So as you will realize if you stick with me in my blogging journey is that I have a bit of an obsession with books and reading in general. In all honesty, reading is such a privilege that we all should take upon ourselves to educate us further.
I thought I'd share with you some of my favorites books I read in 2017. I'll tell you my thoughts on them but be warned I am not a literary writer, I am just here to share my own opinion and give you guys some good recommendations that I have had the pleasure to read.
Let's start with one of the first books I picked up last year
1) The forty rules of love by Elif Shafaq
What do I say about this apart from the fact that it is a stunning piece of literature! So beautifully written and captures your attention from the very first page. The novel follows the parallel narrative of two characters, Ella and Shamz of Tabriz. Ella's narrative is written in present and follows her as she sets to become something of her self. She works for a literary agency and coincidently the first novel she is assigned to is 'Sweet blasphemy' written by an individual by the name of Aziz Zahra. Over the course of the novel, Ella and Aziz develop a strong bond to the point where Ella is ready to leave her life behind for someone she has never met. In the parallel narrative, Shamz of Tabriz is portrayed as wandering dervish who's aim throughout the novel is to find his companion who's glimpse he sees through his visions which foreplay his death in the novel.
My most favorite parts of the novel hands down have to be the unfolding of the 40 rules of love. The different points at which all rules are incorporated in the novels make the reader really ponder upon them individually.
One of my favorite ones include:
"If you want to change the way others treat you, you should first change the way you treat yourself. Unless you learn to love yourself, fully and sincerely, there is no way you can be loved. Once you achieve that stage, however, be thankful for every thorn that others might through at you"
2) Since you've been gone by Morgan Matson
When I first picked up this novel I was excited to read a story which wasn't necessarily 'romantic' and I wasn't disappointed. I was most excited about reading this book with my best friend because we are cheesy like that!
The story follows the main protagonist Emily who spends her summer ticking off the list of challenges her best friend Sloane has set her in the hope that it would lead her to her best friend who had disappeared out of the blue at the beginning of the novel. In all honesty, the book was a little hard to get into but I was determined to push past this and I'm glad that I did because I really enjoyed it. Character development is a strong point of the novel as we see Emily grow as a person and come out of her bubble that she had been in while Sloane was still present in her life to become a more confident individual who is able to speak up for herself rather than expecting someone else to do it for her which personally for me a strong point of the novel.
3) Every last word by Tamara Ireland Stone
When I first picked this book up I wasn't expecting much of it regardless of the countless reviews I had read before purchasing. But can we just reiterate the phrase 'never judge a book by its cover', because it certainly applies here. The book focuses on the issue of mental health as its main theme which is a subject I have previously hesitated in picking up simply because I get very deeply attached to my books hence at that period of my life I figured I would take it too personally. However, that certainly wasn't the case and I am extremely glad I picked it up.
The story follows the main character by the name of Samantha who is a part of the 'popular group' in high school (we've all read countless stories regarding those eh?). However, she isn't completely honest and comfortable with her current group of friends to share her deepest secret. It's only when she discovers and becomes a part of the secret poetry group set up by the misfits of the high-school does she truly begin to feel that she belongs.
There is a huge plot-twist towards the end of the book that left me with goosebumps (and I am certainly not exaggerating here!). If you've read the book you will know what I mean!
4) The art of hearing heartbeats by Jan-Philip Sendker
This is a beautiful story of two individuals who are physically impaired and learn to rely on each other to support one another through the difficult life that lays ahead of them. It's both heartbreaking and inspirational at the same time and left me in tears towards the end!
The story is told retrospectively and follows the two main characters Tin Win and Mi Mi who are childhood sweethearts who eventually are unwillingly forced to go separate ways. Tin Win who is blind at the start of the story goes on to become one of New York's top lawyers. His life, however, was still hollow due to the absence of the one person who loved him when no one else did. As readers, we follow Tin Win's story from the very beginning to the very end and experience all the love, heartbreak, sadness and relief that he experiences from start until the end.
A definite read for those who have read and enjoyed Forty rules of love. Personally, for me, both books gave such a similar vibe of hope which was refreshing to read.
5) Everything I never told you by Celeste Ng
This story is still very close to my heart because I can relate to so many of the characters in the book. The novel follows the story of a Chinese-American family set in the 1970's, their middle daughter Lydia is dead. We follow most of the story retrospectively as the family tries to understand and come to terms with the fact that their favorite child is no more. Where did the parents go wrong, what caused it, who is to blame? Honestly, everything I never told you is a heart-wrenching story which allows an insight into the minds of people who despite being born in a land, cannot call it their own simply because of the way they look.
For those of you who only read/prefer to read stories with a happy ending, this one might not be for you. Although I understand that reading is an escape and so reading more positive books should be essential, it is equally as important to read to educate ourselves to understand better all that is happening around the world. And so books such as Everything I never told you and many more of the same context and message should be more widely acknowledged!
I am going to be honest and say it was hard to narrow the list down to a mere 5 books from all the ones I have read over the past year, however, if I was to choose any that I would definitely re-read than these would be it without a doubt.
I hope you enjoyed this! As I said before I am still rusty in my writing so forgive me if it sounded repetitive or rehearsed, I hope my blog will help me improve my writing a lot more. I certainly plan to do a lot more book related posts so do read and leave me your favorite book/books of 2017 in the comments below, I would love to read and add more to my ever-growing collection.
-A
I have heard good things about all these books and The forty rules of love by Elif Shafaq is defo my favourite book. All the rules were on point and have deep meanings thats what i love about this book.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with your comment there. I feel as if all the 40 quotes were embedded into the novel at such perfect times it often left me mesmerized. Also first comment ever, thank you!!
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