Tomorrow is my birthday. When I was little, I loved my birthday. My parents made it magical. Ask anyone, and one of the first things out of my mouth was the date of my birthday. My cousins loved to tease me because I always said it backwards (at least in the US). “When’s your birthday ,Cam?” they’d ask. “Seventeen November,” I’d answer. I still love my birthday, though as an adult, I don’t struggle to go to sleep the night before excited about presents. Truthfully, now I wouldn’t mind the clock slowing down because I realize how much quicker each birthday arrives.
Speaking of gifts, one of my favorite things to receive are books. So to celebrate, I thought I would share with you the books that have given me a book hangover. You know those books that when you close the cover after the final page, you sit in silence. And sometimes, it’s even hard to move forward, since you’re walking around in that story fog as it lingers. In no particular order, these are books I read that left me reeling in some way (needing a debrief) so that I had to pick up a book in a different genre to read something else.
So in no particular order:
Marcus Zusak’s Bridge of Clay (OMG! I love this book.)
Carlos Ruiz Zaffon’s Shadow of the Wind (Pure magic.)
Sabaa Tahir’s Ember in the Ashes quartet. (The last one is A Sky Beyond the Storm. But I reread the series. Read the whole thing again. Seriously.)
Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner (Dear God… ugly cried.)
Jennifer Niven’s Breathless (Closed the book and felt empowered. My life finally made sense. )
Jeff Zenter’s In a Wild Light (Every book by Jeff Zentner has given me a book hangover. He has this way of capturing character and then they worm their way into your heart.)
Fredrick Backman’s A Man Called Ove (They’re making a movie of this one. I loved it so much.)
TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea (Amazing characters and humor? Can’t go wrong.)
Emily Henry’s Book Lovers (*sigh.)
Mary E Pearson’s Dance of Thieves Duology. (I think about this story all the time. Like I’ll just be washing dishes and think about Kazi and Jase and wonder about their story.)
Rebecca Roanhorse Black Sun (One of the best fantasy novels I’ve read.)
V.E. Schwab’s Darker Shade of Magic (I remember being in awe when I read this. I was just shocked at how perfect this was).
I could add to this list, but it’s what I’ve got for now. Let me know if any of yours are on this list. Or better yet tell me one that isn’t so I can add it to my ever growing TBR.