Reading will never go out of fashion. What might be going out of fashion, however, is the ability to mentally process long reads, that is, coherent texts that exceed 1 page in length. With social media, our attention span shrinks, and the information is raced to be delivered in the most concise verbal form, usually accompanied by multimedia content to convey the message.

Reading is good for your health – research attests. Reading is a type of cognitive activity that helps develop emotional intelligence, intellectual sharpness – and mental balance. This is mainly to be said about fiction literature, but one may also come across non-fiction that reads like a story rather than a documentation narrative. In fact, the ability for storytelling is highlighted by HR professionals as one of the skills rarely listed in the job description but valued highly by employers.

Evidently, some enterprises implement the practice of organising book clubs among their employees, where specific time is allocated for developing knowledge around a particular aspect of the business through reading books – rather than digesting concise instructional articles or oral presentations. Reading is one of the greatest tools to develop critical thinking and analytical mindset – which cannot be taken lightly in the age of fake news and social media echo chambers.

The death of paper books has been prophesied pretty much since Amazon Kindle and other e-readers entered the market. While Amazon now offers almost every new book in e-format, you may sometimes face with a message that a certain book is not available in your country (how ridiculous is that!) Moreover, while the good old classics are usually available worldwide in free and open access on Project Gutenberg, some rare old titles or non-fiction niche literature may only be available in print.

Luckily, torrents remain a relatively reliable source for downloading books. A comprehensive list of the best torrent sites for ebooks may be of help if you are looking for something that is likely to be available only as a compilation of scanned library pages, or if you need a book in the original language that is not profitable enough to be marketed for Kindle in your country.

Top 10 books you need to read

Most books on our list are available for Kindle. However, if you are not a Kindle owner, short on cash or simply want to have a pdf or epub copy of the book to read and share for free, torrent sites should certainly have these all:

• His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
   

It is hard to believe that this trilogy was published in the 90s as its relevance keeps fascinating young readers worldwide. Pullman's trilogy caused strong controversies and criticism by the Catholic Church for the way it portrays religion and challenges the concepts of divinity, original sin, creativity and free thinking. It is – although not in a classical sense but quite literally – a coming of age story, set against the backdrop of a world that combines the best of fantasy and steampunk.

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
   

One of the most moving contemporary coming-of-age books, Chbosky’s novel touches upon the topics of sexual and gender identity, childhood trauma, love and friendship. Narrated through the eyes of the protagonist, the events unfold according to the way he perceives them – as we discover later, an unreliable narrator who does not always say what he wants to say, and unconsciously suppresses traumatic memories and events of his childhood until he realises that coming in terms with the past is the only thing that allows a person to move on.

• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
   

Before all other coming-of-age books, there was The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger’s most well-known novel depicting a protagonist that embodies everything we know now as teenage rebellion. The feeling of being alienated from everything and everyone around you, a sense that you are just a bystander regarding your own life pass before your eyes, the inability to verbalise and communicate your feelings to your parents or peers – all that we may call ’teenage angst’ today is reflected in the novel from mid-20th century.

• Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
   

Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has become a celebrated personality in recent years, delivering talks on women’s rights and anti-discrimination. Her novel, published in 2007, tells the story of one of Nigeria’s most tragic conflicts, the Biafran war of the late 1960s that garnered international attention. The book depicts the years leading up to the war, and how it transforms the lives of the young protagonists as they grow up.

• To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
   

The story unfolds through the eyes of a young girl who witnesses the work of her father, a lawyer defending a black man accused of rape by a white woman. An all-time classic, To Kill a Mockingbird was a controversial book at the time it was first published, as it discussed the issues of racial inequality, rape, discrimination, and judicial partiality in early-20th century Southern USA.

• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
   

The mid-20th-century allegorical novel by the British author William Golding, Lord of the Flies tells the story of a group of preadolescent characters stranded on a desert island. It explores the power structure that develops within their small group and allegorically depicts a model of any society where humans challenge the concept of survival of the fittest and test what it means to be human in times of survival.

• Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro
   

A slow-paced and melancholic novel by British author Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go is set in a dystopian society where groups of cloned humans are raised as organ donors, having their destiny pre-set for them: start donating their organs at the age of 16, gradually disintegrating and dying, having performed their service to the society. The book follows its three main protagonists from early childhood into adulthood, as they search for love, purpose and happiness in the time allocated for them in this world.

• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
   

A wonderful novel by Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan American writer, follows the fate of its protagonist, Amir, through his childhood in the dreamy streets of Kabul, teenage years at the onset of Afghan war and destruction, and adulthood as he is living a settled life in America when he has to face the painful shame of his past. The Kite Runner is perhaps one of the most beautiful books about friendship, for teens and adults alike.

• The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
   

The City of Ember, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi masterpiece, tells a story of a subterranean world where supplies and power are about to run out and the brave and the young have to take a daring step to recover the knowledge lost to generations and ensure the survival of the citizens.

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
   

One of the greatest timeless American novels, The Great Gatsby is a story of a man who, having been born into nothing, constructs a vision of his own future to the tiniest detail. Uncompromising and determined that all the details of his puzzle must fall into their place, Gatsby is a character betrayed by the unimaginative society around him, but also by his illusion of being the master and creator of his own fortune.