Every year there are least 600,000 different books published in the U.S. alone. Thousands of writers from Harper Lee to J.K Rowling have published great books. As readers we are blessed with new books every year to fulfill our interests. With so many books out there, it’s sometimes hard to know where to start. Should I read a neat contemporary novel? Should I dive into a new sci-fi text? Rather than leave you stuck there wondering what do, here’s a list to help you choose your next book!

Fiction

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K Rowling

Based on the new story by J.K Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child is a must-read book for everyone — so is going to the play. (A new production by Jack Thorne will make the official appearance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London’s West End.)  Employed by the Ministry of Magic, Harry Potter is a father of three children. Harry and his youngest son Albus have to face the unwanted truth of darkness from Harry’s past. This is a book for all Harry Potter lovers, as you get a glimpse of Harry’s life where it left off in Deathly Hallows. It comes out July 31st for you to enjoy.

Winter by Marissa Meyer

The last installment to the Lunar Chronicles follows Winter, princess of Luna, on the moon. Inspired by Snow White, Winter’s stepmother Queen Levana runs the kingdom with an iron fist. Winter is admired by her people for her kindness, and she despises her stepmother for killing her mother and leaving her with scars on her face. Continuing the storyline from the other three books we have Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, who all try to defeat Levana. With the help of the cyborg mechanic Cinder, Winter might have the chance to change the course of Luna’s future. Winter’s goal in the book is to launch a revolution that could make peace with Earth. Underestimated by Levana, Winter proves she is not as weak as Levana thinks. Winter gives the childhood fairytales a new twist in an action packed book. This book is a must read for those who love fairytales and are interested in how life could be on the moon.

Young Adult

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Set in a city inspired by Amsterdam, Ketterdam is an international hub for trade.  The criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered a deadly heist that could make him richer than he ever dreamed. He can’t pull off this heist alone, without the help of six different outcasts: a convict, a sharpshooter, a runaway, a spy, a heartlander, and a thief. The author writes each chapter in a different perspective of the six protagonists.  Kaz’s crew ends up being the only one between the world and destruction — if they don’t kill each other first. 

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

The second book of Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen trilogy, Glass Sword is currently top ten in the young adult category. Mare Barrow’s book is red — the color of the common folks — however, she has Silver abilities. The society is broken up into two main parts consisting of those with red blood and those with sliver blood. Having silver means you have magical abilities; all the people with silver blood are nobles who control the kingdom. Those with red blood possess no magical powers; they are the working class who are looked down on by the nobles. However, Mare is destroying the balance of power by having magical powers.

She has the power to control lighting, an ability that has made her a pawn of the royal court. After being betrayed by her fiance Maven, Mare makes a run for it to find and recruit other people like her “Red-and-Silver fighter” to join the fight against the newly crowned King. The shocking second installment in the Red Queen series portrays the struggle of the blood-segregated world. Anyone interested in fiction and Young Adult books would adore Glass Sword and The Red Queen.

Science Fiction

The Martian by Andy Weir

Andy Weir delivers a book great for sci-fi lovers, which has been made into a movie with Matt Damon.  Astronaut Mark Watney, along with the rest of his crew, are the first people to walk on Mars. After a dust storm nearly kills him and his crew, they are forced to evacuate, thinking Mark is dead. He is left stranded alone on Mars with no way to contact Earth or his crew. Using his engineering skills, he confronts different obstacles to survive until help arrives. In Mark Watney’s point of view, the readers get a glimpse of what life on a uninhabited planet could be like.

Historical Drama

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Winner of a Pulitzer Prize, Anthony Doerr’s book is about a blind French girl (Marie) and a German boy (Werner) who meet in occupied France. They are both trying to survive World War II.  Marie-Laure lives in Paris with her father, who is the master of thousands of locks at the Museum of Natural History. When she was 12, the Nazis occupied Paris and Marie and her father fled to a house by the sea. Werner grew up in a mining town in Germany and is an expert at fixing things, which takes him to the the academy of Hitler Youth. He realized that his intelligence costs humans their lives, so he escapes to Saint-Malo. It was there where Marie-Laure and Werner stories converge. A great novel for those who enjoy historical dramas.