I'm Young, I'm Sexy, and I'm Broke

 If you guys are really interested in traveling and want good advice on places to go/things to do, I would definitely recommend: Off Track Planet’s Traveling for the Young, Sexy and the Broke. It is hands down my favorite travel book! I first came across it at an Urban Outfitters, and it immediately left an impression on me. I didn’t buy it right then and there, but I made a mental note that I would to buy it soon. One day, I got really eager to find out what it was all about so I bought the e-book. I don’t know if I’ve ever inhaled a book that quickly, but it in a matter of a few hours I was done. I kept flipping back and forth through the pages; which got annoying after a while on my iPad. That’s when I decided I needed to buy the physical copy. Now that I have the physical book, I can flip through the pages whenever I want. What I love about this book is that it’s so relatable. When I travel I enjoy looking at historical monuments for a while, but I am much more interested in experiencing the life as a local. I like walking around the streets at random and getting my party on at midnight. A lot of other travel books I’ve come across always sound like they are geared towards older tourist who want to spend most of their time at historical attractions. This book feels like someone my age is talking to me about traveling and its giving me all the advice I was REALLY looking for. Also, if you get the book and immediately get hooked like I did Off Track Planet also keeps a magazine blog that posts a new issue every Tuesday. It’s my home screen when I open safari, hahaha. But seriously guys if you’re interested check it out. The book really opened my eyes to places I didn’t know I wanted to go to, Thailand for example, Check it out!  

Oscar Wao

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was one of the most profound books I have ever read. The first thing that drew me into this book was the heritage of the author, Dominican-American, which I relate to. Reading deeper into the story line, I found myself relating to so many things that resembled my childhood. Junot Diaz is absolutely brilliant in they way he conveyed our Dominican culture in this book. I enjoyed the way that he included the family stories through different generations; that is something I’m jealous about. I never had the opportunity to really find out the history of my family further then my grandmother. Further more, the character that made a really profound impact, surprisingly, was Lola. Many people will read this book and just see Lola as a girl who was too rebellious. However, I really understood her point of view. Family is very important in Latino culture; this can cause a very severe attachment between mother and child. Sometimes this attachment prevents their kids from growing into themselves and becoming independent. I understood why it was absolutely necessary for Lola to break this attachment with her mom, find herself and learn to accept herself. I am so happy I got the chance to meet Juniot Diaz and listen to him speak he is truly brilliant. I’ve always wanted to write a book, but I never thought the world would be interested in the story of a first generation Dominican-American, but Juniot Diaz proved that you have to break those barriers and let your voice be heard.