The Six Books I Read in January

This year I decided to read more.

I learned a lot of things about my reading habits from last year like how I spend too much time on Reddit and Youtube and how I should branch out from traditional print books.

So I decided to go on a journey, a reading journey wherein this year I aspire to integrate reading into my daily life. I will establish firm reading routines just so I can read more books and actually understand them.

Starting from the month of January, I was able to read six books at the first month of 2021, and here they are:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Medium: Paperback

Rating: 4.5/5

One of my most favorite books of all time, this is the second time I read this book and I still love it. I read it in only one sitting and am still endeared and moved by Charlie’s story. It’s a great coming-of-age novel about the life of teenage Charlie and the friends that accepted him. I love everything about it maybe because I relate to him in some way. This is a nice book to start the year and I’ll continue to reread it for the years to come.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Medium: eBook

Rating: 5/5

Anne Frank is a talented and an incredibly skilled writer. I feel like Anne was way ahead of her time. This book left me empty and opened my eyes to the tragic effects of war and how fortunate I am to never have to go in hiding because of my religion or ethnicity. I also relate to Anne in some ways as we witness her deal with her personal problems, problems that every adolescent encounters. This book helped me to keep things in perspective and taught me so much about the human condition.

Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami

Medium: Paperback

Rating: 4/5

This is the first Murakami book I’ve read and reading this book was a delightful experience. I have been quite fond of Magical Realism ever since I read G.G. Marquez’ One Hundred Years of Solitude last year. The vivid scenes and imageries evoked were of different caliber. Reading this was a surrealistic experience, Murakami was able to turn seemingly mundane parts of the narrator’s life and made it quite interesting to read about. And the overall journey that this book has taken me to is something that I look forward to experiencing again.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

Medium: Paperback

Rating: 4/5

Hank Green’s deep knowledge of human culture, the internet, and the complexity of fame in general manifests in this book. This book is incredibly rich and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it (except for the fact that I don’t like April May that much). I don’t really like Sci-Fi and I rarely read books in this genre but I’m surprised by how much I liked this book, it’s funny, relevant, and beautifully written.

P.S. As I’m writing this article, I’m currently reading A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor aka the sequel to AART and it’s phenomenal.

A Man Called Ove

Medium: Audiobook

Rating: 4.5/5

This is my first Backman novel, I felt so emotionally confused after reading this book. I don’t know whether I should feel melancholic or happy and I was deeply affected after listening to it. I listened to this while we’re on a road trip and it definitely adds to that cozy feeling. The whimsical dialogue and the amusing interactions between the characters made me laugh throughout the entire book. Ove is a character that will stay with me and I think he changed how I view other people.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Medium: Kindle eBook

Rating: 3.5/5

This might be an unpopular opinion but I didn’t like this book that much. It was kind of a meh for me, it wasn’t bad and I definitely enjoyed reading it but it’s also not remarkably good for me. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected to but it was not terrible and I see why so many people like this book, it just wasn’t for me.

So those were the books that I have read in January, I’m currently working on my next list for the books I have read and currently reading this February.