I’m excited to introduce Reading Raft, a new Lutrinae column dedicated to all things books, featuring reviews, recommendations, themed reading lists and more. Think of it as a place to discover your next favorite read, get early access to reviews for upcoming releases and find the perfect addition to your shelf. Since bookshelves often say a lot about a person, I’m kicking off the column by sharing four titles that have shaped me and stayed with me in different ways.
“The Will of the Many” by James Islington
Growing up with my nose buried in every fantasy world I could find, this book, which I only read fairly recently, has stuck with me more than many of them. Set in a world reminiscent of ancient Rome, “The Will of the Many” is a captivating and gripping story. Political intrigue, a unique magic system based on willpower, and a society built on feeding on the weak until they finally fight back. I read this book in early 2024 and it has stuck with me. Islington does an amazing job of creating a main character who you feel like you can put yourself into, a character with flaws, who makes mistakes that you would make and yet somehow seems to beat the odds. This book will always have a place on my shelf, and I’m counting down the days until the sequel in November.
“Funny Story” by Emily Henry
This one might be a surprising addition to some people, but I think no bookshelf is complete without a couple of your favorite romance novels, and for me, “Funny Story” by Emily Henry beats them all. Witty humor, a popular trope thrown on its head and romantic tension you could cut with a butter knife. Emily Henry writes a story that grips you from cover to cover. I picked up this book when I first moved in my freshman year, and didn’t put it down the entire time. I had been captivated by the story since the first chapter finished, and I nearly threw it across the room in shock. This is also my favorite book to recommend to people and has since made many of my close friends’ lists as one of their top five romance novels.
“Poverty by America” by Matthew Desmond
While I primarily read fiction, I always make room for a strong nonfiction title, especially one written by Matthew Desmond. In this 2023 book, Desmond asks why poverty still exists and thrives in one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, and shows it’s not about scarcity, but about choices that benefit the comfortable at the expense of the vulnerable. He makes complex systems like housing, labor and tax policy both clear and personal, blending research with human stories. His call to become “poverty abolitionists” is challenging, but that’s exactly the point. This is one of my favorite nonfiction books, and I would recommend it to anyone who’d listen to me rant about it.
“Dracula” by Bram Stoker
Horror isn’t a genre I naturally gravitate toward; however, there are a few classic books I love more than Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” He pioneered the vampire genre, which is one of my favorite mythological monsters, and his slow-burning suspense draws you fully into the world of Gothic fiction. Massive castles, large-scale plots and the aristocratic world that is Count Dracula’s. The tension builds slowly, from Jonathan Harker’s eerie imprisonment in Dracula’s castle to the desperate chase across Europe to stop the Count’s spread of evil. Beyond the supernatural horror, the story also explores themes of modernity versus tradition, faith against corruption and humanity’s resilience in the face of overwhelming darkness. I am nothing if not a good sucker for a book about humanity’s resilience. To this day, it is one of my favorites to return to.
