Books:
- Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski………………………….414/414 pgs (Feb 5 – Feb 17) FINISHED
- The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon………………………384/384 pgs (Feb 21 – Feb 22) FINISHED
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee………………………219/323 pgs (Feb 24 – March 4) READING
Reading Rate:
Total number of pages/Number of days = 1017/28 = 36 pages per day
Favourite Book: Blood of Elves ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
I chose to read this book mainly because I saw the upcoming trailer that was going to be released on Netflix. The overall plot, along with the unique characters of the story, really grabbed my attention and interest.
The story talks about a young girl that is the granddaughter of Queen Calanthe: the ruler of the Kingdom of Cintra. After the Empire of Nilfgaard attacks the Kingdom of Cintra, Queen Calanthe commits suicide leaving her grandaughter Cirilla, nicknamed Ciri, to fend for herself. Ciri manages to flee the capital city with the spies from Nilfgaard behind her tail. She is soon named the “Lion Cub of Cintra” as a great prophecy follows her stating that she will accomplish great deeds while protected by the great Witcher Geralt, a genetically modified person that is trained to kill. With Geralt, Ciri goes on many adventures to discover her true potential by digging deep into her past and herself.
Another reason I read this book was because of the back story of one of the characters named Yennefer. In the book, Yennefer plays a huge role in the development of the main character Ciri. She becomes a mentor and a role model, seen as a very wise and an all-knowing character. But, when I was looking up the history of this character online I came to discover that Yennefer began her life on a farm as a hunchback with an abusive father. Her father soon sold her for a cow as she remained to be no use as no man would be willing to take her and she was not fit to do housework. But later it can be seen in The Blood of Elves that Yennefer has transformed into a very strong and charming woman where she is respected and known as a sorceress.
I personally enjoy reading fantasy, adventure, and romance novels over any other genre. This is my favourite book mainly because it falls under the genre of fantasy, adventure, and romance. The characters were well developed and the story overall was very well written. Even though the beginning of the book was hard to get through, I would still highly recommend this book; especially to those that read action and adventure.
Review: The Sun is Also a Star ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
This book I chose as a “candy book” to read mainly because of the many flowing recommendations that I received from friends. The plot of this story follows the cliche romance storyline where two individuals fall in love at first sight and must conquer a series of obstacles to be together; of course, they always end up together in the end. To go further into detail, there are two characters: Natasha Kingsley and Daniel Bae. At first sight, they begin to develop feelings for each other; but everything becomes complicated when Natasha reveals to Daniel that she is set to be deported from the U.S that very night.
The plot cannot be more predictable in this story but the way that Nicola Yoon, the author, writes this book is different and unique. She writes from the perspective of every character that the reader meets, not only the main characters. She writes the backstory of every individual, the car driver or the front clerk, including their thoughts, opinions and ideas in utmost detail. This way of writing creates a perspective that we don’t ever see in, a full perspective.
When I picked up this book I didn’t expect to gain or learn anything from it as it is a “candy book”, but I was mistaken. This book is unique from many other books as it gives the reader an insight into every character’s thoughts and feelings. This is the use of dramatic irony as the reader knows about certain information that the character is oblivious to. Having the whole book based upon the use of dramatic irony really was the shining aspect of this book. It teaches us that behind every person lays a story and we shouldn’t judge anyone for doing or thinking anything as similarly behind every action and thought lays a reason.
Reflection:
Overall I am very satisfied with my current reading rate sitting at 36 pages per day, but I am aware that I haven’t extensively challenged myself this month with reading more nourishing books. The first two books that I read this month are both considered “candy books”: books that are supposed to be read for fun and relaxation. From reading The Blood of Elves I still was able to gain some new vocabulary words, but the book The Sun is Also a Star gave me little to no aid in improving my reading or writing skills; it was a book I read mainly because of enjoyment. I still have yet to finish To Kill a Mockingbird but so far it is the only book this month that I read not entirely with the goal of personal enjoyment. To Kill a Mockingbird has proven itself to be a very educational book as I’ve not only gained many new vocabulary words but I have also learned many new historical information and facts.
As of a comparative to the past months, February has shown to be a huge improvement in my reading rate. For the past few months, I haven’t read a single novel mainly because I was caught up in reading school textbooks or wasting time on the internet. This semester, since I have both LA and Creative Writing I can get a minimal of 30 to 40 minutes of reading every day; which is more reading than I have ever accomplished ever since high school started, and I hope to sustain it as long as I can.
Goal:
For the month of March, I hope to sustain or quite maybe even improve my reading rate of 36 pages per day. I want to finish How to Kill a Mocking Bird by the first week of March and begin to settle on other more challenging books. One book that I am considering is 1984 by George Orwell. The plot of the story is attention-catching as it sets itself as a dystopian novel where a man lives in a world where he is constantly monitored. I also plan to finish another romance novel called To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. This is another candy book but I don’t plan to spend too much time on this book as it is just for the joy of reading. In the month of March, I mainly want to focus on reading more challenging books that force me to search up unknown vocabulary and do historical background research, similarly as I did for To Kill a Mockingbird. This way I can push myself to improve both my reading and writing skills by building vocabulary and understanding how to analyze and understand harder texts.
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