Epistolary novels, or novels writing in letter form, are my favorite kind of genre. I feel a deep connection to the characters, get transported into another time and place and feel that deep-rooted desire to write old-fashioned letters return at an all time high.
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30 Things I Love about Myself by Radhika Sanghani
This book gave me all the feels: I laughed, I laughed louder, I cried, I sympathized, I got angry and yes, I even blushed. A lot. The story begins with Nina celebrating her 30th birthday in a jail cell, determined to build her life from the bottom up with the advice from a self-help book she was given while being held overnight. What comes next is a roller coaster of emotions as Nina vows to find 30 things she loves about herself before her next birthday. And while she experiences some pretty deep learning experiences, Sanghani keeps it light and laughable, a lesson readers can bring to their own lives, too. This book has changed the way I view myself, the ways I react to those around me and the possibilities that I’ve never reached for in the past. I’ve already started my own list and have cracked open a newfound sense of adventure for daily living thanks to Nina. She’ll sit on my shoulder for a long while…and I’ll still be blushing
The List That Changed My Life by Olivia Beirne
I think books find their way to readers just when they need them. And this book did that for me. Georgie is a single woman doing her best to pay her rent and stay afloat. Until her sister is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. When Libby gets sick, her whole world starts to change. Desperate to help, Georgie agrees to help her sister complete the bucket list she might not ever get to finish. From online dating and skydiving, to running a 10K and making the perfect sponge, Georgia starts to find a new version of herself and that new version might be just what her sister needs to heal, too. I’ll keep this book close to my heart for a while.
List of Ten by Halli Gomez
Cue the tears and get the tissues. This book takes you inside the mind of Troy Hayes, a 16 year old struggling with Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. His life is driven by the number ten: ten steps, ten tics and ten things to do before the tenth anniversary of his diagnosis. This list of ten culminates with his own suicide, but as he gets closer and closer to it, his efforts to get there might actually be the very things that saves his life. This book is raw, emotionally powerful and striking. It embodies why we ALL should read children’s literature: for the powerful perspective it can provide and the lessons it can teach adults. This book has my heart.
Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango
I love notebooks, so I absolutely positively loved that this entire book was written as a long series of notebook entries written in verse. It was moving, heartful, lyrical and emotional. In it, we get to know Iveliz through her heartfelt writing as her journal is the only place she can seem to make sense of all the pain in her world. She’s a seventh grade girl dealing with a lot: her father’s death, her mother’s frustration, her grandmother’s dementia, her troubles at school and more. Her notebook is how she copes with it until she slowly opens up to those that care and uses her voice, rather than her uncontrolled actions, to slowly put the pieces back together.
