Book Recommendations

Oh young love!!! In normal circumstances, teens are the bravest to fall in love but have the hardest time revealing their feelings. Months or even years of suppressed emotions. Then an awkward revelation. Funny how these authors have outgrown the stage but still have the perfect words to describe every beautiful disaster. 

It never crossed my mind that I'd enjoy this genre. Worse, I never touched a fiction book for years (Yes! How could I?) because I was too focused in the realities of life that I forgot how delightful it is to feed my fantasies. 

Young adult novels are my current obsession because I find them easy to read. Not that the lines are just laid bare but because young love is too less of a complication. And it brings me back so much of good ol' memories causing me giggles and deep sighs. Yay!

Here are the novels I highly recommend because of the effect they have on me. :) As much as I would like to rank them, I cannot decide what standard I should base my ranking on. So this is merely enumerating with a bit of my musings. Note: All book descriptions (in italics) are from Goodreads.

1. The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

This is where my obsession all started. Needless to say, John Green has amazing ways of playing with words. He keeps me wanting from page one and gets me satisfied at the last page. I am all for fairytales. I mean, I want my heroes and heroines to end up happily ever after. And although this book does not give me that, John Green has convinced me it has to end that way. The ending is simply becoming. It is so good it breaks my heart. C'mon, tell me you did not sob!

2. Every Day by David Levithan

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

Such a wild imagination! This book blows me with surprises in every chapter I can't put it down. Once, I was reading this book while dining out. My jaw dropped to the floor when I reached Day 6015. Hwhaaat?!! No No No No! I hoped noone noticed me. :) This gotta be the most entangled situation ever but in the most appealing way. I expect (even demand) a sequel! 

3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie is a freshman.

And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix 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. But he can't stay on the sideline forever. 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.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite." I will never forget this line... beautifully written. True friends are really hard to find and I am glad Charlie has found Sam and Patrick and that's how he describes a moment with them. The statement is not even intended for a couple love but it still sounds so romantic. This is not one of those fairytales. Stephen Chbosky walks us through some painful realities as he carefully unfolds sensitive topics. This book does not contain so much fun in it but is still fun to read. 

4.  Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

It took me the longest time to finish this because somehow it has too much of awkwardness in it. I cannot point out the climax. I even do not like the ending because it is painful. No, no one died but it still hurts. Me and my happy ending issue! Only because of that. Hihi. I love how it was written. Rainbow Rowell perfectly recalls how to be a teenager.

5. The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and -- finally -- a reunion in the city where they first met.

A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.

Distance and post cards! I fell inlove with this book because of these two things. The book completely portrays the pain in anticipation and eventually, the bliss in union. Silence does not always mean absence. It sometimes means gathering of courage. If you have all the time in the world, wait. But if you have waited long enough it tightens your chest, then ask. "All you have to do is ask!" Yay! I love everything about this book. Jennifer Smith did a great job on both the travel and the love stories.

6. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming,beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend. 

The most fun story on the list. I do not care if the story is so predictable because it ends the way I want it. Haha! (I can never give an objective review!) The book is so hilarious and romantic both at the same time. Only brilliant writers can pull that off. Oh, Stephanie Perkins. I adore you! If you want to feel good and are hopeless romantic, this here is for you! 

“I'm saying I'm in love with you! I've been in love with you this whole bleeding year!” 

“I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul.” 

“Will you please tell me you love me? I’m dying here.” 

Let us all  never forget how it is to be young and to be free to love however we want. Enjoy reading!!!

Where To Buy Books Online?

Lend me your ears (or eyes) bookworms. You will thank me for this. :) I have found a cheap bookstore online!!! How's that for a tip, huh? Ok, so it is the BetterWorldBooks.com. Check out their website and you will find tons of discounted books of foreign authors. I am so giddy about this because now, I can have the books I want at their cheapest value. Well, among other bookstores I have checked out.

This is a foreign store so expect the delivery to be such a long wait. My first book arrived a month after my order. The second book, nearly 2 months. But who am I to complain? Here's another thing to celebrate, their worldwide shipping is free! Ok, I wanna collapse right now. Hihi! Boy, was I amazed!

Books from Better World Books

Wait, there's more. What I love most about buying books from Better World Books is, I help in their mission to fund literacy in other parts of the world.

"Every book purchased from Better World Books 

contributes to individual literacy throughout the world 

and the potential for a better life."

Side notes:

1. A bookstore is one of my happy places. I find BookSale in KCC very helpful with my budget. I wish there are more bookstores like it in Gensan. Some of my favorites are children's books for my niece Caela and back issues of magazines. I am crazy about magazines but I rarely (as in like maybe twice or thrice in my lifetime) buy them on their time of release. I just find it impractical because tips and facts do not get old. And I am not also the type who wants to know the latest trends in fashion and showbiz so the back issues are just perfect for me. Topping my list  are Good Housekeeping and Marie Claire.

2. Books by Filipino authors are found in National Bookstore. Where else? It's the best bookstore in town! :)

Happy reading, fabulous you! Oh, by the way, where do you buy your books? Would you mind to give me other ideas?

The Five Love Languages

The Love Month has ended three days ago but here I am still talking about luuurve :) This actually is a long overdue post which was supposedly a February entry. It was the month when people get extra intimate with each other. But anyway, I just had to do this because I find this book so interesting since I heard of the five love languages just recently. And after all, love is and should be celebrated all year round. :)

When a beautiful tall white American actress says, "Meboohey Philippines" and invites us, Filipinos, to watch her movie, we'd find a way to go to the cinema because we feel she's talking to us personally. In 1994, when Miss Universe was held in Manila, we heard almost all foreign delegates said, "Mahal ke keyow" and gave us their beauty queen waves, we could not help but me amazed. When a blonde baby boy sings, "Behay Kooboe Kaheet Monti...", however awkward his words are, we still adore him so much we want to pinch that nose. Those people have different languages from us but when they speak our language, we feel that they have taken time to reach out, to communicate in the words that we know best.

Gary Chapman says that love also has its languages and a person can feel other people's love if they speak his love language to him. He wrote the book originally for married couples but I'm glad he has this singles edition. The Five Love Languages according to Gary Chapman are (in no particular order) quality time, acts of service, words of affirmation, gifts, and touch. Now let me go to the five reasons why I love The Five Languages (Singles Edition) by Gary Chapman:

1. It is something about love. Who does not love something about love? All the world needs love and learning about love besides doing something for love is something that I love :) I do not know if the author is aware of this but his book has 14 chapters and you know, Feb 14 is the Heart's Day. Well, there must be some kinda numerology in there. Haha!

2. It reveals something I have never known before. One of the reasons why we read is to gain information. And this one has definitely tons of things to offer apart from revealing those five languages. Well, I love. I receive love but I have never known that at some point, there are proper ways to love. Every page is insightful. Every paragraph is highlighter-worthy. :)

3. The author is not strictly preachy. Gary Chapman is into counseling, human behavior study, etc. He has all the reasons to impose this and that but he does not do that in his book. He tells a story to state a situation of a relationship in conflict then shares how it was resolved and how the relationship bloomed after. It seemed that all the relationship problems addressed by him were cured through the knowledge of the five languages. In real scenario, in my opinion, however, conflicts arise not only because the other person does not feel loved anymore but of course, that's another issue.

4. The book talks about many kinds of relationships, not just romantic. Love is not just for couples in a romantic relationship. This stage of single adulthood is where we deal with more kinds of relationships than in any stage in our lives. Oopss.. As if I have been to other future stages. Haha! But seriously, I still think that love should be about everything and everyone, not just focused to only one so having insights on how to keep relationships, especially friendships, is something I am pleased with.

5. The book includes a personal assessment tool. There is a love language profile in the end which gave me an idea of what my primary love language and my secondary languages are.

I was actually surprised that my primary love language was quality time. Before I took the test, I guessed it was words of affirmation because I always wanted to be complimented, to have approval, to receive sweet text messages and love letters. Hehe.. It turned out that words of affirmation was just my secondary language. But as I ponder on the ways I want to be loved by the people around me, I now agree with the result of the test. I want my loved ones' focus, undivided presence. :) See, I am not a high maintenance person. I don't desire expensive gifts. If someone who crosses my path says I'm beautiful, that'll make my day. Haha! And if it is my birthday (which by the way is just a month away *cough *cough), your presence will do but of course, a little gift won't hurt because according to the author, 

"Love in any language enhances relationships."

Ok. Ok. He also said that...

"But spoken in one's primary love language 

communicates on an even 

deeper emotional level."

But I still accept gifts! :)

And here is the great news, if you don't have an idea on your primary love language, I found a similar test in the internet. Check it out here. 

P.S. The teapot, teacup, and the bookmark were given to me few years back by someone who speaks my love language so well. :)

The Little Prince

I do research on books I want to read. A book on my list must somehow be talked about, not necessarily very popular. But I do not read reviews just yet (or sometimes never)  because those can affect my opinions towards a book. If some people say the book is extraordinary, then it must be so I'm reading it. I do not want to make the same mistake again of just entering a bookstore, reading a book's description at the back and if I'm feeling right, then I'm getting it. That should not be, at least not for me. I ended up being frustrated because the book was not really what I wanted or worse, I choose not to finish it. It was such a waste of time and money. 

I have few books on my list now and the last item is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I was surveying bookstores online and 'offline' (hihi)  finding the best deal. Little did I know that The Little Prince is just sitting around my shelf for so many years now! I did not notice it because I was busy with my "matters of consequence" as the Little Prince puts it. Someone lent it to me but I guess the old ugly brown pages took away the interest in me. The cover was not even original anymore. The book title was rewritten using a red marker. Shame on me for literally judging the book by its cover. Haha!

from Google images

Now let's go to the five reasons why I love The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

1. The story is short. I love finishing a book in a snap. Once I read the first words of any book, I'm always in a hurry to get to the end, always curious of how the story will end so I am glad that this book has few pages in it. After all, it has already been taken for granted long enough. It has to be read and finished at once! But then again, I have a dilemma with books of few pages. At times, I also don't want to finish reading a book because I'm having such a good time with it. I don't want to lose the feeling of awesomeness especially when I'm at the climax. Haha! Confused moments.

2. It's a children's book for grown ups. How amazing is that? I mean this is not one of those Disney fairy tales. I think it's a children's book because the title seems to say so, the main character is a child, the animals are talking but it was written somehow poetically that a young child could hardly grasp. Furthermore, the issues 'discussed' are too complicated for a child to handle. The book reminds us that we were once a child but we tend to forget that when we become grown ups.


3. It makes me want to read real children's books again. Those which I was only forced to read because I had to submit book reports. Well, I was not really forced. I felt obliged because it was part of school works. It was really seldom that I did it for leisure but now, I'm inspired to read again fables, fairy tales and the likes with great moral lessons at the end.

4. The drawings are not extraordinary. This is part of the story. The narrator is not an artist but attempted to draw as a young boy. He was discouraged when the adults found his drawing differently from what he wanted to imply. I find this funny because I also find the drawing as a hat had it not stated that it was a picture of a boa constrictor which swallowed an elephant. I hope I'm not giving away too much here. Drawings being far from attractive is a good thing to me because it looks so childlike and I can identify with not so extraordinary drawings. In all years of my existence, my considered masterpiece is a five-petal flower with a toothpick-like stem and two confused-between-oval-or-round leaves. :)

5. I love the dedication. 'To Leon Werth when he was a little boy', which makes me want to dedicate it  to myself too when I was a little girl and to the child in all of us. May we always be reminded that 'what is essential is invisible to the eye.'




... An ordinary passer-by would think that my rose looked just like you - the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone, she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen...

Eat Pray Love

from Google Images

                                    

It is not my intention to give book reviews in this blog because I admit I am not good at that. Firstly, because I am not a wide reader in terms of genres. I only go for books on psychology, business, health, biography, spiritual, travel, and sometimes romance. I am more for the realistic ones with no offense to those who love fiction and fantasy. And, because I have this mantra that all things are good and beautiful and I'm not the one to judge which one is better or lesser than the other. Haha! So every book is good and I always have high respect for all authors.

As I have vowed to read more books this year, I started with this world-celebrated one. Eat Pray Love. I know. This is so lame. Is it just me who have not read this? But finally I've read it! I am ecstatic on this choice to start this year of my reading adventure. I've seen the movie first. I fell in love with it but the book is better, as everyone says when a movie version comes out. So here are the five reasons why I love Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. And please don't expect that there are other five reasons why I don't love it because there really is none. This is the one book that I have read from cover to cover with so much anticipation leaving no word unread. That's how much I love it.

1. Elizabeth Gilbert is brilliant, honest, and funny.

She definitely knows her craft. It is evident in her words. She cites other writers and philosophers, inserts history, talks about other people's stories interestingly and vividly. She is not embarrassed sharing her embarrassing tales and she is intelligently funny.

2. I love to travel.

Who does not? And this book gives a picture of Italy, India, and Indonesia - all the good stuff, which makes me want to go to these places, too...which makes me want to plan a year long solo trip, too... which makes me want to increase my travel fund... which makes me want to change my life plan and start seeing the world now instead of just traveling in the Philippines. Haha! These books. They sometimes confuse you so be careful on what you read. I bet those Twilight fans wanted to be vampires for once. 

3. I can relate to Liz.

Everyone loves reading something they can relate to. It's not that I'm a divorcee, in a depression, or in a stage of inner chaos. But sometime in my life I was in some kinda sorta inner chaos. She expressed all the chaos in words perfectly the way I wanted to define mine. Her seeking for real happiness which she confessed could only come from God (whoever or whatever we know Him or It to be) is something I am still in pursuit of. Her finding pleasures from food and company and love are things we all can relate to. Plus, I think we have the same mantra on seeing good and beautiful in everything and everyone.

4. The book is a true story.

As I have mentioned above, I am more into things realistic and this is a true story of downfall, struggles to get better, and success of a woman which means it can happen to me or to anyone, too. So this is something I can get inspiration from in my own journey.

5. The story has a happy ending.

This is not a fairy tale but it has a happy ending.  I love happy endings. Liz finding a love so sincere in the name of Felipe in the last pages of the book makes me giddy. Love really heals all wounds.

This is such a feel good book! 

Eat Pray Love!

Side note: I'm waiting for my next book which I purchased online yesterday. I'm excited! :) And oh by the way, thanks to Laiza for giving me a copy of Eat Pray Love. I now owe you a lot Laiza girl!

Fully Booked Soon In Gensan

I'm so excited! When I read from Bariles' blog ( http://www.gensantos.com) that a new bookstore will soon open in Gensan, I had to breathe deeply. I needed more air. :) Ahuh... I really got excited. Because it wasn't merely a bookstore. It said that it would be a free-reading place. It would also have a coffee shop. How about that? It would be the first ever bookstore of it's kind in Gensan!!! Give that a round of applause guys. Aren't you all excited? Book lovers will have a paradise! Especially me :) Wonderful books are expensive. And most of them are not available as audiobooks or ebooks which I could just download from the internet. Then at least I'll have good information and entertainment for free! :)

And guess what?!? I guess you wouldn't guess what I'm making you to guess. :) I've actually thought of putting a business like this. It was me and Ate My. The days when our minds were so vibrant with what business we would like to venture on in the future. We've thought of that. Ahuh.. Really :) Because we so love books. It was a bright idea, right? This would be a great time to learn from this kind of business as well.

But for now, I'm so excited for it's opening. I can see myself being stuck there for hours. :) Bariles posted a picture, too. And I'm posting it also here... just so you'll see it. :) It's a branch in Ayala, Cebu.