(Still From) 2018 Reads: Fun Reads

Hi, Nerdies! and Happy Chinese New Year!!

It’s another list from my 2018 reads, and this time it’s a list of pastime kind of books. Hope you enjoy it.

My fun reads from 2018 fall in to four unorthodox categories: Memoir Slash Comedy, War-Themed Fiction, Romance, and Mystery.  

 

Comedy Slash Memoir Slash Comedy

This category is really muddy, I know.

Yes, Please by Amy Poehler

And the reason for the muddiness is because of this witty memoir of Amy Poehler, the comedian who stars the SNL. This book is essentially a comedy slash memoir slash comedy.

If you are not an American though, I’m just going to warn you there’s loads of names that you probably have never heard of in the book. Otherwise, you’ll know whom those fellas Poehler‘s talking about.   

The Funny Thing Is … by Ellen Degeneres

This small book is downright comedy, it contains a compilation of Ellen’s old monologues. If you’ve watched all of her stand-ups, you probably won’t want to read this, because the book contains the exact same stuff.

 

Becoming by Michele Obama

And just to be clear, this one is a memoir and there’s absolutely nothing comedic about it. I’ve got this one covered already, you can go here Michelle Obama as a Friend: Becoming, if you want.  

 

 

 

War-Themed Books

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

It’s a unique novel written with a quirky writing style. I’ve seen people hating Foer’s writing style, and I must say I get why they hate it. I guess it’s a love it or hate it kind of thing. But in my case, I found Foer’s storytelling style as a quite interesting way to tell a weirdly interesting story!

 

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

This one is good, like, really good. It’s a story of extremely brutal racial disparity that has been going on for so long in Afghanistan. If you’re interested in my thoughts of the book, you can go to The Kite Runner Review.

 

 

Romance

Trilogy: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before; P.S. I Still Love You; Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han (YA)

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If you haven’t read this already, know this: you’re missing out. I even wrote a letter to you not long ago telling you about this sweet sweet trilogy. If you also haven’t read that, please read it now, will you? A Sweet Love Letter: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.

Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (YA)

A light french-y romance. Sliiiiightly too cheesy for me, but overall it’s a fun read.

 

 

 

The Winner’s Crime and The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

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A feminine romance tale painted on a warfare backstory. These two books are the middle and the last part of a trilogy respectively, but to be honest I think the first book is the best part of the three. —and as for why I didn’t include the first book here, it’s because I read it a long time ago, and not in 2018, and I just wanted to stay committed to my post title. Ha!–  But still, I was the kind of person who never dnf, thereby I finished it anyway. (Btw, I am still preparing a complete commentary on this trilogy)

Mystery

Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie

I don’t think I need to advertise for an Agatha Christie’s novel. Everybody knows that her mysteries are invariably intriguing, this one is of course no exemption. And even though Miss Marple is my favorite sleuth in Christie’s universe, a Hercule Poirot’s investigation is never less fascinating!

 

 

You: Obsessive Chilling and Thrilling by Caroline Kepnes

This one is a documentation of a psychopath’s doings from his own perspective. I’ve also covered this one, you can read A Comment on You: Obsessive and Chilling if you like. 

 

 

The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon

I was a little bit not sure what genre should I have categorized this book in, but decided that the story was basically a mystery, but just to be precise, it also had romance in it. Or to better put it, it’s typical of Sidney Sheldon. Adult revengeful romance. One thing that Sheldon’s stories have in common is the never-ending twist. And this one is just exactly like any other of his books, it’s fast-paced, its plot keeps turning the way you don’t expect to, and it has no rigid rule as for the ending. If you’re a fan of twists, you probably will like this book too!

Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark

I read a lot of bad reviews of this novel, I saw people complained that it’s too predictable, and how they’d known the kidnapper very very early on. –Oh yeah, almost forgot, it’s a story about twins kidnapping–  Call me stupid, but I didn’t see anything coming at all, so for me it’s honestly unpredictable, and thank God the book was a super quick read so I didn’t spend so much time anxiously wondering who’d done what.

I also saw among the reviews that for some people a book being a quick read was a bad thing, and I honestly didn’t know why because hell, I loved it more for that very reason. LOL. I totally sound like I just want to oppose all people for no good reason. But really, that’s not what I am trying to do here. All I want to say is that this book is a great thriller. That’s all.

And don’t you think that children abduction is such a relatable topic? After all, most of us are parents or uncles or aunts, aren’t us? And oh my, I have been dragging, haven’t I? I need to stop talking now.    

But just one more thing.

Bonus: One Re-read

I also read a re-read on Christmas last year, only because the title rhymed. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (by Agatha Christie) on my Christmas. Done! I hope you enjoyed this list, and I’ll see you in my next post! Which will be uploaded on Wednesday next week! I upload on Wednesday. Jeez, I really need to stop blabbering. NOW!