Challenge 2 – A Book That You’ve Read More Than 3 Times… This Year

Hi everyone

Day 2 of the challenge and a new book themed question to answer.  I have altered this question slightly as I am renowned for reading a book I like and then constantly re-reading it when I’m bored.  Some people think I’m a bit weird (and not just regarding this!), but I liken it to having a favourite film that you enjoy to watch again and again and revel in the familiarity of it and reliving the same emotions, usually euphoric, that you felt the first time.  I have the same experience with books, usually the ones that are easy to read, have a good flow but also enough storyline that I don’t feel bored when re-reading them.  Sometimes I will just pick one up and read a few chapters when I can’t get to sleep but usually I will get drawn back in to whatever I found captivating the first time around and keep on going.  They are usually the books that I read in one sitting as I couldn’t put them down and therefore can’t wait to pick back up again.  So the original question for today, a book that you’ve read more than 3 times, would have several options, so I have changed it to the only book I have read this year more than 3 times.  I think it might be a first for me to read a book four, well three and a half times, in one year.  I first read this book in February or March and then kept borrowing it from the library to read it again, until I finally gave in and bought it in November.  I’m currently re-reading it again before lending it to my mum at Christmas and with only a few more chapters to go I think I will succeed in finishing it before then.  I love this book so much that I actually chose to read it again before reading the newly published third and final book in the series, although I think I’m trying to delay the ending of this series as in some ways I don’t want it to end.  This should have perhaps been the answer to yesterday’s challenge, the best book I have read this year, but I didn’t want to blog about it twice and I would still rate Neverwhere very highly and as one of the best books I have read this year.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

I doubt many people have heard of this dystopian teen fiction series but come next April when the film adaptation of the first book, Divergent, is released I’m sure the media will be abuzz with the usual comparisons with other teen fantasy books, particularly Twilight.  It is a shame in a way that they will try to make comparisons with books and films that don’t have many similarities but I’m sure the main interest will be the box office ratings and that is what they are really comparing.

Beatrice is a 16 year old teenage girl living in Chicago some time in the future.  In her world, society is split into five groups, or factions, all based on personality traits that the faction admires above all others.  For Beatrice being in her 16th year means that she will now have to choose the faction she will join and stay with for the rest of her life and it is this decision that affects the chain of events in this series.  I am actually getting a bit goosebumpy (is that a word?) describing this to you, that is how much I enjoyed this book.  The storyline is not only interesting, but exciting, and full of adrenaline and danger.  Although I would class this book as dystopian, Veronica Roth’s world does not seem oppressive or frightening on first impression.  But after you scratch the surface you start to see the truth, or lack of it, and perhaps can see the danger Beatrice is facing before she fully realises it.  Even though it is a teen fiction novel, I feel it would appeal to adults as well as Beatrice is not a silly teenage girl and as the story progresses she becomes less naive and more wise to the world around her.  The second book in the series, Insurgent, is also good but this is the stand out book out of the two.  As I said above, I have not yet read Allegiant, the third and final book, but it has big feet to fill if it wants to beat Divergent in my estimations.

Jennie