#i guess el filibusterismo is next by 2024 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lemonmeringues · 1 month ago

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2024 Fully Booked Reading Challenge

As much as i doubt myself finishing this challenge within a year, heck imma start it anyway hahaha. I know you're supposed to read a book that fits in one of the categories every month until you've crossed everything out but let's say, my timeline's a bit erratic (case in point: it's now more than halfway through the year but I'm still on my third book BUT there's no saying how fast i'll catch up later *wink). So, here goes...

1. Book with a fictional world or place - The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

This book is my most expensive purchase from FB to date AND was unplanned (like most good things, yeah). It took me back years ago when I borrowed a book like this from our neighbor and I was so amazed by how many more stories/chapters there are in Narnia (I only knew The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian then) and I never got to finish it cause I needed to return it so this was definitely and absolutely a smattering "healing-my-inner-child" moment, i bought it immediately off the shelf. It also made me feel like an adult after four years of being a salary-earner, you know, buying-without-looking-at-the-tag kind of thing. Yasssss. Ok. I need to calm down. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

2. Book with a first-person narrator - Happy Place by Emily Henry

Second book and I'm already coming across something over-hyped. Huhu. Tbh, I just forced myself to finish this just so I can move on to the next one. As much as i like spoilers, I hated when I already guessed the plot twist two to three chapters in. The gaslighting in this book was also superb (and not in a good way, no!). There were good self-reflective moments though but it's more of irritating to read hahaha. Good writing, bad story or I guess annoying main characters. ⭐⭐ (coz cute cover).

3. Book with a cover you can't resist - Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

I literally picked up this book just because I liked the cover. That's it. Didn't even take a peek at the price, hahaha. But this was soooo worth it. At first I thought I'll get exhausted reading it because of its highly detailed and descriptive writing (just as i did with the Hunger Games series) but I ended up loving it, all the melodrama...love triangle (almost became a square!)...betrayal...family duties...everything was *chef's kiss*! I also like the fact that the heroine in this story is literally a hero-badass-female-warrior and that female warriors are common in a sort of fantasy-periodic (I'd like to think it's set a long long long time ago) setting. I loved this so much I already secured the sequel book (yes, it's a duology!) thanks to my dear enabler friend hahahahahha. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

4. Book from an author you've never read before - Fairest of All by Sara Valentino (and hopefully the whole series!🤞🏻)

You have to believe me when I say that I did not intend on starting this collection. I've seen reels and "booktok" videos about Valentino's series but I paid no mind since I thought there's no way to get my hands on them except online (and I WAS trying to cut down with online shopping) BUT THEN....I saw this book in Fully Booked CdeO and this is the first book of the series incidentally. So i tried to listen to a message the world wasn't telling me --- buy the book and start hunting for the rest. What's more, this series had to be read in order and I'm currently stuck looking for the second book. But there's no turning back! ⭐⭐⭐

5. Book set before the internet age - El Filibusterismo by Jose Rizal (translated by Virgilio Almario)

I'll have to admit that this one's a wild card 'cause it fits to three categories in this reading challenge 🤭 but nothing really beats our very own J Rizz. Re-reading this at my age now and in this society we currently have, I can say there's not much difference with the perennial problems that we Filipinos face as a country. For this copy, I love that it's compact in a paperback though the pages are thin (no complaints since I paid cheap) and it's formatted just like our textbooks in high school. Nostalgic! ⭐⭐⭐

6. Book that has been adapted into screen - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

The bestfriend and I were really kidding ourselves when we decided to read this book BEFORE watching the movie, hahaha. Months later, we would find ourselves with an unopened book and and unwatched movie 😅. Thankfully tackled this before the year ends! Well, in true Suzanne Collins fashion, this got me hooked when I started and frustrated at the end. I did not expect so much in one a-little-thicker-than-the-others hardbound book but lots of things happened, a mix of dragging and fast-paced plots which I'm not sure I like but I was able to finish the book anyway. I wanted this to be a light read but it definitely had some points that can pique you about human nature if you allow yourself to think deeper about it. ⭐⭐⭐

7. Book published in the Philippines - The Battle of Marawi by Criselda Yabes

This was a STRESSFUL read. I don't even know how I stumbled upon it in a section in the bookstore that I don't usually gravitate to but there it was and I picked it off the shelf instantly (not to mention to the judgmental glare of my shopping buddy/bff). This one hit so hard 'cause it literally is close to home and to my present profession. This is the only book that had me background checking the author for legitimacy. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (can't give it five stars because of the stress i got while reading 😅)

8. Book set in or about the future - The Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

Tbh, this is another one that I forced myself to finish just for the sake of the challenge. Oftentimes I find myself lost in the jumble of food descriptions which the author has successfully related to humanity on a deeper level. Kudos also to the author for being gifted with such extensive vocabulary but it was just too overwhelming for me. In Happy Place (book #2 on this list), it irked me that the plot twist was so predictable, but in this book I got annoyed that I couldn't figure out where we are in the story anymore. So, fickle me. Also, this book is supposed to be futuristic but it was really primal (can't think of anything else to describe it) for me, but I guess it's one of those themes wherein you'll always have to look back to be able to step forward (something like that, haha) . ⭐⭐

9. Book translated from a foreign language - Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

For the past year as I've been hunting down the shelves of Fully Booked, this book has always been on display in the bestsellers section and I never really paid attention to it. Heck, it took a few bookstore visits before I even checked the plot at the back cover. Interesting, I thought. But never interested enough to actually add it to my cart. Now, came the time that I had to tackle this category for the reading challenge and unsurprisingly this title was among the recommendations. So finally I gave in and it really surpassed my expectations. For something so simply written (with only three chapters!), it showed me a lot of complexities in a human's way of giving love. Truly heartwarming and I love how subtle the characters are but their minds are a different universe from each other. For some reason too, this book makes me crave my favorite coffee everytime I read it 😅. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

*Apparently there's a 10-image limit per post here on tumblr so I need to have a part 2 for this post*

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