Five Books for a Fresh Perspective
All the Fall Feels
This time of year, there is excitement in the air. The weather begins to cool, the wind begins to nip, and I always feel ready for a change. Maybe it’s because Fall always meant a new school year with new classmates. Maybe it’s because a change in the weather means a change in my wardrobe. Maybe it’s just the visibly changing leaves and plants I see on my walks. Regardless of the reason, Fall feels like the perfect time to share books I loved that left me with a fresh perspective after reading them. This list is a combination of cozy and thought-provoking books. I hope that one of them speaks to you, and I wish you the coziest reading!
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.
I love this book for so many reasons. If you’re looking for a book with a great story that pulls you in right away and leaves you feeling like you got a warm hug, look no further. Nora Seed finds herself in the midnight library—a place where every book she opens shows her what her life would have looked like with a single different choice. In her search for the best way to live, the reader is taken on a journey through mistakes and regrets that so many of us can relate to. I found myself rooting for Nora from start to finish, and this book changed my perspective on some of my own regrets that I was holding onto. This is a great book for anyone who is struggling to let go of the past (or alternatively anyone who loves an immersive and easy to follow story).
2. In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
“Where do you see yourself in five years?” After nailing the biggest interview of her life and accepting her boyfriend’s proposal, Dannie Kohan is all set and on track to achieve the life she’s always dreamed of in the next five years. Everything is going perfectly to plan…until she falls asleep that night and wakes up five years later in a strange new apartment with a strange new man. Her return to her current reality leaves her shaken and wondering what just happened to her. Could that really be what her life looks like in five years? Can she change the trajectory of her life? Does she want to?
This is a great read for big planners like myself. It is a beautiful love story that flips the idea of a love story on its head in some ways. Life will never cease to surprise us in good ways and bad, and this novel explores that idea in a moving, fun way. Sometimes we all need a change of pace even if just to appreciate everything we have.
3. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
This book will make you think. It is a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, told from the perspective of Orual, Psyche’s oldest sister. Orual loves her youngest sister Istra (later nicknamed Psyche) like a daughter. Istra is beautiful, sweet, and good. Orual would do anything to protect her. When a priest declares that Istra’s beauty is an insult to the gods and she must be sacrificed, Orual goes on a journey determined to change that fate. When she later finds her sister well and thriving in her new home, she refuses to see it, blinded by her jealous love of her.
Lewis explores themes of jealousy, loss, betrayal, and guilt in this novel. It will make you question decisions you have made in your own life that others see differently from you. It also makes for a great book club choice because of the beautiful language and rich thematic development. I recommend it for anyone looking to dig deep into a story.
4. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
This is a fictionalized version of the story of Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway’s first wife. As a fan of Hemingway’s writing, I was hooked right away. Hadley was a quiet twenty-eight year old who considered herself past the years of being able to fall in love and find a husband in 1920 in Chicago when she met and fell in love with Ernest. This novel follows their whirlwind romance and move together to Paris, where they rub elbows with Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and the Fitzgeralds. Their new surroundings call into question Hadley’s sense of self, duty, and love. It is an exciting and at times heart-breaking tale of love, marriage, and loyalty. It may even leave you with a fresh outlook on your own relationships or sense of self.
5. Playground by Richard Powers
Playground did not draw me in immediately. For me, it was more of a slow burn. That being said, I greatly enjoyed it. It is a sweeping story of four intertwining lives all connected in one way or another by the Pacific Ocean. This story will take you from Makatea in French Polynesia to Chicago to Montreal. As the story unfolds, the connections between characters and lives are revealed in a web that resembles the way life above ground and under the sea works in tandem with those around it. It also explores artificial intelligence, making it a very timely read these days. This makes for another great book club choice, as it explores technology, the environment, and what it means to be human.
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