Not your Grandma’s Bookshelf
Graphic by Anika Dua
Reading. Is. In. Some of our readers may be psyched about this, and those readers were probably the kids that were obsessed with The Hunger Games and/or Percy Jackson in middle school. However, we know that some of our readers may not be as excited about this latest reading trend. High school English classes put you through enough suffering as it is, with books like Pride and Prejudice and Great Expectations. You probably can’t believe that people enjoyed some of those boring classics! If you’re the second group of readers, let us offer you some modern books that cover the same themes, but that use modern storylines you’ll fall in love with. Maybe it will spark a love for literature that you didn’t know existed.
If you enjoy reading narrators with a, “This world sucks. Everyone sucks. Am I the only person on this planet who can see through this bullshit?” mentality, you may be a fan of The Catcher in the Rye. Everyone had to read this book in high school, and while many people probably opted for the sparknotes version, we promise that it’s worth the actual read through. However, if it’s really not your speed, My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a newer book that might be more appealing to anti-hero fans. It gives off the same vibes as The Catcher In the Rye’s popular storyline, but it has way more hard drugs involved. See? No difference, really.
Okay, this one may seem like a reach, but we promise there’s a connection. The Great Gatsby is another classic that you probably read in high school, and it’s much more centered around romance, and drama, and who slept with who. We at Jerk, love. And what author do you see all over your TikTok for her amazing romance-drama books? You guessed it: Colleen fucking Hoover. While some of her books have received extremely mixed reviews online, Reminders of Him is one of her most engaging romance stories, with different timelines, missing pieces in people’s lives, and lots of crazy twists. Exactly the same “back-and-forth-who-should-we-be-rooting-for” feeling that you get while reading The Great Gatsby. We promise, we wouldn’t steer you wrong with this one.
Another direction where you can’t go wrong: Girlboss tropes. We can’t stress how much we love a good girlboss moment in literature. Of course, if you don’t know, the ultimate girlboss classic is Little Women. We love everything about this book, and we’ll probably never get sick of reading it no matter how old we get. The modern day take on this story is called Beautiful World Where Are You. This book will get the waterworks flowing, so if you’re at all nostalgic or sentimental about your friendships, be wary.
And, of course, we have to include a mystery book. The queen of mystery writers is Agatha Christie, and her book, And Then There Were None, is our personal favorite of her huge collection of published mysteries. Characters trapped on an island, someone’s out to get them, and nobody is safe. Its modern counterpart isn’t quite as intense, but it’s probably more realistic. One of Us is Lying is about high schoolers who get caught up in a murder case, and when it comes down to it, they have no choice but to identify the mysterious murderer themselves. All of that wonderful suspense, but with a modern twist.
If you still don’t think reading is your thing, maybe this is a sign that you should just stick to Netflix. You could watch Leonardo DiCaprio in a movie version of The Great Gatsby, or Florence Pugh in Little Women instead. Probably would be faster.