Since term 1 started I have finished 5 books, put down 1 and am starting another.
In term 1 I read The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams, a book I very much enjoyed and probably my favourite book I have read so far. I found the plot interesting and intriguing, and it was also quite humorous. I plan on reading the sequels to the first book in the future. I don’t think it really crossed off any categories, I don’t know if it counts as a book entirely based on its cover, as although the premise of the book is set around the title, a book in the book called the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, I’m not entirely sure what it means by ‘based on its cover’
Also in the term 1 holidays, I started reading Catcher in the rye. Although many opinions on it are controversial, I really enjoyed it. I don’t know why as the plot was quite bland (a guy who gets expelled walks around New York for a day, talking about his feelings) I really liked it, I feel as though he was a very genuine character and the author did a very good job, as the narration of the story doesn’t feel like its done by the author but rather by the character himself. I really related to some of the points Holden Caulfield made, while not with others. I think overall it was a book that really does well at creating a character. one of the quotes I found quite nice in the book was — “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.” because that is what I felt like after I finished reading the book. It was really quite eye opening to many things I didn’t really think about. This book ticks off the category of Banned books
After I finished this book, I started reading Tom Clancy’s Under Fire by Grant Blackwood. Certainly compared to the other books, the writing style in this one was quite simple but it did the job well. It got to the point quickly and intrigued me. I felt that the book moved a little bit too fast for me to keep up, but overall the story was really well done. I didn’t understand some of the political stuff in the book but it was all in all very nice, and the action was very well written. I didn’t like this book quite as much as the previous two books but I still found it a fun experience, although not a book that really left a deep impact. This book ticks off the category, story set in Asia as Iran is geographically a part of Asia
The next book I started reading was crime and punishment, although I did not really enjoy it. I got to around 1/5th of the book. I found the concept of the book interesting and the fact that it surrounded morality, but it was very hard for me to understand. First of all, it had many difficult to understand words, that required me to constantly use my phone to search up words. Also, the fact that it is set in Russia, and that it was written in 1866 makes it very hard for me to understand, with many foreign concepts, like the marriage system and the currency. I feel like I need a lot of time to read this book and research the concepts which I did not have so I gave it up, although I might pick it up some other time.
And the final book I read this semester was Good Omens, my second favourite book of this assortment, and a tv series that got launched this year. I found this book quite intriguing just like hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. It had a fun storyline, and some great humour. Also as a former student of a christian school, I found this book really humorous in the way that it turned theology on its head. My favourite quote from the book was — “God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won’t tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.” All in all I found this book very entertaining and funny, and it made me look at religion in a different way.
What I read these holidays
Since I don't have a lot going on this holiday I decided that I’m going to finish 1 book. The book I finished this holiday was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Compared to the other books which were much more lighthearted, this book was a lot heavier. It took me about 4 days to finish this book, and it left me pretty sad after I finished it. I feel like this book was a lot more character-based than the other books, with most of the focus being on the people on Himmel street. I found it interesting that the narrator of the story was death, as since the story is set in world war 2, it’s really interesting to have the narrator talking about himself, and the author puts a good twist on him as not just a skeleton wearing a black robe and holding a scythe but someone thats really tired, and has emotions. I also found it interesting that the story is from the side of the Germans instead of the jews because in many world war 2 stories it is from the viewpoint of the jews, but this story takes it from the other side. All in all, it was quite a heavy and sad read although equally as good as the other books on the list. This book ticks off the category books published in the year you were born
