Be warned: there may be spoilers. The first few pages found me proud. Finally! A Tolkien book I have the patience to read. Then I discovered that The Hobbit was actually written as a children’s book.

Sometimes you encounter a book better experienced in small doses. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky was one such book. It was a light read, but one I enjoyed spread across several days, as though I were the friend whom Charlie, the main character, wrote letters to. Having finished Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares prior to this only emphasized the quiet, private, and introverted nature of Charlie. Compared to the somewhat feisty, serious, and pretentious “Deep down, you see, I long to be arcane, esoteric. I would love to confound people with their own language.” “articulate to a fault” charm of Dash, Charlie struck me as the intelligent but sincere observer who actually has a lot to say, it’s just that it takes some asking. Random unimportant trivia: Charlie and Dash share an interest in reading. Charlie’s writing proves that words don’t need to be hifalutin to articulate most effectively. (although choosing the precise word for any situation is law.) If anything, the truthful honesty in his writing style is what made …