Top 5 Wednesday: Books I'm Thankful For

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It's been so long since I last did a Top 5 Wednesday post; the last one I wrote was back in January 2019 😱. I was actually looking for a non-review blog post idea when I stumbled upon this topic for November 2021—which I'm really excited to talk about because books certainly play a huge role in my life. Through many years of reading, books have changed my perspective, made me understand myself better, and allowed me to experience various different lives through the characters that I read. So in this post, I'm going to list 5 books that I'm thankful for along with the reasons why I chose them. Here they are, listed in no particular order 😊.

 

Book Review: The Party Crasher by Sophie Kinsella

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BOOK review

Started on: 13 November 2021
Finished on: 21 November 2021

 

The Party Crasher by Sophie Kinsella

 

Title: The Party Crasher

Author: Sophie Kinsella
Publisher: The Dial Press

Pages: 368 pages / 352 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2021
Price: Rp 410,000 (https://www.periplus.com/)

Rating: 4/5

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"This family may be broken. It may be shattered. But it's my broken, shattered family. And I want to be here, I finally admit to myself. To be at the party, even if I'm invisible. This is the last hurrah, even if no one's cheering."

Ever since her parents got divorced, Effie's image of the happy and loving childhood that she thought she had was destroyed. She gradually become distant with her father and embarked on a feud with his new (and much younger) girlfriend, Krista. On top of that, Greenoaks—the rambling Victorian country house Effie called home her whole life, has suddenly been sold. So when Krista decides to throw a grand 'house-cooling' party, Effie declines Krista's last-minute 'anti-invitation'. However, she remembers that her beloved childhood treasure is still left hidden in the house. While everyone is busy celebrating, Effie sneaks and hides around the house in order to retrieve it. Effie then unintentionally discovered that her sister, brother, and father holds secrets that she never knew before—and she begins to see her family in a new light. To make things worse, Effie runs into Joe—the love of her life who broke her heart long ago, and even more truths emerge from their encounter. Over the course of the party, Effie realizes that she must be honest and confront her past before she'll ever be able to face her future.

"And now I'm getting the beginnings of a plan. An audacious idea is crystallizing in my head. I mean, it's mad. I admit it's mad. But, then, this whole evening is a bit mad—so what's new?"

Book Review: The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom

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BOOK review

Started on: 6 November 2021
Finished on: 12 November 2021

 

The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom

 

Title: The Stranger in the Lifeboat

Author: Mitch Albom
Publisher: Harper

Pages: 224 pages
Year of Publication: 2021
Price: Rp 315,000 (https://www.periplus.com/)

Rating: 5/5

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"It had survived. And witnessing survival can make us believe in our own."

After a deadly ship explosion, nine people struggle to survive at sea on a lifeboat. After three days, they spot a man floating in the waves. When they pulled him in, the stranger claims that he is the Lord. One of the survivors, Benji, recounts the events in a notebook that is discovered a year later when the empty lifeboat washes up on the island of Montserrat. The notebook then fall into the hands of the island's chief inspector, Jarty LeFleur—a man battling with his own demons, who will try to solve the mystery of what really happened to the survivors.

"But out here, adrift, you realize how often we take our placement on this earth for granted."

Book Review: Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

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BOOK review

Started on: 26 October 2021
Finished on: 6 November 2021

 

Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

 

Title: Daughter of the Deep

Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Pages: 352 pages / 416 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2021
Price: Rp 230,000 (https://www.periplus.com/)

Rating: 4/5

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"You may be all that remains of Harding-Pencroft. We must not fail. Trials are cancelled. Instead, you will learn what you must know on active duty. As of this moment, we are at war."

Ana Dakkar is a fifteen-year old who's currently a freshman at Harding-Pencroft academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Her parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago, and the only family member she's got left is her older brother, Dev, a senior student at HP. Ana's freshman year culminates with the class's weekend trial at sea, and she hopes she has what it takes to succeed. However, on the bus ride to the ship, Ana and her schoolmates witness a terrible tragedy that will suddenly change the trajectory of their lives. A cold war between Harding-Pencroft and their rival school, Land Institute, has been turned up to a full broil. In a race against deadly enemies, Ana will make amazing friends and discoveries about her heritage as she puts her leadership skills to the test for the first time.

"As of this moment, you are responsible for one life above all others. You will not leave her side. You will protect her with your dying breath. You will make sure she stays alive, no matter what happens... Ana Dakkar must survive."

Book Review: The Christmas Pig by J.K. Rowling

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BOOK review

Started on: 20 October 2021
Finished on: 25 October 2021

 

The Christmas Pig by J.K. Rowling

 

Title: The Christmas Pig

Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Pages: 288 pages
Year of Publication: 2021
Price: Rp 398,000 (https://www.periplus.com/)

Rating: 5/5

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"Whatever happened to jack, DP was there, understanding and forgiving, and carrying with him that comforting smell of home, which always came back, no matter how often Mum washed it off."

Jack love his childhood toy, Dur Pig (DP for short), who've been with him through the good times and the hard times. Until one day, something terrible happens on Christmas Eve—DP is lost. But Christmas Eve is a night of miracles and lost causes, a night when all things come to life... even toys. And Jack's newest toy, Christmas Pig—who's supposed to replace DP, has a daring plan: together the two of them will embark on a magical journey to seek something lost, and to save the best friend Jack has ever known.

"The night for miracles and lost causes won't last forever. Once it's over, finders keepers."

Book Review: The Wish by Nicholas Sparks

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BOOK review

Started on: 7 October 2021
Finished on: 19 October 2021

 

The Wish by Nicholas Sparks

 

Title: The Wish

Author: Nicholas Sparks
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Pages: 400 pages / 384 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2021
Price: Rp 292,000 (https://www.periplus.com/)

Rating: 4/5

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"It dawned on me then that Bryce—just like my aunt—had come into my life at the time when I'd needed him the most."

In the year 1996, Maggie Dawes was sent away at sixteen to live with an aunt she barely knew in Ocracoke—a fishing village with less than eight hundred people who lived there year-round. At the beginning, she could only think of the friends and family she left behind; until she met Bryce Trickett—one of the few teenagers living on the island. As they spent a lot of time together, Bryce began to show her how much there is to love about Ocracoke and even introduced her to photography—a passion that will define the rest of her life. In 2019, Maggie is a renowned travel photographer who runs a successful gallery in New York and travel to remote places around the world. However, this Christmas she struggled to come to terms with a sobering medical diagnosis and became increasingly dependent on a young assistant named Mark Price—who she's becoming gradually close with. As they count down the last days of the season together, Maggie begins to tell him the story of another Christmas that happened decades earlier—and the love that set her on a course she never could have imagined.

"And in the end, isn't that the most important thing in life? To be truly known and loved by someone you've chosen?"