With school coming up, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with adjusting to a whole new set of teachers, new classes, joining clubs, and making new friends. One of my favorite things to do since elementary school was finding time to read. Reading has always been my way to escape from any stress life is putting on me. Growing up, my family moved a lot so I never really had a lot of friends to spend time with. I was also the youngest child and only girl, having two older brothers who would often exclude me from any games they were playing. Books have always taken me to a new world, they help inspire my writing which is also a way to destress for me, and it has helped me out at school with papers.
Everyone should find time to read on the weekend or even for 10 minutes right before bed. It’s imperative to take yourself away from constant studying or worrying about tests or anything that is making you tense. Even if it takes you weeks or months to finish one book, it’s still great to get away from the real world and immerse yourself into a fascinating story. And who knows, maybe reading just a tad bit more will help hone your writing skills and even improve your grades.
Here’s a list of my favorite books that have helped me escape the stress of the real world:
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Lincoln O’Neill is an awkward man who gets a job as an “Internet security officer”. His job is to read workers’ emails and report them if they violate any company guidelines. However, while reading the messages between Jennifer Scribner-Snyder and Beth Fremont, he finds that he is entertained by their funny stories and can’t bring himself to report them.
Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach
High schooler Parker Sante has not talked to anybody in years. His hobbies include sitting in hotels and watching guests. He meets a girl named Zelda Toth that is just the right person that may be able to bring him out of the gloominess he’s been in. Zelda is adventurous. Parker, well, Parker hasn’t talked in about five years (start that way).
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
If you’re looking for something a little more inspiring, then this is definitely the book for you. It is a very short read, and it discusses what feminism should mean in the twenty-first century. The writer talks from her own experiences of double standards from her home country. Every young adult should read this book at least one time in their life to get a sense of what being a feminist should mean, and maybe it’ll even help you form your own opinions on this topic.
I am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Mala Yousafzai
At fifteen years old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head standing up for her right for education. After an incredible recovery Malala found herself at the UN in New York City, and at sixteen she became the youngest to ever obtain the Nobel Peace Prize. This story is a remarkable retelling of what Malala and her family went through when their lives were completely uprooted from terrorism.
