My Next Book Reads

Books on a desk

These are my next five reads for the upcoming year of 2025 (hard to believe that the year has gone by and that… we’re already half-way in this decade!). Anyway, back to the subject. Before I start reading one of the next five books, I am currently finishing on reading the first book of A Song of Fire and Ice Saga (Do you know which one it is? Yep, Game of Thrones, as it is known to all in the GoT fan base.). I must say that the first book of that saga packs a lot of dense language with its complex storyline and political intrigues scattered throughout the plot. Highly recommend reading it if you haven’t but get ready to sit down patiently in order absorb the descriptive, dense language that George R.R Martin brings into his works (Do you think he will finish the saga in time?). The five books above have been laying on my bookshelf for months already and have decided that I will read them in 2025.

1. IT, by Stephen King

   
   

   This is one book that I’ve been raving about ever since the movie adaptations, starring Bill Skarsgård, came out in 2017 and 2019. Why do I like this book? For one simple reason… IT FEATURES A CLOWN. I love clowns. During my first years in college, I remember being too fond about the book, since the trailers of the first IT movie started coming out, and I was close on ordering a clown sweater until realizing that it could attract attention (not the good kind of attention.). The first time I’ve ever heard of this book was all the way back in my childhood/pre-teen years. I’m pretty sure that I saw the physical book for the first time at a local library back in the days and was blown away by the thickness of it. I remember in 2017, months before the release of the movie, most of my friends had a copy of the book. Some of them read it, while others have not. I bought this book and have pledged myself so many times to read it, only to buy more books, pushing IT farther behind on my bookshelf… This time, though, I will read it thoroughly. If you’re looking for a thriller that will captivate you for months, then have a copy of IT on your bookshelf!

   
   

2. The Rebel, by Albert Camus

   
   

   One of man’s desires is to be free from any form of tyranny in order to preserve one’s own freedom. It seems that this idea of living in a democratic society, where freedom and justice reign, is being challenged by individuals who want to stay in power for eternity. I got this book for free since I bought two other books at my local bookstore. Not knowing about this book, I did my research before reading it. It seems that Albert Camus argues in this philosophical work about historical events on how freedom was the ultimate goal, but that violence and inequality become a prevalent issue as these events of achieving liberty unfold. Camus takes the French Revolution as an example. He glorifies on how the French praise Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity as the goals of the revolution, but criticizes on how the violence prevalent in it gave way to the Reign of Terror, an event in the French Revolution that guilotined the heads of many. Yes, those kinds of events is what he points towards and critiques. It’s been awhile since I’ve read philosophy and I’m looking forward to this one.

   
   

3. Washington: A Life, by Ron Chernow

   
   

   The man who defined America. Someone who governed differently at a time in which the world was governed by either a king or an emperor. He fought a revolution, maintained an army, won the hearts of many of his countrymen, and could’ve been named king when defeating the British… Instead, he went home. There was no such thing as a democracy or representative form of government during the 18th century or previously. I love the age of the Founding Fathers since many of the principles and ideals of the US’s system of government originates from that time when a group of men sat in Philadelphia to discuss independence against the British. Read this book if you want a profound and deepened understanding of George Washington’s life. It is the next book I am reading after IT.

   
   

4. Dune, by Frank Herbert

   
   

   Whoops! I don’t know much about this one. All I know is that it is one fo the main books in the science-fiction genres. Yes, I know I am late into this franchise but after seeing the rave of how good the movie is, then I might as well give it a shot and see if I end up buying the sequel to the first. Let’s see how it goes.

   
   

5. Cien Años de Soledad (100 Years of Solitude), by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

   
   

   This is likely the first big novel in the Spanish language that I will read. (On a personal note: I’m from Venezuela, so I know how to read in Spanish). I’ve read the General in his Labyrinth (Spanish: El General En Su Laberinto) and I can honestly say that Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of those authors that writes with a rich, descriptive language that can captivate you in an instant.

   
   
   
   

   NOTE: I HAVE INCLUDED THE LINKS TO THE BOOKS ABOVE THE DESCRIPTION OF THE FIVE BOOKS THAT I AM READING. CLICK ON THE NAMES OF THE BOOKS.

   
   

   HAVE YOU READ ANY OF THESE FIVE BOOKS? COMMENT.