thelazygirlreads review

Our ever-growing online recommendation list of must-reads that is constantly updated.

This is for all you bookworms; a list of my personal recommendations that I feel deserve the spotlight even if it's for a moment on this platform.

1) #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso

a riveting tell-all of how Sophia Amoruso started her business, Nasty Gal, an online retail store selling both vintage and modern pieces. In her book, she speaks about the challenges she faced at different phases of her life and the complications that came with her business, especially being a female-owned business. You can also expect testimonials from other boss babes with their own ventures and their mindful nifty advice to survive the capitalist man’s world. I would give it a solid 9/10 – I found it very applicable to my own mini venture, an Instagram thrift shop, plus she gives some amazing pointers to compiling your own CV too (oh-so helpful for us uni students who have to have these skills on hand when looking for work).

2) The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

this book is probably the most prized literary treasure that I own. A story of young shepherd who longs for adventure and looks to follow his dreams, no matter the cost. This mentality takes him from Spain all the way to a crystal shop in Egypt, a caravan that takes him across the desert, an oasis where he meets the love of his life and eventually to the pyramids despite him being mugged and in the middle of a civil war. This book encourages you to pursue your dreams no matter the hardships that come at you and Paulo honestly has such a powerful way with words! If this is the only book you ever read in your lifetime, trust me when I say it’ll be the best decision you will ever make! If my last sentence didn’t spell it out enough, this book was a definite 10/10.

3) Queen Sugar by Natalie Baszile

a heart-breaking story highlighting the severe levels of segregation, not only between the black and white populations but also between men and women within the Louisiana cane-farming community as a mother and daughter move over to take over their inherited farm in the peak of growing season. The author really brings the characters and journeys to life and this makes you relate to how they feel throughout the story; you celebrate their triumphs along with them and your heart feels very heavy when they hit a loss. Overall the book was well-written but sometimes the story did feel like it was dragging on for too long, for this reason I give this book a 7/10. There is also a series based on the book which is currently on its 4th season and is produced by Oprah Winfrey.

4) Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho

a story of the struggle between love and pleasure for a young Brazilian girl who relocates overseas for work. Due to her circumstances, she abandons the thought of finding love and instead gets consumed by the world of physical pleasure until a painter challenges these beliefs and leads her to the discovery of the ties between the body and the soul and the meeting of the two. This book opens your mind to different views of sex and essentially follows Maria on her re-discovery of love and her views of the sacredness of sex. It is a bit of difficult read because it deals with such a sensitive personal topic but it is very eye-opening and provides good insight into the topics of love, intimacy and pleasure; therefore I would give this book an 8/10.

5) Still Me by Jojo Moyes

Still Me by JoJo Moyes – ever wondered what happened to Louisa Clark after Will Traynor died in Me Before You? Well, here is her story, a continuation of her life beyond the man she so dearly loved. This time she finds herself in New York under the Gopnik roof as an assistant to Agnes Gopnik and all her secrets. This book navigates through Louisa’s life as she tries to truly find her place in the world with a new love, a new job a million miles across the pond from all her loved ones and new adventures/challenges with new faces in NY. I really enjoyed this story because it spoke volumes about how you can be of any age and not really have the faintest clue about what your real life dream is or what path you should really be on, what matters of course is that your new experiences help shape you into the person you are meant to be. I give this book a good 7/10 because despite all the challenges before her, Louisa is persistent enough to come out on top and I won’t lie, I’m a sucker for a good love story.

6) Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Despite this being a fictional story, I think it has the potential to challenge all it's readers perspectives on the topic of race. Reid has two main protagonists in her story based in Philadelphia - Alix Chamberlain, a self-made Insta influencer who is an early thirties white woman and mom to two toddlers, and Emira, a young black woman who babysits the Chamberlain toddlers while trying to navigate a career path. The story takes a turn when Emira gets accused of kidnapping the oldest toddler at the local supermarket at night which then throws a spanner in the works with Emira and Alix's relationship. This book sucks you in from the first word which is why I give it an 8.5/10; what I also enjoyed about this book is the diversity of the characters, from different races, backgrounds and incomes. This book has a conspicuous way of highlighting racial profiling, prejudiced behaviors and intentions without it being provocative - it allows readers from all backgrounds to read about the situation, draw similarities from their own behavior and maybe even provide encouragement to unlearn some habits that we allow to subconsciously determine our actions to certain situations. It is a bold novel that I would encourage any millennial young woman to read, especially now more than ever.