Most people don’t really like reading. I know this, I get it.
But I also know that reading isn’t the easiest to get into, not like a new board game or a phone app — immediately engaging and fun. And I get that people do make an effort to read before they decide it’s not for them.
If you’re one of those people, if you’re a Wannabe Reader, it’s for you that I’ve written this post. I love reading. And I believe it’s one of the greatest ways to enrich your life and pleasantly pass time. These books are easily engaging and will undoubtedly spark a love of reading in you.
1. The Sherlock Holmes Series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Technically Sherlock Holmes isn’t one book, but a series of short stories.
Yes, short stories.
A major roadblock that stops people from reading is that people tend to get bored before a story draws them in. Because Sherlock Holmes is a) a character you’re already familiar with and b) written in short stories, you get the instant action (like from watching television) from reading all his cases.
The mysteries are complicated, clever, and Sherlock Holmes is really just as amazing as Benedict Cumberbatch portrays him — although, you’ll find that book Sherlock isn’t nearly so obnoxious and universally disliked. Your brain will be whirring within moments of starting to read, and it won’t even feel like effort.
2. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is not a children’s book. Taking place in World War II Germany, the son of a Nazi befriends a Jewish boy in the concentration camp next to his home. Neither of them understand anything that’s going on.
In addition to being a penetrating depiction of war from an innocent child’s perspective, this novel shows you the power the written word can hold: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is riddled with puns. The main character is so young, that he frequently mispronounces words, and they reveal an ironic perspective to the words he’s trying to say.
This book itself is brief, but offers a memorable story you’ll be glad you read.
3. The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling) knows how to create a fast-paced and multifaceted story. The Cuckoo’s Calling is the first in a mystery/crime series following Private Detective Cormoran Strike, as he investigates the death of supermodel Lulu Landry, previously thought to have been a suicide. Spoiler alert (not really) it’s not. This first story weaves murder, mystery, and glamour into a clever (as per usual, Ms. Rowling) plot that’s easy to follow.
And the great thing about reading a series as Wannabe Reader is that you’ll be inclined to read the next book (and the next book and the next) as you get attached to the characters. This’ll spark the initiation of a very healthy obsession.
4. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
This novel was a godsend to me in my first year English class at school. Amidst all the super complicated literary stuff we were reading (i.e. Virginia Woolf, T.S. Elliot, and I forget the rest), then came Chinua Achebe, who gives us a beautiful novel that tells a complex story in thankfully simple language.
The power of a novel is that you get to live through and understand someone else’s story: Things Fall Apart tells the story of a highly respected warrior of the Umuofia clan in pre- and post-colonial Nigeria. Through this book, you experience the vibrant customs and traditions of their culture, as well as the profound effects of British colonialism and Christian missionaries had on that culture; and finally, the peak and fall of a great Igbo man.
5. Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
The main character wakes up every morning with a blank memory. The man she wakes up next to tells her at the start of every single day about the accident that caused her current predicament — and that he’s her husband. The woman’s therapist advises her to keep a journal, so she can read and catch up on the things she’s forgotten from day to day, and this is what we read.
Slowly, she starts realizing things are not adding up. She starts only taking truth from the things she’s written in her secret journal. What really happened to her? What’s the true story? This story really digs deep into your head and imprints itself there as the terrifying truth unfolds. Written in first person, Before I Go to Sleep is a thriller that’s easy to read and hard to put down.
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Book Lover 
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