Top Ten Tuesday : Ten Books Every Non-Reader Should Read (Begin With)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme/event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish wherein, each week, a new topic is announced and bloggers participate in that and put up their own lists. Today’s topic is : “Top Ten Books For Every X To Read“

I’ve decided to write about books every non-reader who is thinking about beginning to read, should start with. Please note :

. I have bent the rules a little. Instead of mentioning top ten books, I have mentioned one or two books from each category/genre of books which I read.

. I will not be mentioning any series, and at the most, maybe a duology or a trilogy. So you’ll not see Harry Potter or A Song of Ice and Fire or anything of that sort (because however amazing the series may be, it is unfair to expect a non-reader to commit himself to a long series)

. Whatever books I have mentioned below, they are not the best books of that genre available. They have been added to the list because they are simple, and easy to read, and a good place to start. (For eg, in the literary fiction genre, if you don’t see All the Light We Cannot See (which is fantastic), then that is only because it’s writing is different and not that simple and a non-reader would find it difficult to get into.

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YA Contemporary

. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

. Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Both books are light, refreshing, written in simple language and yet manage to touch our hearts. Whereas Fangirl is about an introvert-ish fanfiction writer’s experience in college, Simon… deals with a homosexual boy trying hard to avoid a mess and looking for the boy he pines for. Both are heart-warming, beautiful books.

NA Contemporary

I’m not a huge fan of this genre, which is mainly dominated by corny romance or melodramatic love affairs, but if you want to get into this genre, definitely start with Colleen Hoover. Her books are also dramatic, and do have flaws, but they are easy, short reads you can fly through and probably finish off in one setting. Here are some of her books :

     

Adult Contemporary

I’m going to be a tad bit biased and mention my two favorite authors over here : Khaled Hosseini and Jodi Picoult . Both are excellent beautiful authors who write about loss, and grief, and love and family. The books aren’t difficult, and they have beautiful stories along with magical writing.

Khaled Hosseini books :

   

Jodi Picoult books :

YA Romance

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

It is heartbreaking, and sad, and will remind you of your first crush and the light that crush brought into your life. If you read YA, you can’t give this a miss.

Adult Romance

This book can’t not make it to a list of the best contemporary romances ever written. Very, very easy read, along with a lot of tears and pained heart.

And, when I’m speaking about Adult Romance novels, it is a must for me to take Nicholas Sparks’ name. He’s got a fluent, easy style of writing and his love stories are a great place to begin with this genre.

My favorite Nicholas Sparks books : 

Retelling

I recently read this book so I can’t help mentioning it. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. It’s a retelling of Arabian Nights and has some epic romance, politics and (hopefully) in the second book, some magic.

Thriller (Adult)

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

It’s a crazy, intense, dark thriller which will mess with your brain and shock you quite a few times. If you want to plunge into a book and get immediately gripped by it, pick this up!

Classics

As for classics, they are written in a (not exactly difficult) but different language than what we use today but it is after all English, and once you begin with your frist classic, after struggling for the first few chapters, you will definitely get into it and start liking it. So don’t be afraid, and read more classics! For beginners, I recommend the ever-so-famous and no-surprise-at-all book : Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Jane Austen’s writing is beautiful and P&P has some unforgettable characters.

Fantasy

I’m not going to mention any series here, but will go with the only standalone fantasy book I really loved : The Host by Stephanie Meyer. After the initial 100 pages, which are a bit confusing, you easily get involved into the characters and their stories. It is Meyer’s masterpiece and an epic tale of romance, friendship and sacrifice.

Dystopian

The only trilogy I’m going to mention in this list : The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This basically started the trend of modern dystopian and made this genre so very famous and sought-after. Honestly, if you want to try out this genre, there is no other book which could serve as a better beginning.

Historical Fiction

This is by far one of my favorite genres, but this is the one genre I’m having difficulty in choosing a book. Most historical fiction novels don’t have the simplicity or easiness which you may find in paranormal or fantasy.Instead, that simplicity is replaced by beautiful language. At least, all of the historical fic novels I’ve read, I’ve fallen in love with the writing and the language. However daunting the genre may be, you can safely start with The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.

Literary Fiction

One of my favorite genres, with some of my favorite books. A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler presents a lively, simple story which is well-written and very easy for a beginner to get into.

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So that was it for my exhaustive list which is well beyong ten books but I don’t regret it!

Have you read any of the books below? Talk about them!