January Wrap-up!
- writer_alexandra_lee
- Jan 27, 2021
- 4 min read
Hello, everyone! Since it is the final week of January, it's time for my monthly reading wrap-up. Sadly, I did not get to read as many books this month as I wanted to. I did read four though, so let's jump right into the list!
The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
I read this book over the course of a few weeks. Usually, I try to read a book every 4-5 days, but I'm glad I took my time with this book because it definitely deserved it. A.W. Tozer is a brilliant man and his writing is thought-provoking and, honestly, just blew me away. He explains the doctrine, and more importantly, the character of God in a way that anyone can understand—whether you've been a Christian for a few months or a few decades. His analogies and metaphors add an extra level of depth to the writing that forces any reader to pause and ponder his words. The amount of biblical truth and understanding in this book is astonishing. It's refreshing to see a piece that gets back to the heart of the relationship between God and man, especially in the times we are living in today. If you are a Christian or you are curious about Christianity and want an authentic picture of who God is and how you can pursue Him, read this book.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
My first classic of the year! Yay! If you read my "21 books I want to read in 2021" blog post, you know that I have big plans for reading classic books this year. Lord of the Flies is a bit simpler than the majority of class literature, but I loved this book so much. It encompassed the perfect mix of adventure and theme. The characters made me laugh, cry, and scream. Piggy and Simon were my favorite.
This book doesn't dive as deep into one particular theme as a lot of other classics do, but I love it because it hints at many different, and extremely important and universal, themes—the corruption of mankind, friendship, betrayal, growing up, survival, and many others that probably went right over my head.
My favorite scene in the book is when Simon talks to the "Lord of the Flies" in chapter eight. It disturbed and terrified me in ways I didn't even know I could be terrified, but I thought that was the moment where the entire story came full circle. The ending is also remarkably written. The ending of the book genuinely surprised me, but it was better than any ending I was imagining. It did its job; it did the story justice, and I thought it was great.
I do not re-read many books, but I think I will be picking this book back up for round two very soon.
Golden Son by Pierce Brown
The second book in the Red Rising series! Wow...I thought the first book had conflict. Man! I have enjoyed this series so far. It's not my favorite, but does it satisfy my need for conflict, spaceships, epic battles, and witty characters? You know it does! SEVRO FOR LIFE!
The level of conflict and the amount of plot twists in this book was obscene, and I mean that in the best possible way. For some it might be too much, and there were parts where it was a little hard to follow, but it was great.
Darrow and Sevro are my favorite (as they were in the first book). Darrow has definitely evolved throughout the series. I don't love his character now as much as I did in Red Rising, but I'm curious to see how he continues to develop.
This book is comprised of betrayal, after betrayal, after betrayal. You never know who is on whose side. The battles are great. Brown is not afraid to make his readers, or characters, cry. He certainly loves to throw his characters into grave danger, only to force them to find their own way out again.
Poetry Speaks Who I Am by Elise Paschen
My literature class is currently studying poetry, and this is the book we are reading. Poetry Speaks Who I Am is a collection of modern and classic poems that are targeted toward teenagers.
As a teenager, I've really enjoyed this book and have related to many of the poems. There is a good combination of serious poems, funny poems, dark poems, etc. Some of the experiences I've had, ones I assumed were pretty unique to me and not many other teenagers, came up throughout the poems, and I couldn't help but shout, "That happened to me too!"
I think I will pick this book up every now and then to flip through some of my favorite poems. I'm curious to see how my opinions about these poems change as I grow up, and see if I will derive new information and meaning from them when I look back at this collection.
Thank you for reading this post! I hope you enjoyed it! Make sure to leave a comment below telling me about your January reads. Don't forget to subscribe (you can do that on the home page) so you don't miss out when I post. I have a lot of fun and exciting content coming out over the next few months—a day in the life of a teenage writer + I'm announcing a huge new project!
It's been a pleasure writing for you, and until next time—stay weird and stay writing. - Lexi
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