Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books and Dani @ Literary Lion where we discuss certain topics based on prompts allocated for each Friday of the week. You basically share your opinions and get into the conversation by visiting each other’s posts. You can find the August schedule here or here.
Today’s Let’s Talk Bookish topic is What is one book everyone must read?, which was suggested by Mikaela @ Mikaela Reads.
I have seen countless lists of must-read books all over the Internet since forever, and I have used these as my own guide when building my TBRs. But I have always wondered how did they make these lists? Did they choose a team to pick their favourite books? Or maybe it is based on sales? Or genres that are considered essential for life? What is it?
The one clear answer that I have always circled back to is that it is subjective, so it is exciting that this week’s prompt is basically asking me to add my pick to this huge collection of must-read books all over the web!
“There are some books that are just required…or at least you personally think they are! Maybe it’s a book that changed your view on everything, or maybe it’s just the BEST vampire book ever written. What book do you try to get everyone in your life to read, even the non-readers?”
I wish I had an all-time favourite book that just pops into my head as soon as you ask me this question, but the reality is that my mind drew a complete blank! So, I got technical about it and scrolled through my favourites on my Goodreads shelves.
Thing is I have 221 books shelved as favourites, so that is still quite a range to narrow down on a must-read book! Then I thought I will narrow it down to my five must-read books from all the books I read and favourited this year so far!
Almost all the lists of must-read books I have seen online are usually chockfull of classics and older publications, so I am going to try be a little different and bring to you a new release that I loved and think deserves more attention, love and publicity!
Thus, my five pick for must-read books this year are:
Read this if you like:
- young adult fantasy standalone
- found family and enemies-to-lovers tropes
- misfit band of characters spearheading a rebellion!
You can read my review here.
Read this if you like:
- young adult fantasy standalone
- morally grey characters
- a badass Black character in a sapphic relationship
You can read my review here.
Read this if you like:
- adult sci-fi set in dystopian worlds ruled by hypercapitalism
- an aromantic and asexual protagonist
- no romance but plenty of friendships to root for!
You can read my review here.
Read this if you like:
- new adult contemporary romance with South Asian and Muslim rep
- complex and dysfunctional family dynamics
- intergenerational story that spans from mother to daughter
You can read my review here.
Read this if you like:
- adult South Asian-inspired epic fantasy
- morally grey characters
- enemies-to-lovers trope
You can read my review here.
Well, I really hope I did this list justice and that you guys add these to your TBRs or, better yet, pick up a copy and give it a read! I love bringing attention to underrated masterpieces that I happen to come across, so feel free to let me know your thoughts if you pick any of these up!
What books would you pick to include in your must-read list?
My previous Let’s Talk Bookish posts:
- August 13: Can Books Be Effective Horror?
- July 23: Does Having a Positive Message Automatically Make a Book Good?
- July 16: What Are The Best Ways To Get Over Reading Slumps?
- July 9: Should Books Have Content Ratings?
- July 2: Prologues & Epilogues: Are They Necessary?
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13 thoughts on “What Is One Book Everyone Must Read? // Let’s Talk Bookish”
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Wow, what a fun list! I’ll admit I was really looking forward to seeing what you chose for this prompt, and picking five was such a power move, I wish I’d thought of that 😂 I don’t think I’ve encountered any of these before, and seeing new-to-you titles on a recommendation list is always such a treat. I think I’m most interested is Of Silver and Shadow and Firebreak, the first because I’m such a sucker for misfits leading a rebellion (who isn’t?) and Firebreak, because I just so happen to be aroace, and I’m curious about the rep! (I also have Tarnished Are the Stars on my TBR, really excited for that one). Hope you’re doing well, and thank you for the wonderful recs. Aah they all sound so good!!
Thank you so much! Your comment had me giggling the whole way! Really brightened up my day here! I’m glad you liked my recs too and I could NEVER EVER choose ONE book, okay?!? I would have a nervous breakdown haha!
I like what you did – from your list I would pick The Boy with Fire and Firebreak. I don’t think you can pick one book that everyone would enjoy – we are all just too diverse – but offering a range of 5 – 10 books probably would work.
Thank you, Louise! I am you liked the way I did this prompt! And I’m glad to hear you found some books that interested you! Happy reading!
I really like the way you approached this prompt! Mercurial is on my TBR, but I haven’t heard of the other ones so I’ll have to check them out. Thanks for the recommendations!
Thanks, Raji! I’m glad you found something new to check out!
I also wish that I could easily say what my ‘all time favourite(s)’ are but I always tend to draw a hard blank when this question comes up and coincidentally that’s also why I skipped this week’s topic 😂 It really is so subjective and I think it also depends a lot on who you’re recommending books to! I would definitely choose different favourites to recommend depending on if a person reads a lot or wants to try a new genre or has a favourite genre they want to read more from. You’ve come up with a great list and I’m looking forward to trying some of these at some point 🙂
Thanks, Dini! I definitely agree with you, which is why it was interesting to see what everyone ended up coming up with! Haha!
It makes me so happy to see Firebreak on this list as I’ve been thinking about picking it up but haven’t seen much chatter about it. I honestly don’t know if I could come up with 1 or even 5 books I think everyone should read — such a difficult question!
I know what you mean! This prompt was HARD!!! I really wanted to highlight my underrated favourites, because readers miss out on so many great reads when they only see hyped books on lists/reviews!