Getting into reading

When I was younger I wasn’t much of a reader. I read for school, but never picked them up otherwise. The first author I read was Jacqueline Wilson books but it was a quite young writing by the time I picked them up so I only read a few of these books. I feel in love with Cathy Cassidy books and I read all of her books, excited for a new release. These books centered around family troubles, personal issues and often a love interest. I was interested in how others dealt with life and was my form of escapism. Maybe from this time I’d known I would be interested in and later study people’s behaviour. Anyway I followed this series of books until I reached my teen years. When I was a teenager, I moved onto Sarah Dessen who I discovered on a family trip to America. The first book I read was ‘The Truth About Forever’ but I personally preferred ‘Just Listen’ and ‘This Lullaby’ which I read later.

The first series I read fully was ‘Hush, Hush’ by Becca Fitzpatrick, which seems to have mixed reviews but I loved it. Sometimes you read a book at the right time and you just click with it. The story follows Nora who runs into the mysterious Patch, and is a paranormal romance and involves some suspense sequences across the four books.

Following this, I got interested in fairy tale retellings. In particular, I read 'Shadows on the Moon' by Zoe Marriott which was a Cinderella retelling. It follows Suzanne who goes through different identities and is completely different to the original story. It all begins with the death of her father and cousin. Beautifully written retelling about revenge, recreating oneself and a long journey. It may not all be about finding the happy ending and Prince Charming.

My love for young adult was born from a strong female protagonist. I particular enjoyed e.lockhart including ‘We Were Liars’, which was a short but poignant book about the Sinclair’s annual family trip to their island. It was so moving for such a small book and would recommend to everyone, the less you know about it before you read it the better. It was a great summer read.

Also a summer read is ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ series and ‘To all the boys I’ve loved before’ both by Jenny Han. These are simple and easy to read contemporary romance novels, with great characters at their heart.