Does anyone even keep a blog anymore? No? That's fine. I'm going to share with the world (or the endless void that is the Internet) my top 5 books that I read in 2018, just in case you're wondering what to read next:
5. Crazy Rich Asians (2013) by: Kevin Kwan
Favourite quote: "Just because some people actually work for their money doesn't mean they're beneath you."
Reason to read this book: It's an awesome beach read, or in the winter, a cozy read by the fireplace that transports you to a crazy world.
If you've already watched the movie, it's still worth it to read the book. Kwan is an incredible writer; he gets you hooked on the story from the very beginning and transports you to a world that most of us can't even fathom. It's a world where millions of dollars are spent on frivolous things, like fireworks, and it's also a shallow and sad world, where the richest of the rich judge each other based on the price of one's earrings and cars.
4. Alias Grace (1996) by: Margaret Atwood
Favourite quote: "If we were all on trial for our thoughts, we would all be hanged."
Reason to read this book: Although a depressing tale, it is superbly written and also takes you back to Toronto's olden days.
The Alias Grace TV series on Netflix prompted me to read the book, and I'm so glad I did. The heart-wrenching tale of Grace, wrongly accused of murder, will take you on a journey into Canada's dark past. The book is also laced with the misfortunes and injustice that women had to face in those days. I would compare the book to Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles."
3. Water For Elephants (2006) by: Sara Gruen
Favourite quote: "I want her to melt into me, like butter on toast. I want to absorb her and walk around for the rest of my days with her encased in my skin."
Reason to read this book: An addicting tale that you can't put down, interlaced with the tragic circumstances workers and animals had to endure in the circus.
It took me a while to get around to reading this book, but I'm glad I did. Romance is only a small part of the novel; it's really a meditation on death-- what it means to have friends, what it means to love and live, and what it all means in the end when you're in your death bed. It is a beautifully written story that even made me she a tear.
2. Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) by: D.H. Lawrence
Favourite quote: "She would have thought a woman would have died of shame. Instead of which, the shame died...she was her sensual self, naked and unashamed."
Reason to read this book: It's one of the raunchiest modern classics, with a deeper, philosophical message as well.
I've never read a book quite like this one. I also couldn't believe it was written in the early twentieth century; it must have been extremely risque for its time, as the novel delves into forbidden love affairs, sex, and (gasp) female pleasure. All in all it's an early feminist work, and is a gripping romance between Lady Chatterley and her husband's lowly housekeeper. A must read.
1. Annabel (2010) by: Kathleen Winter
Favourite quote: "People are like rivers, always ready to move from one state of being into another. It is not fair, to treat people as if they were finished beings. Everyone is always becoming and unbecoming."
Reason to read this book: It is beautiful, beautifully written, and in its bleakness and rawness, a true work of art.
The book is about a family in a village in Labrador, Canada, which seems normal on the outside, but which has many conflicts within. Their offspring is a hermaphrodite, and his parents can't decide whether to raise him as a boy or a girl, but in the end name him "Wayne." Throughout the novel, Wayne struggles with his identity, and he is shunned in the small village for being different. It is a depressing but agonizingly beautiful novel, and my favourite that I read in 2018.
Honorable Mentions:
The Best of Everything (1958)- Rona Jaffe
Nutshell (2016)- Ian McEwan
The Good Girl (2014)- Mary Kubica
5. Crazy Rich Asians (2013) by: Kevin Kwan
Favourite quote: "Just because some people actually work for their money doesn't mean they're beneath you."
Reason to read this book: It's an awesome beach read, or in the winter, a cozy read by the fireplace that transports you to a crazy world.
If you've already watched the movie, it's still worth it to read the book. Kwan is an incredible writer; he gets you hooked on the story from the very beginning and transports you to a world that most of us can't even fathom. It's a world where millions of dollars are spent on frivolous things, like fireworks, and it's also a shallow and sad world, where the richest of the rich judge each other based on the price of one's earrings and cars.
4. Alias Grace (1996) by: Margaret Atwood
Favourite quote: "If we were all on trial for our thoughts, we would all be hanged."
Reason to read this book: Although a depressing tale, it is superbly written and also takes you back to Toronto's olden days.
The Alias Grace TV series on Netflix prompted me to read the book, and I'm so glad I did. The heart-wrenching tale of Grace, wrongly accused of murder, will take you on a journey into Canada's dark past. The book is also laced with the misfortunes and injustice that women had to face in those days. I would compare the book to Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles."
3. Water For Elephants (2006) by: Sara Gruen
Favourite quote: "I want her to melt into me, like butter on toast. I want to absorb her and walk around for the rest of my days with her encased in my skin."
Reason to read this book: An addicting tale that you can't put down, interlaced with the tragic circumstances workers and animals had to endure in the circus.
It took me a while to get around to reading this book, but I'm glad I did. Romance is only a small part of the novel; it's really a meditation on death-- what it means to have friends, what it means to love and live, and what it all means in the end when you're in your death bed. It is a beautifully written story that even made me she a tear.
2. Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) by: D.H. Lawrence
Favourite quote: "She would have thought a woman would have died of shame. Instead of which, the shame died...she was her sensual self, naked and unashamed."
Reason to read this book: It's one of the raunchiest modern classics, with a deeper, philosophical message as well.
I've never read a book quite like this one. I also couldn't believe it was written in the early twentieth century; it must have been extremely risque for its time, as the novel delves into forbidden love affairs, sex, and (gasp) female pleasure. All in all it's an early feminist work, and is a gripping romance between Lady Chatterley and her husband's lowly housekeeper. A must read.
1. Annabel (2010) by: Kathleen Winter
Favourite quote: "People are like rivers, always ready to move from one state of being into another. It is not fair, to treat people as if they were finished beings. Everyone is always becoming and unbecoming."
Reason to read this book: It is beautiful, beautifully written, and in its bleakness and rawness, a true work of art.
The book is about a family in a village in Labrador, Canada, which seems normal on the outside, but which has many conflicts within. Their offspring is a hermaphrodite, and his parents can't decide whether to raise him as a boy or a girl, but in the end name him "Wayne." Throughout the novel, Wayne struggles with his identity, and he is shunned in the small village for being different. It is a depressing but agonizingly beautiful novel, and my favourite that I read in 2018.
Honorable Mentions:
The Best of Everything (1958)- Rona Jaffe
Nutshell (2016)- Ian McEwan
The Good Girl (2014)- Mary Kubica
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