Top 5 All-Time Faves (Rightie's Version)

For us book lovers, picking an all-time favourite book is like picking a favourite child. However, I will list here those that I return to over and over....books that never cease to please me, and truly deserving of 5 napkins. After all, don't we all have those books that are like old friends?

(N.B. I will not post the synopsis of the books, because if I do, this post will be about 20,000 words:P This is a succinct list, y'all!)

5) Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
Despite being written for a young audience, Harry Potter and JK Rowling captured the hearts of all ages. What's not to love about this series? It has magic, dragons, great characters, and Hogwarts.

4) Lord Of The Rings series by JRR Tolkien
Tolkien created such a vivid world, filled with such well-developed characters, that every time I re-read the books, it always feels like a visiting an alternate universe that I don't want to leave.

3) The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
Very inspiring and reminiscent of Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince.

2) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I must admit that I didn't get to read Jane Eyre until last year, and I regret not reading it before! This is one of those rare books that I immediately re-read favourite parts as soon as I finished it. Jane is my favourite heroine to date, for her tenacity and braveness, and Mr.Rochester will forever be one of my favourite heroes (despite his flaws).

1) The Secret History by Donna Tartt
I discovered this book when two authors in a magazine listed this as a must-read. And so, I'm telling anyone who has not read this book to go buy it now. This was Donna Tartt's first novel, but it has the quality of being written by a veteran novelist.

 I re-read this book every year. What impressed me most about this book is not the plot itself, but Tartt's well-written characterization of the group of students whose academic life was greatly influenced by a certain professor.

So, here is my list. What is your top-five?

-Rightie

Review: Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day

RATING: 5 napkins

Let me preface this post by saying that most of the romance reviews will probably come from me (I can almost hear Rightie's voice saying, "Probably?"). What can I say? I <3 romance stories. It's what got me reading in my early teens, and even though I stopped reading them for a long while, let's just say my affair with romance novels has been re-kindled, or should I say re-kobo'ed? HARHAR... So I thought it's only fitting that my first post is about what's got to be one of my most fave in this genre.

Bared to You

Reflected in You

Entwined with You

(all images via Goodreads)

I'll be frank when I say that when I read the first book, it kinda' reminded me of the other trilogy books (they that shall not be named) that came out just around the same time. After all, the reason I even heard about this book is because of its association with those other books. But after finishing the first book, I realized Sylvia Day has no need to ride in the coat tails of the other writer. Ms. Day is a prolific romance writer in her own rights.

To put it shortly, the series is about a story of 2 broken people, Eva and Gideon, trying to make their relationship work while going thru their individual healing process. As simple as that. Oh, then add the extra drama in between.

By the end of the first book, I was vested enough in the characters that I knew I'd be reading the rest of the series to find out what happens to them.

The second book further explores their relationship but now with more twists, courtesy of their pasts. Throughout the book, I couldn't help but fall in love with Gideon more and more. He's like your ultimate alpha hero. And Eva, despite her painful past, definitely shows some backbone, makes no excuses for the good things in her life, and knows how to fight for her man. It was nice to see the characters and their relationship slowly grow.

The third book, as far as I'm concerned, is the best one in the series so far. There are no extreme highs or lows in this book but considering what Eva and Gideon have gone thru in the first 2 books, I thought it was just right to see their relationship plateau a little, and just see it grow more as they go thru mundane tasks. There are still unresolved issues, with all the death, parents and friends. There were what appeared to be extraneous details or drama, but what may be extraneous in this book, I trust Ms. Day will make its purpose known in the 4th and 5th book (a controversy as it turned out as this series was originally supposed to be just a trilogy... but hey, you won't be hearing any complaints from me, that's for sure). 

The ending is not your typical grand HEA, but with all 3 books, the ending is always on the hopeful note.

If nothing else, if I have to summarize why I love this book (and series) in one word, then that's easy. GIDEON. (swoon)

-Leftie

Introduction

     There are literally thousands of book blogs out here in the wonderful world of cyberspace. Many have been around for ages. Many have brought us book nerds great things to add on our To-Be-Read lists. Many have introduced us to amazing writers and stories. 

     Alas, there are also many out there who have made us shake our heads with their one-star for books we loved, and five-stars for those that made us cringe and think, "what a waste of paper". 

     This is why two sisters, myself (Rightie) and Leftie, have decided to create our own book blog. We decided that, perhaps, there might just be space for one (or two) more voice out there. A place where we can write about own views on books from different genres and areas of interests. Hopefully, someone out there can make use of them, like an unused napkin....

      Our rating system will be as follows:

1 napkin= Please throw it away and flush it down the toilet.

2 napkins= It would've been in the trash if not for some okay parts.

3 napkins= It can go either way. 

4 napkins= It's on the top shelf.

5 napkins= It's on a special place, easily accessed for a re-read.

     Most reviews will be done individually by either myself or Leftie, except for some books where we have differing opinions. We will then discuss the book together in the post. Fun, right?

     That's it for now. Hope you all stick around and enjoy this literary adventure with us.

-Rightie