A little late in the day but happy World Book Day to all you bibliophiles! Nothing compares to sitting peacefully in a bookstore or a library for hours — amidst the smell of books — going through different stories and picking the one you like best.
Call me old-school but I still haven’t gotten the hang of reading books online and would prefer a hard copy any day (which, I understand, is not very suitable in these times. I might have to give e-books a try.)
I am also someone who cannot read just for the sake of maintaining the habit of it. I have to feel what I’m reading and be totally into the story. If I’m loving it, I can be done with the book within a week, but if not, every page will be a struggle.
This World Book Day, I am going to relive the joy of reading some of my most favourite books. The books that are entrapped in my memory for they changed my life forever.
Let's get started!
o The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins – I remember I had taken a hiatus from reading because I couldn’t find anything enticing. Then one day, I heard my friends talking about Catching Fire’s insane trailer.
I watched it for myself and my interest was instantly piqued! I managed to finish the series before the movie came out and what a pleasure it was. Hunger Games rekindled my passion for reading and introduced me to the world of science-fiction — predominant in most of the books that I read in my teens.
o Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth – Another dystopian sci-fi I couldn’t keep my hands off. This was the ideal series to cure my Hunger Games’ hangover.
Again, when I started reading it, its movie was around the corner and that added to my eagerness to finish the book.
Since I’d seen the trailer, one advantage (or disadvantage, for some) I faced while reading was that I imagined the characters as the actors in the movie. This made the novel even more engaging for me!
o The Selection Series by Kierra Cass – It was the perfect blend of science fiction, romance and fantasy. The characters, especially Prince Maxon, were charming and swoon-worthy. The politics, the depiction of royalty, the love triangle and the heartbreaks were riveting.
It was a beautiful book and I enjoyed every bit of it. It was only recently that I discovered that it was not a trilogy, but rather a five-novel series. However, the first three books were complete in themselves and I have no regrets. The author also released four spin-off novellas which I was almost ready to read but decided against it — because I didn’t want to hurt the sweet memories of the original story.
o Then I Met My Sister by C.H. Deriso – I had never heard of this book. I randomly picked it up at a book fair and I’m so glad for it.
It was a quick read, very simple and very interesting. It encouraged me to maintain a journal of my own, but alas, the habit didn’t last for long.
It’s a bummer that this book is not as popular because this kind of writing and storyline deserves a lot of appreciation.
o 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher – 13 Reasons Why touched on such a sensitive subject and talked about heartbreaking incidents.
It described everything explicitly and was nothing close to what I had read before. When its Netflix series came out and people couldn’t stop rambling about it, I felt an inexplicable kind of pride for being one of the few people who had actually read the book.
I have to admit that when I first read it, some occurrences seemed a little too unrealistic, but when I saw their portrayal in the series, I realized how probable it all was.
o Delirium Series by Lauren Oliver – One of the many books I read in my dystopian fiction phase. It was about a girl who falls in love in a society where love was considered a disease.
Even though all the sci-fi novels that I read were similar in some ways, they were all so unique in their main plots. The authors had picked up unimaginable topics. The endings used to be predictable but the turn of events was always surprising, and the journey of reading priceless.
o Dizzy by Cathy Cassidy – Cathy Cassidy was my go-to author in my preteens. I loved almost every book I picked of hers because her stories were so relatable and spoke to me on so many levels.
It instilled in me the habit of reading novels. All her books were light and happy reads. Cassidy very realistically built the journey of her protagonists, most of whom belonged to dysfunctional families.
o The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank – Even though it was my course book and I had to finish it to clear my exams, I certainly didn’t do it out of compulsion.
Being a history geek, I loved the process of reading this memoir. The child narrative was heart-wrenching and it was interesting to understand the relationships Anne shared with different family members of hers.
Her turmoil, her inhibitions, her enthusiasm and her mostly positive attitude resonated with me.
o It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover – Saved the best for the last. Hands down one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. It explored the different aspects of love, violence, of a relationship and a marriage.
The story was very mature, and the ending bold and not at all cliché. Even though I loved Ryle and Lily together, I accepted what happened as it was only justified.
I adored the characters, the author’s style of writing and how she weaved the story. I don’t think I’ve ever loved a book as much as I did this one. It made me cry, it made me ecstatic, but most importantly, it taught me how sometimes, we have to make extremely difficult choices.
Just writing this and talking about these books exhilarated me. It only reminds me of what a beautiful thing reading is.