hello everyone! first of all, i want to thank whoever comments on this in advance! also, i apologize if my english is bad, normally i can express myself better than this but i have a fever at the moment so please don't think too harshly of me <3
basically, as a kid i used to read a lot, but when the pandemic started i had to spend too much time on my computer due to school work and i eventually became like the avarage teenager of this decade. this never bothered me too much, but last year i went through a really rough depressive episode and the only thing that made me feel somewhat alive was art, so my goal this year is reading again.
and hey, i do enjoy reading! i really like reading essays, analysis and the books we study on literature class, but at some point i started having a hard time to find books that i found interesting while looking age appropriate enough and i never got back on my feet (i don't necessarily want or need the books to actually be age appropriate, but my parents are very strict so i don't want the cover or the summary of the plot to give too much away, if that makes any sense!)… mostly because, every time i search stuff like "books for teenagers", "book for 17 years old", etc. i get a lot of YA books, and while i have NOTHING against the genre, every time i have tried to start any of the recommended books i ended up finding them too simple or too "wattpad's definition of teenager drama" and i never finished them.
so, what i'm basically asking for, are books that you would recommend to someone who hasn't read in a while, that look age appropriate enough if you don't actually read them and that focus somewhat on psychological themes (and ngl, i am slightly more attracted to stories lead by women, but i'm open to any suggestions!). if it's of any help, my favorite movies are "perfect blue", "secretary", "mulholland drive", "melancholia" and "the truman show", my favorite director is david lynch and my favorite musicians are fiona apple and björk.
besides, i already started making a list of books i'm interested on reading, and so far i have added "the picture of dorian gray", "my year of rest and relaxation", "convenience store woman", "the metamorphosis", "normal people", "sharp objects" and "the bell jar".
sorry for the long text and thank you in advance!!
by fionafielder