To be clear, I’m all for educational books and they’ve definitely impacted my life (technical guides, personal development, popular science…). What I don’t think we give enough credit to, though, is how much learning and satisfaction we can get when we start to read fiction for the thrill of it.
I’ve recently noticed how different I feel after reading a book I genuinely enjoyed versus one I felt I “should” read: the characters and themes stick with me, for months or even years afterwards. Of course, I also read much faster and am more likely to pick up another book. Light reads can also serve as perfect breaks between heavier material without breaking the reading habit.
So how can you find books that are fun to indulge in? A good way to start is what some like to call “airport reads”: books you’d find in a small airport bookshop because they’re usually popular, engaging, and easily digestible. There are many online lists of airport reads and even a Wikipedia article about them. Notable authors that may fit in this category include:
- Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games
- Lee Child – Reacher (action/crime)
- Michael Crichton – Jurassic Park and other science fiction
- Dan Brown – The Da Vinci Code and other mystery thrillers
- Stephen King – IT, Pet Sematary, and a quadrillion of other horror/thriller books
Of course, you don’t have to stick to these well-known authors; there are tons of engaging writers, and also a whole world of romance novels…
Personal Recommendations
Beyond the airport novels, here are some books that captivated me when I was in a slump:
- The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov (~220 pages)
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (~250 pages)
- The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (~150 pages per novella)
- I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (~250 pages of short stories)
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (~300 pages)
- Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (~250 pages)
Another great way to get back into reading is to find a library or bookstore with a comfy reading area – it’s much more fun when you get to walk around and judge books by their covers.
Hopefully this post has given you some inspiration if you’re struggling to find anappetite for reading, and if you have any favourite picks yourself then please share them in the comments!
Until next time,
Ana
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