What’s the one thing bookworms enjoy as much as reading? Recommending books!

How can I resist a tag that involves recommending books? Isn’t this what all bookworms enjoy to do? 🙂 Thank you Ally for creating this amazing tag! Let’s go!

Rules

• Tag Ally @ Ally Writes Things
• Give at least one recommendation for each of the prompts below
• If you don’t have a recommendation, talk about a book you want to read
• Tag your blogging friends: Tracy, Julia, Linda, Kirsty, Nicole

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A book about friendship

When I think about a beautiful friendship, The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré comes to mind (my review). The story depicts a powerful and unusual friendship between Adunni, a young 14-old maid (more of a domestic slave) and Tia, a woman who supports Adunni to find her louding voice. It’s one of those friendships that surpass the social barriers and get out the best in people.

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A translated book

I was astonished what I found out that The Memory Police was translated almost 30 years after its publication in Japanese! The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (my review) tells the daunting dystopian story about an island controlled by an authority that controls what people remember, what objects are burnt and forgotten, what beings and plants disappear.

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A diverse romance

I don’t usually read romance, and I am an not even sure what “diverse romance” officially means. But I recently read a book that contains some romantic elements, the relationship being between a housewife and a wondering spiritual writer. I am referring to The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak – a captivating story about love at the most profound level.

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A fast-paced book

I will not recommend a fast-paced book, but a fast-paced series! The Cemetery of Forgotten Books quartet by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (my review), one of my favourite series of all times, has a great mix of intrigue, mystery, gothic fiction, and unexpected plot twists. Each book of the series can be read as stand-alone story, and each story is great in its own way. However, reading all of them is actually what makes the series so special!

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A nonfiction other than a memoir

I rarely read non-fiction, but when I do … it’s A-MA-ZING! Just like The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker (my review). It is an educative and captivating book about how to transform any type of gathering into an engaging and memorable experience. We’re not only talking about meetings from the business-oriented perspective, but also teambuilding weekends, training sessions, family meetings, weddings, funerals, and the list goes on. Must read!

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An underrated memoir

Most memories I read are hyped books, like Michelle Obama’s memoir (my review), When Breath Becomes Air (my review) or The Diary of a Young Girl (my review), so I will choose an underrated memoir that I would love to read – Diary of an Apprentice Astronaut by Samantha Cristoforetti. It tells the story of Samantha Cristoforetti’s journey to becoming an astronaut, her apprentice years, and her journey beyond Earth. She spent 200 days on the International Space Station – I’m sure her memoir is super interesting!

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A book with fewer than 10,000 ratings on Goodreads

In the category of “amazing books we don’t talk enough about” I nominate We Are All Birds of Uganda by Hafsa Zayyan (my review). It has only 642 ratings on Goodreads. The book tells the story of Sameer, a young lawyer living the dream life. By a certain chain of events (no spoilers!), Sameer gets to know better the roots of his family and how his grandparents’ lives were influenced by the political dynamics from Uganda. It is definitely a story worth to be read by much more people!

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A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green (my review) is a mystery-science-fiction story that tackles themes such as internet fame and media exposure, identity and sexuality, and has also a strong component of geekiness. April, the main character of the story, is bisexual, and her sexuality becomes a matter of public discussion at some point in the story.

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A book by a trans or non-binary author

I haven’t read any book by a trans or non-binary author, but I would like to read Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. The book explores the “surreal experience of having a fractured self”, with focus on a young Nigerian woman who develops separate selves within her as a result of being born “with one foot on the other side.” The story is inspired by the author’s reality – a very interesting perspective for sure!

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A book with more than 500 pages

There are many books that I would recommend for the 500+ pages category, but I managed to sneak them in the other categories 😀 Here I go for The Secret History by Donna Tartt (my review) – a dark adrenaline-rushing story of murder (no spoilers, you find out about the murder in the first page). The story takes place at an elitist school and the focus is on what happened before and after the murder, especially in terms of circumstances and characters. If you want to read this book (and I hope you do!), be prepared for a reading marathon – I’m sure you’ll not be able to put it down before reaching the final page ❤

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A short story collection

That’s an easy one – Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (my short review). It is a series of two books with the action happening in a special café. There, people can travel to the past, they have to get back before their coffee gets cold. In a heart-warming fashion readers are told stories of friends, lovers and parents who want to travel back in time. The present cannot be changed, so does it really make sense to travel back in time for only few minutes?

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A book you want everyone to read

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (my review) is the book I pick as the must read for everyone! It tells the story of multiple generations (100+ years) descending from the same Asante woman from Ghana. Starting with two half sisters, Effia and Esi, the stories unfold on two parallel streams of the family tree. The two sisters have very different lives – one marries a British Governor, while the other is a enslaved – leading to contrasting lives of their descendants. Homegoing is so beautifully written and the story is definitely touching – go and read this book as soon as possible!

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These are my top recommendations! Did you read any of the books mentioned? Any of them on your reading list?

‘Till next time … happy reading!

Georgiana

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Cover photo by Matias North on Unsplash