These are the stories people can’t put down

In a world of endless scrolling and shrinking attention spans, some people are quietly turning pages. From adrenaline-fueled sagas to soul-stirring self-help, these people are shaping our cultural conversation—are reaching for stories that move, challenge and transform. We asked some of our most beloved influencers to pull back the curtain on their current reads, and what they shared is as layered, surprising and compelling as the people themselves. Consider this your next great literary obsession—straight from their hands to yours.

Here’s what your favourite Malaysian influencers are reading:

Sherry Amin

My Friends

Fredrik Backman

The author of Anxious People and Beartown is back with an unforgettable, heartwarming and funny read. My Friends follows four teenagers whose friendship changed a stranger’s life 25 years later. When young artist Louisa inherits the artwork of 3 misfit teens—each with their own tale to tell—she sets off on a journey to uncover the story behind the painting. While there, she discovers love, loss and the lasting power of bonds, and her own artistic spirit.

Ally Mukhriz

The Strength of The Few

James Islington

The Strength of the Few is James Islington’s most ambitious work yet. A magnificent, riveting sequel that dives deep into the themes of adulthood, grief, justice, ambition, and the impossible weight of choices. It picks up precisely where The Will of the Many left off—and immediately raises every stake. Vis Telimus has been fractured across three parallel worlds, living three entirely different lives simultaneously, and the clock is running out on all of them. For anyone who has not yet discovered the Hierarchy series: consider this your invitation.

Atisya Rosli

Loved One

Aisha Muharrar

Emmy Award-winning writer Aisha Muharrar’s debut novel is a funny, wise, and quietly devastating story about grief, memory and the complicated territories of love. When Julia’s first love and closest friend, Gabe, an indie musician with a devoted following, dies suddenly at twenty-nine, she boards a plane from Los Angeles to London on a mission to recover the possessions he scattered across the lives of people who knew him. What she finds is a collision course with Elizabeth—Gabe’s last love, a guarded, self-possessed florist and restaurateur—who refuses to part with his most treasured belonging for reasons Julia cannot fathom. Soon, the two women are locked in an intricate dance of secrets and slow revelation, each holding a piece of the man the other is grieving.

Ofiellia Khan

Manifest: 7 Steps to Living Your Best Life

Roxie Nafousi

Roxie Nafousi—a self-development coach and the woman the internet has crowned its queen of manifesting—offers what may be the most quietly radical self-help book of the moment. Manifest distils the art of manifestation into seven elegant steps, weaving together science and philosophy into a practice designed for the woman who wants more: more clarity, more love, more confidence, more of a life that actually feels like hers. Think of it as the handbook for becoming available to absolutely everyone willing to begin.