thenerdaffair's reviews
37 reviews

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A

5.0

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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adventurous tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

Sorrow & Bliss by Meg Mason

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Nonsense by Edward Lear

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funny fast-paced

3.25

I don't think I am a poetry person.
The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

The last page kinda broke my heart.
300 Things I Hope by Iain S. Thomas

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.5

It's beautiful. It should be read at least once a week.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Grisha by Anton Chekhov, Charles River Editors

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funny reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak

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5.0

If you had 10 minutes to remember anything from your life, what would you choose to remember?

Intrigued by the intensity of this sentence, I picked up the book and started to read it. Here goes the review:

If you're going to read one book in 2020, I suggest that you pick this one. An Elif Shafak fan to the core, I knew that I had to get this one book.

A beautifully penned down story with events that will break your heart. Filled with love, humour, and tragedy, the book takes you through the streets of Turkey to witness happenings that show how unexpected and unforgiving life can be. A narrative of how things can turn your life upside down even in the sanctity of your safe home and how you can find a new home in people brought to you by twisted turns of fate, 10 minutes 38 seconds in this strange world is guaranteed to make you ask your self, what would you like to remember?
Happy: Finding joy in every day and letting go of perfect by Fearne Cotton

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4.0

I'll start with the amazing colors on the cover of this book. I looked at book and didn't need extra persuasion to buy the book, the cover and title did it all. A "selection at first sight" you may call it. The vivid array of  colors does justice to the title of the book. Like, it comes with a guarantee that it will deliver what it has promised on the cover.
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With times as distressing as these, I felt that it was time to go out and hunt for 'happy' without actually leaving the house. And what better way to travel beyond the confining walls than to pick a book and get lost in the world of words?
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The book features mental health and its importance in a way that makes you feel like you are in a dialogue with the writer. With its interactive writing style and various exercises that keep popping up every page or two, the book walks you through self evaluation so you can identify where you currently stand and define where you actually want to get to.
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Summary nuggets at the end of chapters reiterate all the points in the chapter in a succinct way. You will find in it constant reminders that we are all in control of our happiness and more often than not, we'll forget a fact as simple as that.
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Further included are the letters and conversations with people who met her on her way out of dark times and through them, she lets us know that we are all in this together and the only way out is by helping each other through these mists of darkness.