Quick — raise your hand if you know a reader who’s also a writer. As you might already suspect, there is a significant overlap between the two passions, and many bibliophiles have fallen in love with both despite initially engaging with just one. Here at Bookstr, more than a few of us wear the title of “aspiring author” with pride, so we thought we’d share the excellent reads that helped inspire our work. How many of these titles sound familiar to you?
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Though I’ve always adored young adult fantasy, Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen sparked my fascination with the intricacies of court and political intrigue in fiction. The novel follows young thief Mare Barrow as she discovers she possesses superhuman abilities, an impossibility that forces her into the deceptive and deadly world of the upper class. Torn between her loyalty to a rebellion and the new desires of her heart, Mare must then fight for her survival — even though any move she makes could be her last.
I began my upmarket dark fantasy novel, Revium, about a year before I encountered Red Queen, but reading the latter motivated me to add greater complexity and depth to the story I wanted to tell. Revium follows two perspectives — Lukas Vire, a prisoner in an archaic and lethal machine who is bent on revenge against the Empire, and Kaliena Valente, an Imperial courtier on the verge of committing treason to oppose a war. When the two are forced into an uneasy alliance, however, they trigger the revival of a revolution. I’m hoping to begin querying the manuscript in early 2026.
– Anastasia Ledyaeva, Editorial Intern
Love Her Wild by Atticus
Love Her Wild by Atticus is a poetry collection about the grandness of love and all other aspects of life, offering readers the rawest and most relatable emotions. It was the first true poetry book I had ever read, and the authentic and beautiful experience it gave me led to me becoming an English and Creative Writing major, choosing to follow my passion.
Now, I love writing and producing my own poetry and am in the process of publishing my first collection, Messy Weather, because I want to share the same emotions I experienced with others and hoped to find a healthy outlet for those emotions.
– Kyla McClintock, Editorial Intern
She’s Strong, But She’s Tired by R. H. Sin
She’s Strong, But She’s Tired by R. H. Sin discusses women’s exhaustion in the pursuit of love and the experience of abusive relationships while providing solutions through free-verse poetry about how to overcome that trauma and find themselves again. This was the first poetry book I read by R. H. Sin, and it spoke to my issues with second-guessing myself, anxiety, and difficulties throughout my first year of teaching. At the time, I was struggling to remember my purpose because I’d lost sight of how hard I had worked to make positive changes happen.
I wrote a poetry manuscript, The Route Voices Tread: Seize The Day Poetry, over the past several months about finding my voice and my purpose again after leaving education. While I have written and published children’s books prior to it, I wanted this to depict a descriptive, emotional, and honest woman who may not be sure about the future but is certain about the person she is becoming. It’s a self-help and motivational manuscript, and I have submitted it to The University of Chicago Press.
– Kinsey Krachinski, Editorial Department
Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski
Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski details the evolution of the author’s alter ego, Henry Chinaksi, into adulthood during the Great Depression in Los Angeles. From having his cystic acne drilled at the county hospital to being involved in many a schoolyard fistfight, the book doesn’t pull any punches with its narration. Before I encountered it, I mainly read Southern murder mysteries and always felt like I had to mimic their descriptive style in order to legitimate myself as a writer, but this book proved otherwise. While in this reality I am a 26-year-old woman, I’ve always spiritually felt more like a 56-year-old man.
Recently, I have begun writing about my own degenerate and chaotic latchkey upbringing in the form of letters. I can only hope to captivate audiences the way Bulwoski does, though I know if I were to ask him for any advice, he could very well tell me not to even try in the first place.
– Geneva Carter, Social Media Department
Whether drafting or querying, or published or not, each one of us in this article is a writer. If you are, too, what books inspire you?
If you’re an aspiring author like some of our team members, check out Why Writing is Important for Your Mental and Physical Health.
Find all of our favorite reads on Bookstr’s Bookshop!
