This past summer, I was able to tap into reading, which is one of the hobbies I partake in the least, mainly because I’m a very picky reader and have a bad habit of stopping one book to read another. This summer, thankfully, I was able to lock into a few of the books I have had on my TBR for quite a while. I was able to read Me Before You and start the third book in the Twilight series, Eclipse, which is by far the best of the first three, though New Moon will always have a place in my heart.
As a slow reader, my TBR feels endless! I know one day I will lock in on my list, but for right now I wanted to share the few books I have wanted to start for a while now!
Love, Rosie – Cecilia Ahern
Love, Rosie tells the love story between two childhood best friends, Rosie Dunne and Alex Stewart, who are suddenly separated from one another when Alex moves to Boston and Rosie discovers she’s pregnant. The slow burn is told in a fun format. (Through emails, letters, and messages.)
I primarily wanted to read the book after watching the film, since reading romance is much more fun than watching romance. The dialogue hits a little different, and there is so much more story in a book than a movie.
Midnight Sun – Stephanie Meyer
Midnight Sun tells the story of Twilight (just the first book) from Edward’s perspective and gives you much more detail than what Bella gave readers in the first book. I mean, comparing the lengths, Twilight was 400 pages long, while Edward’s is 800 pages. In Twilight, we are made to believe Bella and Edward have an enemies-to-lovers story; however, Midnight Sun truly shows us the enemies part when he goes into detail about how much he hates Bella and how he would attack her. It’s actually so funny to see how much he hated her while she just sat there in class, minding her business.
This book is actually not hard to finish, as Edward’s monologues are intriguing, sharing comedic thoughts and even some hard-hitting lines relating to his self-loathing and the curse it is to be immortal. I think what’s hard is simply finding time to finish this book, as it is so long, and you have to flip through Twilight to correlate what Bella was thinking in certain scenes/chapters.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky
This is a book I had actually started reading last semester; however, I did end up putting it down as I got busier in the spring semester. Like Love, Rosie, this story is told through a series of letters written by the main character, who calls himself Charlie, to an anonymous friend. Within these letters, he describes his experiences during his freshman year of high school, allowing the reader to follow alongside him.
The storytelling in this book is intriguing not only in the way it is formatted, but also because the people we get to know in this story aren’t really called by the names Charlie gives them. Charlie isn’t even the main character’s name, which he reveals to us in the first couple of chapters. The point of the main character writing this series of letters is to share his thinking, his fears, and his experiences all while remaining anonymous. I do think this can be a hard read due to the subjects the book addresses, but I think it is one that people should read.
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
Little Women is a book I have been wanting to read for a loooong time! Unlike many other books that have been adapted into films, I purposely haven’t watched the film, as I didn’t want spoilers and also wanted to read the book with a blank slate to then be able to see how close the movie is to the book. It is also one I have wanted to write about, seeing as the characters all have their own personalities that often clash with one another. Though I have only read a small portion of the book, I hope to finish it at least by the end of the academic year!