Five Books I’ve Recently Read | Chapter Eight

1. ASK AND IT IS GIVEN BY ESTHER AND JERRY HICKS

I heard about this book through Irish social media influencer, Sinead Hegarty’s Instagram stories and she recommended it along with The Secret, The Power of Now and other books in the same genre.

As I had already read the above books, and always love to read more about the Law of Attraction, manifesting and all that jazz, I thought I would give this one a go.

At the beginning, it did seem a little bit cult-like and I didn’t know if I was going to enjoy it, but once it got into the 22 processes, I started to learn more from it.

If you’re into manifesting and positive thoughts, the Law of Attraction and that kind of thing, then I would fully recommend it. If you’re more of a fact-focused person then this one may not be for you.

2. TENDER IS THE NIGHT BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

Although this book was written in the 1920s, it was actually a very enjoyable and easy read. I have read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald two or three times, so thought I would also enjoy another of his books.

This book was left in my apartment by previous tenants – I’ll read anything and everything these days – and wasn’t in the best condition. My favourite kinds of books are old, second-hand books that have that musty smell – yes, I’m weird, I know.

The book is set mainly in France and other parts of Europe. It’s a very good book about love, affairs, and living a luxurious lifestyle in the 1920s.

3. NORMAL PEOPLE BY SALLY ROONEY

I read this book in the space of two days, maybe a little less. I had seen the TV show and heard the book was very similar, if not identical to the show, so wanted to read it for myself.

The lack of speech marks used in the text threw me off a little at the beginning, but as there is so much dialogue in the book, I think it worked a lot better not having the speech marks in the text.

I agree that the book is almost identical to the TV show, and I think this may be why I got through the book so quickly, as I could picture all of the characters and all of the scenes. I would definitely recommend, even if you haven’t yet watched the TV show.

4. THE PERFECT WORLD OF MIWAKO SUMIDA BY CLARISSA GOENAWAN

What a book. I read this in two days, just like Normal People. It seems like I’m getting through the fiction books a lot quicker than the non-fiction. I think my love for fiction has been fully restored.

This is a story told in three accounts, by three people. It deals with a lot of issues, but is a great story. It was a page-turner for me as I could hardly put it down.

5. BECOMING BY MICHELLE OBAMA

What a book. And what a time to read this book. Five stars, without a doubt.

I had began reading this book before I left for New York last year and had only managed to get halfway through before I packed my bags and left. I hate leaving a book unread, especially a book like this one.

I re-ordered the book a few weeks ago, determined to see it through. I couldn’t have chosen a more apt time to read Michelle Obama’s book as it covers a lot about racial inequality, minority groups going through education and talks about police brutality against POC.

I now have a long list of books I want to read to learn more about racism, inequality and Black history (you can see that list along with other ways to be educated on racism here) and am glad that I read this book as I’ve already learnt so much.

Oh, and she doesn’t hold back on her thoughts about Trump either, which we love.