*

     A winner, a champion, will accept his fate. He will continue with his wheels in the dirt. He will do his best to maintain his line and gradually get himself back on the track when it is safe to do so. Yes, he loses a few places in the race. Yes, he is at a disadvantage. But he is still racing. He is still alive.

     The race is long. It is better to drive within oneself and finish the race behind the others than it is to drive too hard and crash.

- The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.

Fee Reads (2014, #2)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (by Jonathan Safran Foer).

Actually my first book for 2014, but I don't know how to put it (whether I should say it's the first, or the second) when I've started A Study in Scarlet (by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) in December 2013 but finished it in 2014.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a story of a nine-year-old named Oskar who embarks in an adventure, searching for the lock to a key he found in his late dad's belongings. 

I hate giving synopses because they are easy to find elsewhere, so let me just jump to what makes this book special  to me.

A few months back, when I was targeting for the next book to buy, the cover of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close caught my eyes. Contrary to popular belief that you should not judge a book by it's cover, well, I had actually judged that this might be a potentially good book...

I love the cover for no known reasons!

...and it was.

I love books about families, especially about father-son relationships. I count it as lucky if I can find a really good book that plays with my emotions, makes me chuckle when I'm supposed to, and makes me cry when the character cries. After one day finishing the book, I still cannot move on to another. Oskar still stays in my mind.This book narrowed the tragedy of 9/11 to an individual's significance, not just names in a memorial plaque, but the stories their loved ones carry, which made the whole story so unique. 

Of course there were parts which I preferred weren't there (I don't think I need to type those out). I think those who didn't really like this book would hate me if I say that Jonathan Safran Foer is a genius, but still I think he really is. I would be glad if I find the chance to read his other works in the future.

So yeah. Read it if you're looking for a book that can make you cry and laugh. I can't guarantee that you'll like it, but this book automatically placed itself in my list of favourite books of all time hahah (maybe because I don't read much, so yeah, lol, I'm in a mission to read a wide range of genres, but I'm struggling with sci-fi and fantasy, lol -- nothing to do with this review).

Anyway...yeah, 5 stars -- for making me cry because I love emotional stuffs.

Fee Reads...(#3)

Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom

I just finished reading this yesterday. Gave it a 5 star because I'm a bit in my Feelosophical mood, and I think the timing was perfect for me to read such a book.

This book is quotable in almost every page, no kidding.

And I guess in the end, I came up with one thought I had almost forgotten.

To take pride in humility is not humility after all. We're all humans. We get proud in some point of our lives. But when we take pride on our 'humility', and intertwine that with our faith, how different are we from those whom we say are faithless?

It was never about who's better and who has a stronger faith, and it will never be.

Fee Reads...(#2)

Fee reads about Fi in Talking to the Dead.

It has probably been a month since I finished my last book, so I kind of think that you know my verdict on this one. Man, it was so hard to finish.

Unlike some crime books which I've read in the past, this one is not really a page-turner. I could have just abandoned it but I didn't because I paid 31 bucks for it after planning to buy it for about 4 or 5 months. Like I said, the main character has the same name with me..so I thought it would be interesting.

Well it wasn't that bad, I mean, ohkayyy, cool murder case, cool woman cop, lots of f words..but what annoyed me most is that it was too draggy, I lost my patience to find out who's the killer and what's the story behind the whole killing. And I took the title too literally, I thought the dead victims were kind of going to try to talk to the main character. Only towards the last few pages I understood why the title said so.

I gave an early 3 out of 5 stars throughout the whole time I was reading this, but at page 371 out of 377, I changed my mind. Perhaps 3.5 would be better. I kind of like the ending, how things start to slowly unfold. 

Overall, I'm glad of finishing this one, although to be honest it won't really leave a strong impact/nice thought/unexplainable emotions inside my brain. It was not bad at all, but also not that wow-ing.

*I never learnt how to write proper book reviews, so if you happen to stumble upon this, sorry, I was typing this one out for my own record. :P

...and yayyyyyy! I know 15 is not a lot, but 15 is
realistic enough for now. :D

Fee Reads...(#1)

So I told you I was about to start this reading programme for myself this holiday. I successfully finished a book last night (being able to finish one is rare, trust me) and the book wassssssss....

The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

OK, stop giving me that look. I know what you're thinking of, especially if you too have read the book. And if I tell you I gave it a four out of a five, hahahah, just don't give me that look. I actually like it very much.

A few months ago my classmate warned me to better not read it because it contains too much..too much..well you know what I'm talking about, don't you? Skipping that part (yes I admit my classmate was right), I actually love a lot of things about the book.

First of all I love the way Charlie observes and thinks about stuffs. Then I think I mentioned this before, my preferences on books is heavily determined by my feelings after I finish reading the whole thing, like how you feel that weird awwwww feeling when everything has ended. So far, there are only some books that made me feel that way, and the best was John Grisham's "A Painted House" which I read last semester.

Back to this one, well I have to admit it gave me that feeling too when I was reading it near the ending. So I decided to give it 4/5 stars.

Now I'm having a hard time deciding what to read next. It's either The Catcher in the Rye or Midnight's Children. I'll get back here soon to write Fee Reads...(#2), well, hopefully.