The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999) by Stephen Chbosky

I was so excited to start my reading New Year’s resolution that I quickly picked a book and devoured the entire thing in a single day. I could not have picked a better book to read from my New Year’s Resolution book list. When I picked out my first book to read I had decided that I did not want to just go in the list order so I picked a random number out of hat and went with it. The result of this was The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999) by Stephen Chbosky.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is narrated by a teenager who goes by the alias of "Charlie"; he describes various scenes in his life by writing a series of letters to an anonymous person, whom he does not know personally. The story explores topics such as introversion and the awkward times of adolescence. The book also touches briefly on drug use and Charlie's experiences with this. As the story progresses, various works of literature and film are referenced and their meanings discussed. At the very beginning of the book, Charlie is referred to as a wallflower for his ability to observe and understand things, but over the course of a year's worth of letters, Charlie explains the efforts of the people in his life to get him to "participate" or "do things" and the feelings and experiences he has as a result.

The author, Chbosky, names J.D. Salinger’s The Cather in the Rye as an inspiration, and he pays homage to Salinger’s work by naming it as one of the books that Charlie’s English teacher, Bill, gives him to read.

This was a great read for the New Year since it references quite a few books that are on my list such as Cather in the Rye (Salinger), The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald), and On the Road (Kerouac). It also mentioned a few books I might add to my list once I finish the initial 15: This Side of Paradise (Fitzgerald), Walden (Thoreau), The Fountainhead (Rand), Naked Lunch (Burroughs), and A Separate Peace (Knowles).

Just a few of my favorite lines:

• "Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve."
• "And in that moment, I swear we were infinite."
• "My sister spent that next 10 minutes denouncing the Greek system of sororities and fraternities. She kept telling stories of 'hazing' and how kids have died before. She then told this one story about how she heard there was a sorority that made the new girls stand in their underwear while they circled their 'fat' in red magic marker." (my commentary on this... funny because these are still the same "rumors" that go around Greek life - I still joined a sorority).
• "Mark said that the amazing white stars were really only holes in the black glass of the dome, and when you went to heaven, the glass broke away, and there was nothing but a whole sheet of star white, which is brighter than anything but doesn't hurt your eyes. It was vast and open and thinly quiet, and I felt so small."
• "There's nothing like the deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons. It was that great."

Moving on to my next book… Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (for obvious reasons).

1. “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw

2. “A River Runs Through It” by Norman Maclean

3. “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov

4. “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac

5. “The Red Badge of Courage” by Stephan Crane

6. “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger

7. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky

8. “1984” by George Orwell

9. “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand

10. “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell

11. “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

12. “The Last of the Mohicans” by James Fenimore Cooper

13. “Antigone” by Sophocles
14. “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck
15.

"Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.”

Folks, there really must be something in the air….and for this lady right here, it is most definitely NOT love. Just wanted to clear that up from the beginning. There is no love to be seen within like a million mile radius around me. And I’m totally cool with that.


I don’t know what it is. I woke up yesterday and was just happy. Yes, I’m typically a happy person (for the most part), but this was a different kind of happy. The kind of happy that you only feel when you realize and fully understand that everything is going to be okay. The kind of happy where you are completely content with everything in your life right at this moment and cannot find a single reason to complain. Sure, you may not be where you thought you would be, but that’s okay.

I actually walked into work today a little before 10 o’clock this morning in an amazing mood…and surprisingly left the exact same way 12 hours later. And it’s weird. People notice. They notice when you spend the entire day happy and in a pleasant mood. I actually had a few people ask me what I was smoking and that they wanted some of whatever it was.

I don’t need the boy (boyfriend, fiancée, husband, sugar daddy, whatever), the white picket house thing, the 2.759 children, the gazillions of dollars, the absolutely perfect job that lets me balance said boyfriend/fiancée/husband/sugar daddy and 2.759 children with my desire to travel everywhere, see everything, do everything and skydive. There is a reason that none of that is a part of my life at this moment in time – I’m not ready for any of it and I am so glad for that. Someday, maybe? But today I'm just happy being who I am.

I mean, can you seriously imagine me with 2.759 children….awkward….

To all of my darling readers - I wish you the happiest of days tomorrow, and in everything you do!
 

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”