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a contemplation on books

This month was kind of good for me. I didn't read everything I wanted to, but I'm still happy with the books I read. I didn't have many exceptional reads, except for Trazos and my reread of Harry Potter. The rest was just okay. Here I bring the books I finished in February, the books I'm currently reading and my TBR for March. Links to Goodreads by clicking on the title of the book. 
This month I read a total of six books, three novels, one graphic novel, one manga and one book of poetry.
READ
The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide (★★): This book wasn't a great read for me, mostly because I felt that nothing was happening. It just describes the relation of the owners with their cat and their daily lives. And that is it, nothing really happens in this book. I just felt it wasn't for me.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (★★★★★): You can see my review for this book here. This was my first time reading the book in English, and I think  I loved it more than when I read it in Spanish. It is always good to come back to Hogwarts.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han (★★★): You can see my full review here. I listened to this on audible, and although I liked it, I think I would have enjoyed a lot more if I was in high school. I just didn't understand some of the actions of Lara Jean and found her a bit immature. Anyway, this was a good read.
Trazos by Fernanda Frick (★★★★★): You can read my review of this book here. I have no words to express how much I loved this graphic novel. It was just amazing, and I recommend everyone who understands Spanish to read it. This was absolutely my best read of the month.
Death Note Black Edition: Vol.1 by Tsugumi Ohba (★★★★): I really liked this manga, because I loved the anime. Nonetheless, I don't think I'll read the other volumes because it is too similar to the anime. It is great though if you are a hardcore fan of Death Note!
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman (★★): You can read my full review here. I didn't really like this book, which is really sad because I was looking forward to enjoying it. I'll probably read something else by this author in the future anyway, mostly because I have to take a course on poetry!

CURRENTLY READING

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (3%): I just loved this book when I read it for the first time. I listened to some parts and read others, but this time I'm only listening to it because the narration is great, and it really adds something to the story.
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (66%): I can't believe I have been reading this for the whole month, and I'm still not close to finishing it. The thing is, I find that this book is slower than the others, and I have to force myself to keep reading it in some parts. I hope it gets better in the end.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (19%): This book is utterly disgusting. But is so well written, I really want to keep reading it. It does really give some insight into the mind of a pedophile (which is what makes it so disgusting).

MARCH TBR
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi: I bought this with my February credit from Audible so I will be listening to this while I knit, or while I cook. This book has been recommended to me a lot recently, so I plan to start it soon.
You by Caroline Kepnes: This was in my TBR for February, but I didn't even had the chance to start it. I will definitely read it this month though.
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne: So many people were saying this book was so good after the last book by Sally Thorne came out, I had to check it! I can't resist the hype. 
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To All the Boys I've Loved Before is the first book in a trilogy written by Jenny Han. This is the story of Lara Jean, a teenager who finds herself in trouble when her love letters are released. Especially, since one of them is addressed to her sister's ex-boyfriend. 
The first thing I have to say is that if I had read this in high school, I would have absolutely loved it. But I'm not in high school anymore, and I cannot say I loved this, not even that I liked it a lot. I just liked and that's it, which left me a little disappointed. After all the hype for these books, I thought I would like it more. And I did like the movie quite a bit, so I was expecting to love the book. But sadly, I have to say that the movie might be better than the book.

First, I found Lara Jean to be a bit childish. I couldn't stand her at first because of this, but then I grew to like her. I didn't really identify with her, which was a bit sad since I did identify with her in the movie. 

But my main problem was Margo. She doesn't appear that much in the book, but every time she did I couldn't stand her. I just found her to be so mean and selfish, so I just couldn't avoid rolling my eyes at everything she said. She did redeem herself a little bit at the end, but I still don't like her.

And now, Peter Kavinsky. I have to say at first I didn't like him so much, but this was mainly because I didn't like how the narrator of the audiobook did his voice, more than something with him himself. I liked how you can really notice from the middle of the book how Peter likes Lara Jean since in the movie it comes as kind of a surprise. 

I recommend this if you like contemporary young adult fiction, especially if you like books where the characters are built amazingly, but with a plot that might be too slow for some readers.

★★★
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Recently I've added several books to my TBR, I bought some, but most of them I exchanged for books I did no longer want. Here are the books I recently acquired. Link to Goodreads by clicking on the book title.

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes: I didn't plan to acquire this book, but someone recommended to me while I was exchanging some books, and I brought it home. I don't really know what it is about, except that it is fantasy. I hope that the stranger that recommended it to me is right!
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien: I also exchanged this book since I've been wanting to read it for so long. I think I started reading The Hobbit years ago, but I don't really remember anything about it (actually I'm not even sure if I even started it). I hope I can read and love this book soon.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: I wanted to read this for some time now, so I was really excited when I found it available for exchange. I think I will try to read this next month, but I don't promise anything.
The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide: I had seen this book on some bookstagrams, so I picked it up when I saw it was available for exchange. I am currently reading it and I am liking it so far.
Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern: I wanted to read this author for a while now, so I picked up this book without knowing what it was really about. I liked the cover though!
Snow Flower and The Secret Fan by Lisa See: I picked this book because the cover was pretty. I read the synopsis when I got home, and it sounds actually really good, so I hope I like it. 
The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima: I found this book very cheap on my local bookstore, so I bought it. I also had seen it in someone's blog as one of their favorite series, sadly I don't remember whose blog it was.
Fausto by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: I wanted to read this book since I saw the 1926 movie (which is amazing). This edition is both in Spanish and German, so I think I will take some time to read it.
Dubliners by James Joice: My aunt recommended this book to me after she read it and traveled to Dublin. I found it so cheap at my bookstore that I had to buy it.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum: I also found this book very cheap, and I bought it because I want to read this before I read Dorothy Must Die, which sounds really good.
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne: Sally Thorne recently published a new book, and everyone was saying how reading that book made them want to reread The Hating Game again. So I thought it had to be good. Plus I will always enjoy a contemporary romance. 
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Trazos is a Chilean Graphic Novel by illustrator Fernanda Frick. This is her first Graphic Novel, and I just have to say that I loved it. The story is about Simona, a former artist that now works in a bar after her career is destroyed by a fiasco in a gallery event. In this story, we will see how Simona finds her passion for art again.


The illustrations are lovely. You can see a picture of how the inside looks here. As you can see in the cover, the protagonist, Simona, is a cat. I thought this was really good because it adds a unique spark to the story. The whole novel is in black and white, and although I would have preferred some illustrations in color, this doesn't affect the story at all. 

The story itself is what makes this book shine. I just found it so compelling and sweet, I couldn't put this book down. I really cared about Simona, and although I'm not an artist (unless blogging is considered an art), I was able to put myself in her shoes. The end of the story was perfect, and the last illustration almost made me cry. 

I really recommend you to read this! Sadly, it is only in Spanish. If you are curious, you can find more about Fernanda Frick here.

★★★★★
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Leaves of Grass is a poetry collection written by Walt Whitman. I read the edition that was published in 1855, which contains twelve poems. The book deals with several topics, including what was to live in America, the war and nature. I found the book a bit repetitive. Sometimes several stanzas would be just examples of some feeling, or similarities between objects or sensations. This made the book a bit boring at some points, with only a few stanzas that called my attention. 

I found the language used a bit hard to understand since there would be several words I didn't know the meaning of. But you should take into account that English is not my first language, although I'm fluent in it. This means that maybe this book won't be suitable for young teens, but it will be ok for older ones. And if you are just learning English, I recommend you to read this in your native language. 

Here I bring some lines that I found very interesting.
"They come to me days and nights and go from me again, but they are not the Me myself"
"This hour I tell things in confindence, I might not tell everybody but I will tell you."
"I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journeywork of the stars."
"Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you, You must travel it for yourself."
"The murderer that is to be hung next day... how does he sleep? And the murdered person... how does he sleep?" 
★ ★
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This review is based on my re-read of the first book of the Harry Potter series. This is (I think) my third or fourth re-read of the book, but this is the first time I have read the book in English. 

One of the things that amazed me right from the start was how Hagrid speaks. For example, here is one of the lines he says in the chapter The Keeper of the Keys;
"It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learnt it all?"
For the ones of you who read the book for the first time in English, this might not seem surprising. But for me, which my first time reading the books was in Spanish, I found it very curious. The thing is, in Spanish, Hagrid talks like any other person in the book, that is to say, how it is properly talked. I wonder why they decided to translate it like that, and not adapt it so that the essence of Hagrid wasn't lost. With this re-read, I think I encountered myself with a new aspect of Hagrid's personality.

As with every re-read, I noticed more details about the story, that will come to play a role in the next books. I even had forgotten some scenes, because my last re-read was several years ago. It was nice to encounter characters again, for example, Peeves, who sadly does not appear in the movies.

For the ones of you who haven't read Harry Potter, this book is about a boy who discovers he is a wizard and goes to Hogwarts to learn magic. It is a must-read if you like fantasy. One of the things that have been highlighted about this series, is the extensive world J.K. Rowling built. It has many details, many characters and a story you will definitely love.

I think I will never grow too old to not give this book five stars.

★★★★★
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About me

Hi, there! I'm Catalina. I'm a 22-year-old bookworm from Chile. I am on my second year of English Literature and Linguistics at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. My favorite things in the world are blankets, pretty mugs and audiobooks.

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