Skip to main content

📕 Books that affected me

"Write about books."

Over the last two years, I have read approximately 70 books, from best-sellers to occasional novels, from science-fiction to mindfulness and well-being, from Nike to Pixar and Starbucks. However, three stories—in particular—have changed the way I perceive and appreciate reading. Those novels are The Martian, by Andy Weir. Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline, and, Dune by Frank Herbert. 

    Not only had I felt these magical pieces of paper as transformational points of view, but life-changing texts. This time, I will share a small overview of the first two books, The Martian and Ready Player One; thereby, you can invest a couple of dollars and time reading them.  Dune can wait a bit more for its review.

    Ok, so let us get into today's reading.


    When I first started reading The Martian—June 2018—I promptly scanned the cover, its chapters' names, and its first pages and found what I was looking for right away. An enchanting story jam-packed with a motivational message; resilience.


    From the beginning, I thought this novel could help me kill two birds with one stone, and it did. As my first English reading in life, I was scared of not being prepared enough to do it. Besides, the phrasal verbs found there was stuff I had never seen before.


    Think about this, you go to another planet with your crew, and an accident leaves you unconscious. Your team takes the tough decision of leaving you there and return to earth. You wake up, and you find yourself stranded, for an unlimited time, with limited resources and ample knowledge of biology on Mars. 

Mark Watney—the main character—gets used to the vastness of nowhere and shows us how perseverance and wit can save us in the most complex environment. With a great sense of humor and double-morale, the story keeps you intrigued from beginning to end.


    The second book's story moves differently from the previous one; Its plot is way more futuristic and political. Here, everything begins when humanity finds itself running out of hope to live in the "real" world and starts living in a real-life-like video game called the OASIS. Said gigantic virtual world lets you be whoever you desire and live wherever you long, maintaining a low-cost inscription—25 cents—and a whose connection must be through a VR console, a pair of haptic gloves, and an internet connection. Inside the massive platform, a challenge is in turn, and the first avatar that finds the "James Hollidar easter egg" will inherit the complete platform, also the vast fortune of the creator.  


    The very moment I finished Ready Player One—August 2019—I let out a triumphant yell that echoed in the empty house and bounced off the walls of my tinny room. The astonishing result let me recognize that I had read over 80 pages a day. It convinced me that my English had improved a lot compared to the preceding quarter. It gave my heart and soul a shoot of passion that will last until the Dune series came to my life the following year. 


    As you noticed, the way the books kept me immersing myself in more lives throughout the whole year is fascinating, and I recommend you to give them a try as soon as possible. Even if you are an English-native speaker and are not interested in learning more, I believe their chapters' smiles and dramas will make you feel curious. 


Onward...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

📌 Am I an artist?

Am I an artist?  " I guess no because I don't understand a thing when looking at a piece of art." That was the answer I gave myself every time I entered a museum. Does that mean I was insecure? Well, not exactly. I was overwhelmed.   So many techniques, periods, movements, and terms made me feel sick and weak . Art is hard! I didn't study art history or anything related, but I wanted to enjoy random sculptures and artworks. Then I thought, " that had to change."  I needed a  guide   easy to read, but I wanted to create it from scratch. One   day, I took my laptop, a bunch of white sheets and started asking questions to myself. Yes, from the basics like:  What is this?  What do you represent?  How many people painted you? What is the title?   Then, I questioned myself about the moment being there (in the Museum or Gallery). This is what I found: Do the shoes I use when visiting influence my experience?  Should I know the artist be...

🎃 Local Stone...

  "Write a scary story."   The evening. What is the evening? Dead. What is dead? Cruelty. What is cruelty? Reality. What is reality? You will find a poisonous answer soon.   FROM "LOCAL STONE: THE MEXICAN CITY PLAGUED BY DEATH." "God damn, Stone! Fourteen guys more have been shot dead this morning. Fourteen! Did you hear that, Pilo?" A distance voice yelled while hearing the local news on an old radio from 1944. The noise bounced on every wall through the seven-meter-long hallway until it got to Pilo's room. It seemed as if the sound had been produced next to his ear.        "Wait, what?" the guy opened his eyes. Pilo had woken up. His breathing was heavy, disturbing some may assume. Scared and shocked are the words he identified the most later that day. "Fourteen guys, damn. I hoped it would be less. Fourteen families will see their son's bodies today. Fourteen..." He felt an immediate burden over his shoulders; his twenty-two-...

🌠 Emma

"Write about one fear and turn it into a character." Everything started a cloudy morning in March. Moisture around the place provoked me to sneeze and wake up. I was sat in an enclosed room. Perhaps it was the living room. I got rid of the humid bindings covering my eyes. Nothing seemed to have life inside that negative space until the sound of two flies flying around gave me the notion of freedom. Somehow their movements were rhythmic symphonies. I still don't realize how I got there. The floor was jammed-packed with untied boots, and the walls were all coat-colored. For a moment, I thought I was dreaming. My weak back felt the pressure of gravity more than ever.       And Emma was there, leaning forward, looking strong, alive, persuasive, and also, methodical. Hatred was the first sentiment I experienced the moment I looked at her black-in-black eyes. Her right arm placed over her right knee added to the way she was staring at me, paralyzed the time.  She poin...