Joshua's Virtual Bookshelf

Books that Shaped Me

All of these stories I read in chronological order and all of which played a role in my life during that time and each have a core theme that I got out of it. Each quote resonates or summarizes a large message that I got out of the novel. 

The Percy Jackson Series 

Theme: Youth

As shocking as this may seem, I have never read Harry Potter. It is on my bucket list but Percy Jackson was my Harry Potter in middle school. I have watched all of the Harry Potter movies but I never found myself being able to read the books. Lightning Thief was a book I stumbled upon because of simple boredom. I finished each book in about a week's time taking small breaks in between to read other things. I always found myself immersed in this world and it filled me with excitement as I always loved adventure novels as a kid. I remember after reading about a hundred pages or so I realized how much time has passed and how focused I was in the novel. Recalling it again I always get feelings of nostalgia of the simplicities of childhood and how it took me out of the boredom of the day to day life into a vibrant new world and thats largely why I loved reading in middle school.

"Ever had a flying burrito hit you? Well, it's a deadly projectile, right up there with cannonballs and grenades."

The Alchemist

Theme: Perseverance 

This book was recommended to me by my Mother and I finished it in 3 days. I got this book in 8th grade and was looking for something new to read and I started reading the book expecting an adventure novel and in a lot of ways that is what I got out of it and in other ways I got so much more. The Alchemist taught me the concept of perseverance, a concept that I needed in high school and one that I will use during all of my Undergrad haha. I found it to be about a man lost in what he wants to do in life and begins an epic adventure to do so. Looking back at it now I find myself thinking back on it a lot as I am that protagonist finding what I wanna do in life. This book exemplified how my taste in books was maturing into something more than just entertainment. The ending of this novel is one of my favorites of all time and I found reading this book to be one of my most life changing.   

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

The Beggar King and the Secret to Happiness

Theme: Optimism

This is one of the first books I read in high school and I found it to be full of magical realism. It uses concepts of old story telling such as auditory storytelling and stories of old. I loved this book because of all the life lessons packed within it. Each chapter had an old short story from a different culture to transition from chapter to chapter. After each short story I found myself reflecting on its themes and it resonated with me during each chapter while also being implemented into the chapter via magical realism. I liked the idea of different stories coming from different cultures as it showed the variety of wisdom and learning of that area long ago. In the end, it taught me concepts of growth, optimism, and as the name implies, happiness

"What seems like a blessing may be a curse. What seems like a curse may be a blessing."

The God of Small Things 

Theme: Family 

My family comes from the Philippines and as a culture Family means everything. In this book I found that the family relationships between Estha, Rahel and Ammu helped me remember that. They all left an impact on me as all of them play a role in their family dynamic. I enjoyed this book because of its value as what happens when a family is pushed to the edge and how the actions unfold. All the motifs of small things to big things pushes not just the characters, but the readers question their existence in the universe. This focus on small actions resulting in big events I find helpful as the accumulation of small things is very important to ones life. 

"When you hurt people, they begin to love you less. That's what careless words do. They make people love you a little less."

Persepolis 

Theme: Growth

Reading this was very intriguing because I am a very avid graphic novel reader and reading this was very refreshing. I found it to be so interesting how a comic could hold such literary value with the contrasts between the black and the white and the transition from small windows to large windows and how those play a role in the tone of the novel. I loved how digestible the story was and how everything had something slightly familiar tied with something new. The transition from her youth to her as an adult really gives me a sense of how personal this story is and in turn makes me reflect on my own life. I find that nowadays I read not just for entertainment but for me to improve as a person and reading all the novels above help mold me into a better person. In this case I find that the best part about this book is all the serious tones compared to the normal, almost comedic, actions.

“One can forgive but one should never forget.”