As children, we would devour book after book, racing to the bookshelves after class and look for books like “Harry Potter,” “The Chronicles of Narnia,” and “Percy Jackson.” When the librarian would tell us to stop running, we’d speed walk to our favorite sections, not-so-subtly pushing each other out of the way, hoping to get there first. The first book in the series would never be there — then we’d have to beg a friend or pester our parents to buy it for us. But for those first few minutes after you got the book, you were the coolest kid. Classmates would go up to you asking to borrow it next, and you’d have to tell them no because two kids were already in line. And when they kept begging, you’d say they could be added to your “list.” What a time to be alive! 

However, kids grew up and lost their love for these fascinating worlds, for the characters that felt like friends. We migrated away from written words to videos on a screen; many spectacular movies today are based off of our favorite books (except the Percy Jackson movies — those were the worst adaptations I have ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot). We started trading TV show recommendations instead of book titles. We lost touch with the things that many of us felt closest to as elementary and middle schoolers and forgot how much and how often they helped us. Instead of hiding a flashlight under our comforter as we finished that “one last chapter” before bed, we’re up until the early hours of the morning, mindlessly scrolling through TikTok and Instagram, fantasizing about what our lives would be like if we were allowed to go to concerts, to go out and have fun with our friends without having to worry about catching a virus. 

So much of the desire to lose ourselves in movies and music can be attributed to escapism. A little bit of escapism is healthy for everyone, especially now when the most adventure many of us are getting is sitting on our friend’s back porch at 9 p.m. in 35 degree weather. We like to forget our own lives for a while, even if it is only for the duration of a 45-minute album, or a two-hour film. But then those 45 minutes or two hours end, and we drift back to our bedrooms, or our living rooms, or our backyards, and remember where we really are. We’ll never be able to experience that impatient feeling of reading 300 pages to finally see the hero defeat the villain. What if it didn’t have to end so quickly? What if our favorite stories could last us a little bit longer? Maybe a week or even a month. Whatever it is, I think it is better than the fleeting high we get from those films.

As a kid, reading was always something I loved. The first series I remember loving, like so many other kids, was “Harry Potter,” and my connection to the characters and storyline bordered on unhealthy. I loved “The Secret Garden” and “The Phantom Tollbooth,” and as I matured, so did my taste in books. Up until freshman year, I would devour story after story, living vicariously through characters who lived exciting lives, the ones I could only ever dream of. While I knew I would never be whisked away to another land to save their people, or make my way through society in the regency era, or help pull off an epic heist to keep a crime-ridden city protected from the tyrannical government, I still found myself envious of these characters’ lives. I fell in love with these stories and their characters, and when these stories ended, I wished, more than anything, that I could experience them again for the first time. I read everything: historical fiction, fantasy, contemporary — anything I could get my hands on, really. Even a little poetry, but only if it was Pablo Neruda. Anything else bores me, or maybe I just haven’t found the right poet yet.

But come freshman year, I just stopped for reasons I couldn’t even begin to describe. Maybe it was because I just hadn’t found the right book in a while, or I was so caught up in what I thought was important that I found myself overlooking the things that made me so happy for so long. 

Then, roughly a year ago we went into lockdown, and, like so many others, I found myself incredibly bored. My parents, noticing how much time I spent watching old romantic comedies, suggested that I return to my reading. After much resistance, I conceded and reread a favorite from middle school — a book that I knew I could read in one sitting and would leave me smiling. 

I’ll never tell them this, but I am so glad they forced me to pick that up again. At a time when so much of what I was doing wasn’t distinguishable on a day-to-day basis, these stories broke the uniformity and let me enjoy a time that was so prosaic. 

I found myself completely invested in eight-book fantasy series, or 800-page epics, or a classic story of love and betrayal that people have loved for over 150 years. As my collection of novels grew, so did my parent’s book-buying bans, which I did not align with, of course. 

These books have enabled me to live through so many peoples’ eyes, see the world in the ways that they do, and appreciate so much more because of them. 

During a time when we aren’t able to live the lives we have envisioned for ourselves in our teenage years, living and loving those years of a character you relate to can give you an escape that is more meaningful than you can perceive. While it doesn’t make up for our lost time, it certainly can put us in search of something more. 

Some great books, categorized by genre

* = look up trigger warnings before reading

FANTASY

-“Six of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo, and the entirety of her Grishaverse (comparable to the intertwining stories of the Percy Jackson universe, to a lesser degree): Young Adult 

-“The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V. E. Schwab: Adult

-“The Wrath and the Dawn” by Renee Ahdieh (duology): Young Adult

-“These Violent Delights” by Chloe Gong: Young Adult

-“Furyborn by Claire Legrand”: Young Adult

-“The Princess Bride” by S. Morgenstern/William Goldman: appreciated differently at all ages

CONTEMPORARY

-“Frankly in Love” by David Yoon: Young Adult

-“Red, White, and Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston: Adult

-“A Tale for the Time Being” by Ruth Ozeki: Adult*

-“In Paris with You” by Clementine Beauvais: Adult*

-“Words in Deep Blue” by Cath Crowley: Young Adult*

HISTORICAL FICTION

-“Lovely War” by Julie Berry: Young Adult

-“The Fountains of Silence” by Ruta Sepetys: Young Adult

-“All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr: Adult

MYTHOLOGY

-“The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller: Adult

-“Circe” by Madeline Miller: Adult

-“Ariadne” by Jennifer Saint: Adult

-“Lore” by Alexandra Bracken: Young Adult

-“Mythology” by Edith Hamilton: suitable for everyone

MAGICAL REALISM

-“The Starless Sea” by Erin Morgenstern: Adult

-“The 10,000 Doors of January” by Alix E. Harrow: Adult

CLASSICS AND POETRY

-“The Poetry of Pablo Neruda” by Pablo Neruda: Adult, for some of the poems’ content

-“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte: can be read at any age, content-wise

-“We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson: Adult

-“The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett: children’s, but can be read at all ages

-“A Little Princess” by Frances Hodgson Burnett: children’s, but can be read at all ages