If you are someone who says you weren’t too fond of stories growing up, you are either lying or you simply didn’t get a chance to live these out in your imagination! With the pandemic around us leaving all of us with plenty of time on our hands to start (or re-start) our old favourites, here are a few books we recommend, to get you back in the reading game, no matter how old you are! (Oh and we promise – this list is NOT an order of our preference)

1. Coraline – Neil Gaiman

Caught in a spooky, other-worldly situation, Coraline opens a forbidden door where everything looks just like our world, but not, at the same time.  Read this book to find out how she finds her way back home, fighting her ‘Other Mother” along the way, to keep her family safe.

2. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – L. Frank Baum

Making list of children’s classics without this title wouldn’t just be wrong… it would be a crime! 

When sudden flash of lightening transports Dorothy from her drab life into a magical wonderland with strange looking people, little does she know that she is about to set out on the adventure of a lifetime. Finishing the book makes us wish: ‘If only cyclones worked like that in real life as well!’

3. Nancy Drew – The Hidden Staircase

One of the most famous collections of detective books ever written, the greatest mystery about the Nancy Drew Series, is in finding a way put them down! Though the entire series is worth reading, we recommend The Hidden Staircase as a perfect starting point, as you solve crimes with one of the best female teen detectives ever written. 

4. Swami and Friends – R. K. Narayan

You are either growing up or have grown up as a misunderstood teenager, in an Indian household! In Swami and Friends, R. K. Narayan brings our collective teenage years to life as Swami struggles to piece his life together, with vivid yet relatable descriptions and characters we see in our lives every day!

5. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott

Disclaimer: Tear-proof this book before you start reading…. because it will make you cry (if it hasn’t already)! 

Pick this book to go along on the journey of four sisters amidst the American War era, in a time transcending readers’ favourite. Laugh, cry and fall in love – with yourself and each of the characters as they battle against all odds: the elitist social world they live in and of course, their inner demons. We don’t want to give away too much – but here is what we WILL say: this book might be a romantic-drama, but it is also much more than that!

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What were some of your favourite books to read, growing up? Did we miss them? Tell us in the comments below!