Finding the right book to read can be just as challenging as finding the time to actually read it. With what feels like an endless supply of book recommendations, finding something that truly leaves a mark is rare. In today’s world, the content we choose to consume is one of the most important choices we can make. Often, it’s easier (and perhaps more comfortable) to pick a book that is digestible, light, and close to our everyday reality. Yet, there is immense value in reading something that challenges you, that makes you see the world, and yourself, differently. So, for those who are looking to feel, think, and reflect a little bit more deeply, here are three book recommendations that allow you to escape, while also bringing you closer to yourself.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
The House in the Cerulean Sea is the most whimsical and lighthearted of the three books. It follows Linus Baker, a quiet, rule-abiding caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, who is sent on a secret assignment to a remote orphanage. There, six children with extraordinary magical abilities live — each unlike anything he’s ever encountered. I’ll admit, the book felt a bit out of my depth in terms of fantasy reading. I’m usually not one for magic or monsters, and I worried the plot might be too cheesy or Disney-esque for me to enjoy.
While it’s not groundbreaking literature, Klune creates a world filled with incredibly likeable, heartfelt, and real characters. From garden gnomes to wyverns (I didn’t even know what a wyvern was), the characters bring an incredibly human warmth to the story. The novel emphasizes belonging and acceptance, chosen family, compassion, and identity, while also challenging prejudice and fear. The House in the Cerulean Sea is the perfect blend of fantasy and humanity, offering a magical escape while underscoring deeply relatable themes.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Piranesi left me feeling both fascinated and confused, questioning what I had just read. I thought about the novel for weeks afterward, trying to make sense of it. The story follows a man known to the reader as Piranesi, who lives in an immense, labyrinthine House filled with endless halls, statues, and shifting tides. Piranesi’s purpose is to catalogue and explore the House, living mostly in solitude except for his weekly meetings with his only other human contact, the enigmatic Other.
As the story unfolds, Piranesi’s fragmented memory forces him to question his existence in the House, how he arrived there, and what his true purpose is. The novel is hauntingly beautiful, exploring themes of isolation, memory, and the allure of the unknown. In many ways, it feels like a coming-of-age story: though Piranesi is a grown adult throughout, he evolves from an obedient and naive wanderer into an inquisitive and thoughtful explorer, gradually discovering who he is and where he belongs.
While the book doesn’t have a clearly defined goal, and likely reads differently for each person, it shares a similarity with The House in the Cerulean Sea in that it is equally rooted in fantasy and the human experience.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
I Who Have Never Known Men is the most eerie and disturbing of the three books, while also being the most acclaimed and well-known. The novel begins with an unnamed girl imprisoned in an underground bunker with 39 other women. None of the women know who they are, why they’re there, or even their own names, and they are under the constant surveillance of silent male guards. Time passes in the bunker almost imperceptibly, as the women use the rhythm of their heartbeats to track the days.
One day, an alarm blares and the guards flee, leaving the women to escape the bunker for the first time. As they emerge and explore the vast expanse above, they realize the world outside is far different from what they had imagined. By the end of the novel, the unnamed girl is a lone wanderer, and many questions remain unanswered.
I Who Have Never Known Men is certainly not a light read and warrants a trigger warning for graphic content. It is deeply moving, exploring themes of identity, survival, power dynamics, womanhood, and isolation. The novel reflects questions that resonate in our current world, while simultaneously creating a completely foreign and haunting landscape. I found myself positively disturbed while reading this compelling story, and I think it’s a novel that deserves to be read by everyone
