Life: Selected Quotations

Title: Life (Selected Quotations)

Author: Paulo Coelho

Publisher: Harper Collins

Language: English

If you enjoy Paulo Coelho's work, then this book is perfect for your collections. "Life: Selected Quotations" contains best quotes from Coelho's books such as The Alchemist, Brida, The Fifth Mountain, etc. This hard-cover book has eight chapters, namely: The Dream, The Path, Love, Chance, The Journey, Destiny, The Good Fight and The Mystery.

These are some of my favorite quotes:

"When you want something, the whole Universe conspires to help you realize your desire." -The Alchemist-

 "Only one thing makes a dream impossible: the fear of a failure." -The Alchemist-

Like the Flowing River

Author: Paulo Coelho

Genre: Short stories, articles

Publisher: Harper Collins, 2007

Language: English

Once again, Paulo Coelho brought you an enchanting books about his thoughts and reflections on life. The book is a collection of short stories inspired by his daily life, other poets, newspaper article and unexpected experience.

Never Let Me Go

Title: Never Let Me Go

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Language: English

Publisher: Vintage Books, 2006

Genre: Fiction

The story is narrated by Kathy H., a 31-year-old woman who has been a carer for over eleven years. The story is told as if we are having a direct conversation with her. Having her telling the story of her childhood in a mysterious boarding school, Hailsham, in a quite area of England. In the first part of the book, readers are made curious by several unfamiliar terms mentioned by Kathy, such as carer, donors, donation and guardian. Slowly, Kathy H. tells the story since age 5 until she grew up. The story seems humble and nostalgic. In some parts, Kathy needs to go back and forth in the timeline, as if she doesn't want us to miss the details.

What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20

Title:What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 (A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World)

Author:  Tina Seelig
Language: English

Genre: Non Fiction/Self-Help

This book is light-weight yet loaded with simple useful tips in life, as the tagline said 'Skip the Mistakes Everyone Else Makes'. I'll sum up some key points from the book.

When we are facing challenges, it requires different point of view to turn it to opportunities. Many times we look at a problem only based on one perspective, framed by rules or conventional wisdom. As a matter of fact, we can question this conventional wisdom, and revisit the rules. We'll be amazed how there are so many unseen opportunities.  

Opportunities are abundant. At any place and time you can look around and identify problems that need solving.

The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity. Nobody will pay you to solve a non-problem.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Author: Khaled Hosseini

Genre: Fiction/Drama
Language: English

Published: 2007, Penguin

*SPOILER ALERT*

I read this book recently although I knew it was published when I was in high school. At first, I was too scared to read it because my friend told me that it was heart breaking. I'm not really fond of heart-breaking sad stories. I like books which can make me feel cheerful, peaceful, and vivid. But, I was curious, so I grabbed this from my campus library.

This book consists of four parts. The early parts told about two women separately and the last parts told  when finally they interact and live together. They are Mariam and Laila. 

Life of Pi

Author: Yann Martel

Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Adventure
Language: English
Published: 2001, Harcourt Books

*Spoiler Alert* 

I chose this book for my first review because actually it was the reason I made this blog in the first place. I read this book two years after it was published in 2001. I remember I loved this book, but I hardly remember the story. Well, it was nice to re-read "Life of Pi". I think I should start re-reading all my collections :)