July - August TBR Pile

Its been a while since my last entry and to start things off, I am posting my July - August TBR.  The books I have on the list are some of the books I am itching to read for some time now.  Without further ado, here is my required reading list for the next two months:

1.  Nancy Drew #1 ; The Secret of the Old Clock (Carloyn Keene) - yup, that's right, Nancy Drew!  Since I wrote in an entry a few months (or weeks) back that I want to collect Nancy Drew books and read them all, I am re-starting my Nancy Drew experience with the first book of the series.

2.  The Eyre Affair (Jasper Fforde) - It took me a while to read this since it also took me quite a while to find it and if there are available sequels to the book available in the local bookstores.  The book first came to my attention when I read a review about it online.  I googled it and I liked the plot and the story, so here it is now.  I hope by the time I finish this, I can easily find the next book in the series.

3.  Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (Rachel Cohn and David Levithan) - So begins my David Levithan book journey.  I loved Every Day and since then I tried to get my hands on any Levithan book available.  I am especially curious on this book since some people I know saw the movie and really loved it, I'm betting the book would be even better :)

4.  Boy Meets Boy (David Levithan) - I haven't exactly read an LGBT novel before this and I am quite excited about this book to say the least.  The good reviews I read also added to my curiosity and I spent quite a while looking for it since it was mostly out of stock.  It seems like other readers out there have the same idea on getting their hands on this book like I did.  I found a copy after 3 weeks.

5.  How They Met and other Stories (David Levithan) - the 3rd Levithan book on my list.  I like the fact that the book is a collection of stories.  I think I would start off my Levithan journey this month with this one so I can get acquainted with his early writing style. 

6.  Paper Towns (John Green) - I have been reading John Green Books for the past months and it was always such a reading pleasure.  I will be posting my reviews on Looking for Alaska and the Fault in our Stars soon.  Its quite obvious that I like his books and that is why I am so excited to read this one.

7.  The Demonologist (Andrew Pyper) - When I picked this book up from Fully Booked I was not able to put it down.  I was quite intrigued by the book's plot.  I loved The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and this book is right along that alley.  Likewise, it has been a long time since I read anything from that genre.

So that's it, my TBR list for the next two months.  Looking forward to reading during the coming rainy days while sipping hot coffee :)

Till next time! :)

-M

Of Broken Hearts, Pain and Moving On

Another month is coming to a close and as I manage to trim down my TBR for May and June, below is my take on the books I have read so far.  Plus, I also included my pending thoughts on Why We Broke Up from  my March April TBR list.

Broken Hearts, Pain and Moving on is the central theme of the 4 books I finished.  It involves different perspectives and situations but I like the fact that all the characters I have come to like, and some I really do love in these books, all manage to come to TERMs with their realities, however painful it may be and find the strength and the motivation to move on to a better place.

Why We broke Up

(Daniel Handler)

Min is the central character of the story. It is her voice, her experiences and her feelings that we come to share.  I, for one, can relate to her feelings, how she felt, and how she wanted to explain everything to Ed and take him back to the things she thought were important to both of them.  And eventually use all of these to make him realize why they broke up.  Each item served as a poignant reminder of that tingly feeling Min called love, or more likely the kilig factor associated with love and the pain of not being able to feel that again with Ed.

I love how I was able to see and feel how Min's love for Ed developed and how she knew by the end of the story that one day she will be able to smile again, without Ed in the picture.

I also love how the book was presented, the illustrations did not just add value to the book, it added another layer of feeling as well, an added depth to the story if you may.  I cannot imagine reading the book without the illustrations, the experience would not be the same.

Creep

(Jennifer Hillier)

Creep is psychological thriller which involves the affair between a psych professor and her grad student, who turned out  to have huge issues.  When Dr. Sheila Tao broke off her affair with her student, Ethan Hawke, to marry her fiance, all hell broke loose.  The classic case of if he cannot have her, no one else can.  There are twists in the story that are kinda expected but there was one that I didn't see coming, and that changed things for me.  

It was a good read, not as fast-paced as the last book I read from this genre, Gone Girl, but it was enough to keep me reading.  There were some slow parts but overall I liked it :)  I cannot wait to read the next installment, Freak, which is now also available in paperback.

The Fault in Our Stars

(John Green)

I heard a lot of things before I even got my hands on this book.  Mostly good things, but one thing stood out

the most, it would break my heart.  And it did.

Augustus and Hazel are star-crossed lovers, in the sense that they both have cancer and they are both holding on to borrowed time.  Given the premise of the story, I loved that there are light moments and witty dialogues.  It kinda takes away the gravity of their situation and gives the reader a chance to get to know the characters more.  There was a line in the book that says something about letting their disease define who they are and that should not be the case.  They should be remembered more on who they are as people and not as cancer victims.  

The book was written beautifully.  I loved it.  I kept putting off reading it since I knew I would be heartbroken after I read it but, still, it is an excellent read.

Archie in "Will You Marry Me?"

Archie getting married after, like 60 years, is something I wanted to read.  Like most people, I grew up reading Archie and him finally choosing one girl is indeed something I would want to know!

The compilation was quite pricey but I could not let this pass! I have to read who marries who and what happens to either Betty and Veronica if Archie chooses one over the other.  And I was not disappointed.  There are two storylines depicting both of Archie's choices.  My heart still goes out to Betty.  I wanted Archie to pick her every since I started reading the series :)

There are now 3 more installments to this comic.  Archie: The Married Life Series now has 3 books.

So there it is... looking forward to finishing the rest of my required reading for May-June :) 

Till next time!

- M

May - June TBR

well hello there! :)

Presenting my TBR for May to June! :)

I still need to write about Why We Broke Up, all I can say for now is that I loooved it :).  I still have two carryovers from my TBR last month though: Write Here, Write Now and the Song of Achilles.  Counting that and the 9 books above equals 11 books.  I do hope to finish all of them by end of June.

I am quite excited to read John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska since I read quite a number of good reviews.  It was quite a while before I got my hands on a copy though, since most of the time both these books were out of stock in the bookstores I frequently visit. 

The Mango Bride is a recommendation from an old friend.  Her cousin, who is also a Palanca Awardee, wrote the book.

Creep is a psychological thriller I am currently reading. I got the book last September 2012 during the Manila International Book Fair and haven't gotten around to reading it.  But now that I am reading it, I can't seem to put it down :)

My pick me-ups and light reading list is kinda long this time: Emily the Strange (3 books!) and Archie Wedding and The Married Life Book 1.

Looking forward to reading all of these books in the coming weeks.  I can already picture myself sitting on  a comfortable couch in a corner of a cafe, sipping coffee and losing myself in my books.  Aaaahhh... if only I could do that often! 

Till next time!

-M

Book Buys (April 2013)

Soooo, May is just around the corner and I have been itching to get me some new books, aaaannnd I did ... last weekend annnnd the weekend before that .... :P

I was at Megamall and was basically just killing time last Saturday afternoon since it was soooo hot out.  My main purpose was to look for some work clothes and shorts as part of my AC/PD project (Article of Clothing per Pay Day).  Will explain this in another post though :) basically, its a personal project to update my wardrobe.  So, I passed by Powerbooks to buy Mango Bride by Marivi Soliven since an old friend recommended it and I got lost (as I always do) in the shelves and ended up buying 3 more books: John Green's Looking for Alaska, Rob Reger's Emily the Strange: Piece of Mind and Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

Prior to my book buying spree last Saturday, I also got some books the weekend before hehehehe =)  I got John Green's Paper Towns and Fault in Our Stars in NBS and two more Emily the Strange books: Dark Times and Stranger and Stranger in Powerbooks :)

I will post my May-June TBR list soon, but I am already reading Creep by Jennifer Hillier, though I haven't quite finished Write Here, Write Now and The Song of Achilles yet :p

looking forward to reading these! :)

Till next time! :)

-M