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5 star book recommendations
24
items If you’ve been struggling with trying to find a five star read recently give some of these a try!
Sections
8
Memoirs
Literary fiction
Contemporary fiction
Young adult
Political satire
Non-fiction
Memoirs
A memoir is a form of creative non-fiction, written in the first person, that recounts specific, intimate experiences, memories, or a particular period in the author’s life.
An enjoyable read, although distressing in parts. This true narrative is a must read, especially for the right thinkers. It left me pondering the profound evil that was/is slavery. What folly is a man’s inhumanity towards other men! We all bear respo...
Twelve Years a Slave: Northup, Solomon
Five HUGE stars for Trevor Noah’s book! Believe the hype! I absolutely loved it. I listened to the audio. Trevor narrates his stories of growing up in South Africa. I highly recommend the audio version. He made this book come to life with his narrati...
Born a Crime: Stories from South African Childhood
David Sheffield didn’t miss a single experience of having a drug-addicted son. He second guesses himself repeatedly. David reads about it, asks questions, studies new and old treatments, loses sleep, abandons himself of loved ones, sets apart his lif...
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Love & Addiction
This was a great book for looking at life and reflecting on how you live it. As someone who deals with a lot of stress and frustration, it was refreshing for me to hear Morrie’s outlook on things. Hearing such a positive and down to Earth view of lif...
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man & Life
5 stars…I am at a loss for words…upon finishing this memoir, I am so full of intense emotion yet I feel empty at the same time…this is a DEEPLY moving and powerful book about the author’s experience in concentration camps and the atrocities that happ...
Night: Elie Wiesel, Marion Wiesel - Books
Literary fiction
Literary fiction is a category of fiction that emphasizes style, character, and theme over plot, often focusing on the human condition, emotional depth, and artistic merit.
Wow. Just wow. The endless gaping wound of teenage girlhood and the sharpness and bite of the voice and observations.
Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy
I was absolutely absorbed in this book. It seemed to devour me, blurting into each and every one of my thoughts even after I had finished it, and when people ask me what my favorite read of the year is, I am almost certain this will be my favorite bo...
Mysterious Skin - HarperCollins Publishers
Contemporary fiction
Contemporary fiction is a genre of literature set in the present day or recent past, typically reflecting the current cultural, social, and political climate.
Aiken captures the gay longing in such a perfect, powerful way & suddenly you feel your heart taking root in your body, also it’s cool how you can just know that a person is straight if they claim they 1. Don’t understand why blood & death ar...
Crush: 20th Anniversary Edition by Richard Siken, Foreword ...
Marcellus the octopus!! 😍😍 I was utterly charmed by this book. It was so creative and full of heart. I’d classify this as an extremely readable smart people book. Plus look at that gorgeous cover! Perfect for beach season.
Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel
This is a short novel that I finished very quick. It was very interesting to read. This is the type of story that really makes you think, an unnamed thirtyish real old man is writing a letter to his father. After he found out that he doesn’t have lon...
If Cats Disappeared From The World: Moving
Young adult
Young adult literature is a category of fiction written, marketed, and published for adolescents and young adults.
Angie Thomas did it again. She wrote the perfect book. Tens across the board.
Concrete Rose: Printz Honor by Angie Thomas
Macy Cashmere’s one-of-a-kind, no-holds-barred teen memoir will blow your mind and break your heart. Her unforgettable voice is hard-hitting and unflinching, compassionate and street wise, delivered with a linguistic and structural playfulness that b...
The Disturbed Girl's Dictionary by Ramos
I really liked this, and blazed through it. It’s harsh and honest. The ending is left extremely open-ended, but I honestly kind of liked that.
Fix - Albert Mann, J.: Books
5 BEAMING STARS! I LOVED THIS! It seems like this book is either a hit or miss, but for me it was a huge hit! Easily the best and my most favorite book I’ve read this year!!! More than loved it!!! This book became my favorite from the moment I starte...
Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum | Goodreads
All out of pretty sneaks up on you unexpectedly. Unflinching in its depiction of a smart, yet vulnerable girl’s descent into a back-woods world of violence, drugs, manipulation, and control. Andrea’s story never strays too far from hope. It is this h...
All Out of Pretty by Ingrid Palmer
I’ve finally finished this book and it hit me hard, but it was amazing to find a book about dissociative disorder with just real and likable characters. This book is a very touching and honest revelation of what it is like to live with several types ...
How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox | Goodreads
AMAZING!! This book was better than I expected. It has definitely opened up my love for books that take place in the 1800s the writing, the characters, the story and that ENDING! I was drawn in from beginning and flew through it. I can’t wait to read...
A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis | Goodreads
“”You’re still my hero, Mickey Catalan,” Lydia says. “Heroine,” I correct her. “Yeah, fucking irony, right?”. Something impossible happens. I smile.” I am emotionally drained after reading this book, McGinnis gives us the absolute real truth of what ...
Heroine : McGinnis, Mindy - Books - Amazon UK
Wow-I’m honestly speechless. Just finished this book and put it down. I cried. This was breathtaking, raw, accurate and heartbreaking all at once. I can relate to the story in many ways, so it hit me harder. This accurately depicts someone who loves ...
You'd Be Home Now by Kathleen Glasgow | Goodreads
Political satire
Political satire is a genre of art, literature, and performance that uses humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose, criticize, and mock the folly, hypocrisy, and corruption of political figures, institutions, and policies.
Another kind of never ending story. But everyone knows the story, right? The farm activity of the animals is a metaphor for the totalitarian activity of the humans. Keep in mind that Orwell fought with the leftist Republicans against Franco and his r...
Animal Farm: 75th Anniversary Edition
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is a broad genre of prose writing based on facts, real events, and actual people, created to inform, document, or instruct.
I have never, been able to read a “self help” book that truly changed my outlook on life and genuinely affected my way of thinking. This book truly inspired me to do better in my life and really opened my eyes to some of my ways of thinking and the h...
101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think
Thriller
The thriller genre is a category of fiction-in literature, film, and television-defined by its ability to elicit high levels of suspense, anticipation, anxiety, and excitement.
Could. Not. Put. It. Down. Very few books cause me to wake up at 2:00 am to finish reading them. This heart-pounding, gripping thriller opens with two women celebrating their 45th birthday at the same pub. They meet in the loo and learn they were bor...
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
Achingly pretentious. Insufferably wordy, and probably one of the best books I’ve ever read. I don’t think I’ve ever wished a 600+ page book was even longer. Physically I’m here, but mentally I’m a part of a pretentious elitist friend group in Vermon...
The Secret History (Vintage Contemporaries)
Epistolary novels
This was seriously a wonderful read, all told through letters to and from our main character Sybil- a woman in her 70’s living alone. She’s corresponding with family, friends, authors, and literally anyone and everyone. We see her humor, her regrets,...
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans