I’m the kind of person who loves perfect routines. I love the idea of waking up in the morning real early and settling down with a cup of tea and study or read. I love the idea of staying into the night and cozying up in bed and, once again, study or read. The idea of studying without stress and reading without labeling it as procrastinating is my life long dream but of course as a college student, both of those aren’t very likely to happen the way I want them to, haha.
So whenever it’s the New Year and everyone’s starting to “better” themselves, I take the longest time to make the simplest decisions. As an over thinker, the New Year makes me overthink even more into my yearly firsts such as what should be the first thing I do in the weekend to kick off a new semester or what should be the first thing I journal to document 2019?
But most importantly of all, the question that nags me endlessly is what book should be the first book I read in 2019?
The struggle is real ladies and gentleman.
The first book I picked up was Uprooted. In 2019, one of my goals is to explore new genres and fiction that I don’t usually reach for. Uprooted is a perfect example of this. It’s a fantasy novel that’s considered to be Adult fantasy or New Adult fantasy and is heavily influenced by the concept of overturning female stereotypes we often see in fiction. From all that I’ve heard about Uprooted, it’s supposed to be a mind blowing read that will make your inner feminist roar. Naomi Novik’s writing is also supposed to be very elegant and sophisticatedly beautiful. I’m a person who often reaches for quick easy reads even though I prefer beautiful writing that makes you stop and think. This year, I want to pick up more of the slower and more harder reads to dissect and analyze.
Uprooted is exactly what it was marketed as. Naomi Novik’s writing brings me this old nostalgic classical fairytale vibe. The cover itself reminds me so much of the Princess Bride. While this book is most definitely not in any form or way as whimsical as the Princess Bride, it still brings me back to the days when I’d sit down and watch movies like Ella Enchanted. Only this book is so much more heavy in both its content and it’s overall message.
I’m not going to talk too much of this book as it’s hard to do so without spoiling anything. So all I’m going to say is that I’m kind of starting to struggle. While this is an interesting read, it’s quite slow. I’m not sure how I feel about the magic system in this book and while so much is happening, I feel like at the same time that the plot’s going nowhere. I love the main character. I love how extraordinarily different she is and just so normal but right now, I’m not sure if that’s enough to have me pick this book up more than the other books I’m currently reading.
The second book I picked up to read on the side is The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. It’s been a while since I’ve read a fun contemporary and after feeling drained from reading Uprooted all the time, I was definitely looking for something more fun and fast paced. All I can say about this book is that I’m almost to the end of the novel and I’m already flipping back to the beginning to reread it again because it’s just so damn good.
I love this book so much. I love how witty and sarcastic Lee’s writing is, but simultaneously heavy with depth she somehow manages to upkeep through out her story. Again, I don’t want to say too much about this book because I’ll talk more about it in a review but I’m fairly confident that this is going to be one of my favorite reads of 2019. It’s gotten me out of this rut that Uprooted managed to push me into and now all I want to read is fast, fun reads that will make me just as happy as Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue does. This book has gotten me out of the mini reading dry-spell I somehow managed to undergo through the winter holidays. Now all I want to do is read all the books or buy them. I may or may not have just put in an order on Thriftbooks for some highly entertaining reads that I can’t wait to get my hands on.
What are you currently reading?