By: Kendra Kempton
It’s a troubling time of year for us picky eaters. The holidays are approaching and fielding an aunt’s comments about the lack of food on your plate at Thanksgiving is as appealing as eating her creamed onion casserole. But, I’ve been a picky eater for some time now. I know all the moves with such hits as: “I actually just had lunch with my academic advisor,” “Sorry, this antibiotic has to be taken at exactly this hour, every twelve hours, on an empty stomach,” and “I’m on an elimination diet—I’m cutting out all onion-based casseroles.”
I like to think I’ve avoided most of my extended family’s suspicion after twenty-some years of making excuses—suspicion that is well worth the risk if it keeps my mother’s eerily green seafoam salad leagues away from my mouth. “Sorry, mom. I just whitened my teeth and the lime jello you’ve mixed into the cottage cheese will dye them green and ruin the upcoming family photo sesh!”
As I transition into my new position at the library, I’ve fielded plenty of playful scrutiny from my coworkers about my lunch preferences (e.g., cold peanut butter and jelly protein waffle sandwiches). Though my closest colleagues have come to terms with my picky palate, it has only recently come to light that I’m also a picky eater when it comes to the literature I consume; i.e., a picky reader.
I long to be one of those people who can pick out any book (or menu item at a restaurant) and find a way to love it, but like my dining preferences, if there is too much going on in a book, I probably won’t take more than a small bite out of it. There are exceptions, but for the most part, we picky people like to keep it simple. And just like the many foods shared in common by picky eaters—chicken nuggets, pizza, ramen noodles, grilled cheese, etc., I’ve learned there are many books universally admired by us picky readers, too.
So, with the help of my knowledgeable new friends at the library, I have compiled a list of book recommendations for the pickiest eaters—I mean, readers. These books are satisfying, loveable reads: the literary equivalent of eating the perfect piece of popcorn chicken that is mostly breading without a single piece of gristle to be found!
The Picky Reader’s Menu:
Divine Rivals
By: Rebecca Ross
When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.
Tress of the Emerald Sea
By: Brandon Sanderson
The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?
Vicious
By: V.E. Schwab
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates―brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find―aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge―but who will be left alive at the end?
Babel
By: R.F. Kuang
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel.
Babel is the world’s center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.
For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide…
Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?
Wilder Girls
By: Rory Power
Friends Hetty, Byatt, and Reece go to extremes trying to uncover the dark truth about the mysterious disease that has had them quarantined at their boarding school on a Maine island.
Children of Blood and Bone
By: Tomi Adeyemi
Seventeen-year-old Zélie, her older brother Tzain, and rogue princess Amari fight to restore magic to the land and activate a new generation of magi, but they are ruthlessly pursued by the crown prince, who believes the return of magic will mean the end of the monarchy.
The Year of the Witching
By: Alexis Henderson
A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut.
In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet’s word is law, Immanuelle Moore’s very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement.
But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood.
Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.
For Future Reference 