March 1: Ten Books To Read If You Are In The Mood For…
SHORT READS! 😀
Most of my followers are busy professionals plus great writers so for them, here are TEN AWESOME SHORT READS (less than 300 pages) that they may want to read to have a break!
My first encounter with Mark Haddon‘s storytelling is surprising. Just when I though that this book, with a very looong title, would be a crime mystery it appears it is not.
Christopher John Francis Boone is the exceptionally intelligent young man who have written the book, the novel used first person perspective. The Curious Incident started with a crime, the gross murder of an ill-fated dog in the night time. The superbly gifted fifteen-year old accidentally discovered the ‘crime’ and it has made him curious about the things that surrounds him.
On the other hand, it is not as if Boone is playing a wise detective here, though according to him he’s doing a Sherlock Holmes-ish task as he goes after the dog’s murderer. Because the little man is not cognitively and emotionally normal,takes all things literally and cannot understand human emotions.
This would make the whole story a witty yet matter-of-fact experience with words.As he tries to discover who committed the crime, Boone’s young mind will then uncover secrets and turmoil about his own parents.
THE BLURB:
The fact that the content of the book is like a treasure that slowly unfolds while I continue digging makes this novel so special. I am used in predicting what would be the book’s content and even its ending. But with The Curious Incident, I was caught off guard, in a positive way.
I really thought that there is a bigger crime after the dog’s murder, but I am wrong. Because the rest of the book placed me in Boone’s place. A boy who is intellectually gifted by emotionally incapacitated. As I turn the pages, I have come to understand how he, as a boy with such condition, bravely face and make decisions on his own.
What I also love about this book is its wit. Boone, with his brain who knows every prime number up to 7,057, is indeed funny not because he meant to be hilarious but because he is just that. His dislike of yellow, his constant mind-boggling thoughts, and his insensitivity are witty and entertaining.
On the contrary, Mark Haddon was also able to give just the right amount of depth in this light-hearted story. The seriousness of the dilemma of a normal family was discussed with just the right amount. It is really impressive how Haddon balanced the light and humorous aspect of the book and its serious realistic premise. Surely, he is indeed a brilliant wordsmith.
PICKED UP WISE WORDS:
“Prime numbers are like life. They are very logical you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.”
“People do a lot of talking without using any words.”
“You could still want something that is very unlikely to happen.”
“Loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling them the truth.”
THE WRAP:
Haddon ended the novel in a conclusive manner. This is indeed a good read from beginning to end.
Been absent for quite a while now so here are some book updates and life updates for this past few weeks.
I am now a GHOST Writer. – You know what I mean if you’ve read my most recent post, Ghost. This is the reason behind my blogging hiatus but it is worth it though.
I finished four books. After my last update, I only finished four books, well I would blame my writing job again. It has been eating a great portion of my brain. 😀 These four books include:
I was not able to post a weekend book list last Friday due to heavy rains. But surprisingly, last weekend was my most productive weekend book reading so far.
Here are the awesome book reads that I had this weekend.
2. The Selection by Kiera Cass – I reserve my book blurb about this series but I can’t help myself to say that this series is AWESOME! Really! The book covers are all gorgeous and the stories inside are equally stunning.