Adulting is hard – making your own appointments, doing laundry, self-imposed bed times, being the one to tell yourself that you shouldn’t eat that whole roll of cookie dough, etc. Luckily, for days when you just can’t, there’s still an escape: books. Here, all you have to worry about is ruling kingdoms, fighting gladiators, and bringing down corrupt regimes. Besides, you can always do laundry tomorrow.

1. People Like Us by Dana Mele

Talk about blast from the high school past! Except with more murder.

2. Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Another blast from the ghost of high school’s past! Except this is post-murder. And zombies are involved.

3. The Selection by Kiera Cass

You know what you don’t get to do much of as an adult? Wear a ballgown. It’s a bummer, honestly. So, why not duck out of reality for a little bit of princess competition!

4. Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

Why worry about deadlines when you can instead worry about ninjas? Mulan meets Throne of Glass in this action-packed story about Mariko, the daughter of a prominent samurai. Way more interesting than doing dishes.

5. The Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman

If this were Regency-era, you’d have to worry about wearing the right gown to court and making a suitable marriage. At least, that was what eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall worries about, until she discovers a cabal of demons infiltrating all levels of society and realizes she may have bigger issues to consider. Jane Austen meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this twist on the Regency-era heroine tale, and it beats doing taxes ANY day.

6. The Valiant by Lesley Livingston

Being an adult is never what you thought it would be like, ya know? Fallon from The Valiant would probably agree, being that on the day she’s supposed to join her father’s royal war band, she ends up plunging into the dark world of female gladiators instead.

7. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

This one is just to warm your cold dead heart when adulting is just too much.

8. Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

We all want to escape sometimes, right? Mystical beasts still roam wild in the desert nation of Miraji, but Amani finds nothing magical about her dead-end town, Dustwalk. Though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving, she never imagined she’d leave by discovering a secret rebel plot and galloping away on a mythical horse with a devastatingly handsome fugitive. Yes, please.

9. There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

You know what’s good for distracting yourself from adulting? Stories about murderers in your house. Very distracting.

10. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

Talk about not wanting to get out of bed in the morning – in Khorasan, every dawn brings a fresh horror to a different family. Their land is ruled by a killer Caliph, who takes a new bride each night only to execute her at sunrise. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry the Caliph, she has only vengeance in mind. That is, until she realizes that not everything is as it seems.

11. Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis

It can be frustrating to deal with other people’s expectations. In Given to the Sea, the consequences of duty and fate abound. Loyalties collide, friendships are tested, and romance blooms in a dying world, and all the while, the sea is rising. You know, kind of like the sea of responsibilities steadily rising around all of us. *sigh*

12. A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine makes everything all better again.

Looking for more ways to procrastinate? Pick your ideal first date, get a book!