I’ll never forget the day that I fell out of love with reading. It was the summer before I started Year 11, and I had eagerly listed Advanced English as one of my HSC preferences.
I was an avid reader – Twilight, The Hunger Games and The Book Thief were the books of the moment – and I spent many late nights poring over the pages of my favourite novel under the soft glow of my reading light.
On the last day before we broke for the school holidays, my English teacher pulled me aside. “I see you’ve put down Advanced English as one of your preferences. Unless you enjoy reading Jane Austin and Shakespeare for fun, I’d suggest you drop down to Standard English,” he remarked.
I was devastated. Of course, I’d enjoyed reading Pride and Prejudice and a few Shakespearean texts, but I wouldn’t exactly categorise them as “fun” reads.
I suddenly felt ashamed of the YA books I had once prized as my beloved tomes. He was right, these novels aren’t what real writers read. I was a literary embarassement.
So, I faked it. I feigned a newfound interest in the dusty old classics and insisted on taking the advanced course. Hamlet? Can’t get enough of it. War and Peace? A little too light a read for me. The Grapes of Wrath? I’ve read it in five languages.
If this were 2025, you’d have called me a performative male, but back then, I was merely attempting to keep up.
Of course, as I write this now as the Deputy Features Editor of a marie claire, I can’t help but feel smug. Not only did I prove that sceptical teacher wrong by topping the course, but I made the ultimate power move and became a writer.
While I might have passed the course and proved I could critically analyse a classic, it would be many years before I regained my love of reading in the carefree, escapist way I once had.
At university, I enrolled in a Media (Communications and Journalism) degree where I discovered that what my new peers considered ‘cool’ was a far cry from what the “Janeites” in my high school (yes, several of my peers would attend Jane Austin conventions in full costume for “fun.”) were devouring. On campus, it seemed sad girl lit was the flavour of the month.
Think, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides and My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed all of those books. But nothing compared to the feeling of complete freedom of getting lost in a novel that I had only ever experience in my youth. I put it down to one of those things that fades when you get older, like the magic of Christmas morning.
Instead, I bought indulgently wordy novels that I could never finish, until eventually I stopped picking up books altogether.
Then something unexpected happened – a friend gifted me a Kindle for my birthday.
As someone who writes for print for a living, admittedly, I was a bit of a paper elitist. I loved the tactile feel of dog-eared book corners and the smell of aged pages. But I decided to give the device the benefit of the doubt.
When you sign up for a new Kindle account, you receive a free three-month trial to the Kindle Unlimited library. For those who have never browsed this digital catalogue, the selection overwhelmingly consists of thrillers, fantasy and romance. None of which are genres I’d typically reach for. But in the spirit of trying anything once (and without the commitment of paying upwards of $30 for a hard copy), I downloaded one of the “popular reads” called The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden.
The cover was not something I’d happily display on my bookshelf. In fact, it looked as though it had been generated by AI. But the synopsis intrigued me.
The story follows Millie, a desperate young woman who takes a live-in maid job with a wealthy family, only to uncover dangerous secrets while hiding her own dark past. I tore through it within 24 hours.
Where the writing was simple, the story was compelling. For the first time, I experienced that feeling of wanting to cancel all plans, so I could stay at home and finish the next chapter.
The Housemaid is currently being turned into a film starring Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried and Michele Morrone. So it turns out I wasn’t the only one.
After finishing The Housemaid, I download several more Frieda McFadden books: Never Lie, the rest of The Housemaid series, The Tenant, and The Locked Door. I don’t know what McFadden had sprinkled onto those pages but I was hooked.
Yes, the irony of falling in love with books via technology is not lost on me. But there was something exhilarating about curling up with my guilty pleasure, without the judgment of commuters eyeing up the juvenile-looking cover or guests leering at my bookshelf.
On #booktok, I found I wasn’t alone in trading in my ‘cool girl books’ for smut and twisted crime novels. In fact, as sales of science fiction and fantasy books have skyrocketed, with their value increasing by 41.3%, the sales of nonfiction books have decreased by 6.3% over the last two years. Take that, self-help books.
It seemed women everywhere – still battling the mental and physical load – were fed up with reading books that reminded them of the injustices of the world. What they want is escapism—a space where they can live out their fantasies and transport themselves to a different reality.
Take the A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) saga, for instance. It’s not the gripping tale of battling kingdoms that has women chomping at the bit for the next instalment, but the permission these novels offer to indulge in their own fantasies.
Admittedly, there have been times when I need the odd palette cleanser between all the fairy porn and mind-bending plot twists. On these days, I reach for gripping memoirs and insightful personal essays. But for the most part, I’ve made peace with the fact that I am not a cool reader.
Instead, I’m enjoying rediscovering the joy of reading books that keep me up at night, desperately fighting sleep so that I can make it to the next page. Because, despite what men who tuck a novel into their back pocket tell you – yes, we’re talking about your Jacob Elordi – what you read is not a statement about who you want to be in the world.
So, take this as your sign to read that smutty book, fall in love with a silly story and invest yourself in a romance that you feel way too old to care about but are secretly rooting for.
7 Page Turners Guaranteed To Get You Out Of A Reading Slump
Sometimes I Lie
by Alice Feeney
A classic ‘trust no one’ book trope, Never Lie is narrated by Amber, a woman in a coma who can hear everything happening around her but cannot move or speak. As the story unfolds through shifting timelines, it becomes clear that Amber’s life—and the people in it—are full of dark secrets and lies.
Verity
by Colleen Hoover
This book was suggested to me by a friend and was by far the best page-turner recommendation I’ve had in a long time.
Fan’s of The Housemaid will love this story of a struggling writer who is hired to finish writing a bestselling book series from an author who is injured and unable to write. While living in the authors home, she discovers a hidden manuscript filled with disturbing confessions that blur the line between truth and fiction.
SPOILER: Once, you’ve devoured Verity head over to booktok to unpack your thoughts on the two alternative endings.
Never Lie
by Freida McFadden
A book I thought about long after I put it down. Never Lie is a locked-room psychological thriller about newlyweds Tricia and Ethan, who get trapped in a remote mansion during a snowstorm. As they explore the house, Tricia uncovers chilling secrets about the mansion’s former owner—and realizes their lives may be in grave danger.
None of this is True
by Lisa Jewell
With twists and turns in every chapter None of This Is True will have you questioning your own ability to spot a killer.
The story follows Alix, a podcaster who befriends Josie, a woman with a disturbing past who wants her story told. As Alix digs deeper, she realizes Josie’s narrative is twisted and dangerous—and that she herself may be drawn into a deadly trap.
One
by John Marrs
Imagine a world where a simple DNA test can match people with their perfect partner. In Marrs’ fast-faced thriller, five individuals take the test, causing their lives to unravel in unexpected and in turn revealing the dark side of destiny and love.
The perfect read for those in the modern dating trenches.
The Housemaid
by Freida McFadden
After Millie, a woman with a troubled past, takes a live-in job with the wealthy Winchester family she discover disturbing secrets hidden behind their perfect façade. As manipulation, lies, and power games escalate, Millie realizes she may be in more danger than she ever imagined.
A must-read before its cinematic release next year!
A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
If like me you’re often put off by the fantasy genre, then the A Court of Thorns and Roses series is a great way to rekindle that trust.
The story follows Feyre Archeron, a mortal who is taken to the faerie realm after killing a wolf that was more than it seemed. There, she becomes entangled in love, politics, and an ancient curse threatening both the human and fae worlds.
Pick it up for the fairy-porn intrigue and stay for Maas’ carefully crafted inner worlds.
Amazon Kindle Colorsoft
$399 from Amazon Prime.
If you’re undecided about whether to pull the trigger on the Kindle sitting in your shopping cart, I can attest that this device revolutionises the way you read. Not only do the customisable reading settings mean I can now comfortably enjoy any novel at my preferred font size, but the sample feature in the store library means that I have saved money on books that don’t grip me from the first chapter.
The lightweight nature makes the device extremely easy to slip into your handbag for your morning commute. At the same time, the adjustable backlight means you can stay up late without disturbing your partner by keeping the bedside lamp on.
And before you ask – yes, the upgrade to colour is 100% worth the investment. The user experience of browsing the Kindle store and my library truly brings the books to life on the screen.
