THREE BOOKS FOR LIFE

I have collected and carefully selected 3 books which for one reason or the other turned my reading world upside down and brought in me emotions hard to put into words. I decided to put 3 because they perfectly represent each part of a reading world I am immensely devoted to, each one holding an immense emotional and intellectual value hard to describe…but this is me trying.

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CIRCE - MADELINE MILLER

GENRE: Historical Fiction

‘You cannot know how frightened gods are of pain. There is nothing more foreign to them, and so nothing they ache more deeply to see”

Madeline Miller storytelling always brings to life a spell-bounding world and in this case, she brought up a story where a woman goes against all odds and is able to reign in her own world in the most brutally unapologetically way, by entrusting herself and herself only.

The retelling of Circe’s story is like constructing the fundamental of feminism. It brings forward so many elements found in today’s world even if the settings go back into the depths of time. It touches various elements and emotions.

From what it means to be outcasted just because you are labelled differently from the rest, it touches on matters such as sexual assault and the process that follows after both physically and mentally, to redemption, to finding strength in solitude, to resilience and to surrendering to love without losing trace of one’s own colours.

“My divinity shines in me like the last rays of the sun before they drown in the sea”

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IF WE WERE VILLAINS - M.L.RIO

Genre: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller

“You can justify anything if you do it poetically”

Nothing could have ever prepared me for this tale of mystery, pride, blame, recklessness, murder, guilt, selflessness and beauty within tragedy. This book brought life to my imagination set fire to my subconscious and burned me down to ashes along with the secrets that ran wild with the characters in the entire story.

If only I could read this book again for the first time, if only I could replay the scenes in my mind, rethink about the happenings over and over again, this book haunted me and it keeps on haunting me as reading more Shakespeare’s work makes you rethink of every action and every word the characters did or say.

This is how a book should be done, this is how you should bring a story to life, like a sandcastle but with the difference that this creation cannot be erased not even with the strongest tidal wave.

The ending tore through me like a dagger, it left me aching and exhausted, by the elegance and attention to detail in creating a perfect secret society haunted by Shakespeare’s words

“Do you blame Shakespeare for any of it?

The question is so unlikely, so nonsensical coming from such a sensible man, that I can’t suppress a smile.”

“I blame him for all of it”, I say.

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PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION - EMILY HENRY

Genre: Romantic Comedy

"I don't think I knew I was lonely until I met you"

This book skyrocketed to my top 3 fav books of all time.

It was everything I needed in a moment of my life where everything felt uncertain.

Reading this book you will go through a whirlwind of emotions: giddiness, enamoured by places you may or may not never been to, joyful and completely and utterly immersed in the story like never before

This book resonated with a part of me, the feeling of wanting to belong somewhere or with someone, deeply buried by this constant search for independence and self-sufficiency.

It is the perfect representation of how a romantic-comedy story should be written, giving it away immediately with the couple’s first meeting inspired by ‘When Harry Met Sally’ as the author herself mentioned.

The depiction of the character was so real, powerful and genuine and you really feel a sense of immense comfort whenever they are together and this makes you want to root for them through thick and thin.

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Let me know what your 3 must-read life books are down in the comments below, let’s share a part of us through words.

- Federica Purcaro