10 Books to Get You Reading Again
Reading during the pandemic was just hard for me. Having the time and quiet and concentration was tricky and my brain just didn’t want to take in actual words and books most days. There is actual brain research that supports that this is a thing and you may be feeling it too.
No worries, I preserved and you can too. (I even started a book club, if you need a little help getting started again join us) and these are the books I read that helped me get lost in a book again. If you are looking to get your reading life back on track…here’s my go-to fiction list for doing just that. Some are rereads that brought me back to being a reader and others are new titles I loved the first time through.
They are also in no particular order because I’m me.
1. Ghosted
I loved this story of modern love gone wrong, with a twist.
Sarah and Eddie fall in love after a whirlwind romance and then Eddie disappears without a trace. A social media post leads her to believe she’s been ghosted. It grabs you from the beginning and was the perfect amount of plot for my tired mind to follow.
This is our February Book Club pick and I just loved it. When our main character finds herself stuck between life and death, she encounters a library and her childhood librarian waiting there to guide her through all the roads not taken in her life…starting with her Book of Regrets. If you read this you MUST get back to me and let me know what your library would be…
3. Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing
I was introduced to this book through Jen Hatmaker’s book club and it was a really fun read, Cleo is the protagonist and we find her faced with her regrets as she faces her past and a possible run for the presidency. The shenanigans in this book kept me reading and I loved the intersection of storylines. Bonus, I read it in a day.
4. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
The second from Jen Hatmaker’s club to make my top 10 this was another read-it in a few hours when I couldn’t sleep read. Nina lives her life as an only child with a single mother until one day she finds the father she never knew had many other children and her lonely life explodes with people. Bonus…it is set in a book store so she is surrounded with books as we all really should be.
I love me some historical fiction, this wasn’t an easy read but it was an engrossing one. By the author or Before We We Yours, the story is based on actual ads placed in the newspaper when freed slaves were looking for their families after the Civil War. Based on real life people, this book opened my eyes to a piece of history I didn’t know about and the story itself is action-packed. So good.
Another historical fiction pick that is being made into a movie so you have to read this if you want to see the movie because that is a solid life rule. The solitude in this book as Kya navigates a life of poverty and abandonment in North Carolina Marshlands is also a murder mystery that is heartbreaking and also inspiring.
I love Marisa De Los Santos and her latest was no exception. This book weaves in characters from her other books but also can be read as a stand-alone novel (if you want to read her others find them, (here, here and here) begin with a broken engagement on the eve before a wedding, always a solid plot choice and from there, our character is led on an adventure when the very stranger that inspired her to break her engagement leaves her a whole house. I loved it and I love this author.
8. The Last Letter from Your Lover
This is a book I return to again and again, This book weaves two stories over several decades. The story of a woman who loses her memory but finds a letter signed only “B” asking her to leave her husband and the story of the woman who finds the letter and tries to unravel its mysteries years later. I love books that span over time and gradually bring things together, this is that kind of book.
Another favorite reread, the premise alone should delight you. When Alice hits her head she forgets the last 10 years of her life. She believes she is blissfully married and expecting her first child when in actuality she is about to be a divorced mom of three. And her world is rocked. A page-turner that is now also one of my comfort books. Enjoy and you’re welcome.
Thrillers have been harder for me to read during the pandemic but I loved this one. A perfect couple, the envy of everyone. But is really going on behind closed doors? And why does Grace never answer the phone? Things are not always as they appear, although this book appears to be awesome and is!
What are your favs?? Share them with me!
Amy
**Hiding in the Closet with Coffee is a part of the Amazon Affiliate program. Books purchased through the links found here earn a small commission for the site.
