Hello, everyone! I haven’t blog for quite some time but I have seen a post that has been circulating around blogs and youtube accounts and I found it fun so I decided to do it. This week is Thanksgiving week in some parts of the world, mostly in the US. However, in our country, we do not celebrate such holiday. I’ve been seeing bookTubers and some bloggers mentioned the top 5 books that they are thankful of. Even though we do not have a thanksgiving day or week I still want to blog about the books that I am thankful of because come on, books are so much more than words on paper.
I tried to narrow down these books in 5 and I find it easier than expected. I’ll be posting the synopsis of each book so that you could have an idea of the story if you haven’t read it yet. However, most of these books in the list are series but I’ll be posting the synopsis of the first book of the series.
📖 TOP 5 – A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire Series) by George R.R. Martin
Synopsis:
Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.
As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must … and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.
The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.
🍂 A Game of Thrones or A Song of Ice and Fire Series is one of those series that I am slowly making my way into. I am thankful for this because it gives me a good foundation in reading high fantasy with many points of view. I am a fan of the fantasy genre but delving in a high fantasy book is different. You have to invest so much attention in order to understand the world. But the author, George R.R. Martin, writes the book so well that you wouldn’t mind how long or how many points of view are there. And now, reading different fantasy books are no big deal compared to this. Plus, finishing this book is an achievement.
📖 TOP 4 – Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Synopsis (A Study in Scarlet):
In the debut of literature’s most famous sleuth, a dead man is discovered in a bloodstained room in Brixton. The only clues are a wedding ring, a gold watch, a pocket edition of Boccaccio’s Decameron, and a word scrawled in blood on the wall. With this investigation begins the partnership of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Their search for the murderer uncovers a story of love and revenge – and heralds a franchise of detective mysteries starring the formidable Holmes.
🍂I am only reading Sherlock Holmes now, but I regret nothing because I think it is the perfect time to do so. It is a good example that books are not just some story written on paper for it can also teach the readers some lesson that they can apply in real life. In my own experience, I have used Sherlock’s reasoning in answering a job interview and I feel like Sherlock would be so proud of me. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has a genius mind that was reflected in Sherlock Holmes and enables the reader to be a spectator in the form of Dr. Watson. The adventure of Holmes and his quest should be read by many generations for he is a perfect example of a model character.
📖 TOP 3 – The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Synopsis:
Winning will make you famous.
Losing means certain death.
The nation of Panem, formed from a post-apocalyptic North America, is a country that consists of a wealthy Capitol region surrounded by 12 poorer districts. Early in its history, a rebellion led by a 13th district against the Capitol resulted in its destruction and the creation of an annual televised event known as the Hunger Games. In punishment, and as a reminder of the power and grace of the Capitol, each district must yield one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 through a lottery system to participate in the games. The ‘tributes’ are chosen during the annual Reaping and are forced to fight to the death, leaving only one survivor to claim victory.
When 16-year-old Katniss’s young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives. , she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.
🍂I am aware that this trilogy is not perfect. I am not one of those people who read it before the movie comes out. I read this after the first movie came out. It was recommended to me by my best friend. It is my first take on the fantasy/dystopian genre. Before this, I only read contemporary because I don’t like to read fantasy books. But now I prefer the fantasy over contemporary.
📖 TOP 2 – Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead
Synopsis:
St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger.
Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.
🍂This series gives me the Harry Potter feels that every Potterhead has; that feeling that the story will forever be in their hearts. I haven’t felt that I could be attached to books so much that it would leave a hole in my heart. I marathon this series and after finishing it, I don’t want to read any book. I only want to hug the books and cry my heart out that it is over. I can’t even bring myself to read the spin-off because I am so attached to the characters. Up until now, I can’t let this world go and I can’t bring myself to read another character partaking in the same world. Thank goodness that Richelle Mead will release a 10th-anniversary edition with short stories included in it! More Vampire Academy content.😭
📖TOP 1 – The Clique Series by Lisi Harrison
Synopsis:
Massie Block: With her glossy brunette bob and laser-whitened smile, Massie is the uncontested ruler of The Clique and the rest of the social scene at Octavian Country Day School, an exclusive private girls’ school in Westchester County, New York. Massie knows you’d give anything to be just like her.
Dylan Marvil: Massie’s second in command who divides her time between sucking up to Massie and sucking down Atkins Diet shakes.
Alicia Rivera: As sneaky as she is beautiful, Alicia floats easily under adult radar because she seems so “sweet.” Would love to take Massie’s throne one day. Just might.
Kristen Gregory: She’s smart, hardworking, and will insult you to tears faster than you can say “my haircut isn’t ugly!”
Enter Claire Lyons, the new girl from Florida in Keds and two-year-old Gap overalls, who is clearly not Clique material. Unfortunately for her, Claire’s family is staying in the guesthouse on Massie’s family’s huge estate while they look for a new home. Claire’s future looks worse than a bad Prada knockoff. But with a little luck and a lot of scheming, Claire might just come up smelling like Chanel No. 19. . . .
The Clique . . . the only thing harder than getting in is staying in.
🍂I am very thankful for this series, emphasized on the words ‘very thankful’. I grew up in a family where no one reads. It sucks, I know. We are more of a movie freak family rather than a bookish family. That’s why I am not a Potterhead because my parents are not a big reader although they’ve bought the DVDs of the HP movies and let me watched it during Christmas, I even watched a Harry Potter movie in the theater without being aware that it was based on a book. And The Clique is one of those movies that I watched and loved. I was obsessed with the movie for a very long time and I even watched it with my friends during sleepovers. And as obsessed as I was, I researched about the movie in the hopes of knowing the actor’s name but I ended up knowing that it was based on a book series. And it just so happens that on the same year that I watched the movie, the bookstore near us held a year end sale. I was scrolling through the half-priced books and saw 3 or 4 books of the series so I asked my parents to buy it for me, and they did! (Shocking considering that it took them 6 yrs to support my bookworm needs.) After that, I saved my allowance every day to buy the other books. I’ve been to different bookstores just to complete the series and I did! (Although I didn’t buy the summer collection.) And now these books are my most prized possession. Oh, I want you to know that this is the longest series that I have read, a total of 14 or 15 books excluding the summer collection.
That’s the end of my rumble! How about you guys, what are the books that you are thankful of?
A Daughter of Parchment and Paper 