Anna Karenina by Lev Tolstoj

Anna Karenina

by Lev Tolstoj

🇬🇧 Hello, hope you're all okay in this cold February :) Have you been watching the Olympics? What team are you rooting for? ;) Today I'm here with a big classic of the Russian Literature. 

Check out my last review about A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson :)

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Today's review will be about the book Anna Karenina, by the Russian author Lev Tolstoj. 

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The book was published in 1877 and appeared firstly in episodes on the magazine Russkij vestnik. 

The novel is divided into eight parts, but the length of each chapter is not so long. It is considered a masterpiece of realism and as all the writers during their times of living, the book was not appreciated until his after many years later. 

The first part of the book works as a sort of introduction to the protagonists of the novel. It introduces to us the first character of the story: Stepan Arkadyevich Oblonsky, also called "Stiva", that cheated on his wife Darya "Dolly" Alexandrovna Oblonskaya. He calls for help from his sister, Anna Arkadyevna Karenina, our main protagonist of the story. She arrives in Moscow where she tries to helps them to patch up their relationship. 

In the meantime, a childhood friend of Stiva comes to town as well, Konstantin "Kostya" Dmitrievich Levin/Lyovin. He's in fact infatuated of Dolly's younger sister, Ekaterina "Kitty" Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya. The young man proposes to her but she refuses him because she's more attracted by a young official: Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky, who will become the other main protagonist of the story, because here in Moscow that's where he meets Anna. The two will fall passionately in love, but Anna is married and has a child as well. 

In the other parts we will see how this will affect her life, her marriage, her spot in the society, and the relations she had with the other nobles. 

The book deals with the themes of betrayal, faith (especially connected to the sacrament of marriage), family, Imperial Russian society, desire, love, and rural vs city life. 

Trains are a motif through the whole book, with lots of important events and plot points taking place at the train station or on a train. 

The story has been so appreciated that has been turned into many films, opera ballets, theatre plays, and so on. 

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I received the book as a birthday gift from my mum and I was a bit scared by the size of the book, since it's around 800 pages, and by the fact that I started it three years before but I wasn't feeling hooked by it. This time instead I really enjoyed it, I reached also my goal of reading it in less than one month, and I made it with three days of advance. 

The story was really intriguing and the fact that the chapters were really short helped me probably to read it faster. I felt connected to some characters while despised some, which I guess made it even better, because you realise how much a book is well written when you empathise with some of the characters and realise how realistic they are all of them even after centuries that they have been written. 

I really liked how it portrayed the society and how much it was so similar to ours now, even after so much time has passed. Especially about the behaviour of others against Anna while against the other men who cheated everyone was acting the same way around them. 

Through the whole book I didn't like the way Anna acted, especially against her husband and son, but at the end (not going to spoil what happens) I understood her, understood her pain and why she acted that way, which made the ending even better. 

The book is totally recommended if you're into classics, and even if you're not, because you truly can't miss this one and I'm so glad my mum bought it for me :) Thanks mum! 

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🇮🇹 Ciao, spero che voi stiate bene durante questo freddo febbraio :) State guardando le Olimpiadi? Per quale team fate il tifo? ;) Oggi sono qui con un grande classico della letteratura russa.

Date un'occhiata alla mia ultima recensione su Come Uccidono le Brave Ragazze di Holly Jackson :)

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La recensione di oggi riguarderà il libro Anna Karenina, dell'autore russo Lev Tolstoj.

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Il libro è stato pubblicato nel 1877 ed è apparso per la prima volta in episodi sulla rivista Russkij vestnik.

Il romanzo è diviso in otto parti, ma la lunghezza di ogni capitolo non è così lunga. È considerato un capolavoro di realismo e come tutti gli scrittori durante i loro tempi di vita, il libro non fu apprezzato fino a molti anni dopo.

La prima parte del libro funziona come una sorta di introduzione ai protagonisti del romanzo. Ci presenta il primo personaggio della storia: Stepàn Arkad'ič Oblonskij, chiamato anche "Stiva", che ha tradito sua moglie Dar'ja "Dolly" Aleksàndrovna Oblonskaja. Chiede aiuto a sua sorella, Anna Arkàd'evna Karenina, la nostra protagonista principale della storia. Arriva a Mosca dove cerca di aiutarli a ricucire la loro relazione.

Nel frattempo, arriva in città anche un amico d'infanzia di Stiva, Konstantin "Kostya" Dmìtrič Lèvin. È infatti infatuato della sorella minore di Dolly, Ekaterina "Kitty" Aleksàndrovna Ščerbàckaja. Il giovane le fa la proposta ma lei rifiuta perché più attratta da un giovane ufficiale: Aleksèj Kirìllovič Vrònskij, che diventerà l'altro protagonista principale della storia, perché qui a Mosca è lì che incontra Anna. I due si innamoreranno appassionatamente, ma Anna è sposata e ha anche un figlio.

Nelle altre parti vedremo come questo influenzerà la sua vita, il suo matrimonio, il suo posto nella società e le relazioni che aveva con gli altri nobili.

Il libro affronta i temi del tradimento, della fede (in particolare legata al sacramento del matrimonio), della famiglia, della società imperiale russa, del desiderio, dell'amore e della vita rurale contro quella di città.

I treni sono un tema ricorrente in tutto il libro, con molti eventi importanti e punti della trama che si svolgono alla stazione ferroviaria o su un treno.

La storia è stata così apprezzata che è stata trasformata in molti film, balletti d'opera, spettacoli teatrali e così via.

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Ho ricevuto il libro come regalo di compleanno da mia mamma ed ero un po' spaventata dalle dimensioni del libro, dato che è di circa 800 pagine, e dal fatto che l'ho iniziai tre anni prima ma non mi prese moltissimo. Questa volta invece mi è piaciuto molto, ho raggiunto anche il mio obiettivo di leggerlo in meno di un mese, e ce l'ho fatta con tre giorni di anticipo.

La storia era davvero intrigante e il fatto che i capitoli fossero molto brevi mi ha probabilmente aiutato a leggerla più velocemente. Mi sono sentita legato ad alcuni personaggi mentre ne disprezzavo alcuni, il che immagino lo abbia reso ancora migliore, perché ti rendi conto di quanto un libro sia ben scritto quando entri in empatia con alcuni personaggi e capisci quanto siano realistici tutti loro anche dopo secoli che sono stati scritti.

Mi è piaciuto molto il modo in cui ritraeva la società e quanto fosse così simile alla nostra ora, anche dopo che è passato così tanto tempo. Soprattutto sul comportamento degli altri contro Anna mentre contro gli altri uomini che tradivano tutti si comportavano allo stesso modo intorno a loro.

Attraverso tutto il libro non mi è piaciuto il modo in cui Anna ha agito, soprattutto nei confronti di suo marito e suo figlio, ma alla fine (senza rovinare ciò che accade) l'ho capita, capito il suo dolore e perché si è comportata in quel modo, il che ha reso il finale ancora meglio.

Il libro è assolutamente consigliato se ti piacciono i classici, e anche se non ti piacciono, perché non puoi davvero perderti questo e sono così felice che mia madre me l'abbia comprato :) Grazie mamma!

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

by Holly Jackson

🇬🇧 Hi, hope you're all doing okay :) Today I'm here with a mystery thriller for young adults. 

Check out my last review about The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett :)

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Today's review will be about the book A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, by the British author Holly Jackson. 

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The book was published in 2019 and is followed by three other books: Good Girl, Bad Blood (2020); As Good as Dead (2021) and the new one Kill Joy (2021). 

The story revolves around Pippa "Pip" Fitz-Amobi, a student at the last year of high school that for her final exam decides to take an intriguing but dangerous topic: a murder that happened five years before in her town, Little Kilton. 

After the disappearance of Andrea "Andie" Bell, the most popular girl in school, her boyfriend Salil "Sal" Singh is being accused of having murdered her. Soon after that, he will be found dead in the woods after he killed himself. 

Pip's researches will uncover terrifying things and dark secrets that people kept to themselves. Nothing is as it seems. 

And most important, not everyone seems available to help her. Someone doesn't want her to find the truth and threatens to endanger her and her family. 

But what did really happen in Little Kilton? Was Sal really the killer? Is Andie really dead? 

The novel is revolved to young adults and includes pages with photos of emails and diaries as proves of her researches, but can be read by anyone. It's really easily written and goes smoothly. 

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I bought it because the plot really attracted me and I've seen that everyone loved it so I decided to go through with it and I wasn't disappointed. 

I literally devoured it in 3 days because I couldn't keep myself from not reading it. 

The story was so intriguing that I felt connected to the characters and I wanted to uncover the truth with them. 

The ending was just perfect and made justice to the happenings of the book. 

I've found also really good that the author put the proves that Pip was collecting as prints, photos, and so on, so you could really study the case along with her. 

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🇮🇹 Ciao, spero che stiate tutti bene :) Oggi sono qui con un thriller misterioso per giovani adulti.

Dai un'occhiata alla mia ultima recensione su La Metà Scomparsa di Brit Bennett :)

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La recensione di oggi riguarderà il libro Come Uccidono le Brave Ragazze, dell'autrice britannica Holly Jackson.

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Il libro è stato pubblicato nel 2019 ed è seguito da altri tre libri: Good Girl, Bad Blood (2020); As Good as Dead (2021) e il nuovo Kill Joy (2021).

La storia ruota attorno a Pippa "Pip" Fitz-Amobi, una studentessa dell'ultimo anno di liceo che per il suo esame finale decide di affrontare un argomento intrigante ma pericoloso: un omicidio avvenuto cinque anni prima nella sua città, Little Kilton.

Dopo la scomparsa di Andrea "Andie" Bell, la ragazza più popolare della scuola, il suo fidanzato Salil "Sal" Singh viene accusato di averla uccisa. Subito dopo, verrà trovato morto nel bosco dopo essersi ucciso.

Le ricerche di Pip scopriranno cose terrificanti e oscuri segreti che le persone si tengono per sé. Niente è come sembra.

E, soprattutto, non tutti sembrano disponibili ad aiutarla. Qualcuno non vuole che trovi la verità e minaccia di mettere in pericolo lei e la sua famiglia.

Ma cosa è successo davvero a Little Kilton? Sal era davvero l'assassino? Andie è davvero morta?

Il romanzo è rivolto ai giovani adulti e include pagine con foto di e-mail e diari a testimonianza delle sue ricerche, ma può essere letto da chiunque. È davvero facile da leggere e scorre velocemente.

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L'ho comprato perché la trama mi ha davvero attratto e ho visto che tutti lo adoravano, quindi ho deciso di andare fino in fondo e non sono rimasta delusa.

L'ho letteralmente divorato in 3 giorni perché non potevo trattenermi dal non leggerlo.

La storia era così intrigante che mi sentivo in contatto con i personaggi e volevo scoprire la verità con loro.

Il finale è stato semplicemente perfetto e ha reso giustizia agli avvenimenti del libro.

Ho anche trovato molto positivo che l'autrice abbia messo le prove che Pip stava raccogliendo come stampe, foto e così via, così da sentirti come se stessi davvero studiando il caso insieme a lei.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple

by Alice Walker

Spoiler alert: If you've already watched the film with Whoopi Goldberg,

then there are no spoilers.

Hi, here I am with another review.

Today I'm going to talk about the novel The Color Purple written by the American author Alice Walker. I wanted to read this book because I loved the film and I've seen that a lot of people on Bookstagram were reading it also, so I got curious to see if it was different from the film or not.

The book is composed by letters written by Celie, the main protagonist, and by her sister, Nettie, from which she is divided. The book focuses on the life of African-American women during the 1930s, addressing their low position in the American social life.

Celie is a 14 years old girl at the beginning, she writes her story through letters addressed to God. Almost immediately she gets married to an older man that she calls Mr. -, because she doesn't even know her name. Her life changes when she is divided from her sister Nettie, and then meet a friend of Mr., Shug Avery, a female singer, with whom she becomes friend and lover, and thanks to whom she experience her sexuality. 

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I mean, what else can I say except the fact that I loved it? It's really enjoyable, short and fast to read. It is exactly as the film, but the thing I enjoyed the most, is the fact that they actually showed Celie discovering that she's attracted to Shug and not to men, something that you can't clearly understand from the film. It's a really short book though, and I wished it was lasting a bit longer.

This month's recommended books

Hi everyone I'm back with the monthly recommended books:

«Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli» 
  
Simon is a 16 years old guy, who has a secret that hasn't confessed to anyone. He's gay. No one knows, not even his friends because he's not ready to do his coming out yet. But then he starts to exchange emails with someone calling himself Blue, who seems to be attracted by him. These emails though falls into the wrong hands and Simon starts to be blackmailed by Martin, the class clown. If he doesn't help him win the attention of Simon's friend, his sexual identity will become everyone's business, and the privacy of Blue will be compromised. 

The book is really short and light and part, of course, of the LGBTQ+ community, as am I. A film was also based on it, called Love, Simon. It's not the typical teenage drama, because it shows you the point of view of Simon's family as well, making you see how hard it is to be stereotyped in this world.

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«Emma by Jane Austen» 

Emma Woodhouse is one of Austen's heroine, not as popular as Elizabeth Bennet or the Dashwood's sisters, but is also considered as the most captivating and vivid character of them all. She's beautiful, spoiled, vain and witty. She organises the lives of the inhabitants of the invented village of Highbury and plays to be a matchmaker, but with, of course, devastating effect. 

I must admit, I liked it, but I still prefer Pride&Prejudice and Sense&Sensibilty. In my opinion, nothing can still beat them. Anyway, this novel is enjoyable, because it's more comic and full of lovely characters as Emma, Harriet and Mrs. Weston.

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«The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger»

The narrator of this book is a born old 16 years old guy, Holden Caulfield, whose native of New York. He leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in NYC for 3 days. There are many feelings going on in him, but as most of the people, he keeps almost all of them inside himself. The book talks about his experience alone in NY. 

I must admit, I loved this book when I was in middle school. I know it's not probably so not easy to understand, because it's a bit confusing sometimes, but I think that's actually the point of it. That's a totally recommended book that will help you understand what is going on inside a teenager's mind. 

Brazen by Pénélope Bagieu

Brazen

by Pénélope Bagieu

Spoiler alert: No spoilers this time, it's just a really enjoyable reading,
full of characters that you probably never heard of before or
knew their stories but not their names.

Hello everyone, here there is another review.

Today I'm going to talk about the graphic novel Brazen (originally called in French Les Culottées), written by the French illustrator and comic designer Pénélope Bagieu. I've came across this book because a friend of mine brought me one of the tomes in French when she went back to Paris for holidays and since then I wanted to pay the full version of it, which you can find in different languages such as English, French, Spanish, Italian and so on.

The graphic novel goes across history and the whole globe to describe to us indomitable women, who fought for their rights and to give a better life to their selves and the other generations. These are the stories of women that fought against adversity by raising their voices to be heard and change the course of history.

With her drawings, Bagieu shows the lives of these female role models, some more famous as the Witch of Oz and some less known as Agnodice, the first female gynecologist. These stories are meant to inspire the next generations of brazen and couragous women.

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I mean, what else can I say except the fact that I loved it? It's really enjoyable, because it's made as a comic, so easier to read, even though in some parts approaches some important and cruel topics. My favourite stories are the one about: Agnodice, the first gynecologist in Ancient Greece; Josephine Baker, who was mostly known as a French dancer but was also a French Resistance fighter and a matriarch; and Jesselyn Radack, a lawyer who fought for the rights of whistle-blowers.

This month's recommended books:

Hi everyone, the books recommended for this month are:

«Milk And Honey by Rupi Kaur» 
  
Milk And Honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. About the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss and femininity. It's divided into four chapters, each one of them serves a different purpose, because it deals with a different pain and heals different heartaches. 

The book will take you through a journey of the most bitter moments in life to find sweetness in them as well, because sweetness is everywhere if you're just willing to look. 

If you're into poetry, this book is totally recommended as well as her other book The Sun And Her Flowers.

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«To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee»

To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel published in 1961 by Harper Lee. It approaches the theme of racism and acceptance for the people that are considered different from us. 
The novel is told by the point of view of Scout, the youngest daughter of Atticus Finch, a lawyer that will need to defend a black young man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused of assaulting a white young woman. 
The book is full of compassion, drama and is deeply moving and touching. It will take you to the roots of human behaviour, through innocence, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Today it is considered to be a masterpiece of American literature. 

✧༺♥༻∞　　∞༺♥༻✧

«Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley»

This novel written by Mary Shelley narrates through an epistolary form the story of Victor Frankenstein, the scientist and his creation that it's defined by him as a monster, a fiend. 
Through the book, though, and the point of view of both characters, it will be possible to understand that the real monster is indeed the human, Victor, while the creature, or Adam, as he will be referred to after, is just an imagine of how we treat who's different from us, who's not accepted, and for this we're afraid of. 
I must admit this is one of my favourite classics ever and I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. 

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita

by Vladimir Nabokov

Spoiler alert: The book is controversial, so not for an easy and
pleasant reading, since it talks about the topic of pedophilia.

 

Hi, here I am with a new review.

Today I'm going to do the review of Lolita, written by the Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. I've came across this book because my cousin suggested me to read it, even though it has been on my to read list for a long time.

The novel is famous because of its controversial subject. The protagonist, a middle-aged literature professor that goes under the nickname of Humbert Humbert, is obsessed with Dolores Haze, a 12 years old girl, with whom he becomes the tutor by being hosted by her mother in their house. He's an unreliable narrator.

Later he will become sexually involved with the girl after he becomes her stepfather by marrying Mrs. Haze. He will give Dolores a private nickname, "Lolita", that gives the title to the book. The name "Lolita" has been assimilated in our popular culture and used to imply that a young girl is sexually precocious. Dolores and him will then travel around the country when the mother accidentally dies. A lot of consequences will happen to both the characters.

Lolita quickly attained a classic status and it's considered to be a cult book. The novel was then adapted into a film by Stanley Kubrik in 1962, and then in 1997 by Adrian Lyne. It has also been adapted in musicals, ballets and operas.

It has been considered as one of the greatest work of the 20th by many authors and listed as one of the best books by Time, Le Monde and many others.

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I need to admit that I was really into reading this book at first, but as soon as I started it, I was really shocked by how he could go around, flirting with her, without any consequences. The more I read and the more I understood that it was going against everything I believed in, but also I was more attracted to it, because the plot was thickening and the situation was getting worse for Humbert, which made me feel better. 

The end of the book is both sad and happy, that's why I liked it, because you have a realistic ending.

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Little Life

by Hanya Yanagihara

Spoiler alert: A thousand napkins sadly won't be enough.
This story is deep and full of sadness, but also
love and friendship. So you need to be prepared to be
emotionally touched.
 

Hello everyone

Today I'm going to do the review of A Little Life, written by the American novelist Hanya Yanagihara. I've came across this book because my cousin suggested me to read it, and I really loved it. Despite the book is quite long and full of heavy material, it became a best-seller all over the world. The title refers to the poem "The Waste Land" of T.S. Eliot.
The book talks about the relationship between four classmates from a college in Massachusetts that move to New York to start a new life. They are, though, broke and adrift, holding on only because of their friendship and ambition. Willem is kind and attractive, he's an aspiring actor, while JB is a painter trying to make it in the art world. Malcom is a frustrated architect working at a prominent firm. The centre of their gravity is the enigmatic but brilliant Jude, with a sad and dark past that doesn't want to tell about.

As the years passed by, though, their friendships seem to get deeper, but darker as well, because of addiction, success and pride. The greatest challenge is Jude, incredibly talented but also a broken man, with the mind and body scarred by an untold childhood. He's haunted by his trauma that seems to overcome him and define his life forever. 

The book is divided into 7 parts following a chronological order, interrupted by flashbacks. At the beginning of the novel we see as an omniscient narrator is telling the story, while the focus is slowly moving towards Jude, his interactions with the others, his flashbacks and his own experiences. The story is told by an unspecified future version of Harold, the mentor and professor of Jude in university.




The novel deals with different themes, most of them difficult ones. The main themes are: male relationships and homosexuality; trauma, recovery and support; chronic pain, disability and self-harm.

Due to the heavy themes, the book can be really touching, especially if you dealt with these topics, so it's recommended to talk to someone after it, if you feel worse. Otherwise, the story is really interesting, especially their friendships and relationships with other people, as Harold for Jude.

This month's recommended books

Hey!! This month's recommended books are:

«Brazen by Pénélope Bagieu» 
  
Originally called Les Culottées and divided in two tomes, Brazen, translated in many languages, explores the theme of feminism and women who made history across the globe. A common characteristic that connects all of them is their indomitable spirit, the courage to change their lives for the best, by raising their voices, changing history, bringing peace to their nations... Brazen is a comic book shoring female role models some of them world-famous, and others little known. From the journalist Nellie Bly to the actress Margaret Hamilton (namesake of the astronaut), from Josephine Baker to the first female gynecologist Agnodice. This book is sure to inspire the next generation of rebel ladies.

✧༺♥༻∞　　∞༺♥༻✧

«The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood»

Set in a despotic and autocratic place, called the Republic of Gilead. Here, Offred, the main character, is a Handmaid who lives in the house of the Commander just as an "object" to procreate, since the Wives cannot give birth to the children of their husbands, the Commanders. She can leave the house once a day to walk to get food and lie on her back and pray to get pregnant, once this will happen, she will just be "thrown out" like an old pair of shoes, to go to the next Commander. It's a never ending circle where Offred (the name comes because she's a property of Fred, her actual Commander) remembers her past with her husband, Luke, and their daughter, who she hasn't seen since this horrifying republic started. In some parts of the book, that was first published in 1985, we can clearly see that some of the things that happen, didn't really change for women, there is not a progress for equality, where women are blame to be sterile when they can't get children, because "it can't be the men's fault", or that they need to have a children before 35, because if not, it would be wrong or weird. Even though it was written many years ago, it still actual, especially in some countries of the world. Atwood published a sequel last year called "The Testaments". 

✧༺♥༻∞　　∞༺♥༻✧

 

«Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed»

This book is an autobiography of a 22 years old woman, Cheryl, that when her mother died and her marriage failed, thought she lost everything she had. Four years after all these events she decides, since she has nothing else to lose, to go on a hike of more than a thousand miles of the PCT from Mojave Desert through California, Oregon to Washington State, without any experience and alone. This book tells her journey through pain, loss of shoes, nails and cold and hotness, but also some friendships along the way and good memories. It's an inspiring book that makes you understand that if you want to do something, even if it's the most impulsive thing you've ever done, it can make you stronger, heal you.

After

After

by Anna Todd

Spoiler alert: Get ready for the end 

because it will totally shock you.

Heyyyy

Today I'm here for doing the review of "After" by Anna Todd.
I've finally had the chance to read it.

She became pretty popular thanks to this book that she published on Wattpad as a fanfiction for Harry Styles from the One Direction.

If you're to the typical Wattpad cliché then this story is totally the right one for you, because it's full of drama, sadness, smut parts and romance too.

After is the first book of the serie, which is composed from other three books and another one called Before.
It follows the story of a college girl, Theresa "Tessa" Young, at her first year at the WCU (Washington Central University).
She always was the perfect daughter, student, girlfriend, or so she thought.

Tessa has a sweet boyfriend, Noah, with whom stayed together for two years now.
At the beginning of the book she meets Hardin Scott, a friend of Steph, her new roommate.
He's a English guy, angry with the world, full of tattoos and piercings.

At first they don't like each other, because they're quite the opposite, like the good and the evil, but one night every changes.
They kiss at a party, but after that she decides to "broke up" with him because she still has a boyfriend.
He then tries to "stay friends" with her, but their friendship can't work if they both feel something for each other.

When they both admit that they have feelings for the other one, they start sharing an apartment together since her mother threatened to cut her funds so she won't have a dorm anymore.

After they officially are together they spend the night together and Hardin takes her virginity.

Everything seems to be perfect, they love each other but then Tessa finds out a terrible truth about Hardin. the horrible secret that lead them to stay together.

What will happen between them? Will they be able to resolve things? Or what he did to her was too terrible to be fixed?

This month's recommended books:

Hey y'all!! How are you doing?

This month's recommended books are:

«Little Women by Louisa May Alcott»

This is one of those books that everyone should read at least once in their lives.
The novel is considered as a classic and it's based on the real story of the writer and her three sisters.
It details the passage from childhood to womanhood of the four March's sisters: Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth.
The book also has a sequel where the four sisters grew up and became women.

«Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen»

Yes, the most known book from this amazing writer is obviously recommended.
If you like romantic and classical novels than this book is the right one for you.
It's one of the "most-loved books" for literally everyone, because thanks to the point of view of the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, you learn that having prejudices is wrong. It's basically the rule of: "never judge a book from the cover". And that's true.
In the novel, she learns the error of making hasty judgements and comes to appreciate the difference between the superficial and the essential.

«A Midsummer night's dream by William Shakespeare»

I know what you're thinking. Shouldn't the recommended one be "Romeo&Juliet"? Yeah that one is certainly the most known from Shakespeare, but let's admit it, it's obviously not his masterpiece.
If you like comedies and classics than this one is the right one for you.
The play talks about six amateur actors who are controlled and manipulated by faires who lives in the forest.
A lot of jokes are done by a little sprite with magical powers called "Puck".

IT

IT

By Stephen King

IT is the 22nd book written by Stephen King, and it's probably considered the most famous one, with Misery, Shining and Carrie.

The novel is divided in two periods and is based on the experiences of seven children that are being terrorized by an entity called IT that primarly appears as "Pennywise the Dancing Clown". It exploits the fears and phobias of the kids to disguise itself while hunting the prey.

The book starts in 1957 - 1958 in Derry (a small town in Maine) with the "disappearance" of the six years old George "Georgie" Denbrough because of "Mr. Bob Gray" aka Pennywise.

Georgie was Bill's brother, one of the seven children of this book. 

The novel goes through the fears of these kids as you can see since IT can take the shape of what frighten them: clowns, mummies, giant and scary birds, blood and so on.

During this period the "Loser Club", formed by: Bill (Georgie's brother), Ben Hanscom, Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier, Stan Uris, Beverly Marsh and Mike Hanlon; is being haunted by Pennywise and the group of bullies led by Henry Bowers. 

At the end of the summer they "manage" to fight IT and swear a blood oath to return to Derry if IT would have returned.

«Your hair is winter fire, January embers. My heart burns there, too.»

The second period is set in 1984 - 1985. The Loser Club is now adult and most of them are now successful in life. Everyone, except Mike, who still lives in Derry and works as a librarian. 

He calls everyone from the group because he suspects that Pennywise might be back since a lot of weird events as the disappearance of children and the death of an adult.

They all return there because of their blood oath. 

Their return to the town they grew up in, will reopen old wounds that seemed forgotten.

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Is Pennywise really back? Was he ever gone?

In the book, you will discover all the little secrets about it. It's a really big book, but it's worth it, as you will never get bored with it. If you like horror and want to experience some thrills of fear, then you really can't miss it :)

This month's recommended books

Hey y'all!!

The books I recommend you for this month are:

«The Lovely Bones» by Alice Sebold

This book isn't the usual story about a girl being murdered by a psychotic. It offers us another point of view of what happened, the point of view of Susie, the victim.
Susie Salmon, yes, like the fish, talks to us from her personal "Heaven" and watches as her family and friends struggle to find peace and to move on with their lives when they have to face the fact that she is dead, that she isn't there with them anymore.
The only ones who seem to want to know the truth about what happened to her, are her father, Jack, and her younger sister, Lindsey.
The title comes from a quotation that Susie said at the end of the book, when her friends and family finds the strenght to go on.
If you haven't checked it out yet go and read it.

Spoiler alert: prepare the tissues

«Misery» by Stephen King

If you like the genre then you can't really miss to read it.
The book is a psychological horror thriller, focused on Paul Sheldon, a writer famous for books about Victorian-era romance, that talk about the character Misery Chastain.
One day, because of a car crash, due to a snow storm, he is rescued by a fan of him, Annie Wilkes, who then transports him to her house and once she finds out what he did to her favourite character, Misery, forces him to write another story, no matter what it takes.
Annie will turns out to be a completely psychopath, and this book describes it very well, making you feel the same feelings of Paul, the same fear of her.
Her character is scary and amazing at the same time and you're going love it.

Spoiler alert: get ready for a plot twist.

«Harry Potter» by J. K. Rowling

I couldn't obviously not include what is one of the best sagas ever written and one of the most loved too.
Harry Potter with his seven books has conquered lot of readers, and some of them have grown up with him. Like me for example.
The books are full of wonderful meaning about love, friendship, fighting for your beloved ones and many more.
I would recommened to read all the seven books, not including the 8th one, "The Cursed Child", because honestly, it's not worth it.
Sorry Queen J.K.
But seriously they're really amazing because they're not only about magic and wizards, there's more of it.
So go check them out.

Spoiler alert: prepare the tissues

This month's recommended books:

Hey!!!

I've decided to recommend three books that I appreaciated every month. Here are the first three for the month of February. Hope you'll like them as much as I do.

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«The Girl On The Train» by Paula Hawkins

If you still haven't read it yet then what are you waiting for?
The book is narrated by three different women: Rachel, the main character, Megan and Anna. This can make it difficult to read because the dates at the beginning of every chapter can confuse you, but you'll get used to it.
Whether we agree or not we all observe people. On the train, while walking, while shopping. It's kind of part of the human nature. Obviously Rachel's curiosity was another level of curiosity for sure. It was totally extreme. She interjected herself into lives that didn't belong to her.
There's a lot of lying in this book, a lot of secrets. Everyone is lying to everyone else, and you don't really understand what is actually happening till the end.
And with all those lies you will start to ask yourself: "Who should I trust? Who trusted whom?"
If you love psychological books, then this is the rest one for you.

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«The Hunger Games» by Suzanne Collins (all the three books)

With the three books "The Hunger Games", "Catching Fire" and "The Mockingjay", the Hunger Games is probably the best written teen saga after Harry Potter.
Way more better than the movies, these books will get into you. You'll feel attached to the characters, you'll live their pain, their happiness.
It will feel like you're part of Panem, like you're one of them.
And that's exactly what the writer wanted, to make you feel a part of it.
When you finish the first book, you think that nothing can beat it but that's exactly where you're wrong, because the second two books are formidable.

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«The Book Thief» by Markus Zusak

This one is my favorite book between all three that I mentioned in this post. The writer was able to actually make you live in that moment, to make you feel like a friend of Liesel, like you're there with her. Her friendship with Max is just amazing. She doesn't have any prejudice for him, not like everyone else did, instead. She treated him as a normal person, because it was just who he was, a person, a friend. 
The way that Rudy acted when he was practicing for running against the other children was terrific. He was a fan of Jesse Owens and he wasn't afraid of showing it, even though the other dispaised him for it and treated him bad. 
This book will make you laugh, but it will also make you cry because those things should had never have happened but they will never be forgotten.

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Brontë

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The first book I’m going to review is one of my favourite ones: Jane Eyre.

It was written by the English writer Charlotte Brontë, under the pen name of “Currer Bell” on 16 October 1847.

Probably the most known of the Brontë’s sister, Charlotte start her writing career with the novel “The Professor”, that was firstly rejected by the publishers. She also wrote other two novels: “Shirley” and “Villette”, but her most known and loved novel remains “Jane Eyre”.

The book follows the life experience of a girl, Jane, who sooner became a real icon of feminism and girl power for the new generations.

It starts with talking about her childhood in Gateshead. Jane has to live with Mrs. Reed, her aunt, who doesn’t love her, and so her children, because her parents died for typhus. They didn’t recognize her at the same level as them, even though she was from a pretty known family, the Eyre. The only person in that mansion to actually don’t hate Jane, seems to be Bessie, the nursemaid.

Because of this not returned love from her family, Mrs. Reed decide to send her to a catholic school, Lowood, where they will teach her to be a good girl, and not someone who, as her aunt always said, always has been a bad and ugly person.

Here she will spend eight years of her life, six as a student and two as a teacher. She will mature, and learn a lot of new things, as French, drawing and playing the piano. This part of her life was needed for her to grow, but she soon got tired of it, once Ms. Temple, the principal of the school left. She was like a figure of example for her, an inspiration.

The fulcrum of the story comes when Jane finally leave Lowood to look for another work. She will find an opportunity at Thornfield Hall, as a teacher to the young French girl, Adele. Here Jane will be greeted by the housekeeper, Alice Fairfax, a nice and kind old lady.

One night, while Jane is walking to a nearby town, a horseman passes her. The horse slips on ice and throws the rider. Despite the rider’s surliness, Jane decides to help him to get back onto his horse. Later, back at Thornfield, she discovers that this man is Edward Rochester, master of the house. Adele is his ward, left in his care when her mother, a French actress, abandoned her.

At first she didn’t like him because he seems to be cold and arrogant, but soon they start to love each other’s company.

Odd things start to happen such as  a strange laugh, a mysterious fire in Mr. Rochester’s room, from which Jane will save him, and an attack on a house guest named Mr. Mason.

«I would always rather be happy than dignified.»

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«I am no bird; and no net ensnares me;

 I am a free human being with an independent will, 

which I now exert to leave you.»

«I am not an angel, 

and I will not be one till I die: 

I will be myself.»

To conclude this review, Jane is an inspirational character. She has the courage to stand for herself against the cruelty of her aunt, and she manage to take the lead in a conversation with a man. She's smart, a good friend, a good listener, a good girl. She's not the typical girl of every novel, but a real feminine heroine from the 19th century. The love story with Mr. Rochester is one of the greatest ever written, because even though the age gap is huge, they're meant to be together and that makes you realize that age is just a number.

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Hi!

Hey everyone.

This is my first post in here.

My name is Alexis and I openeded this blog with the purpose of doing reviews about the books I'm reading and suggesting you the one I loved the most.

I've been reading all my life and I'm not planning to stop. Reading is what keeps your mind active and it lets you "enter" in worlds that seem to be completely ours. That's what I really like about it, other than the fact that it's relaxing, but also because you can be someone else for a while. Leave all that boring life that is surrounding you.

I also have a fan account for books on Instagram, if you want to check it out the name is: thegalaxybooks and I have a Goodreads account too, my username is: Ale N
If you want to follow some of my stories on Wattpad, here's the link: alexisb1997
You can also check out my Pinterest account: AleN1121997

Thanks for your time, and until next time.

Have a nice day.