READING makes you happier. A recent article written by Jessica Cassity on Readers Digest August 2013 issue shows how spending time with a story can encourage positive thinking and fortify friendships. 🙂
I can readily agree with the said article. Reading has been a very good habit we can all practice. Books, true to say, have encouraged me to be better person today. Books have become a part of me. And I am proud to say, “I AM A CERTIFIED BOOK LOVER!” 🙂
Five days to go and it will be my 22nd birthday! (candles haven’t blown yet). So today, for the nth time, let’s talk about books. 🙂 These are the 22 books I loved and has shaped me in the past years. 🙂
1. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
“The truth is, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” The book left  me crying in the most challenging part of Mr. Morrie, but it has also given me the reason to smile all throughout. I love this book and has learned so much life lessons from Mr. Morrie. A very good book to read.
2. The Little Prince (Antoine de-Saint Exupery)
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye.” A fascinating tale of a young prince, who traveled the universe finding things and questioning its existence. At the end of the book, it is you who will agree to all the lessons the prince has learned. Great book!
3. Veronika decides to die (Paulo Coelho)
“I want to continue being crazy; living my life the way I dream it, and not the way the other people want it to be.” Veronika, a young girl who decided to kill herself one day has given me the reason to live life to the fullest. To dream and live with the things you believed in, not to live in other’s expectation. This is my favorite book among the books of Mr. Coelho.
4. The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)
“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” Since I began the story, I have loved the narrator of the book, “Mr. Death.” One of the jewels of literature, this book makes me love all the characters of it. Enthralling tale of a young girl, Liesel Meminger who have learned to love words and all. Thought-provoking.
5. Hope for the Flowers (Trina Paulus)
“Life is changed, not taken away.” A simple read but with so much ideas to ponder. Ms. Paulus awakes my young mind to embrace life changes and to be a better person despite challenges I will be facing. Discover life and do not lose hope. This is the essence of the book.
6. ABNKKBSNPLAko (Bob Ong)
“Nalaman kong hindi pala exam na may passing rate ang buhay. Hindi ito multiple choice, identification, true or false, enumeration, o fill-in-the-blanks na sinasagutan, kundi essay na isinusulat araw-araw. Huhusgahan ito hindi base sa kung tama o mali ang sagot, kundi base sa kung may kabuluhan ang mga naisulat o wala. Allowed ang erasures.” As expected, Mr. Ong never failed to give true account of what is happening around. The novel shows the courageous battle of each one of us, how to correct our mistakes, enjoying the process of reaching our dreams and learned our lessons along the way. The best book of Mr. Ong for me.
7. One hundred years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
“…time was not passing…it was turning in a circle…” The tale of Buendia family. The novel portrays the challenges of a family who were haunted by their past and their history. The book lets me enjoy the scenarios revolving around the popular family and their struggle to find their happiness despite the loneliness succumb in each of its character. A literary-gem.
8. Dear John (Nicholas Sparks)
“I finally understood what true love meant…love meant that you care for another person’s happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.” The novel makes me believed in love despite the heartaches it will cause me. I love the tale of John and Savannah but was saddened by their separation. Their letters for each other were so powerful and full of love. A love story with great meaning.
9. Para kay B (Ricky Lee)
“Me quota ang pag-ibig. Sa bawat limang umiibig, isa lang ang magiging maligaya. Ang iba, iibig sa di sila iniibig. Iibig nang di natututo. O iibig sa wala. O di iibig kailanman.” A novel to think of. All the five stories inside the book has a great impact to the readers and will make you agree in most of the ideas it possess reagarding love. Ricky Lee is truly a great writer.Â
10. Who moved my cheese? (Spencer Johnson)
“Life moves on and so should we.” A story of change. This novel was written greatly and has given me the choice on what I want to be: grow-up or stay the way I am. This is the story of embracing life changes because as it says, life moves on, we need to ride with it.
11. Have a Little Faith (Mitch Albom)
“Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe.” The novel caters the question of faith. But it will make you believe that we are not alone. We can win our battle by believeing that there is a greater one besides us. Faith is about believing into something great. As always, there is God. 🙂
12. Happier (Tal Ben-Shahar)
“Happiness is “the overall experience of pleasure and meaning” over the aggregate of your lifetime’s experiences.” I have borrowed this book after I had seen it on my brother’s cabinet. Happeir is a psychological book that will make readers know what makes you happy and its aspect. Happiness can be found everywhere. It’s just a matter of choice.
13. My Sister’s Keeper (Jodi Picoult)
“You don’t love someone because they’re perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they’re not.” Page-turner Jodi Picoult has written this exemplary novel tackling the importance of loving your sister and being its protector and savior when circumstance needs it. The lines on the book were so powerful that it will move you. Great book!
14. Stainless Longganisa (Bob Ong)
“Hindi para sa tamad ang pagsusulat dahil pag binisita ka ng idea, gana o inspirasyon, kailangan mong itigil LAHAT ng ginagawa mo para lang di masayang ang pagkakataon. Walang “sandali lang” o “teka muna”. Dahil pag lumagpas ang maikling panahong yon, kahit mag-umpog ka ng ulo sa pader mahihirapan ka nang maghabol.” Talking about being a writer. I love this book because it helps me achieve the very essence of trusting your capability and knowing that if you can write, you can. Writing is a matter of practicing what you already have and trsuting your pen to do what your mind and heart dictates.
15. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” The very first book of Mr. Coelho that I read. The book is simply enthralling and will make you find out what’s on the next page. It is about knowing what you want and making your dream come true. Mr. Coelho is really amazing.
16. A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
“It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.” The sojourn of an old man who was visited by his past. This moving novel was one of the best written book of Mr. Dickens. It is about remembering the past, live into the present and dreaming about the future.
17. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
“We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course.” Memoirs of a geisha is a beautiful novel abjapanese girl who was challenged by her life in a young age. The book talks about the importance of virginity among women. But in the end, I think what matters is that the woman find her true destiny and has lived her life happily.
18. May Duwende sa Sopas ng Kapatid ko (Lara Saguisag)
One of my favorite children’s books. I love how simple and exemplary the book was written. It tackles about autism and how it affects a young boy in his life. It was a very good realization for each one of us. Autism is not a disease. It’s just a matter of appreciating what God has given to us and be fair enough not to judge someone hastily.
19. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
“You can’t live your life for other people. You’ve got to do what’s right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.” As always, Mr. Sparks can craft a book so lovable and moving. This book was a magical piece of loving someone despite the age and sickness. True love means believing into the possibility of the impossible.
20. For One More Day (Mitch Albom)
“When someone is in your heart, they’re never truly gone. They can come back to you, even at unlikely times.” The power of motherly love. This is the summary of the novel. I love how Mr. Albom displayed the strong ideal mother who has given his son the love and realization he needs during his most crucial time. I believe that mother’s love is the best. I believed almost all the ideas the novel showed.
21. Kapitan Sino (Bob Ong)
“Hindi naman kailangan ang maraming tao para bumuo ng mundo. Minsan isang tao lang ang kasama mo, buo na ang mundong kailangan mo habambuhay.” The book shows how we can be a hero in different ways. What I love about this book is how simple the love story is but can it can leave a great impact to those who reads it. Mr. Ong’s hilarious write-up and lines will simply shake your world.
22. The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowhip of the Ring) (J.R.R. Tolkien)
“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.” The tale of Bilbo Baggins is a journey so exciting that I want to go with him literally. I love how every character in the novel has somehing powerful to say that adds up to Bilbo’s courage to fight his battle. Amazing novel.
Reading books will leave a great impact in our life in a very different ways. In addition, Mr. Raymond Par points, ” reading has a great potential to spark our imagination and absorb a person in another world.” Through books we can adopt empathy, connection, memories and most of all inspiration. 🙂
Read to perceive. See what changes it will brought to your life. 🙂
Scattered Piece 