Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope your week is going great. Otherwise, I hope that it will start looking up in the coming days. It is my fervent hope that it will usher in positive energy, blessings, healing, and forgiveness for everyone. As it is Tuesday, it is also time for a Top 5 Tuesday update. Top 5 Tuesday was originally created by Shanah @ the Bionic Bookworm but is now currently being hosted by Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic: Top 5 books that are song titles

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

Song: Heaven by Bryan Adams

Snippet from my Book Review: One of the finer points of Kawakami’s prose lay in her ability to produce opposing notions. She brilliantly countered the arguments without sticking up to a particular school of thought. Rather, she let all of these contrasting ideologies collide, and, through the novel’s primary narrator, each ideology was dissected. It was also a brilliant stroke that engages the readers. It also highlighted how Kawakami never shies away from grappling with complex concerns. Despite all the various philosophical intersections, Heaven concluded on a predictable note. While it was predictable, it was also necessary. To reach the conclusion, however, the reader must endure some violent and graphic scenes.

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

Song: Go Tell It on the Mountain. The original singer is unknown, but the song is a popular Christmas song.

Snippet from my Book Review: However, Go Tell It On the Mountain does not reduce itself into a mere exploration of religion and its place in our lives and society as a whole. It is not about the establishment of a belief system. Rather than a projection of the Church and its follies, the novel dives deep into what it means to be religious and what it means to be worldly. Through the stories of the main characters, a bevy of subjects such as the patriarchy, domestic violence, and our relationship with our families, was explored. Go Tell It On the Mountain has established Baldwin as a literary titan. Almost seven decades after its publication, it remains a literary tour de force and is widely recognized as a classic of contemporary African American literature.

Violeta by Isabel Allende

Song: Violeta by I-Zone, a defunct K-Pop girl group.

Snippet from my Book Review: Violeta’s growth was the novel’s focus. However, as captured by the quote above, we see a woman who also distanced herself from the politics of her time. The lenses through which she narrated her story to Camilo were bereft of sentimentality but they also echoed political naivete, particularly at the start. Where politics and the regime were concerned, Violeta was passive, opting to observe the events unraveling from a safe and comfortable distance. While tumult reigned, she kept earning more money, typical of those who were able to live comfortably during the periods of dictatorship. Her rebellious son would call her out for it: “You live in a bubble, mom.” This makes her political growth more impactful as she, later on, recognized how her insouciance has turned her into an enabler of fascism.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Song: Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush

Snippet from my Book Review: Classic. Heathcliff is one despicable character. He is also one of the most memorable, one you’d love to hate and hate to love. With that said, Emily Bronte laid the groundwork for a captivating story that transcends all times. The book had the perfect mix of elements, from characters to story to story-telling. Wuthering Heights is a towering work of fiction, a book that has left its mark on me. Yes, it is a romance story, but beyond the romance, it is a story of passion. Easily, Wuthering Heights is one of the best English novels.

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Song: Freedom by Pharrell Williams

Snippet from my Book Review: Freedom packs a lot of punch, covering a significant amount ground. Franzen did a commendable job in developing intricate characters whilst drawing the rough contours of the USA – from relative tranquility of Minnesota to the dazzle of New York City to the big political arena of Washington, D.C. to the hinterlands of West Virginia. Freedom is a peripatetic novel that also touches on a plethora of global themes and subjects such as terrorism, environmentalism, excessive consumerism and overpopulation.

Immortality by Milan Kundera

Song: Immortality by Celine Dion

Snippet from my Book Review: The unconventionality of Kundera’s wisdom and storytelling flowed diaphanously in Immortality. Kundera is not one to be taken in by the conventionality of art, in any of its manifestations. As such, Immortality doesn’t possess that linearity of plot which most literary works have; it is a challenge isolating the novel into one literary box.