The Go-to Book

There is a book for everyone and for all kinds of moods and though no amount of reading is ever enough, sometime into your reading journey, you will find a book that will be more than just a book to you. It will be a friend, a guide, a parent, and everything that you need at the moment. These are the books that are okay for any occasion and no matter how many times you read it, it’s still not enough. The Week talked to a few students about their go-to books, and when they read it.

Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal
by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz

Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz is my go-to book. It talks about how simply “managing our time” does not lead to best performance. I keep going back to this book as there are very powerful concepts that talk about how we can truly increase our productivity. Getting to full performance was always a goal, of course, but the book helped me realize how that actually becomes possible and how I can do better. Besides that, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield is another book that I keep on rereading as it is short and easy to get back to. It talks about how you can become a true professional. I go back to them whenever I feel I’m not doing well and procrastinating. I think I will keep going back to these at least once every year.

The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown

Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code is something that I keep going back to, so much so that I carry around a copy with me wherever I go and read it at all times possible, or at least once every week since I first got my hands on it. I keep a keen interest in mythology and religion, and this book works with those elements, blending them wonderfully with reality, making it a very happening and surreal book. How could one not be appealed by such content? Plus, every time I read the book, I find a new detail that I previously did not attend to, so I read it, in the hopes of finding something different. This book has a sense of mystery, that mystique element that a book should have, and it’s what compels me to pick it time and again.

To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee

I have many books that I read time and again. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of them. The first time I read it, I thought that it was intense. The way the story moves forward, the style of writing and the subject matter pushed me into thinking about the kind of world we live in and I was bound to give it my undivided attention. Plus it was Lee’s only publication for decades and it had that mysterious air around it. I think the character of Boo Radley always made me wonder. I become happy whenever I get to read it, and though I don’t read the entire book at once, I’m happy reading a few pages time and again. Besides that, I enjoy reading Jules Vernes’ Around the World in Eighty Days and Catcher in the Rye. They aren’t exactly my go-to books but I read a page or two or the entire book whenever I feel like it.

Looking for Alaska
by John Green

I usually read young adult books, and I’ve been hooked to ‘Looking for Alaska’ by John Green in the recent days. I read it for the first time two months ago and I loved how the characters have been portrayed in an honest way. I thought that the book perfectly showcases what young love is like. One of the main reasons why I haven’t been able to let go of this book is because I relate myself with its protagonist Miles Halter in some ways. He is a shy kid and is fond of reading. There is actually a moment in the book that reminds me of my hostel days and that makes me nostalgic as anything. Overall, I keep on going back to the way the book presents the characters’ communication, relationship with one another, and to live what the characters feel.

Summer Love
by Subin Bhattarai

Ever since I read Summer Love by Subin Bhattarai a few months back, I have returned to it many times. The story is simple, but very contextual. I found that to be very appealing. There aren’t many Nepali books that are such an easy read as Summer Love, though of course they are good at their own level. I didn’t want to miss Saya by the same author after reading Summer Love and it didn’t disappoint me. After a long hard day, I think that they are the perfect books to read as they don’t require a lot of thinking, and that’s what I do. I don’t have a lot of time these days, but when I do have the time, I either read Summer Love or Saya to entertain myself and feel relaxed. There is nothing better than reading a book you like to relax and I’m very happy that I have them for the same purpose.