As we head into our final month of this school year, the team here at ISTORIA has a bundle of gifts for all of you to dibble dabble in before we all dash out of Zhongxing Building and Xianmian Building! We have two gifts for all ISTORIA devoted subscribers. The first is the book review below! We have 7 book reviews on wildly different genres and forms of literature, yet all centered around one unifying theme: "Gravity"

The second gift is the next issue, with "Gravity" as its key theme! Although I am sure that everyone is excited for the new article, we will still have to wait as we process the issue. Worry not, though. It will arrive soon! 

Now, without further ado, let's read through some book recommendations that the Istoria team has in store.

Ewan '27: The Expanse by James S. A. Corey 

Enjoy space battles that don't violate every law of physics? Enjoy Cold War politics stretched across a solar system? How about that Cold War turning hot — fought with railguns and torpedoes that rip ships apart from the inside out? Look no further than The Expanse, a hard sci-fi space opera that comes in two flavors: TV and Novel. (sry if it reads like an ad my mind is cooked from physics)

Aria '27: The Zahir by Paulo Coelho 

The book basically explores how obsession (especially with one's personal dreams or desires) can drive the human psyche to extremes. I thought it aligns well with the theme of gravity, as it resembles the relentless force that pulls individuals again and again, which is a powerful external pull that is inescapable, no matter how hard you try to transcend it.

Ran '29: Superache by Conan Gray 

It is an album that reflects the weight of emotions. Through its careful lyric craft, this album explores all the invisible yet lingering memory fragments that takes great effort to break through these emotional constraints. The musical style is also unique, where the songs are gentle at first with a steady rhythm but then exploding with emotion as it processes.

Guoshwan '27: Ulysses by James Joyce

The story itself is unremarkable: a failing writer happened to meet a Jewish canvaser in Dublin. That’s it. However, James Joyce packs so many double meanings, jokes, motifs, stray thoughts, and soliloquies on life that each sentence makes you pause and think. Pro tip: you NEED ANNOTATIONS to read this book. Annotating this book is the only possible way to really digest Ulysses’ contents, and even then, you won’t understand half of this book’s contents. That, however, is the beauty of this book. Every word and every period crushes you under the weight of life’s twists, cruel jokes, and powerful lessons. My favorite part of the book, though, is the scattered state of its prose that perfectly imitates the mind of an intellectual artist - random, jumping between thoughts, slipping into unexpected corners, finding jokes for itself to laugh at, and so on. The gravity of Ulysses would leave you breathless, but it is a transforming read that will change the way how you think about - and approach - life itself.

Heidi '28: Night by Elie Wiesel

In this memoir, Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, writes about his experience in the camps. He narrates this story from a first person perspective, giving compelling details and exposing the reader to how the camps gradually erode a person's sense of self and humanity. This memoir explores the deep scars that the camps have left on its victims: families are torn apart, humanity becomes twisted, and religious beliefs are shattered under total hopelessness. It gives an insightful view into history and the collective experience of the Jewish people during the Second World War, and it also gives a warning to all of humanity: that this history must not be forgotten.

Jenny '27: The Beatles biography by Bob Spitz 

A vivid recollection, the Beatles biography of the iconic British band during the 1960s. While most celebrity biographies fall flat with dry, textbook-style narration that bores readers out instantly (the Hamilton biography, for one), Spitz took a different approach to the Beatles’ legacy and delivered historical records like a story, making this an unmissable pick for every true fan and biography lover.

And finally, my own: 

Alfie '28: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick

A novel that discusses what is so vital to being human, Do Androids Dream of Electirc Sheep (DADOES) follows a story of a man (Rick Decakrd) who hunts androids for a living and return them to Mars, the planet where they are enslaved to work for humanity. Space became the land that humans explored, but also colonised and ultimately created the ethical dilemma that pulls the whole novel together. 

With that final entry, we have completed our first book review! A journey through 7 different books, we have gone through wildly different settings and mediums. Music, nonfiction, memoir, sci-fi, you name it. Now, if you enjoyed this, we have some good news for you! We will be continuing this series of book recommendations, but we just need you to follow the account, which will notify you immediately when any new recommendations come out! 

That will be all. This has been Alfie, and stay tuned for our next issue!