Happiness & Matching

Well! One week & 3 tons of homework later, I finished one book and am now halfway through another.

I finished Hector and the Search for Happiness by François Lelord.

Photo Credit : Steph the Bookworm

Okay, I loved this book. It tells the story of Hector, an unhappy psychiatrist who goes on a journey around the world to try to understand what makes people happy and how happiness can be defined. He experiences a range of events contributing to his list of what makes people happy. This short and sweet book combines heartbreak, comedy, love, happiness (of course), and a very realistic factor that gives you an insight to human nature. I found myself questioning how Hector's list could apply to different people, but it does! His observations are based on his specific experiences, but they are observations that can be applied to people internationally. 

This book is a modern-day fairytale that will definitely leave you happy once you finish it (at least it did for me (: ). 

The only con I can see people pointing out is the simplistic sentence structure. This is originally a French book, so it has been translated and the style of the book is very simple and general. I personally really enjoyed this author's style, it was very refreshing and original! 

This book would make a great gift for a friend, be a great topic for a book club, or just be a good book to read yourself and enjoy.

Now my next book is Matched by Ally Condie.

Photo Credit : Amazon

This book will be released in hardcover November 30, 2010. I'm halfway through it, and I honestly think this book should be on your pre-order list. I'm reading the book earlier, because I have an ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy) of it. The ARC actually didn't have the cover on it, it had this cover:

Photo Credit : Me (:

It's basically quotes from other authors and publishing companies about how good the book is. I agree.

So far, I'll just set the book up for you.

The reader is transported to a futuristic society and can almost be described as communistic, basically everyone is the same. There are very strict rules (not too bad) that everyone lives by and everyone lives for the exact same length of time. Even though it's futuristic and the society plays by different rules, it's still somewhat relatable (the main character is a teenager), I just think it's a really neat idea for a future society. This book has a really interesting perspective and at first I was completely lost! However, I'm on Chapter 12 and now I'm really into it. BTW, I started this book Friday night. Yeah, I read a lot.

So! This book is released a month before Christmas, *wink to the parents*, it would be a very good gift for a kid who likes futuristic books and books about teenagers, *wink to the kids*, put it on your wishlist. Or just buy it  yourself. 

So far my opinion of this book is very high, that could change, although I hope it doesn't.

For now, I'm just really enjoying it. 

Till next week!