Wednesday 8 August 2012

Bookworm


L-R: The Perks of Being A Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky), Before I Go To Sleep (SJ Watson), Looking For Alaska (John Green), The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)

1. The Perks of Being A Wallflower
This is a coming-of-age novel, written from the perspective of Charlie, who writes a series of letter to the reader, depicting his life at high school. At the start I wasn't a fan of the letter-writing format, but it really grew on me throughout the book. I found the character of Charlie incredibly endearing, his naivety was so fresh compared to characters in other books these days. I also really liked the other main characters, Sam and Patrick. I thought the ending was absolutely brilliant, it was so personal to the reader. I nearly wanted to get the last few lines of the book tattooed on myself! But alas the idea was a fleeting one.  I read this book mainly because there is a film adaptation coming out soon, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. All in all, an awkward tale beautifully told by Charlie.

2. Before I Go To Sleep
I was so impressed by the plot of the book, that I had to set aside my usual preconceptions about crime/thriller novels. I'm so glad I did! This book tells the story of Christine, who has severe amnesia, and can only remember things one day at a time. That means, by the time she wakes up in the morning she has forgotten who she is, etc. She meets with a doctor every day who tells her to write in a journal, and very gradually her short term memory comes back to her. This story is full of shocking discoveries, eerie twists and turns, so many things make the reader change his/her mind about whether her doctor, or her own husband, should be trusted. I would highly recommend this book, especially if you like a crime/thriller!

3. Looking For Alaska 
Looking For Alaska is one of John Green's most famous novels, and I can see why. Another coming of age tale about a young boy who moves away to College (in America, uni to us in the UK?), and falls in love with a girl named Alaska. She's the typical crush of every boy that age, pretty, quirky, smart, etc. I can't say too much about the plot because I got told it and it ruined the book slightly for me! So, I shall keep that a secret. All I can say is go and read this book, if you haven't already of course!

4. The Bell Jar
I got given this book for my birthday last year, and I'm ashamed to say it took me a long time to get round to it! I was really looking forward to it though, I absolutely adore Plath's poetry. I'm not sure what I was expecting from the plot actually, but 1920's New York was certainly not it! A pleasant surprise, I love that era. Esther Greenwood is working at a prominent magazine in NY, clearly not that enthusiastic of all the glitz and glamour. She begins to struggle to sleep, and slips into depression. Her mother makes her see a psychiatrist, and eventually she is put in a rehabilitation home. It's a pretty weird book to read... I know that's not much of an opinion but hey! I think I expected more from this book, however I read it quickly, because I didn't want to over think Esther and where she was in life. A strange one, but a good one.



I hope you liked my ramblings on the books I've read recently! I love reading people's posts on books, so if you have any, link them in the comments! :)

xxx

6 comments:

Laura said...

I love reading book review posts. I studied The Bell Jar for my university dissertation and you're right...it is weird lol. There's a lot more to it than meets the eye I think.

The others look good too. I love crime thrillers so will have to give Before I Go To Sleep a whirl :) x

gabby said...

I imagine that would have been a tricky book to study, I'm normally good at reading quite deeply into books but for some reason i couldn't with this one!

Yess, I recommend Before I Go To Sleep :)

xxx

Erin said...

Lovely post! I've been meaning to read all of these, especially The Bell Jar though!
I've been doing book posts on my blog recently as I'm doing the 2012 reading challenge on Goodreads. This is my latest one if you're interested: http://e-eliseetc.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/2012-reading-challenge-seventeen-books.html :) xx

gabby said...

Ah thanks Erin :) I've just had a nosey, there's about 10 books I now want to read! :') xxx

Miss T said...

I love book posts, I like to live through what other people choose to read since most of the time I have to stick to getting through my mountain of a reading list for my degree :( I really want to read Before I Go To Sleep, since my friend recommended it to me a while ago and I still haven't got round to reading it (: A Thousand Splendid Suns is going to be my next diversion I hope, although I'm currently reading a bit of Sherlock Holmes and he ain't too shabby! (: xx

gabby said...

Awh, that sucks that you have a big reading list! :( hopefully you enjoy your books!
I've been wanting to read A Thousand Splendid Suns, let me know how it is? :)
xxx