SFF: The 5 Books To Kickstart Your Reading Journey

The Sunday Fun Five #19

Sunday Fun 5:

#1: The 5 Stages of Reading a Bad Book

#2: The 5 Literary Antagonists You Hope You Never Meet

#3: The 5 Realms of the Written Word You Wish You Never Left

#4: The 5 Authors You Would Revive, If Only For a Day
#5: The 5 Books That Define You as a Person and a Reader
#6: The 5 Genres (or Subgenres) You Never Get Tired Of
#7: The 5 Husband-Material Characters You Wish Were Real
#8: The 5 Books You'd Rather Steal Than Wait For (To Be Published)
#9: The 5 Alternate Blog Names For Your Blog
#10: The 5 Books That Make You Want to Go Places
#11: The 5 Fatal Mistakes of an Author (Literary Pet Peeves)
#12: The 5 Stories/Books that Never Cease to Scare You
#13: The 5 Unluckiest Characters in Books
#14: The 5 Books You're Most Grateful For (that you've read in 2014)
#15: The 5 Things Book Bloggers are Most Thankful For
#16: The 5 Best Gifts For Book Lovers

#17: The 5 Books You Hope to Read in 2015

#18: The 5 Characters You Have New Year's Resolutions For

#19: The 5 Books To Kickstart Your Reading Journey
For the 1st of Feb. #20: The 5 Character Couples that are Matches Made in Heaven

Feel free to participate by commenting below or writing a blog post: I wrote up some guidelines for blog participation here.

A Countdown of

The 5 Books To Kickstart Your Reading Journey

(Because January is supposedly National Book Month)

5. The Rowan (The Tower and the Hive #1) by Anne McCaffrey
Science Fiction, 336 pages
What I love about this one is it's everything I love about science fiction: space, spaceships, alien races, and telekinetic powers. It also doesn't hurt that the Rowan is a very independent-minded heroine with a sad backstory. This is the perfect book to start your science fiction journey.

4. Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Fiction,  301 pages
If there were ever a book that reminded me of a Hallmark movie, this would be it. It also turned into a movie that aired on the Hallmark channel, so clearly someone was thinking the same thing as I was. If you're interested in a general fiction title that may be more than a tad uplifting and heartfelt, Plainsong is what you should read.

3. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium Trilogy #1) by Stieg Larsson 
Crime Thriller, 465 pages, but remains glued to your hand once you start reading.
I hate to say something is "un-put-downable" but with this book, that's the perfect way to describe it. I stayed up way too late at night to finish this, but still had to put it down once before I could finish it. This book is also extremely edgy (i.e. major adult content: sex and torture scenes) so don't pick it up if you can't stand that type of thing. I generally hate crime fiction and thrillers, but this book pulverizes the mold of the genres.

2. A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas
Memoir, 190 pages
This is about a woman whose husband who has a traumatic brain injury and is sent to live at a specialized nursing home due to his memory loss and mood swings. I can't remember much about it, but I do recall it helped me rethink some of what I think about life. Not exactly Hallmark material, but decidedly heartfelt and compelling. If you're unsure about nonfiction books or memoirs, give this one a try- it's short and has staying power.

1. Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors
Historical Fiction, 344 pages
Something about this book still appeals to me, despite having rated other historical fiction books higher. I suppose what makes it so recommendable is I learned a lot, I don't recall being bored reading it, and the subject matter itself. Learning some of the backstory behind the Taj Mahal makes it something I want to learn more about, despite never having interest in the subject before.

Which books do you recommend to people wanting to jump into a certain genre? What are the books you've read that have helped you out of a dreaded reading slump?