ME, MY SHELF AND I

"A book worth reading is worth buying."

- John Ruskin

A certified bookworm, that is definitely one of my characteristics that I am surely proud of.  I have loved reading books since I was in grade school.  It is an escape from the stress and demands of my daily life.  While reading, I get to escape my dull, normal life and tag along on any adventure I choose.  Whenever I read books, I feel like I belong to a place that nobody else has ever been to.

In this post, I have decided to share my top 3 favorite books.  After reading this, feel free to comment yours.

TOP 3: Avalon High (Meg Cabot)

Ellie Harrison has just moved into a new school.  Avalon High seems like a typical high school with the stereotypical students.  She has never been one of the popular kids in her previous schools, so when Will Wagner, captain of the football team and class president, becomes strangely drawn to her, she begins to wonder why.  After some time of being in her new school, Ellie notices the similarities between the students of Avalon High and the characters in the old King Arthur legends.  She soon realizes that not everyone from her school is who they appear to be, not even herself.

I suppose the main reason I decided to read Avalon High was because I am a huge fan of Meg Cabot ever since I started reading.  If I remember it correctly, I first read this book when I was 10 years old.  This is certainly one of the books that takes an old tale, turns it upside down and inside out until it is a brand new story.  As each chapter goes on, you will suddenly have this feeling of finishing it as soon as possible in order to find out what happens next.  What I liked most about this book is the connection of the characters to the old King Arthur tale because as it turns out, the characters are all reincarnations of King Arthur and other residents of Camelot.  I would definitely recommend this book to fans of King Arthur, fans of Meg Cabot and bookworms of all ages.

TOP 2: The Future of Us (Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler)

It is 1996, Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives.  Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer.  When they sign in, they are automatically logged onto their Facebook profiles although Facebook has not been invented yet.  Amazing thing in this book is that the two teenagers at the center of The Future of Us can see themselves fifteen years in the future.  By refreshing their pages, they discover that making different decisions now can affect the outcome of their lives later.

I often wish that time travel would be invented.  Doesn't anyone else wish for the same thing?  By reading the book, you might even catch yourself wondering: Where will I be fifteen years from now?  Who will I be marrying?  What kind of life will I live?  This is definitely a tough book to put down once picked up because as each scene goes on, readers will surely ponder what their own futures may hold.  It has a compelling plot and a powerful message which is: actions have consequences, so act wisely.

TOP 1: Th1rteen R3asons Why (Jay Asher)

Clay Jensen returns home from school one day and finds an anonymously-sent package sitting on his doorstep.  He discovers that it is a shoebox containing seven cassette tapes recorded by the late Hannah Baker, his classmate and emotionally damaged crush who committed suicide.  The tapes were initially mailed to one classmate with instructions to pass them from one student to another starting from the one involved in the first story to the last.  On the tapes, Hannah explains to thirteen people how they played a role in her death by giving thirteen reasons explaining why she took her life.

I first heard about this book when I was 12 years old.  I kept looking for it in every bookstore, but it is always out of stock.  Fortunately, I got my copy 2 years later.  By reading the synopsis at the back of the book, you would expect it to be depressing since it is about a teenage girl who committed suicide.  The story actually emphasizes the importance of speaking up and not hiding your emotions.  When someone starts to fade away, just like Hannah Baker, they need help to pull their life back together or they could just become too unhappy and lose the desire to live.  The book tells a story of the actual life of some adolescents nowadays who have to deal with sexual or verbal abuse, bullying, stalking, etc.  I think that the moral of the story is the same as The Future of Us.  It makes us realize that our actions can really make a difference in other people's lives.