By Izzy Taylor
Junior year of high school is arguably the hardest. (Just ask a senior.) Trying to balance AMSTUD, Precalculus, extracurricular activities, and getting in the occasional hour or two of sleep, many struggle to find a moment to breathe, let alone read for pleasure.
However, for Naomi Norlander, there is always time to crack open a good book. You might have seen her walking around our campus with her own personal stack tucked to her chest. “I usually do five books at a time,” she said. “I’m currently reading The Dance of Thieves, Heaven Breaker, and Macbeth [that one’s for class]. Additionally, I’m reading Heartless Hunter and a few others.”
There’s a trend there, if you didn’t notice. “I like fantasy romance, the mixture of the genres,” she said. She introduced me to a new term from the world of booktok: “Romantasy,” a clever compound that describes a niche genre for readers.
According to an article in The Guardian titled “A genre of swords and soulmates: the rise and rise of ‘romantasy novels,” the books are “set in fantastical worlds, with fairies, dragons, magic, but also feature classic romance plotlines–enemies-to-lovers, soulmates, love triangles.”
Now I had to ask, reflecting on my hectic schedule from the previous year, whether she had time to read during the school day. “Yeah, I do,” she laughed, “Anytime I don’t have schoolwork or I’m on a free period, I read my books.” She even confessed that she sometimes sneaks in a chapter during morning meetings or assemblies.
For many students, starting a new book can feel overwhelming because it means adding something to the long list of things to do during the school year (which includes mandatory reads, of course). Naomi would argue differently. “It takes you away to a world that’s not like here,” she said. Diving into her books is her form of relaxation, a break from the pressures of school work, something that “takes you away from your problems.”
Her advice is to find something that interests you. “Even if you don’t know much about the book, if you don’t know much about the genre or anything else, it’s always good to try,” she said.
If you’re interested in fantasy, she recommends starting with House of Frank. She calls it “perfect.” According to Goodreads, it’s a “cozy fantasy” about a young witch reconnecting with her powers and navigating a fantastical world of star magic, elves, and other whimsical creatures.
When I asked her if she had a book in mind for her next read, she said she actually had fifty books on her to-read list. “I’m looking forward to all of them,” she said. Since she only buys physical copies of books, that can add up. “I’m just going to get a bunch of money from birthday parties, so I’m going to spend it all on books,” she said.
Sometimes those pleasure reads end up being ones she has to read for class. “Yeah, I read The Odyssey twice before I had to do it in ninth grade, so I just didn’t read it at all,” she said. The same went for Lord of the Flies, Oedipus, and Macbeth.
For many students, those books are just annoying homework assignments, and perhaps the reason they don’t read for pleasure. Not for Naomi. “Yeah,” she said, “those were amazing.”
