I have yet to read all of the books on my reading list, but as of May 2023, I read at least eight books on my list this year. Here are the three that stuck with me the most: 

1.If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin 

This novel broke my heart into a million pieces. It follows the storyline of childhood best friends Finny and Autumn, told in Autumn’s perspective, illustrating memories of their inseparable childhood as well as the drift that occurred between them, and how life has been for her since. It’s a novel about first loves and the feeling of love that you will never be able to pinpoint until you experience it for yourself. It’s a bittersweet story throughout the novel, but will leave you heartbroken in the end. It’s one where you know what happens from the first page but you don’t experience the pain of it til after the story is told, you read the book hoping for a different ending but ultimately it stays the same. 

2. Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

This novel also follows the storyline of childhood bestfriends, told from the perspective of Macy. Macy and Eliot grow up next door together during the summers and whenever Macy visits her summer house, they are inseparable when together and do everything side by side. They begin to develop feelings for each other but one night everything changes: they go ten years without speaking to one another, yet one day they bump into each other at a coffee shop and it changes everything. This was another bittersweet novel, it’ll make you laugh and it’ll make you cry. 

3. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

The popular netflix show Bridgerton sparked my interest in this novel. Julia Quinn created a book series dedicated to a family in England, The Bridgertons, finding love during the Regency period. The first season follows the love story of Simon and Daphne, finding love within their dearest friend and the most unexpected place. The first season is based off of the boom the Duke and I, it tells the story in such an innocent light, two people in love, yet blind to the love they share. This ends on a happy note, but it’s not always the happiest getting to that point. 

4. Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

Liz the main character grew up watching romantic comedies with her mother, until in 5th grade her mother passed away. She spent her middle school and highschool years continuing to watch these rom coms and base her life like it was set in one. Until her senior year of highschool when she began to become friends with her arch nemesis neighbor Wes, who turns out isn’t so bad. She realizes so much more about her life as she finally lets him in, it’s like reading the script of a rom com movie. 

“Better Than The Movies got me into reading and began my love for books,” claims sophomore Lauren Kachadourian.