown the YA genre somewhat, but you don’t really know where to start when it comes to adult books. Either way, I understand you perfectly and that’s why I came up with this list of adult fiction books that can appeal to readers that aren’t quite familiar to the genre and they can also ease your transition from young adult books to adult books if that’s what you want. There is no better time to get into a new genre than right now as we have more time to read due to the current state of our world. Hopefully, you will be able to do just that with the books that I’m recommending right now!

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

This is very accessible due to its format – it’s told in interviews and it focuses on a rock band (Daisy Jones & The Six) describing how they became famous and why they split up. What I liked the most about this book is how you can easily imagine that this band existed at some point because of how realistic the characters and the conflicts between them are. Reid’s writing is as great as always, but I might be biased as she’s one of my favourite authors of all the time. I think this book would be great for someone who’s getting familiar to the adult genre – and you can also try the audiobook which is very popular among the readers due to its full cast. 

Normal People by Sally Rooney
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Normal People tells the story of Marianne and Connell, who get involved in a secret relationship during their senior year of high-school and then continue to have this on-and-off relationship during college. They come from very different backgrounds – Marianne is rich, but unpopular, while Connell is somewhat of a jock, but comes from a poor family. This book is very character-driven, each of the protagonist is on a self-discovery journey and while their life-styles keep on changing, something remains constant – their relationship and how drawn they are to each other. The movie adaptation will come out this year as well, so you might want to prepare in advance for it by reading the book!

Lie With Me by Philippe Besson
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This is a beautiful and raw book about first love, plus it’s very short which means you can easily get into it and finish it within days. It plays a lot into the saying that you can never quite forget your first love – the book is about Thomas and Philippe who fall in love in 1980 and then get separated at the end of high-school because of their quite different aspirations. There’s a lot of longing, heartbreak, and you’ll want to keep on reading to find out what’s going to happen next to these two. Because it has so much to do with teenage love, I think it’s a great transition from YA to adult.

If We Were Villains by M.L.Rio
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This one is so mysterious and captivating that it’s hard not to enjoy every page of it. It focuses on seven actors that are studying Shakespeare at an elite college – in the vein of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, it’s as pretentious as it sounds. The relationships between the characters are very explosive, there is murder, envy, obsession, and the book is going to keep you guessing, keep you questioning the morality of every character and whether they are innocent or not.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
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Margaret Atwood is a brilliant writer, but I admit that I’ve been quite intimidated by her for a very long due to the raving reviews and how much everyone loves her. I started reading The Handmaid’s Tale after watching the TV show and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The book is so relevant even today with its brave feminist themes, the way it handles censorship ,and generally it has subjects that you will keep on thinking about even after you’re done with the book.

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Listening to the audiobook of Sleeping Giants is an out-of-the-world experience even for those of us who don’t listen to audiobooks in general. I recommend you read it in that format because the reading experience will be enhanced in that way! It’s very fast-paced and the world is very unique! It’s about a scientist who discovered in her childhood the hand of a very odd robot – later on, when she’s all grown-up, she leads this team of experts on a mission to find all of the pieces of this robot in order to put it all together and find its purpose. Everything is more complicated than that though as there are political intrigues, conflicts between the members of the team and the mystery of the origin of this robot – is it alien? Is it something else? What can they do with it?

Do you have any other recommendations? Tell us in the comments below!

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