Books Before Book-Blogging: The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

Hello! 

I have been a reader nearly all my life.

I started reading on my own since I was 6 or 7 and it is a love that is going strong to this day.

I started Book Blogging in 2013. And since then this little blog has been a place to talk about the books I read, buy and love.

I review.

I haul.

I recommend. 

But most of these books happen to be ones I've read recently.

I read a book and if I have strong feelings about it- good or bad- I tend to share them on the blog. Either via a full review or a mini-review.

But I've been reading for so long before this blog even started. What about all those books I have read and loved but never talked about? 

I wanted to start a new series on the blog to talk specifically about old loves.

Now some of these books I've read over a decade or more ago, so I might not exactly remember the finer points like character names of exact plot points, but I do remember how they made me feel.

I remember LOVING the writing. The story. The place it was set in. 

So I bring to you---- Books Before Book-Blogging! 

A place to recommend books I might have read 15 years ago. They might not be super detailed. 

But I hope you find some books you love via this series. 

Ok enjoy gabbing, let's get started! 

1. The Secret History by Donna Tartt: I read this book twice. 

Once way back in 2007 when I was borrowing it from my roommate. The copy I was reading had a super cheesy, very 90s mass-market sort of cover. So I thought it was a thriller/pulp fiction sort of book. I had, back then, no idea of it's cult classic status. I didn't even know it was literary fiction before I started reading it! :) 

But I started and I was blown away. By the writing. By the characters and the treatment of the book. 

I was hooked and knew at once this was no ordinary popular fiction! 

It was amazing!

But I got half way through and then went off on a month long holiday and couldn't take the book with me. Once I was back....I think the book was gone.

In 2012, I picked up my own copy and read it.

This is a dense and intense read and I loved every minute and every page.

Set in a small liberal arts college, the books takes us into the world of this close knit group of friends/classmates. They are studying under the guidance of a quirky and eccentric professor and are rather cliquish themselves. Richard, our main character enters this cloistered world and we see the world through his eyes. Close friendships. Sibling dynamics. Academics. Rivalries. Pettiness. Love. Lust. Secrets. Manipulations. This book has it all. Plus, it even has murder and mystery! Seriously, what's not to love? 

I loved the writing but I loved best the atmosphere of this book. 

I studied Humanities in college and this world seemed so familiar and took me back to my college classes. I remember vividly feeling like these characters, thinking that we were thinking these thoughts about the world and civilisation and culture for the first time. Feeling charged and learning and being immersed in academia. I loved all the things this book made me feel. And I highly, HIGHLY RECOMMEND it.

Especially if you studied Humanities or Liberal Arts. This book will take you back.

:)

Hopefully your college years wouldn't have had half the drama and chaos that this book has but it will still remind you intense relationships in college. 

I gave this book a 5/5 (duh!) and loved it. 

It is an intense and fairly dense and wordy book, so I suggest you take your time with it and let it sink in and pull you in. 

You have to read this book! 

:) 

I'll be back soon with another Books Before Book-Blogging Post with another old love! 

Happy Reading Guys! 

:)

P.S: So happy Team India won their cricket match today!

#BleedBlue 

:)