The beginning of September is seen as a time of dread for many students as a new school year starts; deadlines begin approaching, homework piles up, and the darkness of tests starts to loom over us. With the stress of all of this, any fun, leisurely reading can quickly drop to the bottom of our list of things to do. Not only has reading on a daily basis been scientifically proven to improve academic scores, but more importantly it can be a great way to take a break and destress. To get you started, I’ve compiled a short list of novels that I’ve loved diving into over the last couple months.
So curl up with a fuzzy blanket & a hot drink (since summer seems to have sadly ended on us) and enjoy!
1. Inside the O’Briens by Lisa Genova
Many may recognize the name of this author from her famous book and motion picture, Still Alice. This novel was written as a continuation on the theme of how chronic illness not only impacts a patient physically, but also their support system both emotionally and socially. Genova shares the story of forty-three year old police officer, Joe O’Briens’, Huntington disease diagnosis. My favourite part of this book was definitely the human insights and resilience put forward in first perspective by his twenty-one year old daughter, Katie, who has to struggle with the decision of getting tested for Huntington’s or not.
2. Laughing All the Way to the Mosque by Zarqa Nawaz  
Written by the creator of comedy TV show, Little Mosque on the Prarie, Zarqa Nawaz has written a novel on growing up as a Muslim women in Western society. While the struggles were different 50 years ago, as a young Muslim girl living in a time of increasing division and hatred, I can still relate to some of the ideas she writes about. Over the last year, I’ve read many narratives, stories, and articles on combating racism and embracing diversity but one of the reasons I love this book is because it incorporates funny personal anecdotes which takes a light approach to a very deep subject. You will be sure to have a good laugh!
3. The Hate U Give by Angie ThomasÂ
Chances are, if you are a high school student, you’ve heard of this national bestselling book which has won numerous awards including the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature (2017) and the Edger Award for Best Young Adult (2018). After seeing the list of all the accolades and getting a copy of the novel as a gift, I thought I’d check it out. It follows the life of a 16 year old black girl, Star Williams, as she navigates her two lives; her fancy private school and her poor neighbourhood community as well as the shooting of her friend Khalil. It will definitely getting you thinking about social commentary.
4. The Ash Garden by Dennis BockÂ
To be completely honest with you, it took me very long time to get through this story… Between the extremely strong language and the scattered plot line, I wasn’t quite hooked until about 3/4 of the way through the book. One of the weird things about me is that I hate stopping books mid way through, so I persevered and, boy, am I glad that I did. Its a historical fiction novel that illustrates the events of the Hiroshima bombing through two completely different perspectives; a six year old Japanese girl and a young German scientist.
5. Ish by Peter Reynolds
I know, I know – what is a 10 page children’s book with pictures doing on this list? I had never actually seen this story book until a few weeks ago but I immediately connected with the main idea of it. In the competitive, high paced, digital world we are living in, I think its a great reminder for all of us to take a step back and remember that there’s a lot more to life, than getting everything “just right.”
