Find Me – André Aciman  

I dived straight into this sequel and like many of you I'm sure; I just couldn't wait to find out what happened to Elio and Oliver. But much of this book is centred on Elio's father, Samuel – his new life and love with a much younger woman, and I was left more than a little confused since not much was said about his separation from his now ex-wife, and I wasn't aware of any underlying marriage issues in the first book, so the story felt disjointed right from the beginning. Though you now have a deeper understanding of Elio's father, but that's not what I was after. It really isn't til the latter half of the book that we get introduced to Elio, now as a young man and his burgeoning relationship with an older man, whom he met at a concert. The last and shortest chapter in the book finally introduces Oliver, who is now in love with some other people. So I read through this entire book, hoping for a glimpse of Elio and Oliver, not asking for a happy ending but a further exploration / development to their story but I felt I was reading three compartmentalised stories with little of the chemistry and captivating desire we got a taste of in the first book. It will be interesting to see the movie adaption though.

♥ Brokeback Mountain – Annie Proulx

This short story surrounding the life long love between the two protagonists, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar is complex, captivating and emotional, it is set between 1960s-1980s and captures the social attitudes towards cowboys, homosexuality and homophobia of the time. The atmosphere throughout the entire book is restrained, if not repressed, especially Ennis as he struggles to come to terms with his sexuality, his feelings for Jack and at the same time upholding society's expectations of masculinity. Jack, on the other hand is accepting of his sexuality, yet at the same time is trapped; trapped because he is unable to forget Ennis, trapped because if anyone suspects them, it would mean certain death. If you don't read the book, at least watch the movie, it's a must in my books.

The Sorrows of Young Werther – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This short novel is said to have influenced the Romantic movement and even Bonaparte himself took the book with him on his campaign, and if I remember correctly it was referenced in André Aciman's Call Me By Your Name. I must admit, I'm a little disappointed and not quite sure what to make of the book. It read unlike a tale of unrequited love but like one's infatuation and utter decent into delusion, depression and ultimately death.  Werther's passion for Charlotte to me was unconvincing and thus his mood swings was unrelatable. It is more a story about Werther's decent into madness due to his unhealthy obsession over Charlotte, which makes the story somewhat tragic but a modern audience may find it hard to comprehend Werther's state of mind.