Books:
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen…………………………44/295 pgs (April 1 – April 30) READING continuation of last month
- Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard……………………………383/383 pgs (April 5 – April 18) FINISHED/REREAD
- Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes by John Rocco………………326/516 (April 22 – April 30) READING/REREAD
- Evolution – The Whole Story by Steve Parker…………………………………….145/559 pgs REREAD continuation of last month
Reading Rate:
Nonfiction books not included: Total number of pages/Number of days = 753/30 = 25 pages per day
Nonfiction books included: Total number of pages/Number of days = 1296/30 = 30 pages per day
Favourite Book: Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes is a book that includes twelve individual stories each about the famous Greek heroes named: Perseus, Psyche, Phaethon, Otrera, Daedalus, Theseus, Atalanta, Bellerophon, Cyrene, Orpheus, Hercules, and Jason. This book is both humorous and educational making it an absolutely amazing read altogether. The narrator, Percy Jackson, tells each story with an enthusiasm that also goes to paint his outgoing and amusing character. With a humorous narrator, the book brings many laughs and becomes immensely intriguing making it very hard to put down.
The first story is about Perseus, the well-known hero that is recognized for cutting off Medusa’s head. But Percy Jackson also goes in-depth about the heroes’ other accomplishments like finding the ancient city of Mycenae and rescuing Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. Many other stories include Psyche, the girl that was punished for having a relationship with Cupid, Phaethon, the demigod that fell to his death after being allowed to drive the sun chariot across the sky, Otrera, the creator and queen of the Amazons, Daedalus, a skilled craftsman who tragically lost his son and built the Labyrinth maze, in which dwelt the Minotaur who was later defeated by Theseus, Atalanta, the princess that was abandoned but soon rose to became a skilled huntress, Bellerophon, the rider of the white Pegasus, Cyrene, a huntress that wrestled lions, Orpheus, the great musician that couldn’t die, Hercules, the great hero that became a god, and lastly Jason, the boy who married an evil enchantress.
I personally have always found interest in mythology, but my favourite is Greek. The stories of heroes and gods accomplishing the impossible, going on adventures or being cursed and punished, have always, for me, come above that of ordinary fictional stories. The twists and imagination that come with mythological stories have always been fascinating, presenting itself as much different compared to fiction. I recommend this book for everyone to read as a candy book as it is fairly simple but also very enjoyable.
Review: Red Queen ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Red Queen has always been one of my favourite books ever since I first read it a couple of years ago. The story shows similarity to the Hunger Games where there is a corrupted government with rebellious groups and champions that battle in an arena, the main difference being that Red Queen incorporates powers. Seventeen-year-old Mare Barrow lives in a world where social status is determined by the colour of blood a person has. The red bloods are the common folk citizens in which are ruled by the silver bloods who possess special abilities unique to each individual. The problem arises when Mare discovers that she posses the same abilities as the silver bloods even though she herself is a red blood and shouldn’t have any powers. The king, who fears her potential, then gives her a fake identity and betroths her to his youngest son Maven. Mare goes on a journey where she tries to understand the silver world whilst also hoping to take down the silver regime from the inside.
Red Queen is an amazing book filled with many twists that differentiate it from many other books. It is a young adult fantasy novel also incorporating bits of romance, action, and dystopian. But even though it is a great book it is also a very simple read making it a candy book to only read for personal pleasures.
Reflection:
With the ongoing quartine, I haven’t been reading as regularly as I usually would mainly because I don’t enjoy reading e-books so, as a result, I’ve resorted to re-reading books I have at home. I haven’t been able to even come close to accomplishing the goals I set for myself last month and I don’t think I will for a while. Instead, I’ve changed courses and have started to invest most of my time reading non-fiction books. One of my favourites is the book Evolution – The Whole Story, written by Steve Parker, which takes the reader on a journey through time from the very beginning of Earth’s formation, with the very first microorganisms, to today’s complicated multicellular organisms. Due to not reading the usual fictional novels I normally read my reading rate this month has dropped drastically compared to the other months. Pride and Prejudice is the only newly started novel I read this month but I wasn’t able to finish it as of my goal last month, but I hope to finish it before June at the latest.
Goal:
Since reading at home is presenting itself as a major challenge my goal for the month of May is to simply have a reading rate over 20 pages per day and to read at a consistent rate throughout the month. As a challenge, I hope to start reading The Secret Garden since I have a physical copy of the book at home and I have never finished the book completely. Otherwise, my main goal is to read at a consistent rate every day and to continue reading and possibly come close to finishing the non-fiction books.
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