There’s never been a better time than right now to read all the recommendations on your reading list or to add more books to your shelves So, as you travel from your bed to your couch, from your couch to your floor, and from your floor back up to your bed, here’s me telling you to add some wholesome pizzazz into your current routine. Read through some of my favourite non-fiction reads by some of my favourite authors:

1. One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul

Koul’s collection of essays is a bang-on narrative of what growing up in Canada as a child of immigrants is like. Having been born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Koul recounts the many kinds of “-isms” she experienced as a person of colour in a predominantly white society. While the book explores often difficult experiences like racism, being bullied for being too hairy, and being a brown woman dating a white man, she adds extreme wit and charm to her accounts. Her stories are so hilarious, they have you literally laughing out loud.

‍2. When You Ask Me Where I’m Going by Jasmin Kaur

In her debut novel, Kaur provides poetic solace for the hearts of Indo-Canadian kids everywhere. She combines elements of fiction and poetry and weaves together a tapestry of resilience, empowerment, and love. This book is perfect for those who have yet to heal, are healing, or have walked a mile in their journey of healing already.

‍3. All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

Have you ever heard someone say, “this book completely revolutionized my whole life!”? This book is it for me. bell hooks provides us with a working definition of love that is all parts bold, exhilarating, and spiritual. hooks shows us that love comes in a multitude of ways, both within us and around us. She shows us that love is lovely. 

4. Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

I first read this book in high school when I didn’t have the ability or capacity to appreciate it. Upon reading it again as an adult, the life lessons offered by a dying man to a young man with an entire life ahead of him are absolutely priceless. This book had me highlighting almost every line of every page!

‍5. If They Come For Us by Fatimah Asghar

Similar to Koul’s book, Asghar’s collection of poems provides us with deep, raw accounts of being a Pakistani Muslim woman in America. This book is by far one of the most dynamic books on this list, as Asghar takes us from inside her home, to her heart, and all the way back to the Partition of 1947. It might not be hilarious like Koul’s accounts, but Asghar opened up a massive place in my heart for the stories of my ancestors and the colour lilac, which is the colour of the book’s beautiful cover. 

6. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

There’s a reason this book is on the recommendation lists of many. While the title suggests subtility, there is nothing subtle about the lessons Manson offers readers. Manson is unapologetic in asking you not to give a f*ck, and he really doesn’t give a f*ck about it. 

‍7. In The Meantime by Iyanla Vanzant

You know those memes that are like “my future bae probably texting their bae rn about how they’re going to be together forever, lol ok see you in 10 years”? Vanzant’s book gives us meaningful, soulful advice on what we can do in the meantime during those 10 years until our future bae becomes our actual bae. If we contextualize this book for what we’re all going through right now, though, Vanzant’s book could also provide us with some relief on what we can do in the meantime while this pandemic sorts itself out.