I've always liked to read. I've always seen reading as entertainment, something you do for fun. Even when I was a kid and my mom would make me check out books from the library that I had no interest in reading and even when I was in AP English classes and reading books seemed overwhelming, felt like too much, and wasn't always fun, I still wanted to read. I simply wanted to read what I wanted to.
And nine times out of 10, I want to read fiction. There's just something about being immersed in another world where anything can happen, even if that world is realistic fiction and just like the one we live in. Sometimes it's just nice to get out or your head and your problems with a good fiction book.
So in honor of World Book Day, I've decided to share four of my favorite fiction books, in no particular order. (And if you want to see more of my favorite books or what I'm reading, add me on Goodreads or follow me on Instagram and look at my books highlight!)
180 Seconds by Jessica Park
This is a book I got on Amazon kind of out of the blue. I think I might have gotten in on Prime Day. I'd never heard of it before but the story sounded interesting and young adult fiction is right up my alley and it was on sale, so I bought it. (Honestly, that's how I end up buying a lot of the books I own.)
180 Seconds is about a college student named Allison who doesn't like to keep people very close as she spent a lot of her life in foster care, going from one family to another. A junior in college, she has been adopted and legally has a dad (though she may not call him that), but doesn't really have anyone else in her life except her long distance BFF, Steffi, whom she knows from their time in foster care together.
One day she's just strolling around campus and ends up in a social experiment where she's supposed to stare into a stranger's eyes for 180 seconds. She ends up really connecting with the guy whose eyes she stared into, and he basically changes her life ― but not in a "I found my soulmate and my life has been forever changed" sort of way. He helps her learn to trust and the importance of having people in your life whom you can count on. I do admit the staring into someone's eyes for 180 seconds thing is kind of weird, but I can definitely see how it could impact someone as long as it were the right someone.
This became one of my favorite books, because it was one of the first books where I felt seen, where I really connected and related to the protagonist. There are a lot of times in this book where Allison feels alone and like she has no friends and is just anxious about the entire concept of basically having no friends despite being a junior in college, where everyone around her is surrounded by other people and making lifelong friends. She struggles to make friends, and I 100% related to all of that. I just graduated from college when I read this book, and college is when I realized and accepted that I didn't have a lot of friends and that making friends was something I struggled with, so reading this really affected me and made me cry a few times.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
If there's a book that made me feel more seen than 180 Seconds, it's TATBILB. I could go on and on about how I connect to Lara Jean and why I call myself the Filipino Lara Jean (Lara Jean is the protagonist of the book in case you didn't get that by now), but I already wrote about that in a blog post I did on why Lara Jean means a lot to me, which discusses book the book and movie versions of TATBILB.
If you haven't heard of the book or seen the movie yet (go watch it; it's on Netflix), To All the Boys is about Lara Jean, a hopeless romantic teenage girl who has to deal with the aftermath of love letters she wrote with no intention of sending being sent. The story itself is sweet but not corny or cheesy and is what I'd expect out of a YA romance novel, but Lara Jean is the reason this book (and the series) is one of my favorites.
The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
I actually finished reading this Sunday and started reading it Saturday, so it was definitely a good book. I didn't intend on reading it so quickly, but it just happens sometimes! This was a YA book I'd wanted to read for a while but didn't get around to until I realized the movie adaptation was coming. So then I knew I had to read it before the movie comes out (May 17!).
The Sun Is Also a Star tells the story of Daniel, a romantic poet type, and Natasha, a logical scientist type ― you know, opposites. While Daniel is out to go to his Yale admissions interview, Natasha is out trying to do anything she can to stop her family from being deported back to Jamaica. New York City is a big place, but they run into each other and end up spending several hours together after Daniel saves Natasha from being run over by a car. Daniel is immediately attracted to Natasha, and, being the romantic poet he is, basically bets he can get Natasha to fall in love with him in a matter of hours.
Reading that without any context and not really getting a good idea of who these characters are, Daniel seems cocky, but he really isn't. The story is told from the point-of-view of the universe, so it's third person omniscient, and the reader gets to know the stories, thoughts, and histories of so many people, places, and even things. The book shows you how small the world can be, how much of an impact you can have on someone even in the slightest of moments, and how things can have a way of working out in the end (if you believe in that sort of stuff).
While reading this, especially towards the last 50 or so pages, some parts unexpectedly made me cry, and sometimes I didn't even fully know why. I really And I've got to say that whenever a book makes me cry, it's a good one, because it doesn't happen often.
Little Girls Dream Big by Nicole Angeleen
If you know me, you know I love gymnastics. I also love reading. So naturally, when I come across a book about gymnastics, I want to read it. I don't remember when or how I discovered this book, but I read it about five years ago, and it's still one of my favorites.
Little Girls Dream Big is about an accomplished elite gymnast named Trixie whose younger sister Ileana dies after she falls in practice and goes into a coma. Trixie suspects her sister's death wasn't an accident and works with her best friend Shaye and a documentary filmmaker, Abby, to discover the truth behind Ileana's death.
This story is so moving and powerful and tragic and beautiful and emotional and just so many things. When I read this, I felt all the same emotions Trixie felt. I really felt like I was going through the same situation and all the feelings that come with it. Obviously, suspecting abuse and murder and having to go through investigations and whatnot is serious stuff, so on top of the sadness and heartbreak Trixie feels from the death of her sister, there's anxiety and fear and intimidation. The book just takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions while pulling you into this page-turning narrative. Like I said before, it's been a few years since I read this, but I remember it definitely made me cry, without a doubt. The story is just so powerful and especially impacted me because the sport of gymnastics is something I hold dear to my heart.
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