The best way to find an escape from reality is to read a really good book. Leave behind the problems of the world and entangle yourself in the world of reading. Books inspire people to do miraculous things. The problem most people face is finding the right book that they are craving. Genres range from fantasy and mystery to romance and horror. I figured I could give you a hand in singling out a book to read by telling you about a few of my favorite books.

Paper Towns by John Green:
The novel Paper Towns follows the story of Q who is a high school student. Q remains under the radar in school, never drawing attention to himself. Q is desperately in love with his childhood friend Margo Roth Spiegalman. After discovering a dead body when they were younger, the two never seemed to cross paths that often even though they went to school together. So for years Q remained in love with Margo and barely ever spoke to her, that was until one night when Margo snuck into his room to drag him on a crazy adventure of revenge. After their long night of mysteries and vengeance, the next morning Margo goes missing. From then on Q makes it his mission to find her. Another reason that everyone should read this book (not just because it’s an incredible, inspiring book) is because it’s being made into a movie starring Nat Wolff (You know him from Naked Brothers band – don’t lie you totally watched it growing up) and Cara Delevingne.

The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner:
This book series in a dystopian setting revolves around Thomas, a boy placed into The Glade. The Glade is a closed off piece of land surrounded by an ever changing maze with no way out. The Glade is home to a group of teenage boys. None of the boys know who they are or why they were put where they were. Once Thomas arrives at the Glade things start to change. This novel is full of suspense and mystery with twists and turns on every page. Once you start reading this book it’ll be near impossible to stop. This book series is perfect for everyone who is in a reading slump and just needs a little escape from reality. I highly, highly recommend the entire book series rather than just the first novel since everything you think in true in the first and even second book is all proven wrong in the last book. The series is a trilogy, but there is also a prequel The Kill Order and another upcoming prequel The Fever Code. The book series was also recently converted into the big screen starring “Teen Wolf’s” Dylan O’Brien.

The Duff by Kody Keplinger:
This book is one of my all time favorite books ever written. The novel follows Bianca Piper a high school student who discovers that she is the DUFF of her friend group. Duff stands for Designated Ugly Fat Friend. Now you may be thinking that this book sounds super corny and just dumb, and that’s what I thought too before I finally decided to read it. (Do not think that the movie gives the book any kind of justice since the book has no actually plot similarities to the movie.) The best way to explain this book is this warped ideology that there is always an ‘ugly’ friend in each friend group. In the novel Bianca is told she is a duff by Wesley Rush, the school’s it boy. Bianca’s life is pretty screwed up with her unfortunate family standpoint and a heartbreak that’s been lasting a little too long. Bianca ends up getting involved with Wes which causes a whole lot of drama and problems for her to deal with. I understand that the overall plot may seem corny and like every other contemporary young adult novel, but the book has so many important messages in it from self-respect to addiction. It’s a super easy read and you won’t regret your time reading this book (I finished it in 5 hours). Now one thing you need to understand if you have seen the recently released movie, the movie is nothing like the book. Yes the plot maybe slightly similar, but let’s just say the book is pretty much R rated and the movie was PG-13 rated.

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider:
If you like twist of fate, romance and puns, this book is for you. This novel follows Ezra Faulkner who is his school’s golden boy. He has it all from the perfect girlfriend, great friends and is seriously a good tennis player. Every girl wants to date him and every guy wants to be him…typical right? And on the worst night of his entire life everything comes to a screeching halt. After catching his girlfriend cheating on him at a party, Ezra rushes out of the party to be hit by a car causing serious damage to his leg and wrist. The injuries prevent him from ever returning to sports. Before all of this happened sports were his entire life and now he has to find a new way of living without going totally insane. When Ezra returns back to school after summer, everything is different. His friends really aren’t his friends anymore and his ex-girlfriend has moved on to his ex-best friend. Ezra finds himself with his old group of friends where he meets Cassidy Thorpe. Ezra falls in love with Cassidy who he discovers has secrets of her own. This novel is well written and I just finished reading it. I would definitely recommend this book, but unfortunately it’s not my favorite book. I found myself annoyed with the character Cassidy, but I also think that’s what makes the book so captivating. Since she annoyed me it made me want to keep reading. So give this book a shot, it’s an easy read. It’s a good book to read alongside the pool this summer.

Some Boys by Patty Blount:
Hands down, my favorite book of all time. One thing I truly don’t understand about this novel is why no one seems to be talking about it! This book is absolutely incredible yet, no one seems to be reading it. I read this book so fast that I’m currently rereading it just trying not to miss any details. Some Boys follows the story of Grace a high school student who accuses the school’s it boy, Zac, of rape. Grace is immediately an outcast and no one believes her. The entire high school and town seems to reject Grace, that is except Ian…Zac’s best friend. Ian sympathizes with Grace and he himself has secrets of his own. This book has such an incredible story that I truly believe everyone needs to read. The book does shine a harsh light on our society and how we perceive sexual assault. The writing of this book was just impeccable and the author is genuinely gifted. This book will make you think. If there was anything you took from this article, please let it be this book. Just read it and you’ll be so glad you did. It won’t waste your time.

I really hope you all take into account these titles the next time you are looking for a new book to read! Make sure to leave comments down below of some books you think that I would fancy since I find myself in a bit of a reading slump. Thanks so much for reading and enjoy! 🙂