The year has ended. And you know the drill. So, here is my list for 2013:
#5 The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit by Seth Godin
“The Cul-de-Sac (French for “dead end”) … is a situation where you work and work and work and nothing much changes”
This is one of the non-fictional book that I’ve read last 2013.The title says it all. It is indeed very helpful at times when you think that there’s nothing in store for you in the future. It is very bold to say that quitting is not that bad at all, but I am thankful because it teaches me to do the opposite.
#4 Coraline by Neil Gaiman
“I don’t want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted just like that, and it didn’t mean anything? What then?”
I wonder if this was really made for kids, because it is a bit creepy even at my age. It is deliciously disturbing. Your imagination is the limit on how to view each character especially Coraline (if you haven’t seen the movie version yet, and I recommend to not watch the movie.)
#3 A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
“One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.”
“Of all the hardships a person had to face, none was more punishing than the simple act of waiting.”
For the second time around Khaled makes me cry a bucket of tears with this another book of his. It is a story of hope when there seems none. A survival from violence, cruelty and war. It is a combination of harsh yet lovely reality. It is a story worth telling and reading over and over again.
#2 Animal Farm by George Orwell
“No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
Animals Talking. Animal Rebellion. Animal Labor. This was NOT just another fable story you used to read when you’re young. THIS IS A MASTERPIECE. It gives a strong message about humanity, society and POWER when misused. What makes the book amazing is the story itself. It is well crafted with ideas that rereading it is a must!
#1 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“All I kept thinking about, over and over, was ‘You can’t live forever; you can’t live forever.”
The best read for the year and maybe for the next years to come. WEALTH. POWER. POPULARITY. The main character seems to have it all, but in the end it’s all about a story of a man desperate for love. Human nature, when taken over by such desires and thoughtless directions hasn’t changed, the reason why it is still so compelling all these years later.
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