tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51287809876789920752024-03-19T04:24:10.294-07:00Reading is RebellionLearning is always rebellion. Every bit of new truth discovered is revolutionary to what was believed before.Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-81224055748580323002015-10-05T19:17:00.000-07:002015-10-06T22:32:37.631-07:00It's Monday and I'm reading Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Wow, just wow. I received this book as a birthday gift from my boyfriend and I'm very glad I did! *wink wink*<br />
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<b>Library of Souls</b> is the last book in the trilogy which began in <b>Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children </b>and continued in <b>Hollow City</b>. I don't think there is another book in the market as unique as the stories of the peculiar children. The storyline is somewhat reminiscent of other fantasy fiction novels but how the vintage photography works with the novels beautifully is unlike any other. The closest I can think of is Madeleine Roux's <b>Asylum</b> series, but it's for a younger audience.<br />
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I'm perfectly happy with how the story is progressing. I only wish Ransom Riggs would write more books!!!!<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">From <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24120519-library-of-souls" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>:</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19.32px;">As the story opens, sixteen-year-old Jacob discovers a powerful new ability, and soon he’s diving through history to rescue his peculiar companions from a heavily guarded fortress. Accompanying Jacob on his journey are Emma Bloom, a girl with fire at her fingertips, and Addison MacHenry, a dog with a nose for sniffing out lost children.</span></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19.32px;">They’ll travel from modern-day London to the labyrinthine alleys of Devil’s Acre, the most wretched slum in all of Victorian England. It’s a place where the fate of peculiar children everywhere will be decided once and for all. </span></i><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19.32px;">Like its predecessors, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19.32px;">Library of Souls</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19.32px;"> blends thrilling fantasy with never-before-published vintage photography.</span></i></span><br />
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<br />Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-39974194260462611972015-09-13T20:17:00.000-07:002015-09-17T20:18:32.091-07:00BOOK SIGNING: COLLEEN HOOVER, CHRISTINE BRAE AND TARRYN FISHER IN MANILAI don't usually read romance. I prefer epic fantasies, thrillers or dystopian fiction over new adult. This September however, I binged on Colleen Hoover, Christine Brae and Tarryn Fisher especially because they were coming to Manila. Their books are guilty pleasures!<br />
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Among the three, I like Tarry Fisher best. Marrow and Mud Vein are very good reads. Love Me With Lies series also gets four stars from me. Naturally, National Bookstore did not have the complete set on sale. Did you expect us to ask them to sign our Kindles? :) Oh wait, it has to have a butterflying National Bookstore price tag.<br />
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<i>(I'm just annoyed that National Bookstore can act such a noob in signing events. I would have loved to get all of Tarryn Fisher's books, but National Bookstore don't even have them in stock. Most of us had to wait for the event just to buy Christine's books and Colleen and Tarryn's Never Never. I was the 56th in line and by then, the measly [more or less] twenty copies have been bought. Oh honestly, don't you guys read? *Hermione Granger voice* You should have known everyone would be clamoring for copies. You knew Tarryn and Christine were coming for a year but still you didn't have enough of their books. You bought the local publishing rights!!!!! And please make your logo smaller on the covers, I love red but your logo in that size looks ugly! There. Rant over.) </i><br />
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<b> To be continued when I'm no longer pissed off... </b><br />
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Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-16816610538467591272015-03-23T00:41:00.002-07:002015-03-23T00:50:25.344-07:00@therebelreads: my #bookstagram<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Hi, everyone! Are you on Instagram?</div>
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I just started a book account on Instagram barely a month ago. I'm not that good yet at taking photos so please bear with me while I'm trying, lol. I'd love to meet fellow book lovers (and hoarders) as well as talk bookish! </div>
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Please follow <a href="http://www.instagram.com/therebelreads" target="_blank">@therebelreads</a>! I follow back all bookish accounts! <3</div>
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<br />Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-88555775771023155392015-02-15T20:19:00.001-08:002015-02-15T20:23:47.466-08:00It's Monday and I'm Reading Innocent Blood by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm reading the second installment of The Order of the Sanguines trilogy by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell, <b>Innocent Blood</b>. I didn't like the first novel, <b>The Blood Gospel</b>, but I want to know how the series would end.<br />
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I'm not sure if I'll read another book with the same idea after this series. I know this is an imaginary work but taking elements from the Holy Bible and using that for fiction is worrisome for me. It's becoming the fashion these days and I don't think that's healthy. At all.<br />
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From <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18089930-innocent-blood" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>;<br />
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<i>In this riveting follow-up to The Blood Gospel, the first book in their thrilling and atmospheric Order of the Sanguine series, New York Times bestselling authors James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell deliver a riveting tale of international adventure, intrigue, suspense, and supernatural mystery involving a modern scientist, a highly secret eternal spiritual order, and a terrifying power who must join forces to bring down a ruthless and cunning enemy and prevent the Apocalypse</i><br />
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<i>While exploring a tomb hidden for centuries in the depths of Masada, Israel, brilliant archaeologist Erin Granger began an incredible journey to recover a miraculous ancient artifact tied to Christ himself. The quest introduced her to a diabolical enemy determined to discover the book and use its powers for his own dark ends. It also led her to an ancient and highly secret Vatican order-known simply as the Saguines. Though she survived, the danger has only just begun.</i><br />
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<i>An attack outside Stanford University thrusts Erin back into the fold of the Sanguines. As the threat of Armageddon looms, she must unite with an ancient evil to halt the plans of a man determined to see the world end, a man known only as Iscariot.</i><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></i>Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-13681992551779013232015-01-03T07:30:00.000-08:002015-03-03T18:52:03.805-08:00Books I started in 2014 but didn't finishBecause a new year deserves a fresh start, I have a confession to make. I'm still at page 73 of Guillermo Del Toro's The Strain! After three months!!! Hu-hu-hu. The Strain, along with a couple of others, have been in my reading pile since forever. I've been distracted by other books on my Kindle!<br />
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<b>The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro</b><br />
I'm just so easily distracted. Hmp. I will finish reading this soon!!!<br />
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<b>Faerytales and Nightmares by Melissa Marr</b><br />
Enjoyable but not really my type. I will finish reading this soon!!!<br />
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<b>A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray</b><br />
Not really my type. Uhm, I should say "I will finish reading this soon" but I won't. Maybe this will remain in my TBR pile far longer.<br />
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I have read everything else but these books, apparently. I read Claudia Gray's Evernight series. That's four books before I went to a vacation. I read Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy, Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects and Dark Places, Marie Lu's Legend Trilogy and James Dashner's The Maze Runner trilogy and prequel during vacation. Then Michelle Hodkin's Mara Dyer trilogy. That's nineteen books, eeep! In my defense, I forgot to bring the books with me during the long vacation. Sigh. On a happier note, this means more books for 2015, right? :)<br />
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Were there any books you didn't finish in 2014 and still won't read this 2015?</div>
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<br />Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-53615043968997715102014-12-08T05:06:00.000-08:002014-12-08T05:09:16.792-08:00Haul: November 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hmm. Sooo, I may have overspent a little on books again. In my defense though, most of the books I've bought were secondhand. He-he. </div>
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I may be the only hardcore Harry Potter fan who doesn't own a complete set of the series. It's just so expensive and I don't have a decent room where I can display it, hu-hu-hu! In the meantime, I bought <i>The Tales of Beedle the Bard</i> for my collection.<br />
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I'm on page 51 of <i>The Strain</i> by Guillermo Del Toro (how's that for specific?). I don't have a lot of reading time these days so progress is slow. Undoubtedly a thrilling read, so far.<br />
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I've just finished reading <i>Graveminder </i>by Melissa Marr. The pace was excruciatingly slow to build up the suspense to a climax which wasn't really "climactic". There was so much dilly-dallying and hyping about town secrets going on. I'm giving Melissa Marr a chance though; I might read <i>The Wicked Lovely</i> series in 2015.<br />
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<i>A Great and Terrible Beauty</i> by Libba Bray was another impulsive buy from yours truly. I bought it cheap even if it looks like new and plastic covered. I've seen the raves on Goodreads about this book so I'm excited to read it during the Christmas break.<br />
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Now, I love dystopian fiction most of all and I can't believe I haven't read the <i>Delirium </i>trilogy by Lauren Oliver sooner! This set stays in their wraps though. I can't bear to have their spines wrinkled while reading them, hu-hu. The covers are just so beautiful! I'll be reading my Kindle versions instead.<br />
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I want to end this post by saying that book buying bans do not work at all. <span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 27px;">❤ </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 27px;">❤ </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 27px;">❤</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 27px;"><br /></span>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20.3999996185303px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">I'm linking up to <a href="http://www.tyngasreviews.com/2014/11/stacking-the-shelves-131.html" style="color: #888888; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Stacking the Shelves</a><span id="goog_2013426792" style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span><span id="goog_2013426793" style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/" style="color: #888888; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"></a> hosted by Tynga's Reviews.</span></div>
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<b style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #660000; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Post a link to your haul last month in the comments!</span></b></div>
Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-64148453529203256852014-12-08T03:59:00.000-08:002014-12-08T04:13:55.040-08:00It's Monday and I'm Reading The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I received <b>The Fall by Guillermo Del Toro (The Strain Trilogy #2) </b>on my birthday. It just sucks to start a series without the first book so I hunted book groups and bought <b>The Strain </b>the first chance I got. The trade paperback and hardbound versions were not released locally. Good luck to me in finding the last book in the trilogy. Sigh.<br />
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I'm not a fan of zombies/walking dead/vampires at all; but I am a fan of Guillermo Del Toro. Pan's Labyrinth is one of my all-time favorite movies so I'm excited to read the book. I'm also looking forward to see how the novels compare to the series.<br />
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From <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6065215-the-strain" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>:<br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><i>A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Ephraim "Eph" Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><i>In a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, a former professor and survivor of the Holocaust named Abraham Setrakian knows something is happening. And he knows the time has come, that a war is brewing.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><i>So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city - a city that includes his wife and son - before it is too late.</i></span></span><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></i>Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-51672713451450945802014-11-03T02:51:00.000-08:002014-11-03T02:51:03.620-08:00Haul: October 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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How was your October? Mine was pretty exciting because I discovered new Young Adult authors to read last month!</div>
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I've only started reading <i>Asylum </i>by Madeleine Roux. I know I'm too old for it, but hey, I want to creep myself out. It's Halloween, anyway. </div>
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<i>Faery Tales and Nightmares </i>by Melissa Marr is an impulsive buy, I admit. I've read about her from book blogs I follow but I've never read any of her works. I didn't want to commit myself to a whole series so I just bought this short collection. It was quite a steal for only Php 200. He-he.</div>
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<i>Fateful</i> surprised me. I'm not a fan of werewolves and that particular genre but the change from my usual taste in books is refreshing. I'm going to read the rest of Claudia Gray's books and I hope I'll like them as much as I liked <i>Fateful</i>.</div>
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<i>Talking Pictures</i> by Ransom Riggs is not a novel like his other bestsellers, <i>Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children</i> or <i>Hollow City</i>. However, I enjoyed browsing through the vintage photos and reading the captions. I think it's a good find for my book collection. </div>
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And that's it for October! While writing this, I realized just how much I was missing out on new books and authors. I'm way behind my reading list because of a game, sigh. I really have to get back up to speed! I have tons of books waiting by my bedside and in my Kindle. <span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 27px;">❤ </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 27px;">❤ </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 27px;">❤</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">I'm linking up to <a href="http://www.tyngasreviews.com/2014/11/stacking-the-shelves-131.html" target="_blank">Stacking the Shelves</a><span id="goog_2013426792"></span><span id="goog_2013426793"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a> hosted by Tynga's Reviews.</span><br style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></div>
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<b style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #660000; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Post a link to your haul last month in the comments!</span></b></div>
Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-34693992717014107772014-10-28T00:03:00.000-07:002014-10-28T00:03:01.640-07:00Top Ten Books/Movies To Read Or Watch To Get In The Halloween Spirit<br />
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Happy Tuesday! <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html" target="_blank">Top Ten Tuesdays</a> is a weekly feature/meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I decided to just do this once a month because I'm still too lazy to post weekly and I'm still too busy reading anyway.<br />
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This week's topic is just in time for Halloween! I chose to write about the "Top Ten Books/Movies To Read Or Watch To Get In The Halloween Spirit." The five books are already in my next-to-be-read list. I've even started reading <b><i>Asylum</i> by Madeleine Roux </b>this week. For the movies, I'm a fan of Guillermo Del Toro and I'm excited to have a movie marathon of his works this November!<br />
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Here's my list:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo_S07yxUZRWkQjvbTHIEoRWVzDEOD9snSOExd7DfeHbmcnAUuRAZOgA-eypRiWK6U3LRZ8lNyJS9lqkNHAomigBljikdvIfvehQaif16lOIgY-U6Ke8KiDoXNq3i_USTNAJb4TWnQwil9/s1600/halloween.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo_S07yxUZRWkQjvbTHIEoRWVzDEOD9snSOExd7DfeHbmcnAUuRAZOgA-eypRiWK6U3LRZ8lNyJS9lqkNHAomigBljikdvIfvehQaif16lOIgY-U6Ke8KiDoXNq3i_USTNAJb4TWnQwil9/s1600/halloween.jpg" height="168" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top Ten Tuesdays: Books to Read to Get in the Halloween Spirit</td></tr>
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1. <b><span style="color: #660000;">Asylum by Madeleine Roux</span></b><br />
From Goodreads: "<i>Featuring found photos of unsettling history and real abandoned asylums and filled with chilling mystery and page-turning suspense, Madeleine Roux's teen debut, Asylum, is a horror story that treads the line between genius and insanity</i>."<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <b><span style="color: #660000;">Sanctum by Madeleine Roux</span></b></span><br />
From Goodreads: "<i>In this haunting, fast-paced sequel to the New York Times bestselling photo-illustrated novel Asylum, three teens must unlock some long-buried secrets from the past before the past comes back to get them first. Featuring found photographs, many from real vintage carnivals, Sanctum is a mind-bending reading experience that blurs the lines between past and present, genius and insanity, perfect for fans of the smash hit Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.</i>"<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></span>3. <b><span style="color: #660000;">Horns by Joe Hill</span></b><br />
From Goodreads: "<i>At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.</i>"<br />
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4. <span style="color: #660000;"><b>Faery Tales and Nightmares by Melissa Marr</b></span><br />
From Goodreads: "<i>Dangerous promises and beguiling threats swirl together in a dozen stories of enchantments, dark and light, by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr. Uncanny and unexpected creatures appear from behind bushes, rise from under the seas, or manifest from seasonal storms to pursue the objects of their attention – with amorous or sinister intent – relentlessly. From the gentle tones of a storyteller’s cadences to the terror of a blood sacrifice, tales of favourite characters from Marr’s Wicked Lovely novels mix with accounts of new characters for readers to fall in love with . . . or to fear. Lush, seductive, and chilling, Melissa Marr’s stories revel in the unseen magic that infuses the world as we know it</i>."<br />
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5. <span style="color: #660000;"><b>The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro</b></span><br />
From Goodreads: "<i>So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city - a city that includes his wife and son - before it is too late</i>."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcz_p1kzfIoh7Lq1R7nj8WbwIKfMP_JeaaMJtFYwKl8D-saMC4kfEWWG6c8JVgY19R027zhuLPvYNi64Sq0f0WqqryZkl1NlS8H68McjWL9EquG7SM5j_2LU6FQz9NPOL7pSPyeyfNJClp/s1600/movies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcz_p1kzfIoh7Lq1R7nj8WbwIKfMP_JeaaMJtFYwKl8D-saMC4kfEWWG6c8JVgY19R027zhuLPvYNi64Sq0f0WqqryZkl1NlS8H68McjWL9EquG7SM5j_2LU6FQz9NPOL7pSPyeyfNJClp/s1600/movies.jpg" height="169" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top Ten Tuesdays: Movies to Watch to Get in the Halloween Spirit</td></tr>
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6. <span style="color: #660000;"><b>Hellboy</b></span><br />
From Wikipedia:<span style="color: #660000;"> </span><i>"Hellboy is a 2004 American supernatural superhero film, starring Ron Perlman and directed by Guillermo del Toro. The film is loosely based on the Dark Horse Comics graphic novel Hellboy: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola. It was produced by Revolution Studios, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film is about a demonic beast, known as Hellboy, who secretly works to keep the world safe from paranormal threats with his team, the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense."</i><br />
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7. <span style="color: #660000;"><b>Hellboy II: The Golden Army</b></span><br />
From Wikipedia;<i> "Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a 2008 American supernatural superhero film based on the fictional character Hellboy created by Mike Mignola. The movie was written and directed by Guillermo del Toro and is a sequel to the 2004 film Hellboy, which del Toro also directed. Ron Perlman reprises his starring role as the eponymous character."</i><br />
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8. <span style="color: #660000;"><b>The Orphanage</b></span><br />
From Wikipedia:<b> </b><i>"The Orphanage (Spanish: El Orfanato) is a 2007 Spanish horror film and the debut feature of Spanish filmmaker J. A. Bayona. The film stars Belén Rueda as Laura, Fernando Cayo as her husband, Carlos, and Roger Príncep as their adopted son Simón. The plot centers on Laura, who returns to her childhood home, an orphanage. Laura plans to turn the house into a home for disabled children, but a problem arises when she and Carlos realize that Simón believes he has a masked friend named Tomás with whom he will run away. After an argument with Laura, Simón is found to be missing."</i><br />
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9. <span style="color: #660000;"><b>The Devil's Backbone</b></span><br />
From Wikipedia: <i>"The Devil's Backbone (Spanish: El espinazo del diablo) is a 2001 Spanish-Mexican gothic horror film directed by Guillermo del Toro, and written by del Toro, Antonio Trashorras and David Muñoz. It was independently produced by Pedro Almodóvar, and filmed in Madrid. </i><i>The film is set in Spain, 1939, during the final year of the Spanish Civil War. Del Toro considers it his most personal film."</i><br />
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10. <span style="color: #660000;"><b>The Shining</b></span><br />
From Wikipedia: <i>"The Shining is a 1980 British-Americanpsychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, and Scatman Crothers. The film is based onStephen King's 1977 novel of the same name, though there are significant changes</i>."<br />
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If I have to dress up for Halloween, I'd go for a Wednesday Addams, Margaery Tyrell, Belle of the Disney Princesses, Daenerys Targaryen or Hermione Granger costume. I don't have a Halloween party to go to though, I'd just be in the cemetery all night, with my books and movies, he-he.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #660000;">What's your Top Ten for this Tuesday? Drop a link in the comments! </span></b></div>
Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-44861787214797406852014-10-19T19:09:00.000-07:002014-10-27T00:12:35.694-07:00Book Signing: Claudia Gray and Madeleine Roux in ManilaI wanted to write about this right after the event but I was still so stoked! Even right now, I haven't stop posting my photos with Claudia Gray and Madeleine Roux on all my social media accounts. How's that for extreme fangirling.<br />
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I read a lot (uh, obviously?) but it's my first time to attend a book signing event. I only transferred here in Manila last year and I haven't had the courage to go to one. Translation: I get lost when going to new places and it's scary to get lost in Manila! But anyway, it's a good thing I decided to go! I had an <b>AWESOME</b> time, even writing 'awesome' in uppercase and bold type still doesn't give the whole experience justice!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDthFu68ayn16ziQ9g-hzeVKgP6Bw-Z86ttRyh4i4-hLyu5qpSgUM7Cf_ThiCh48IG9SnhzWrO8A4I7cLceX3lWUBYygRhXILsUKrRjFRVq_0rfiX3TPaJ3mVAyXB1Knv-hifx0BPCcoOJ/s1600/10644618_10152441856261914_3954459952995105746_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDthFu68ayn16ziQ9g-hzeVKgP6Bw-Z86ttRyh4i4-hLyu5qpSgUM7Cf_ThiCh48IG9SnhzWrO8A4I7cLceX3lWUBYygRhXILsUKrRjFRVq_0rfiX3TPaJ3mVAyXB1Knv-hifx0BPCcoOJ/s1600/10644618_10152441856261914_3954459952995105746_o.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm the smiling long-haired girl beside the flashing camera. <br />
See? I wasn't kidding when I said I JUST CAN'T STOP GRINNING. <br />
Photo grabbed from National Bookstore's Facebook page. <span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 27px;">❤</span></td></tr>
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I arrived in National Bookstore-Glorietta 1 at around 10:00 AM. That was a big noob mistake. I was already the 123rd in line, ha-ha! I learned some lined up as early as 7:30 AM, way ahead of the mall's opening time and start of registration which started at 10 AM.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEOVBiv670IZFRAkN-ExIXwcz0AIpX0o4AFg0Z_yrd6fubAbMepPi5O3ULp6ENuW1Ao1Cyfdljeqs1IffIM1UBnGpJInexh0xs_AGMk5XmvOIGg7ChGlMBy7wroqp7nbA3woHBKvyTUhKu/s1600/10726546_10203018934376862_1140593638_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEOVBiv670IZFRAkN-ExIXwcz0AIpX0o4AFg0Z_yrd6fubAbMepPi5O3ULp6ENuW1Ao1Cyfdljeqs1IffIM1UBnGpJInexh0xs_AGMk5XmvOIGg7ChGlMBy7wroqp7nbA3woHBKvyTUhKu/s1600/10726546_10203018934376862_1140593638_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a>While waiting, I reread <i>Fateful </i>and ordered a Classic Mocha frappe from Illy Cafe Delizio. Yum, yum. National Bookstore's Glorietta 1 branch is one of the few branches who have a cafe inside. It was a bit pricey, but I wanted to sit on a chair (only way to sit is to be a customer, hehe) and treat myself for not getting lost this time.<br />
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The place began filling up and I found a place behind the rows of chairs where I could sit and look somewhat less awkward with my outfit. At first, everyone kept to their own worlds with a book in hand and their book towers beside them. Not surprising but worth mentioning, everyone became instant friends with someone else after an hour or two. It was so easy warming up to kindred spirits and immediately chatting about books you all love (and hoard). I even gained a couple of new Instagram friends! True enough, a bookstore feels like home for bookworms like me.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My space, lol. </td></tr>
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Shrieks and camera flashes welcomed Claudia Gray and Madeleine Roux. I hastily stood up with aching knees and creased clothing, but who cared really, all eyes were on the bestselling YA authors. After four hours of sitting on the floor IN A DRESS (another noob mistake, everyone), I had to stand for the rest of the program and signing! But again, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.<br />
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Claudia Gray was warm and exceptionally witty in all her responses. I enjoyed Fateful but I haven't read the Evernight series yet. The interview made me want to buy them all!<br />
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Now, let's talk about how gorgeous and rad Madeleine Roux is. I am sure everyone in the event loved her (look at that blonde mohawk hair perfection!!!) I'm now a bigger fan, if that was even possible. She recommended Joe Hill for more horror reads, which is just perfect for my upcoming Top Ten Tuesdays post this week!<br />
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I had an <b>AWESOME</b> time! I couldn't stop myself from grinning too widely even days after. (Hmm, that brought me into thinking that I'd better be hooked to an oxygen tank and nebulizer if ever J.K Rowling comes to the country.) I really really wish I had hardbound copies of their books, but damn, those are still so expensive! #breadwinnerproblems</div>
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A thundering round of applause to National Bookstore for bringing Claudia Gray and Madeleine Roux to the Philippines! And to Claudia Gray and Madeleine Roux: keep being awesome! The Philippines loves you and your books! We hope to see you again soon! <span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 27px;">❤</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 27px;"><br /></span></div>
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Better event recaps from Filipino book bloggers abound, so check them out too! Here's some:</div>
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<a href="http://amaterasureads.blogspot.com/2014/10/signing-recap-claudia-gray-and.html" target="_blank">amaterasureads</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.thebookishowl.net/?p=5221" target="_blank">bookishowl</a></div>
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<a href="https://jessellelovesbooks.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/event-recap-claudia-gray-and-madeleine-roux-in-manila/" target="_blank">jessellelovesbooks</a></div>
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<a href="http://thebookaholicblurbs.blogspot.com/2014/10/GrayandRouxinPH.html" target="_blank">thebookaholicblurbs</a></div>
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<a href="http://writerformisfits.blogspot.com/2014/10/book-signing-recap-grayandrouxinph.html" target="_blank">writerformisfits</a></div>
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Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-87065956304450799962014-09-30T01:34:00.000-07:002014-10-08T19:57:55.705-07:00Haul: September 2014<br />
I love receiving gifts, but I loooove getting books most of all! I rarely buy a new book for myself (#breadwinnerissues) so I'm so happy when I get books as gifts!<br />
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In 2012, my love gave me brand new copies of <i>Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children</i> and <i>The Book Thief</i>. This year, he gave me four books!!!<br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">These books are heaven!!!! Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors (do read <i>Skylight Confessions</i> if you still haven't!) and I'm excited to read </span><i style="text-align: justify;">The Red Garden</i><span style="text-align: justify;">.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">I adored the movie tie-in cover for <i>The Great Gatsby. </i>Leonardo DiCaprio is on the cover, who wouldn't love it! I have the original cover in trade paperback so my collection's complete. I have a soft spot for movie tie-in covers of adaptations I love.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">I'm a big fan of the TV series, The Strain, and I was ecstatic to get the second novel in the trilogy, <i>The Fall</i>. </span><span style="text-align: center;">I've just started it and so far, it's good! Guillermo Del Toro is a genius, to be honest. (His fantasy film Pan's Labyrinth is also a must-watch!)</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Jasper Fforde is always a fun read and <i>The Fourth Bear </i>is no exception. My bookshelves feel so loved with these new babies! I'm a very happy girlfriend! x</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Right now I'm on a self-imposed new-book buying 'ban'. I bought a Kindle Paperwhite two years ago to keep me from hoarding physical books. I avoid the mall bookstores like the plague but I can't help browsing at secondhand shops. To preempt my overwhelming buying impulse, I always imagine myself wearing handcuffs whenever I succumb and walk into a shop. Of course, that doesn't work at all. I still end up buying a book or two and telling myself, "It's on SALE! I'm actually saving money by buying them now." Haha!</span></div>
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After a lengthy debate with myself and a lot of fiddling with my imaginary handcuffs, I bought these books BECAUSE THEY WERE ON SALE AND I'M ACTUALLY SAVING MONEY BY BUYING THEM NOW.<br />
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Promise! These books are a steal at one-fourth of their original prices! I have yet to read them though... Like a true bookworm, I always buy another book even when I still have tons to read. <span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-indent: 27px;">❤ </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-indent: 27px;">❤ </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: AppleSDGothicNeo-Regular, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif, AppleColorEmoji, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', NotoColorEmoji, EmojiSymbols, Symbola, Noto, 'Android Emoji', AndroidEmoji, 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Zapf Dingbats'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-indent: 27px;">❤</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;">I'm linking up to <a href="http://www.tyngasreviews.com/2012/05/staking-shelves-official-launch.html" target="_blank">Stacking the Shelves</a> hosted by Tynga's Reviews.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #660000;">Post a link to your haul last month in the comments!</span></b></div>
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Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-32610256573457460442014-05-04T17:19:00.001-07:002014-05-08T00:04:11.978-07:00It's Monday and I'm Reading 'The Giver' by Lois Lowry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm starting the week with the first book of a much loved series! Today I started reading <b><i>The Giver</i> by Lois Lowry (The Giver Quartet #1)</b> on my Kindle. I've downloaded this ages ago but only got around into reading this during the weekend. I made a mistake of not reading this earlier. This is proving to be a great book, and I'm only two chapters into it! <br />
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From <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3636.The_Giver" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>:<br />
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<i><span id="freeText13498472504311840306">Jonas' world is
perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain.
There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community.
When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training
from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and
pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There
is no turning back.</span></i><br />
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Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-26974083062709209272012-10-14T04:24:00.000-07:002014-10-09T20:53:43.384-07:00Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Book Information<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Author: Daniel Handler<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Publication Date: August 6, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Number of pages: 354<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Genre: Young Adult<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m telling you why we broke up, Ed. I’m writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20.7667px;">Why We Broke Up has a clever and original premise: a teenage breakup, treasured trinkets, naïve memories, and the emotional mess a love story always brings. Written by Daniel Handler, this unique epistolary novel uses a stream-of-consciousness narration aided with lovely illustrations courtesy of Maria Kalman.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20.7667px;">Min Green, short for Minerva the goddess of you-know, is a film buff with quirky ideas and nerdy friends. Ed Slaterton is the popular basketball <strike>jerk</strike> jock and campus heartthrob. As polar opposites of each other, Ed and Min are highly unlikely to get together. But they do because as Ed explained, Min is… different.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20.7667px;">(In other news, I find it weird why guys often tell girls how different they are from their ex-girlfriends and dates. Come on, is 99% of the women population generic? This pick-up line never sat well with me. I feel so sorry for the countless former girlfriends of the fiction world.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20.7667px;">Anyway, Min retells their painful story through a soon-to-be-delivered letter and a soon-to-be-discarded box of souvenirs from events that inevitably led to their break-up. Each chapter begins and ends with illustrations of each reason why. But, uhm, I didn't get it. Seriously I wanted to love this book. I enjoyed Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and expected to like this novel just as much. I love the idea, but I didn't like any of the characters except maybe for Al (Min's best friend). Min is </span><span style="line-height: 20.75px;">likable.</span><span style="line-height: 20.7667px;"> I just thought her character wasn't right for this. I also skipped a lot of her indie/vintage film references because I couldn't relate and I didn't want to look them up. I searched them on Google earlier and found out that the seemingly endless list of movies were all made up. No wonder I wasn't familiar with any of them. Haha! Maybe I should reread the book to appreciate Handler's creativity more. Sadly I don't think I want to.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20.7667px;">Overall, Why We Broke Up is still unique and interesting despite its flaws. The selfish ranting, rose-colored first impressions and bitter recollections are reminiscent of our own post-breakup angst and misery. However whether you'll love the book or not depends on your reading palate. It's like choosing to break up with your boyfriend, you either have the feeling or you don't. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20.7667px;">I wish I liked the book more, Daniel Handler. I guess I'll stick with Lemony Snicket.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 20.7833px;">Quotes I Love</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.7833px;">This is just one quote, though:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.7833px;"><i>"I'd ruin any day, all my days, for those long nights with you, and I did. But that's why right there it was doomed. We couldn't only have the magic nights buzzing through the wires. We had to have the days, too, the bright impatient days spoiling everything with their unavoidable schedules, their mandatory times that don't overlap, their loyal friends who don't get along, the unforgiven travesties torn from the wall no matter what promises are uttered past midnight, and that's why we broke up."</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.7833px;">Beautiful! =)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.7833px;">My Recommendation</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.7833px;">Give this book a try. It's a fast read with gorgeous artworks, so... it's okay.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5128780987678992075.post-91809230773044960782012-10-06T05:25:00.001-07:002014-10-08T20:46:27.518-07:00The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky<div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Author:
Stephen Chbosky<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Date: 1999<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Standing
on the fringes of life ... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time
to see what it looks like from the dance floor. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>This haunting novel about the
dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new
voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is the
story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary,
Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may
not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is
the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run
from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of
first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex,
drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect
song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky
has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, powerful novel that will
spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing
up.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Why was it banned (or
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjILuuOCStQSunRsFEF9fwijgdBkPMGKjgrPzYbH381imWmTCf8WucsxhfmUsbthD15_Rpx-4XO29XBz6YEUuIQhpTHeGAtWfXQSlREqCaPbcAKRV99FTaHEXC7kZoK6t4Ss7ikC60C8zhS/s200/banned+books.jpg" height="176" width="200" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b> </b>According to <a href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/21stcenturychallenged" target="_blank">ALA</a>, the book was challenged due to the following reasons: anti-family, drugs, homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, suicide, and unsuited to age group.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">You can see a more detailed timeline <a href="http://www.marshall.edu/library/bannedbooks/books/perks.asp" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I
was already curious about this novel even before the movie came out. Being a
wallflower myself at parties or even at simple social gatherings, the title really piqued my interest. So for the Banned Books Week celebration, I chose this book
without any second thoughts. Thank you Shiela of <a href="http://www.bookjourney.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Book Journey</a> for hosting this
event!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
Perks of Being a Wallflower (henceforth mentioned as “Perks”) is an epistolary
novel of teen angst and love in the suburbs. The book deals with everything one can encounter in growing up: abuse, sibling catfights, drugs, sex, bullies, homosexuality
and even suicide. Indeed these are rather sensitive topics, but Chbosky has written the book in such a way that these issues are realistic, absolutely heartwarming and never overdone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Charlie
is brilliantly fleshed out as a character. His experiences are typical of a teenager
(sans the mental illness), yet his reflections on mundane things are
beautifully phrased. He is imperfect, his flaws are even prominently displayed.
He is no hero. Yet I particularly love that Charlie is “real” all throughout
the book. His innocence and naivete is somewhat both his strength and weakness. I can relate to Charlie a lot more than I thought I would. (I hope
this does not make me too weird.) But in this book, I found myself grieving, laughing, and
reminiscing with the characters in every page. Somehow I felt that every teenager has known a popular sister, a detached brother, a Patrick, a Mary Elizabeth, a Craig and a Sam. =)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I
have read The Catcher in the Rye (finished) and The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn (halfway through); and though Chobsky’s writing style was reminiscent of
both, I found that I love the Perks more. The Catcher in the Rye is a cult
classic and I know Chobsky was actually inspired by it. Maybe I need to reread
The Catcher in the Rye, yes?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This
novel reminds me a bit of The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. Both deals with the roller-coaster turmoils only adolescence can bring. The Lisbon sisters were fond of dreamy music from records too. However Eugenides' book ended with more questions than answers, leaving the reader with the thought that there are mysteries we can't solve no matter what. Despite
being somewhat almost as morbid, Perks instills a rather optimistic and refreshing perspective in the reader about love and life in general. As Charlie puts it, "So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
Perks of Being a Wallflower is a lovely novel which anyone will enjoy. It’s
just October but I think you would understand if I say this is undoubtedly the
best book I've read for 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Quotes I Love<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now,
this is going to be very difficult. I read the book with Mobipocket reader
(yes, for PC) and highlighted lines which I thought were brilliant as I went
along. Soon enough I was highlighting whole conversations and even pages. In short, my Ebook is now in a glaring shade
of yellow and that’s saying something. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I
decided to just share these five:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"Not
everyone has a sob story, Charlie, and even if they do, it's no excuse."<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>“I
just think it's bad when a boy looks at a girl and thinks that the way he sees
the girl is better than the girl actually is. And I think it's bad when the
most honest way a boy can look at a girl is through a camera.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"I
would die for you. But I won't live for you. Something like that. I think the
idea is that every person has to live for his or her own life and then make the
choice to share it with other people. Maybe that is what makes people
‘participate’. I'm not really certain.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>“I
feel like a big faker because I've been putting my life back together, and
nobody knows.” <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>“So,
this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm
still trying to figure out how that could be.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There
you go. If you have read this gem already, what are your favorite lines from the
book? Share it in the comments! =) If you still haven’t, get your copy ASAP and I hope I did not spoil the
book for you. I really want to get the paperback edition soon. Ebook copies are
okay, but I still prefer to have paperback/hardbound book favorites on my
bookshelf. This is one of those books that urge you to reread them right after
you have finished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Incidentally,
I jotted down every song which was mentioned (aside from the reading list, hehe). *goes off to make a mixed tape*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>My Recommendation<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">READ
IT. NOW!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Marjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00016935610870104555noreply@blogger.com2