October was one of the exciting reading months! You know when your long-awaited book mail from Bookdepository finally arrived and everything you're reading rated four or five-star. Yeah, I had that moment, and it was great. Anyway, I have finished my Goodreads challenge today and now am more excited to start the next book! 

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery  


At first, I thought I won't like this one as much as the first book. Anne of Green Gables set the standard so high I was afraid I'd be disappointed with the second one. Anne is still at Green Gables, but she isn't a child anymore. She is now in her late teenage year and has a job as a school teacher. I knew I'd be missing the innocence and mischief of younger Anne, so I guess that's the reason why Montgomery introduced new characters in Anne's life, Davy and Dora, which provide more of that childlike wonder into the story.  
Still, Montgomery does an excellent job at making everyday life enjoyable. But suppose you're looking for romance between Anne and Gilbert. In that case, you'll be disappointed since there are only a few pages of Gilbert and Anne becoming friends. Towards the end, I can say I enjoyed it almost as much as the first one, and I am excited for her next book!  

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

The 5 AM Club by Robin S. Sharma 


I love that there is narrative and storytelling in this book. It starts with a quote or stories by some legend to engage with readers (well, it is engaging at least to me) before getting into technical parts. As for clarification, no, I have not started waking up at 5 a.m. yet. But yes, I have started waking up much earlier compared to before. A couple of techniques that I found interesting are: 20/20/20 rule, journaling habit, and habit installation protocol. If you want to enjoy the story, you can read the book from cover to cover, but if you prefer to only get the main ideas, you can just skip to the last 50 pages.  

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 

The Lonely City by Olivia Laing 


I bought this book because of the pretty cover (don't judge me, but I judge a book by its cover). The Lonely City is like a memoir but also a non-fiction examination of loneliness in art, stories of lonely artists. Having zero knowledge in the world of arts, this book was hard to read at first. I suppose the book might have engaged me more if I had loved arts. Throughout the book, I get to know a few figures like Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol (the only artist I'm familiar with), David Wojnarowicz, and Henry Darger, their background stories and how love, AIDS, abuse, misery, silence, resilience, being denied a voice were factors that contributed to this loneliness. In the end, loneliness is more than just a feeling of aloneness, and not all aloneness is loneliness.  
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 

Letters to a Young Muslim by Omar Saif Ghobash 


When I first got the book, I predicted it to be like guidance for Muslims on the kind of behavior expected from them, and to be frank, I was skeptical at first. However, I found some of his ideas refreshing and liberating towards the end of the book. He gives a good sense of what it is to be a Muslim living in the world today and encourages the youth to take responsibility and believe in their values. He throws several arguments about Islam for readers to ponder on, which might be perceived as controversial to some, but I found it understandable knowing his family background and his life growing up in the UAE.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 

After all, reading doesn't mean you accept 100% you read. It is our duty to think and make our own judgments.