REVIEWING BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS: MILO VENTIMIIGLIA (PART 1)

 Hello there! How is your September going? I hope the back-to-the-routine stage is not causing you too much trouble. To take your mind off all that, today I bring you the first part of something I had in mind long before this blog even existed. In fact, it was a YouTube idea, for I saw Jack Edwards doing it, but more in a celebrity book recommendation. 

The thing is: I do not like the use of the word celebrity and what it implies. Especially because my favourite artists are way too far from even calling themselves such a thing. Yes, to some extent, they are, but mostly because of their work.

And this is the case of Milo Ventimiglia. To me, he is the American version of Andrew Scott. They are exactly the same in terms of how to deal with fame, kindness, hard work, and of course, treating fans. I was super happy when in the early stages of my crush on Milo last year I found out such kindness and professionalism along the way and immediately ventured into anything he recommended in an attempt to know him a bit more, especially considering that him living and working mostly LA-based makes of my chances of meeting him and having an actual, normal conversation super slim  (yes, I can act normal in front of the people I admire. The trick? Remembering they are humans beings like me)

And in that adventure, I of course found books. Turns out, Milo loves a good thriller more than anything, but he can read everything. And that is why, one day I sneakily found while he was doing an interview from his work office, a title that caught my attention, looked for the book and... decided to read it. From there, oddly enough he started to verbally recommendating it shortly after I finished it. And then, somewhere else, he recommended another... That I read too.

You won't be surprised: Those books are four and five stars for me. This is why I decided to look for more of his recommendations and make a list of the stories I really felt I could get into. 

For now, I am only going to review these two books. But more is to come (eventually. I am still not in the mood to read, but because I am writing.- And having my first crush on a fictional character, from Parks and Rec, if you must know. So deep I have fallen into this pit *pun intended. If you know, you know* that I even made him a playlist, but that's another story.

Anyway, here we go with the first part of Milo's book recommendations that suited my taste. Remember that, as usual,  the book covers are linked to where you can buy a copy, in case you are interested.

Replay, by Ken Grimwood. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In this story, we meet Jeff a forty-three-year-old man who one day, after feeling an intense pain in his chest, wakes up at his former university, being young again. After many attempts to make sure he is not dreaming, he decides to take this second chance to change some decisions in his life. That is until he turns forty-three and one day... It happens again. And again. And again. Only that each time, he wakes up at different moments of his life, even though he always dies at the same age as usual. Desperate, he tries to find an explanation. And it's not going to be easy to find it...

Milo or not, this book is fantastic and I am grateful for the chance to have spotted it on his office shelf. Yes, at first the premise can be a bit tiresome, but as things get darker and darker, this book becomes an instantly page-turner. I gave it three stars at first, but when I found myself thinking about the plot quite often, I decided to upgrade it to four. When you can't stop thinking about a book after you have read it, that's how you know it is worthy.

The Final Testament of the Holy Bible, by James Fray -⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Also known as The Final Testament, this book presents us with a what if: What if the son of God was a mere mortal, a thirty-something guy who happens to be a quiet neighbour, quiet, but friendly, in our contemporary world.

Presented through a series of testimonials of the people who knew Him, this is the (fictional) story of Ben Zion. But this novel is not about his life story, but about how science and religion can co-exist and be questioned at the same time.

It does not matter if you are a believer or not, this book can be equally enjoyable. I was so into the story that it took me only a few days to get through it. And overall, it leaves you with a feeling of unity, of community which closely resembles that of an actual spiritual faith. So much so that there is even a physical edition resembling an actual Bible. Even the marketing's attention to detail is fascinating to me.

I won't go into much detail about this book because I feel it's best if you go into it knowing as less as possible. I recommend it 100%

Needless to say, after such fascinating readings, I ended up loving Milo more than I do. Hence, more to come someday, because I have trusted his literary taste a lot ever since.

See you next Friday. As always, thank you for passing by.