What I am Reading Now.

Currently I am reading World War Z by Max Brooks. A book giving a detailed account of a zombie apocalypse. I am enjoying the book so far, as it is clear that the author has really thought long and hard about what would happen in the event of a war against zombies for the survival of humanity.

This book is my first zombie novel and it will not be my last. I am only halfway through the book and I already rate it highly. World War Z can easily be classified as a  dystopian novel about a zombie outbreak. The dystopian genre is interesting as it allows the reader to create a world in their head of an earth where humanity is fighting to survive. I may talk further about the dystopian book genre in a future post. A full review of this book should be up some point next week.

Have a good week and keep reading.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower By Stephen Chosky. My Thoughts.

This book is about a 15 year old boy called Charlie. Charlie is an introverted teenager who has just started his first year at High School. Having no friends at first he writes letters about his life at High School. The key story in the letters being how Charlie became friends with Sam and Patrick.

The letters form the basis of the novel, which deals with a number of teenage issues. The issues include sex and sexuality, drugs, relationships and emotions. Charlies is a bookish teenager who is trying to learn to survive in social situations for the first time.

Personally as the reader I can relate to Charlie and how he finds the extroverted world of partying and drug taking alien. I connected well with the main character and enjoyed the style of Chosky's writing. It is similar to the Catcher in the Rye but much more focused on the emotions of a person considered as a social outcast my most of his peers.

I would recommend this book to anybody who likes to read YA fiction and is understanding of the challenges of being an introvert in a world dominated by extroverts. 

Favourite Book Quotes

A collection of my favourite book quotes.

"How dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to be greater than his nature will allow." - Mary Shelley, Frnakenstein.

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit. 

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one." - George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons. 

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. 

"Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape." - Terry Pratchett, Hogfather. 

"To give the short version, I've learnt that every human being, with or without disabilities, needs to strive to do their best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive at happiness. For us, you see, having autism is normal -- so we can't know for sure what your 'normal' is even like." - Naoki Higashida, The Reason I Jump. 

My Book Recommendations

This post concerns books I would recommend reading. This list will cover a range of genres, so there should be something for everyone.

Fantasy Book Recommendations

• The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
• A Game of Thrones - George R.R Martin
• The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett 

I would recommend these book to readers who enjoy a tale driven by world building and character development

Books for Younger Readers or Young Adult 

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling
• The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
• The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger 
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

These are fun books to read if you are still in your teens, though they can be enjoyed by older readers. Reading for pleasure requires reading enjoyable books, so do not feel guilty about reading these books even if you are an adult. 

Classics

• Dracula - Bram Stoker
• Frankenstein - Mary Shelley 
• Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens 
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

Classics by nature are tougher reads because they often use words which have fallen out of usage. However, the classics listed above are some of my favourites and are worth a read. Dracula is a classic vampire book which helped define the horror genre. Sherlock Holmes also is worth reading if you are a fan of mystery and intellectual thinking. 

Books for Nerds

• Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
• Good Omens- Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
• All the Sherlock Holmes short stories and novels by - Arthur Conan Doyle

The books listed above are well suited, in my opinion, to to nerdy readers who enjoy science fiction and fantasy, clever humour, and intellectual mystery. Ready Player One is especially suited to those who have an interest in the pop culture of the 1980s, geek culture especially.  

Reading Update

As a reader I enjoy reading books with a plot which engages me. The plot for twilight failed to set my imagination alight, so I stopped reading it. I am currently reading the Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb.

The Royal Assassin is the second book in the Farseer Trilogy; a trilogy focusing on royal politics, assassinating people and two branches of complex magic. The two branches of magic are the Skill and the Wit, which I will not be discussing in this blog post (spoilers). Royal Assassin is like other fantasy books I have read as it has plenty of world building, combined with interesting characters and a plot to keep you guessing. A full review of Royal Assassin will be posted not long after I finish reading the book.

As a glorified bookworm, one does enjoy the pleasure of reading a good book. On a daily basis I suffer from anxiety. Reading a good book helps distract the mind to reduce my anxiety. A big reason why reading is one of my favourite pastimes.

Update

I am an open minded person when it comes to reading books, so I have decided to give the Twilight series a read. Twilight has got a lot of bad rep dues to criticism over the quality of the writing. I am a few chapters in and I am already entertained. Sure it is by no means the best book I have ever read but I am enjoying it more than I thought I would.

I am a fan of first person narratives like Frankenstein, the Catcher in the Rye among others, so I am happy that Twilight is written from Bella’s perspective.  Reading from a different viewpoint may help me change my view on the world, which is a positive of reading a range of different books.

The review of the entire Twilight saga will be posted as soon as I have finished reading all the books. Have fun reading. 

Harry Potter and Me

I am having a good week helping to create a outdoor reading space at a primary school. Makes me more proud and passionate about my favourite hobby, reading. Today I have decided to discuss the impact that the Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling, has had on my life.

Before reading Harry Potter I was a casual reader, with an imagination in need of being exercised. A friend recommended the Harry Potter series to me, so I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in one week. The result was dazzling, I fell in love with the characters immediately and often fantasized about receiving my Hogwarts letter. For the first time a book was able to draw my mind completely out of the real world and into a fantasy world dominated by magic, trolls, goblins and many other fantastical creatures. Every time the I received the latest Harry Potter book it was like Christmas come early. My passion for books was unlocked.

My favourite character is Luna Lovegood, because she is different and she does not fear judgement. Moreover, Luna's philosophy is based off faith, which is still relevant today despite Science trying, unsuccessfully, to disprove all religions and supernatural events. Luna was introduced, in my opinion, as a perfect companion to go alongside Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville.

My teenage years were very stressful, dominated by anxiety. When I needed to get away everything I could escape to Hogwarts and in my mind recreate the story of Harry Potter as I was reading. In the age where many choose to use video games as a form of escape it is a great achievement that J.K. Rowling managed to encourage a new generation of passionate readers, we all say thank you.