Reading Ladder 2019 Summer
•In order of what had been read first
★★★★★ Life-Changing ★★★★ Excellent ★★★ Decent Read ★★ Unsatisfactory ★ No
July/August
- Hamlet: William Shakespeare(400 pages/400 pages) ★★★★★
- A Thousand Splendid Suns: Khaled Hosseini(432 pages/432 pages)★★★★
- Frankenstein: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley(110 pages/110 pages)★★★★
- All the Light We Cannot See: Anthony Doerr(270 pages/540 pages)★★
- Where the Sidewalk Ends: Shel Silverstein(176 pages/176pages)★★★
Total Pages Read: 1388 pages Pages/per week: 173.5 pages Pages/ per day: 23.52 pages
July/August Reading Ladder: During the summer, I was able to read 23 pages per day which is lower than my usual reading rate. Honestly, I just wanted to enjoy this break, but then I had to work a full-time job for 6 weeks of it, which made it quite difficult to enjoy. Then right after having completed my job, I had to quickly catch up on my data sheets, so this break was really hectic. I couldn’t finish reading All the Light We Cannot See because although I appreciated why it was considered such an excellent book, it wasn’t enjoyable for me as I felt it was too long for the content that it had, which made me lose interest. Grade 12 will be busy, but I hope that I can try to squeeze in as many books as possible, since it is my last year.
All these novels were truly amazing, and it is difficult for me to choose a favorite. However, since I must, I will say that Frankenstein has made it to the top of my list. It is about a man named Victor Frankenstein who had a great childhood with an adopted sister Elizabeth, who becomes Victor’s closest friend and eventual lover. He enters university and dives into the study of natural philosophy and makes it his sole purpose in life to reanimate dead matter. With his passion, he creates a monster who is abhorred in appearance and abandons it until his monster begins to wreck havoc on his own family. This book has always been one of my favorites; at first, I liked this novel because I could relate to Victor Frankenstein, but now I can relate more to the monster.
Another great novel that I read was A Thousand Splendid Suns. It describes a girl named Mariam who gradually becomes more aware of the hidden and cruel truths of her life. Her life is full of suffering, and it parallels the life of another girl named Laila. They aren’t given much hope until Laila gives birth to a girl by the name of Aziza. Aziza gives both Mariam and Laila a larger capacity of endurance because she is now the physical purpose of their lives. In the end, Mariam, who never felt a sense of belonging as a child, was willing to sacrifice her life because she has finally found this feeling of acceptance. Khaled Hosseini captures the unbelievable truth and presents it to the readers in a way so that we may gain an understanding of the suffering that many must silently endure.
Lastly, Hamlet was a novel that I absolutely loved. It was a story about how young Hamlet returned to Denmark to attend his father’s funeral, when he is told by a ghost that Claudius, the King’s brother, murdered Hamlet’s father to possess his riches and his wife. To validate his accusations, Hamlet put on a facade of going mad, which led to this pursuit of finding out what the truth was and punishing the sinner for what he had done. The paralysis of making decisions is often how individuals, like Hamlet, choose to cope with their grief because they are doubtful of everything. They isolate themselves and contemplate all aspects of life, which led to others perceiving Hamlet to be mad. Although all of Shakespeare’s works are difficult reads, I have always admired how he unveils such beautiful themes in such clever and artistic ways.
In September, I am planning to read The Importance of Being Earnest and Metamorphosis as I heard that both these books are amazing in their own styles. Another reason I chose Invisible Man is because it is the #1 most used book for the AP exam which would be incredibly useful to have and since I didn’t read it last year, it would be useful to read it for my exam this year. If I have more time, then I might either read Othello or Little Women depending on what I feel more inclined too in that moment.
