The Reading List Vol. 1
Hello guys!
I'm back with a new blog series ("ugh isn't it too much already, Ara?"—I hear all of you grunt. Hahaha) but I'm rekindling my love with reading. So I'm doing this. For years.
For the past few weeks, I have already read a numerous amount of books. This week, I read three. THREE BOOKS. There's someone out there who probably finishes a book much more faster than me, but that's my personal record.
So in this series, I'm going to give you the list of the books that I wanted to read in the near future and I will also add 'What I know' about the book, and I will edit this article (or sooner articles in the reading list) and update you on my thoughts about the book and my ratings for it. I'm going to notify you (and add the link) on a future post when I'm finally done with reading everything. (—or most of it)
Soooooo, let's goooo.
*This post was updated on 8/16/15*
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1. Wonder (R. J. Palacio)
I have had this copy for almost a year now. My father bought me this as a gift on the day of our recollection. I don't know much about this book. All I know is that it's about faces, finding yourself and I think this is a book that I will reflect on afterwards.
UPDATE: This book deserves to be read by all the people in the universe. This justifies strength, courage, faith and not caring about what others think they are. "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio is a truly extraordinary read. It follows a middle school student named August, who has a face abnormality. Written in several POV's, the chapters of this book will let you see the change of heart of multiple people, how simple things could affect someone greatly, and finding happiness with what you have and being grateful for it. {3/5}
2. Anna and the French Kiss (S. Perkins)
"If you enjoyed Jenny Han's 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before', you'll like this more"—That is what my friend told me about this one. A book in a trilogy that everybody (except me) is reading. A loyal best friend. A crush. Girl shipped off to France. Found a new guy. Guy #2 has a girlfriend. Genre: Romance. Setting: Paris. What else would I hope for?
UPDATE: I'm falling head over heels for this book. Very romantic, well-written and super interesting. Another chick-lit from Stephanie Perkins. A cliché context, but the whole plot just made it a bit more special than the ones in its category. I'm in love with Ètienne St. Clair (oh I wish I could find my very own St. Clair...) and his charm. While reading this book, I felt like I was in Paris, myself. How the author described everything in Paris felt like a worm-hole for readers to see France in their imagination. The story is very well-paced and I'm totally up for round two. {5/5}
3. Penpal (D. Auerbach)
I have been reading Reddit's widely known horror-themed-subreddit called "No Sleep" and I stumbled upon a long creepy pasta made by this guy called '1000 Vultures.' I almost read through everything once but I stopped myself before I could get there. A book with several parts all according to one person. One day you'll be in a forest, not knowing what to do and the other you're going to look at weird, creepy pictures. You'll never know what's going to happen next.
UPDATE: This book started as a thread in a subreddit called "no sleep". I was an avid reader of the thread before and yes, I have already read some of the posts made by the author 1000 Vultures. This book is very creepy. The type of creepy that sends chills when you read them and it will be 10x more creepier if you imagined everything happening to you. This book has a weird plot. It progresses to the future and to the past. The writing is good but, as some say, the author should've just made things simple rather than going through all that trouble to elaborate on simple things. I want to know the point of view of other characters if ever this book was followed by another one. {3/5}
4. Paper Towns (J. Green)
Who's everyone's favorite author?... John Green. That' right. I like the way he writes things, I like the way he makes crash courses and talks to Hank on youtube. It's clearly an obsession. I parted ways with John Green through Looking For Alaska... and I loved it. Everybody is talking about Paper Towns (since its movie is already up in theaters) and I will finally get into the bandwagon! Who is Margo? Is she a ninja? Why is Q following her? And what's the point?. I can't wait to read this thing.
UPDATE: The cover page states a praise that says, "Profoundly Moving"—yes indeed, it was. The parts after Margo went disappearing, the book kind of went downhill. Not much happened but what Radar, Ben and Quentin did throughout those days where incredibly awesome. The clues that Margo left behind are genius; the idea of paper people, paper houses and cities are cool. Margo Spiegelman is amazing. She says words to expose more of what's in a crack on a person's life. I wouldn't mind a sequel, but I felt like the ending is better this way.—'The end is just the beginning'. {4/5}
5. Gone Girl (G. Flynn)
I picked up this book because of Sammi (from beautycrush). I never really got into the thriller type of books and I decided that a well-respected book would welcome me through its doors. I'm currently reading this one and I am kind of not really getting a few things down. Its synopsis is about a girl named Amy, who disappeared on their 5th anniversary. Nick (the husband) is stuck with the police and his own f-ed up mind; not knowing what to do next. Follow him as he tries to find what happened to Amy and if she is dead, alive or what.
UPDATE: THIS BOOK IS INSANE. This is the very first Mystery/Thriller novel that I have read, ever. I admit that it wasn't the best choice for starters but, there was actually a point where I hated the story but still continued to read this book nonetheless. When you decide to read this, you'll eventually get into a roller coaster ride. The story's amazing; It plays with your mind and your choices. When you thought that you don't know everything, well then; shame on you. It isn't real. The first part of the book isn't really the best whilst the 2nd-3rd part really made me endure all the weirdness and awesomeness that this book has. Amy is amazing. (Poor, Nick. lol) Gillian is amazing. (Did I mention that this book is insane?!) {4.5/5}
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I promise you guys that I will update this page as soon as I get to finish the books. Thank you so much for reading through this spontaneous post! :) I may be posting late than usual because our summative tests are coming up soon already.
That's all for now!
