With the busy school year underway, due dates, sports, clubs and extracurriculars have begun taking up the blank pages of planners. Free time is a thing of the past.

Avid readers tend to get caught up in the whirlwind of schoolwork and forget to pick up the books that once helped them escape from reality.

So, instead of binge watching your latest TV show the next time you find a spare moment on the weekend, pick up one of these reads and distract yourself from the business of  everyday life.

“The Beginning of Everything” by Robyn Schneider

Ezra Faulker believes everyone has a tragedy that will be a life-changing moment. After getting into an accident that ended his tennis career and finding out his girlfriend cheated on him, Ezra feels defeated. He finds a new friend group, a new best friend, and a mysterious girl named Cassidy. He learns how to live rather than just exist. The dialogue and plot are quirky and the character is relatable on multiple levels. This is a must-read for anyone who loves a cliche love story.

 “Go Set a Watchman” by Harper Lee

This novel follows Jean-Louise, “Scout,” as she has aged into her 20s and is returning home for a visit. Scout finds that her loving father, who so many years before stood for the blacks and equality, has now turned into a close-minded racist. Everything she knew, and everything he taught her seemed to for nothing. Scout, determined to make things right in her town, uses what her father taught her early in life to become her town’s new civil rights activist. This follow-up to the beloved classic shows that disappointment is real and sometimes our heroes aren’t who we think they are.

“To All the Boys I’ve ever Loved” by Jenny Han

Lara Jean is a 16-year-old girl whose relationships always seem to end with a sealed letter that never gets sent. Each boy she’s ever had a crush on, Lara Jean writes a love letter of sorts to get the boy out of her system but refuses to send them. But, when her little sister gets ahold of them and mails them out of spite, Lara’s simple world gets crazy. She begins to become a new person. She is no longer the do-good carbon copy of her older sister, but she finds herself among the mess of finding the right boy. This is the opposite of a cliche love story and is your go-to for a read that’ll make you laugh and cry in the same hour.

“The 5th Wave” by Rick Yancey

In this dystopian novel, 16-year-old Cassie is all alone surrounded by alien killers, silent snipers, and haunted by her past. After four waves of different tragedies that struck Earth, Cassie has been through everything and still survived. After losing her family to the Others she vows to find  her brother and save him. Along her way she meets Evan, a mysterious survivor who takes her in and helps her. Evan helps Cassie prepare to face the Others and save her brother, even though it seems he might have a dark secret. Cassie discovers throughout the novel that she no longer is searching for something to live for, but something to die for. This book is a must-read for anyone who loves sci-fi or dystopians. It grabs your attention from the first page and doesn’t let you go until the end.

“Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell

Cath and Wren Avery are identical twins but couldn’t be any different. Their one similarity: they are both obsessed with the book series, “Simon Snow.” But once they go off to University, Wren begins to distance herself from Cath and Simon Snow. Cath is unsocial and prefers the fictional world over the real anyday, but then Cath meets Levi. Levi doesn’t read and is social. But Cath can’t get him out of her head. If you’re a sucker for quirky love stories, funny dialogue and relatable situations, this book should be first on your list.