This story has a lot of violence in it, but it also has a lot of heart. In the first few pages, I was already invested in the characters. This book presents the good, the bad, and the ugly...but it is not without beauty and hope. Until we don't learn our lesson and pass it down to our children, all of us will remain outsiders.

The ending is one of the most beautiful endings I've read in a book. Golden, this book will stay in my memory.

Because of the length of time that has elapsed since it was written, much of the prose was lost in me. Admittedly, I had not grown to love the novel's ridiculously long sentences peppered with countless of semicolons. When asked if I will revisit Mrs. Dalloway someday, I suppose that it is worth reading a second time, though I won't be looking forward to it with anticipation .

The prose is beautiful and romantic, but for most of the stories, their plot feels rather flat. The narrative starts off as interesting, and picks up until the climax, but regrettably, the endings fall short. A few stories were achingly poignant, yet the rest were forgettable. I find it frustrating that the author used Indian and American stereotypes repeatedly, and that each story follows the same pattern. It was okay, but not notably good.

Raw, brave, and moving. Anderson Cooper writes beautifully, and presents his account as it is, not fearing that his honesty would taint his image. Life is evanescent; how fortunate and undeserving are we of the comforts that we have. Disaster, war, famine, death—these are all equalizers. We see it everyday on the news, yet we digest it nonchalantly like our dinner in front of the TV. How dare we forget? How dare we take everything for granted?

Great, great read. Amazing and riveting. Well-researched and well-written. I regret that I've reached the end of the book. But it has ignited in me an interest in architecture and its history. I most certainly will inquire my architect friends about the great men I have learned from this book, particularly Daniel Burnham.

Aaand Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio is to team up again for the film adaptation.

I. Can't. Wait.

"On Friday night, you stole the life of an exceptional being, the love of my life, the mother of my son, but you will not have my hate. I don‘t know who you are and I don‘t want to know. You are dead souls. If that God for whom you blindly kill made us in his image, every bullet in my wife‘s body will have been a wound in his heart.

So, no, I will not give you the satisfaction of hating you."

— Antoine Leiris, You Will Not Have My Hate

This book was a letdown. It would have been a decent book, albeit being short, if not for the inconsistencies presented in the story, considering that Sadako Sasaki is a significant historical figure. I cannot find any redeeming qualities of the book.

But hey, at least that's one off the list.

As a mood reader, starting a new book is such a pain, mainly because it takes me a looong time to decide which book to read next.

So starting this year, I am employing the draw-from-the-jar method whenever I feel stumped. Now, I can finally get more reading done!

First pick of 2019 is The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.