The Best of the Best: My Top Ten Books I read in 2014

Hello dear Readers,

Today, I would like to talk about my Top Ten Books I read in 2014. 

This year was an awesome reading year for me. Actually, it has been the year I read the most, a total of 58 books. This is great, comparing to the years before when I was lucky if I read 5 books a year. 

Yes, a fantastic and productive reading year. Something else I feel proud of is I went out of the box and read genres I did not use to read. Novels and Poetry were the only two genres I read since I started reading. Then, I came to the USA and my reading range was expanded to YA, Fiction, NA, Dystopian, Memoir and Non Fiction, which was the most amazing genre I discovered this year. I read a lot of funny, inspiring and well written memoirs which has helped me a lot in writing my own memoir.

I also bought and read a lot of e-books on my kindle and checked out a lot of books from the library.

2014. I will remember this year as the year I read the most. The year I started working in a Library.

The year I completed my first Goodreads Challenge. The year I discovered all these amazing people in You Tube, the Booktubers. The year I gave a better use to my Instagram account and I was introduced to this amazing Book Community and the year I started this blog. All these things have helped my reading experience to be a better and exciting one.

Finally, my Top Ten Books I read in 2014:

1. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

2. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

4. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

5. Adultery by Paulo Coelho

6. My Side of Life by Shane Filan

7. I Work at a Public Library by Gina Sheridan

8. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

9. If I Stay by Gale Forman

10. Divergent by Veronica Roth

Wen

Book Review: Stolen by Lucy Christopher/Fiction-Young Adult-Thriller

Hello dear Readers,

With this year almost gone, I wanted to take the time to acknowledge some of the awesome books I read this year. On one of my previous posts, I talked about what for me was the best book I read in 2014: All the light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr. I still feel overwhelmed every time I mention or talk about this book because it's a fantastic one. In the other hand, we have Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn which is my second best book of the year. I won't talk a lot about this book in this post because I will do a review of it pretty soon but I will recommend it a 100%. The twist of events is mind blowing. I also read and heard good comments about the movie which I will see once it comes out sometime next year.

To continue with this specific post, today I would like to do a little review of a book that was very interesting and different from all the books I read this year: Stolen by Lucy Christopher.

Title: Stolen
Author: Lucy Christopher
Genre: YA/Thriller
Publisher: Chicken House
Language: English
Paperback: 320 pages

Book Description

A girl: Gemma, 16, at the airport, on her way to a family vacation.
A guy: Ty, rugged, tan, too old, oddly familiar, eyes blue as ice.

She steps away. For just a second. He pays for her drink. And drugs it. They talk. Their hands touch. And before Gemma knows what's happening, Ty takes her. Steals her away. To sand and heat. To emptiness and isolation. To nowhere. And expects her to love him.

Written as a letter from a victim to her captor, STOLEN is Gemma's desperate story of survival; of how she has to come to terms with her living nightmare--or die trying to fight it.

My thoughts
*I gave 4/5 stars on Goodreads

I saw a few booktubers talking about this book on their channels and it sounded good. I decided to buy it on my kindle. I remember posting a picture of it on my Instagram account and some of my fellow bookworms mentioned how awesome this book was. That motivated me more to read it.

The first thing I want to say about it is the point of view on this book is fantastic. Gemma tells the story, is her point of view but told in a letter to her captor.

Stolen is the story of Gemma, a sixteen year old girl who was kidnapped by Ty, a 25 year old man. She was at the airport in Bangkok with her parents and while she was waiting for the plane to leave, Ty approached her and started talking to her and using a coffee which he offered to buy her, put some sort of drug and that is how he could kidnapp her.

When Gemma regained consciousness, she woke up to this house in the Australian desert. Nothing else there but this house and this place that Ty claims he built himself. 

At this point we could think the story is not that interesting or that cannot get any better but it does. Ty tells Gemma that he has been obsessed with her since she was a little girl. He has been whatching her since she was a child and now that he finally did kidnapp her, he plans  to keep her with him forever.

Gemma hates Ty and the place she is. She hates how quite and calm it is. She hates the idea of not being able to escape because everyday she spends there she can see there is nothing else there. She tried to escape once but the heat and the desert were too much for her. When she wakes up she is back in the house. Ty had rescued her and she hated him even more because of that.

However, the time pass by and Gemma starts feeling symphatetic for Ty. She is confused. She knows what he has done to her is wrong but at the same time, deep inside, she feels attracted by him. 

One day, Ty was trying to capture a snake and Gemma gets bitten by it. Gemma starts feeling sick so Ty has no other option but to take her to this mine where she can get medical attention. At the mine, they take care of Gemma and Ty turns himself to the police.

When Gemma wakes up, her parents are there but the only thing she cares about is to make sure Ty is ok and that people do not see him as a monster. He saved her life, she thinks to herself.

Gemma starts talking to a pshycologist who is convinced Gemma is suffering the Stockholm Syndrome and she suggests Gemma instead of talking she writes about the whole situation and her feelings. That is why Gemma is writing the letter and deciding what kind of testimony she will give during Ty's trial.

In general, I liked the book. I never read a story like this before and even there was a moment when the book got really slow for  me and I think in some parts the description was unnecessary but is a well written book, with an interesting plot and the twist of events which for me was when we discover Ty has been watching Gemma since she was a child, that was something I was not expecting at all.

Stolen, a perfect read if you are looking for something different, written in an unique format and with interesting characters.

Wen

What I am reading for Christmas

Hello dear Readers,

Hope you all are having a great day and enjoying the Holidays. 

A few weeks ago I shared on my Instagram (thecostaricanwriter) what I was going to read for Christmas this year. That book is Christmas Stories by Paulo Coelho. His short Christmas Stories is what I usually read for the Holidays but if I'm not wrong this year was the first time they actually put the stories together on a book. I read it a few days ago and probably will read it again next week. I loved the book. I loved the fact it was a fast read, enjoyable and above all, stories with powerful and great messages, perfect for this time of the year when people always talk about love, helping other people, sharing, caring, spreading the Christmas's spirit. Each story with its own moral but with one thing in common, love. 

I recommend this book for all the Paulo Coelho followers out there and for those interested on reading something different for Christmas. The book is available in Amazon and iTunes in 5 different languages.

That was going to be my only Christmas reading this year, however, thanks to the Instagram Book Community, I discovered another book that I will be reading for the Holidays, My True Love Gave to Me. They are short stories as well, compiled in one book. Stories from different authors: Stephanie Perkins, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Gayle Forman and more, which I have noticed people like a lot and I am just curious to see how this reading goes for me. I borrowed the book from my local library, the US version of it. I have seen the UK version and the cover is gorgeous.

Once I finished the book, I will be sharing my thoughts.

Wen

Title: My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

Author: Various

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (October 14, 2014)

Language: English

Hardcover: 336 Pages

Nanowrimo is over, now what?

Hello dear Readers,

As many of you know, last November was NaNoWriMo 2014 (National Novel Writing Month). One novel, 50000 words, in one month. This was my second year and my second win, however, this year I feel better about my work. I feel more familiar and more attached to my story (Memoir), know the characters and their situations better and that makes me feel more accomplished. It is really hard to write 50000 words in one month. There were a few days when I did not want to write at all and because I worried that I was going to fall behind in my word count, I did not even want to read which is the other thing I love doing the most. I just could not concentrate these few days but that is part of a writers life and I have learned to deal with it. In despite all of these situations, I was back in the game and my writing got better. I also had the opportunity to go to a few write-ins. I met wonderful people, writers like me and it was an amazing experience. They shared their knowledge and also I felt I was part of a very strong community of writers which I never experienced before. Needless to say, the write-ins are a win-win situation: you get to meet awesome people and you get a lot of writing done which at the end not only helps with the word count but also it adds a sense of belonging to a community, a group of writers and friends.

It was a very busy month but it does not mean is over. The month is but not the work. For me, the next months will be filled with a few more chapters before I finish my first draft, a lot of editing and hopefully by next year, a revised-finished manuscript and why not a published book.