By Chrissy Grey Resaba

Boredom is always a struggle for people when they ran out of things to do. Thankfully, books are there to help save the day. It is always fascinating to embark on a journey to the unknown just by comfortably sitting on a couch. There is no frigate like a book. Indeed, treat yourself with an unparalleled kind of travelling by reading a book. Books are a testament that it could take you lands away. Pages unraveled the most marvelous stories one could have ever read. 

Therefore, now is the right time to take a book or two from your shelves and start reading again. Better yet, start reading some new books that can be found on the web? Below are some recommendations which are rated multiple stars by Goodreads.

1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

This reading material is dubbed as one of the most addictive books of all time. Give yourself a whirlwind experience from its complex plot.

Book’s blurb:

“Marriage can be a real killer.

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge.

Under mounting pressure from the police and the media – as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents – the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter – but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?”

2. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

If one is a stan of thriller or crime genre, this British novel read is definitely the one for you.

Book’s blurb:

“Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s change. Now Rachel has a chance to become part of the lives she’s only watched from afar. Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train …”

3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

One of the most compelling books of all time and a gem too. A page-turner that keeps you emotionally absorbed.

Book’s blurb:

“It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother’s graveside, Liesel’s life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger’s Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library, wherever there are books to be found. 

But these dangerous times. When Liesel’s foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel’s world is both opened up, and closed down.”

4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This dystopian fiction has gone to the main screen. Before indulging yourself of some binge-watching of this trilogy, it’s better to drown yourself with words and get hooked by it.

Book’s blurb:

“Could you survive your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don’t live to see the morning?”

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before – and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.”