Books and Reading Wednesday: Books on my Bookshelf

Another post for my Books on my Bookshelf series!

(Books on my Bookshelf is not a review, just my personal memories and feelings on the books I own).

This week it’s Three Kingdoms, attributed to Luo Guanzhong and translated by Moss Roberts.

Despite the picture, it’s not a series, it’s one massive book chunked up into four volumes.

I got them a few years ago, I remember I added them to my wishlist for one Christmas, and when Christmas came my uncle and aunt gave my Sun Tzu’s, Art of War to hold me over until Three Kingdoms arrived, as it was quite hard to get hold of 😀

My main memories of these books were devouring them as soon as I got them, and to be honest, I read them so fast I didn’t remember much about them! So, I took them on vacation with me one year, to a beautiful cottage in the middle of nowhere.

It rained quite hard at times, so I had the most relaxing and snuggly time cosied up by a fire, listening to the rain outside, Harli led beside me, whilst I re-read these books in a more relaxed fashion. Which meant I could enjoy them to the full.

But I don’t regret that fist read through where I sped through them, I was so excited to read them!
And sometimes, that’s the best way to read a book, to go through it, have a great time, and then go back through again and pick out the details you missed first time!

Three Kingdoms is a romanticised version of the historical period in ancient China when the Han dynasty fell and chaos ruled. A thrilling read with loads of figures from history. Though be warned, it’s not an easy read. But the books themselves are awesome; the stunning portraits at the beginning always capture my interest.

Some of the portraits.

Example of the beautiful illustrations that are dotted throughout all the books.

Random quote: ‘In the shadowlight of the fires no one detected the deception.’

Favourite thing about the book: The style. There is no worry or concern about how you should write a book, it’s just written for enjoyment, and that makes it such an great read.
Also, the illustrations are great throughout.

Least favourite thing: The fact that characters often have two names, their true name and then like a nickname, and there are A LOT of characters, so you have to make sure to remember it all to keep up, as they interchange the two names often.

Something I took away from the book: That a great story doesn’t’t have to be written in the same way everyone else writes. Also, the realisation I really enjoy battle scenes 😀

Has there ever been a book you were so excited to read you just read it so fast? Have you enjoyed re-reading books?