Five Books Everyone Should Read

Reading allows an escape from the real world. Maybe you connect with a character, or maybe you just feel like you want to read about other places that isn’t this world. I have a list of five books that everyone should read! You can’t pass up the opportunity to read these beautiful novels.

1. Girl In Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
   
   Girl In Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow is a beautiful coming of age novel as the main character Charlie tries to live a normal life while overcoming mental illness.  She moves away and gets a job, she struggles with finding herself. With some romance thrown in and a strong female character working on herself, it’s hard not to fall in love with this book.
2. Mosquitoland by David Arnold
   
   Mosquitoland is a beautiful novel about a girl named Mim who decides to ditch her life in her tiny town to go see her sick mother in Cleveland. She boards a Greyhound bus and makes friends with other travelers all while trying to figure out who she truly is.
3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
   
   One of the best coming of age novels as critics claim. Chbosky writes the story of freshman Charlie wh0 becomes friends with two seniors. The novel follows the wallflower Charlie throughout his first year of high school and all the memories he gets to make.
4. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
   
   Anderson writes the young adult novel with such grace. The book centers around Melinda Sordino, a freshman who was sexually harassed and goes mute all together. Melinda begins to find out who she is, and recreats her identity in this heartbreaking novel.
5. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
   
   Theodore Finch and Violet Markey are two teenagers who just really don’t like their town. While Violet wants to get out of the town to escape the memories of her sister’s death, Theodore battles his mental illness. When the two get paired up for a project at school, the unlikely pair become friends. This novel is moving, heartbreaking, and will probably leave you in tears.

Those are personally some of my favorite novels, while you may not be a fan of realistic fiction. The previous five novels are moving and heartbreaking, and will definitely leave you feeling some type of way. You may fall in love with the characters, relate to them, and while all of these novels may be somewhat sad, there’s room for laughter as well.