Book Rec’s for Busy Days!

So with the holiday weekend coming up I was thinking about how hard it might be to get a chance to read and, for me at least, how I actually need to find opportunities to read when I’m stressed so I came up with a couple of recommendations for getting through a crazy busy stretch of days.

Book style.

Wild Beauty 

This is a quick read about the connections of family and deep shared history (as well as a lot of other things) and occasionally lighting things on fire in a fit of anger. It’s definitely in the magical realism vein of things which isn’t always my cup of tea but this one had a couple of interesting surprises.

Girls in the Moon

This is also along the family theme. Another quick and easy read. It’s a coming of age that’s also about sisterhood and following your dream. History and music which are always good fun things.

This one and Wild Beauty are two that I could easily see being weekend movie choices.

In a good way.

Trigger Warning

Short stories by Neil Gaiman are always an option (Norse Mythology could work as well.) And if you haven’t read Coraline or the Graveyard Book or you want something fun and sweet like Stardust– a lot of good options with Gaiman. Trigger Warning is also good for newcomers to his work! A lot of his stuff does tend to be darker and more atmospheric but hey that works for the Winter months!

Speaking of shorter options I’m going to (hopefully) be checking out an anthology of fairy tales this week The Starlit Woods.

It’s so pretty and it has some pretty interesting authors so I’ll see how that goes. But now back to things I’ve already read…

Every Heart a Doorway

This is definitely a darker, moodier read but it’s a good choice for busy times. It’s about a serious mystery at a school for children who have returned from portal worlds and are, in a lot of ways, seriously displaced. It’s short and quick. The characters stand out nicely and have good back and forth dialogue. Plus if you really love it you can grab the sequel right away!

Lastly, I always like to have a graphic novel on hand:

Ms. Marvel No Normal

Ms. Marvel is a great read. It deals with a lot of issues but Kamala is the kind of character that you just root for and follow easily. She’s also super likable, happy, mostly upbeat and can motivate you to try the same!

But then if you’re looking for something a little more moody you can always try:

I Hate Fairyland

And follow a woman caught in a child’s body whose spent years trying to get out of Fairyland. (I really like my portal world stories.) She’s phenomenally bad at it. No one can believe she’s still there. Least of all her. And she’s taking it out on everyone!