Let’s see... my favourite authors are J.K.Rowling, Jenny Carol/Meg Cabot and blahblah. But strangely enough, it’s none of their books that’s actually changed my life. There are quite a few books that left me begging for another page.

One of the most memorable was My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. It’s an amazing book about a family in which the oldest daughter, Kate, has leukaemia. It’s very interesting – the parents take a decision to have a “designer baby” whose blood type, etc will be a perfect match for Kate so that whenever the need arises, Anna will be able to donate her organs to her sister. It’s quite awful though because Kate always gets all the attention and Anna and her brother Jesse are rather neglected. Anna takes matters into her own hands, hires a lawyer and files a lawsuit to sue her parents for the right to her own body. It’s an amazing book and very well-written. While I wouldn’t say it changed my life, it definitely broadened my perspective and made see the world in a different way. I assure you it is a great read and any bookworm who hasn’t read it will regret it – luckily for me, my friend Raeesa always shares interesting books with me!

But the book that I think really hit home was Damage by Sue Mayfield. It’s not a book that’s been nominated for awards or anything but it deals with something relevant to all teens. It’s about four friends, Matt, Nathan, Sophie, and Becci. Matt and Becci are siblings, Nathan is his best friend and Sophie is his girlfriend. The four friends attend a party and Nathan is too drunk to drive and asks Matt to drive instead. Matt, juggling his cellphone and the steering wheel swerves to avoid a fox and again to avoid a van, colliding with the bus stop. Nathan dies on impact and Sophie in ICU. Becci survives with severe injuries while Matt, unharmed, is imprisoned for causing death by dangerous driving. Becci is distraught. Her brother is in jail and Nathan, her secret crush, is dead. Sophie’s mum can never forgive Matt but Nathan’s parents do. Stella, Nathan’s mum, writes to Matt in prison and tells him that he is STILL always welcome at their house. It’s a very thought-provoking situation. It made me realise that nothing is forever. You can literally be here today, gone tomorrow. It also made me think about the dangers of reckless driving and driving while using a cellphone. It reminded me of a very important concept: do not ever take life for granted. Make the most of it while you can, like the way Nathan did in this book.

Ciao 4 now guys...