READING. RANTING. RAVING.
“I have lived a thousand lives and I’ve loved a thousand loves. I’ve walked on distant worlds and seen the end of time. Because I read.”
- George R.R. Martin
- George R.R. Martin
"There is nothing on this Earth that can make you feel as invincible or as vulnerable as love can" Start Date : October 3, 2016 End Date: October 3, 2016 Actual Rating : 4.5/5 *** I was given a given this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. Tegan is a romantic and loves her family fiercely, but does not believe in finding love for herself. She helps her family run their home-converted-getaway. She has sacrificed much for their home but she wouldn't have it any other way. That summer everything in her world changed with the coming of a VIP guest. With this guest, Tegan's world become chaotic but with it brings new life and color into her.
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"When you spend so long trapped in darkness, you find that the darkness begins to stare back." Start Date : August 3, 2016 End Date : August 10, 2016 Actual Rating : 4.3 / 5 After defeating Amarantha and becoming a faerie, she feels lost and does not know herself. She cannot accept all the things she have done Under The Mountain. She still fears the dark and has not fully adjusted to her new body. Although she seems she have everything, wealth, health, love and peace... she is troubled and has feels a gaping hole in herself. I am a fan of Sarah J. Maas. Although I prefer the Throne of Glass series more, this book endeared me to the series more. During the visit of SJM to the Philippines last March, she alteady revealed that this is a retelling of the story of Persephone. I adore Greek mythology so I was excited. Manila International Book Fair is the biggest book fair in the Philippines. It celebrated its 37th run last September 14-18 at the SMX Convention Center. “... we all have demons inside us, voices that whisper we’re no good, that if we don’t make this promotion or ace that exam we’ll reveal to the world exactly what kind of worthless sacks of skin and sinew we really are.” Start Date : August 29, 2016 End Date : September 3, 2016 Actual Rating : 3.8 / 5 The story follows Lo Blacklock's first assignment in covering a high-end luxury ship for the travel magazine she works for. The excitement is quickly eclipsed by a home invasion that leaves her feeling violated and vulnerable. Instead of backing out of the assignment, she believes this is the perfect chance for her to temporarily escape life and chance to experience the "good life". Everything is going great until she hears a scream in the night and a splash. Her anxiety heightens when the woman she believes to be the victim has never existed according to everyone else on board. "It's not that things don't make sense to her when she's like this — sometimes they make 'more' sense. They make sense the way dreams do. It's only when the dream is over that you see how odd it all was, how it actually didn't make sense at all." Start Date : August 29, 2016 End Date : September 3, 2016 Actual Rating : 4.7 / 5 I was looking at pre-order price of Empire of Storms at Barnes and Noble when I noticed that it has already made their best sellers list. I went ahead and checked the other books on their list and two of them caught my interest. I was extremely intrugued by the premise that you don't really know anyone ... Even those closest to you. The story starts of in a party with two couples, one pair are the hosts (Cynthia and Graham) that welcomed the first time parents (Anne and Marco) into their home. It seems everyone was drunk but only Cynthia and Marco are the ones enjoying the party. So after much introspection, Anne decided she has enough and would like to go home next door to their baby Cora. With Marco following her lead, they went home to an unlocked front door and an empty baby crib. I have been married for a little bit over 4 months with my "college sweetheart" of ten years. I am lucky that he supports my quirks and hobbies while not letting me go crazy with the purchases. (Have you ever been to a bookstore and you just want to hand them your card and just start grabbing stuff of the shelf?)
Over the course of four months, I have been buying (strategically) some books that I like and today I noticed some pile of paperbags from different bookstores and I said to myself... "Man, I have been hoarding books". So the books above are the books that I have yet to get around reading. The one at the bottom of the pile is supposed to be my everyday go-to book in the kitchen but I have been winging it lately. Let's see if after another four months if this is going to be the same pile or a whole new set of books...or still same set of books bit with additions on it. (Hopefully not the third one). PS Don't you think that the cup is perfect for a cold-night-warm-drink-and-comfy-chair-by-the-window reading? PPS I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to comment below Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, Jack Thorne8/24/2016 "The truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution." Start Date : August 02, 2016 End Date : August 02, 2016 Actual Rating : 5 / 5 Be warned... I am a #Potterhead (and proud of it) so this might not be 100% unbiased review. I sort-of grew up with Harry Potter. I read the first book around 2nd Year High School (or 8th Grade) but I have heard of it since I was around 11 years old. I keep seeing it on the cable news but wasn't able to get my paws on a copy of the book. Fast forward to 29 years later and I am still going gaga over this series. “There's a book for everyone, even if they don't think there is. A book that reaches in and grabs your soul.” Start Date : August 11, 2016 End Date : August 12, 2016 Actual Rating : 4.3 / 5 Having the word "Book Shop" in the title is the only reason I decided to read this. This was not recommended to me by any of my friends nor by Goodreads. I just came across it and decided, what the heck... GO! And I was not disappointed. This book does not have any sexy scenes that is explicitly described but I find this book oooohhhh sooooo dammmnnn sexy. Why?! The words.... the writer uses beautiful words... words that conjures the right thought or emotion in a reader. Using the right word made a whole lot of difference. This is not the Jessica Rabbit type of sexy but the sexiness of a beautifully used word. Subtle and yet powerful. The book is centered on Nightingale Books. A quaint little book shop that I wish is right around the corner of my house. A type of book shop wherein the owner actually loves and knows books, takes time to talk to you about your life and make the right book recommendations because they know you so well. Think of Meg Ryan's book shop in the movie You've Got Mail. The story tells about how a book can change a life or a person can make a big difference in the community. It follows the different characters that walks into the book shop and the impact it made on their lives. You can expect a love stories of the characters are just sub-plots. Subtle effects of the bigger changes on the character's life. As I have said there is love STORIES in the plot, but that is not the only emotion it would trigger. I actually cried a few times while reading this. It covers the euphoria of young love, fierce, brave and loud... to the heart breaking, gut-wrenching, soul shattering loss of the someone important in your life. There is only a couple of things that I didn't like about the book. One is unfaithfulness/dishonesty. Being raised in a Catholic country, I believe in the sanctity of marriage. I believe in working your issues with your significant other. I also believe that you should be honest with your partner (especially if you are about to get married). This is really just a minor point and more of a personal preference. The second thing is that since there is too many characters there wasn't enough time/exposure to delve into their personality/life. The relevant items for the plot is mentioned and can be discussed but I feel that it is incomplete. I feel there was incomplete explanation on how the character got to that point. But since this is just a quick read (maybe 2 - 4 hours if I went at it straight) maybe other readers won't mind it that much. Overall, it is a good book that I would recommend. "Am I not merciful?" Start Date : April 26, 2016 End Date : August 12, 2016 Actual rating : 4.6/5 I have been a negligent reader as of late. On top of that, I have been somewhat taken a modernist approach on reading and have taken to reading via my smartphone. I love reading and my (former) commute to and fro the office used to take me at least 2 hours in rush hour traffic. It was the most convenient way for me to have something I can just whip out and read during traffic.... or while waiting for my code to compile. My friends had read this and recommended it to me but they said I have to get the hardbound book to fully appreciate it. It took me months to find a copy. When I finally found a store that had a copy, there was only one left and it has already been reserved. Needless to say, I was frustrated and disappointed, so I did smiled, joked, nettled the store staff until i whittled down their defenses and let me have the copy they had. One of them would just run to the other branch and get them a new copy. Yehey!!!!! Since it took me a long time to get my paws on this book, I decided to reserve it for a special occassion. Yes. I do believe that sometimes opening a book requires a special time. If it is something that is written by your favorite author... don't you sometimes just wish to get to you own little alcove with a drink and little snack... perfect lighting.... a seat wherein you can stay comfortable for hours... and when you finally open the book ... a choir of angels starts singing in your head.... then they fade into the background as you are transported to another world. |
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January 2017
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