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I thought it would be an actual dictionary, as in words connected to love and the meaning of these words but the meaning is hidden between real life events and instances in the narrator's love life. David Levithan's creativity in this book is just a gift to the world. (And this is probably my shortest book review yet...) I also took my time in reading this - that's why it took me so long to finish it. I think I read 5 short stories per day.

By the title itself I already knew what this book is going to be about and that's the main reason why I read it. I actually got my hands on Time After Time (the sequel) first so I kind of got a peek into what this book was. JSYK, I never read The Time Traveler's Wife so I don't really have any background of time traveling stories except in A Wrinkle in Time and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and some research from the internet. This book had a lot of potential and I really thought that it would go beyond the usual scene of a distance or time difference in a relationship. It was like the author was trying to outdo or to make her own version of The Time Traveler's Wife (again, I have not read this so I may be wrong). Anna is very blah to me, I couldn't find a connection with her especially since I have experienced difficulties in distance with someone I care about. I also don't understand how she willingly just goes for Bennett when she KNOWS the consequences and hardships she must face. It's like she's hurting her heart, herself on purpose. Like she wants to feel all this pain because this special powered boy came to her life and this instantly makes her special too. WTF? Oh and let's take a moment for Bennett Cooper... Yes ladies and gentlemen! BENNETT. EFFING. COOPER. WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND CREATED A NAME OR EVEN POSSIBLY CONSIDERED A NAME AS BENNETT COOPER?!?!? I'm sorry Ms. Stone, I just don't understand how you can give this character such a douchebag name. With as his character seems like a nerd, a cool-guy type nerd. He's not the super smart kind of nerd but the safe average guy type of nerd. The mysterious nerd that is actually pretty cool... Oh and he has time traveling powers too! Okay, okay... So Bennett Cooper... I also did not find a connection to him. I find him nice and very caring to Anna but then again here comes in the WHOOPING WTF DUDE?!!?!?! Why would you even bother to care for someone who is possibly freakin' 17 years older than you are in a normal sense. Like seriously? I mean sure give her a chance but to prolong something you know that is going to hurt her and STILL GO FOR IT. WHATTTT? The only character I really liked was Justin. I was actually rooting for him to be with Anna in the end but I knew that was never happening in this book. I just hope in the sequel Bennett will sacrifice his love for Anna and give her to be happy with someone else, someone who might equally love her, someone like Justin. And then they'd have kids and maybe their daughter could bump into Bennett at 2012 and maybe they'd have a shot together. You know... SOMETHING UNEXPECTED. SOMETHING REAL. Oh all the feelssss... WASTED on this book. I actually want to read the sequel just cause it's on Bennett's (ugh that name) POV. So I'll just see you then. Happy reading! :)

This was a really fast read and the reason why I finished reading this so fast is because I just wanted it to be over. I did not like this book. At all. I was looking for short books to read one day and I came across this one. The title immediately grabbed my attention so I immediately started reading the book. I thought it would be like PS. I Love You or that "Sam" was a guy who was writing letters to "Jennifer" who is like his forbidden love or something but I was extremely disappointed by finding out the real plot of the story. "Sam", apparently is Jennifer's grandmother and she is in a coma but she leaves some letters for Jennifer about her most deep dark secret. The story was pretty slow but that was for the realistic-feel of the flow of the story so I guess that was okay. I just didn't like how the plot was going... And Jennifer was really boring, no offense, I just couldn't relate to her in any way or even stand how she deals with the events in her life. It stressed me out when she just magically falls for this guy who is about to die knowingly her dead husband just passed a year ago. I just couldn't bear to understand why this book was filled with so much tragedy and its not even the good kind. In the end, I just gave up.

I'm not rating this cause I haven't finished reading it. I'm pausing for a while. I don't think I could read this book right now although I do love reading it because it's so different from the movie I just cant bare to read another page. I just dont feel like reading it. I dont want to read it without feeling it or understanding it. I just kind of lost my connection to it... ... And I will finish reading this when I find that lost connection.

First of all, I would like to thank the author, Julie Ann Knudsen for giving/sending me a copy of this book. I was truly honored to be one of the people who got a copy of this book from the author. It felt like the time when sexy Rick Malambri replied to my tweet to him. That feeling of giddiness and gratefulness to the person who made me happy for the day. Thank you, Julie Knudsen, thank you truly. In The Middle Of Nowhere was an easy read although it took me a few weeks to finish it. I didnt really understand the character of Willow at the beginning of the story. It took me to read the middle to end chapters to understand Willow's situation and personality better. I also do not understand how she befriended Tessa and how she just did things without thinking of the consequences. It was like she did things without thinking first. Think before you act, Willow! What's the matter with you? I was kind of confused in the beginning of the story and in other chapters in the book as well, when Willow was describing all these gadgets to me. It took me some researching to find out what gadget that was and what it's purpose was. I dont like it when authors write about gadgets or things that some people will never have or will never know about, especially people who cannot afford such items. How can they understand then? I know its just a small thing but it just seems kind of unfair to me when these things happen sometimes. I know what it's like to feel left out, to feel like you dont know something you should. It hurts and that's what I'm trying to avoid. I have to agree with most people who did a review on this book, I didnt like it that there were so little parts of Michael and Willow's growing romance. I understand the feel and the way Julie Knudsen wanted to show the readers, the reality of it all wrapped up, polished, and typed in this book. In a way, I kind of liked it. I liked how she (Knudsen) kept the realities of life in book form. Smart move, Julie! But I still wish you put more parts of him in the book. I have to admit it, I thought Michael had leukemia and the story would become like A Walk To Remember except the guy is the one with the illness. I was kind of right, this story is about this one significant quote that touched me heart like a needle to a pinsack: "We all need to face our fears Willow, otherwise life isn't worth living." - Michael This quote screams "YOLO" to the readers, if you know what I mean. Michael's character is just... beautiful. It's a shame though that there were only a few parts of him. I'd love to read more about him and his love for Willow despite her wrongdoings and despite his sickness. I have never heard of that sickness before. I never knew there was a sickness like that and it was good to know. You learn things in books that you never thought you could know. Overall, it's a good read.

It was a cute, simple, easy story, though its audience is a little younger than I thought but still pretty good. I was intrigued by the soft, watercolor-like design of the cover and also it's divine title. I thought the book would depict a fairy-like, innocent story but it wasn't. Still the story was kind of interesting. The author thought well of each detail in the idea of an in-between of Earth and Heaven (or wherever souls go). I think the only flaw in this book was that Riley sounded more like a 20 year old teenager than a 12 year old middle grade schooler.

"Life's not just about special events or occasions. It's about seeing the wonder in daily life and not wasting opportunities." This book is one of those books where you just drop/stop everything you should or are doing and just read. It's one of those books where you can't stop flipping the pages, or in my case scrolling down the pages, because you want to know what happens next. It's one of those books where you guess which character will be chosen, like in the bachelor or bachelorette - that person you want to win the heart of the girl/boy. It's one of those books that makes you swoon over the events happening or the characters and wish you were living in its pages. This books was just everything!!! After reading this book, I didn't hesitate at all to grab the next one and started the same reading process I did of this one. And when I finished the 2nd one my heart dropped in finding out that the last book in the series was yet to come. I think I even almost shed a tear... But I was so enthused by the story that it didn't matter because it was just so gooooood!!! JJ is such a cool girl, she's the type of person I wish I was - athletic, funny/sarcastic/witty, confident, smart, beautiful/hot/sexy. And having two guy best friends is just a bonus! Philip is just the sweetest! He's everything you'd want from a boyfriend except that sometimes he seems like a body guard more than your friend or a boyfriend. And Danny is just that quarterback star, popular guy that all the girls swoon over, too cool for school type of person. He's loyal to his friends but can be arrogant at times... I like how all of their personalities are consistent throughout the whole book and how strong their friendships are. Some parts caught me off guard (view spoiler)[ like when Danny was the one who kissed JJ and taught her how to make out but then Philip was the one who asked for her hand (hide spoiler)]. Especially in finding out who asks for her hand in marriage! I seriously did not expect that. Because at some parts of the book I was rooting for Philip and other times for Danny... sometimes even none of the both of them. The story was just so simple but beautiful in a way that you picture your future or your past on events similar to the story. I also loved the personalized doodles of the titles and the cover, as well.

Originally posted at WorthlessWords. WARNING: This review contains a huge amount gifs that express my feelings when my words can't. NOTE TO WHOEVER DOESN'T KNOW: I'm Filipino which means my country was conquered by the Spanish and some of our cultures, traditions, and (even a little bit of) language came from them so... Why did I have a hard time understanding all these Spanish words? Okay, okay... So there are only a few Spanish words in our language and maybe its because I never really learned any other Spanish words except for the frequently used ones. So basically this was me throughout the whole book: When they say "pendejo": Or any other Spanish word: And why is it that it seems as if there are only two races in the whole world; the Latinos and the "White" people? And why are the "white" or "snow" people rich and the Latinos below average to poor? And why can't they get along? Why is there a barrier between the two? I just... I don't understand... Seriously... I loved Mrs. P's character in spite of everything else. Her character was light at the end of this horrible tunnel. Thank her for I gave this book a star because of her wonderful character. I hope I could be as an awesome teacher as she is (minus the being strict and scary). Even though the story's kind of the typical rich girl falls for bad guy thing with a predictable everything, I actually liked it. It wasn't completely predictable... There were some parts I'd be surprised at - I actually wish those parts were never there but nonetheless... I liked it. I also admit that I loved the writing style. The girl then boy transitions are absolutely GENIUS (but the transitions in the story - in general were a bit confusing)! Its actually the writing style I want for my book but more of the guy's perspective and a little bit of the friends'. BRAVO! P.S. I heard in twitter that some people are making a fanfilm based on the book. Check it out at PerfChemistryFanfilm. Happy Reading!

This is the most honest novel I've ever read ever.

This book is so annoying... Review to come!

I just didn't feel the connection most people had while reading this book although the events in the book were quite entertaining, the length and the narration made it so boring that in the middle to end parts it made me wanna give up on it. It felt like i was reading Why We Broke Up again. The narrator, Jacqueline, most of the time spoke of events or moments from her story too much or connected it to events that made no importance to the event she is trying to tell. It made it all so boring to read all these pointless events that in the end I was fighting myself to not put down the book and just finish it for the sake of finishing a book (I kept reminding myself that I am 4 books behind in my 2012 Reading Challenge and that I needed to step it up!) If there's anything I learned from reading this book it's that books are just like movies (and sometimes some movies are based on books), some people love them and some people hate them, some people like them or dislike them. It's just a matter of choice of genre or maybe their own personal tastes. The thing is that not all people will love a particular book, some may think it is not that good or that it's just okay or that they hate it. No one will only love or hate a book, it's always both. And this I shall always remember while writing my book; that I cannot please everyone.

WARNING! This book review contains a lot of girly and over the top emotions. I clicked the to-read on my bookshelves before I read the description of this book. What intrigued me to read it was the cover. Yes! The cover. A really handsome boy staring into the eyes of the viewer. I fell in love with this book because of Bastian and I wanted to read it because of Bastian. Its all because of Bastian. I've never felt this way about a book before. It's brilliant! You're brilliant, Nyrae Dawn. Brilliant!!! It's just... Bastian is so... The cover, I mean... I just can't stop staring at him staring at me. I could just stare at that hot freakin' face all day. I want to meet this guy! Okay, okay... Sorry. Ugh, Bastian why do you have to look so hot? For the love of... UGGGHHH. I mean just look at him... Doesn't your heart just melt when you see those eyes looking into yours. UGGGGHHH! So. Freakin. Hot. Okay, enough. Ugh. It's so hard to make a review when he's just there and he's still looking. Okay. Nevermind. Sorry. I kind of feel embarrassed that I fell in love with a fictional character and a book cover. LOL, what the hell is wrong with me? I love this book. I LOVE IT. It was so honest and heart-warming and funny and sweet and everything - imagine just jumbling all your emotions together and in the end, after reading the book you don't know what to feel. Nyrae Dawn is a freakin' brilliant! I love authors who write POVs in their oppposite sex. SHE'S. SO. FREAKIN'. AWESOME. Bastian and Jaden remind me so much of my two best guy friends. And maybe that's why I loved reading this and What A Boy Needs... It's like being with my two best guy friends again (I don't get to see and hang out with them anymore because I moved to a different school and one of them moved to a different country. We still try to communicate through Twitter but its not the same). I just love how easy it was to read the book. And how a simple idea for the plot made me swoon over it ten million fold. I can't fully explain how amazing this book is and how I want to have writing lessons from Nyrae Dawn. It was just so amazing. A really really awesome read. I really don't know what to say (and how to convince you to read this wonderful book) so I'll stop here. Happy Reading! Thank you Nyrae! I can't wait for more.

August 31, 2013 I'm so glad I re-read this book (to have a recap so I can start reading the sequel!), it's still awesome and I love it! This was me when I first read it: And this is me now, after re-reading: Amy Plum's writing is absolutely breathtaking, it's the type of writing that describes to you the setting and what the characters look like, and at the same time, with a balance of the characters' POV/s. And the pace of the book was just right and also the amount of dialogues in each chapter. What I love about the choice of the setting is that Paris is my number one go-to place to travel. People who know me really well understand that I have a lifelong dream to visit Paris, eat in a cafe, drink tea, and see the Eiffel Tower. So when Ms. Plum placed the setting of this wonderful book on my-dream-place-to-travel-to, I smiled the biggest smile I could do. The characters are AMAZING. I love Kate so much and I think I see myself in her, sometimes. I love that she stays true to herself and she never jumped into liking Vincent immediately, unlike some stupid protagonists in books that make females look so desperate to find love or move on. I also appreciate that she was the kind of person who would think before she acts or makes a decision. Vincent, on the other hand, is somewhat too nice for me. It was like he was always watching out for Kate as if she's a fragile glass that if she moves she would instantly have a crack. Though, I did LOOOOOOVE their relationship, it felt real and sincere and heart-squeelingly amazing. I also love Kate's older sister, Georgia, she reminds me a lot of my older sister and it's pretty amazing because I feel like my older sister is so much like Georgia and I see myself a whole lot in Kate. And I also love the different personalities of the other revenants especially Charlotte's, Charles', and Jules'. Charlotte is like my best friend, she's fierce but also kind and funny and witty and smart but she can also be emotional and strong and insecure. Charles is more like me, in some ways - being that I care so much for other people and that even if I destroy myself in the process of helping others it would be worth it but I also dwell in the past a lot and overthink too much and I feel extremely guilty and angry with myself when I don't deliver or when I did something wrong and I wasn't able to fix/solve it. And lastly, Jules, he's like the best friend of my guy best friend - he's loyal and funny and brave and smart and sweet. What I REALLY loved most about this book was that Amy Plum thought of everything that I could've possibly asked and questioned about the paranormal or sci-fi events in the book. It's almost real to me - that there are living zombie-angels that save lives but are invisible or something like City Of Angels. It makes me believe that there could be a possibility that this "thing" actually exists. But even if it doesn't, it made me believe and understand the sacrifices that angels or people make in order to save someone else and do the morally good thing. Overall, it's such an AMAZING book (and I know that I've been saying this word over and over but it just fits perfectly with this book). And I hope you find it to be as AMAZING as it is to me! Happy Reading! :)

I don't know where to begin. WARNING: There are some spoilers and I am sorry for this I just can't stop myself from expressing it out... it needs to be released and besides I'd want to remember how that particular part made me feel the first time I read this book because I'm definitely gonna read this again later in the future! But don't worry I'll put the spoiler tag on it. I loved it, obviously, since I gave it a whooping 5 stars and added it in my favorites list but it's more than that - that my tiny brain cannot explain. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is one of the most original and spectacular books I have ever read. And I'm glad that I bought it first before reading it (because I had an ebook version of this and yes! it has the pictures) because by holding the book physically and seeing the pictures in a non digital form made the experience more magical! It was as if I was watching the movie instead of reading the book. The pace of the book was really good and the transitions of pictures here and there were well put and thought of. It's like a portal through the book itself. It takes you where the story takes place and that's what I love about it most! I don't understand the reviews and comments of other people in saying that at the start of the book, the first couple of chapters being slow because it was beautifully paced to me. It was real like how it should be in every single book that grasps a plot even if it is fiction or this should only apply to me due to the fact that I love reading fictional stuff with real characters on it. Jacob is a really relatable character, I feel like I was him at times, separating the fact that he's a boy. And I liked how I didn't feel any disgust or misconception on how he and Emma felt attracted to each other. It was like they were always meant to feel that way even if they've only met. The peculiar child I loved the most was Olive, even though she had a few parts only I found her to be the one I'd love the most. But each peculiar child had his or her own unique ability and personality that I loved. (view spoiler)[I never doubted for a second that Grandpa Portman is a peculiar because how in the first place could he tell such stories of his friends if he couldn't have been in the loop? And besides... he was killed by a freaking hollow! Though I had suspicions about Jacob being a peculiar since he is our main character but I never predicted that he'd have the same peculiarity as his grandfather's. Which is pretty freakin' cool btw. It's not as awesome as the other children but it is as cool. (hide spoiler)] I absolutely loved the idea of loops, frozen time frames in human history. If it were real I'd love to visit some! And I really like Jacob's reference in one part of the book about Peter Pan and the lost boys - this should give you a hint on what happens on the loops. I don't want to explain the loops further because I'll give away the story. And the villain... Man, they were so brilliantly made! I love these paranormal stuff so I really admire Ransom Riggs for inventing them because the hollows and the wights are truly terrifying. They even beat the numa in being villains in the Die for Me series'. Oh and that cliff hanger! I knew it was coming because I know there's a sequel to this book and you can actually sense it thru the last chapter of the book. I felt like there was so much more but the pages became lesser and lesser and I knew that it'd have to end at some sort of epic plot twist - and it did! Looking forward to Hollow City!!! Happy Reading! :) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE (01/04/15) Tim Burton is turning this into a movie! Can you believe it? I AM SO FREAKIN EXCITED!

This book... *le sigh* I really really love that title but the contents of the book was just so... blah. It was a huge disappointment, I was so excited and ecstatic to read this because of the wonderful title but it's story was just so boring and it just didn't live up to the awesomeness of it's title. I don't even want to talk about this book anymore. I just didn't like it.

This story was too forced, for me, it didn't feel real. I didn't like the idea of Austin's friends or people around his neighbourhood having all their different problems, illnesses, death, and whatever. And there were also some parts that were really really boring. What I liked about his book is how it shows how life is SO short and that we shouldn't wait for time to take us this long to realize how fugly our lives have become or are. #YOLO. I understand Austin for helping people around him with their problems, he wants to make an impact on someone's life. He wants us, the stupid people who aren't doing anything to fix our screwed up lives, to do something about it. But I sometimes feel like he's doing it waaaaay too far. It's not his responsibility nor does he have to do that ONLY WHEN HE'S (or he knows he's) ABOUT TO DIE.

Note: I reread this just because it's one of my favorite intermediate reads and whilst doing a Middle Grade Experiment I thought it'd be a perfect fit to show how much power middle grade books have over a young adult such as myself. This is book fifteen (15). This is one of my favorite books ever. It's also one of the books that I read after losing someone in my life which created a great positive effect on me dealing with the loss of that loved one. The first time I read this was I think around 2012, a year after finding my love for reading. It was one of the books that I really wanted to buy for myself to start my collection. I bought this right after the school year ended, literally on my last day of school. I think I read it immediately after and then watching the movie afterwards. I found out about this story from the film of the same name. Yes, I regrettably inform you that I watched the movie before reading the book only because when the film came out I, in that age, still hated reading and had no interest in it. So by the time I actually did love reading I've already watched it. The good thing though is that I read this a couple of years from the last time I watched the movie so it was kind of an okay experience. It was kind of like how I read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader the second time or reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for the first time. I remember how great of an impact the movie had on me. I saw myself in Jess more than in Leslie. Jess was quiet and shy and great at art, which was me in middle school and is still me to this very day. And I also progressively opened up as I found good friends and a creative environment to spike up and release the spirit in me. It was the same feelings I had when reading the book. I love how much power it had one me and how at each chapter of the story I reminisced on my childhood and how I dealt with my own struggles similar to theirs. It was just one hell of a journey! And when it reached that climax where Leslie dies I just immediately teared up but then smiled. This is where this story gets to me all the time. Its that moment of self-guilt and hate when you know you've done something wrong and thinks that the world has punished you for it. That no one else knows how you feel and they all try to fix it or let you deal with it on your own. It's the point where no one could help you take the pain away. And where you could decide to see it in a positive or negative way. I love how Jess dealt through it and how he opened himself more. This is where my middle grade self had hope that everything would be okay. That I would be okay. And I'll never forget it. Happy Reading! :) and don't forget... PS. The movie was also my gateway to my sexual awakening and feels for Josh Hutcherson. After Bridge to Terabithia, I watched every movie he was on... even to this day. *awkwardly laughs*

This book completely caught me off guard... and it also completely blew me away! Wow. This book was unexpectedly beautiful. It blew me away even if I have already watched the movie.... Seriously, the book is a whole wonderful experience of Ned Vizzini's little story. I saw myself in so many ways in this book and I even lived through some of the pages. Again, WOW! This is like reading Veronika Decides to Die but in a more humorous and relatable way. IT WAS AMAZING. I tried to read this book four times now and before I never was able to push through with reading this but I am so glad that I did. It's such a journey... It took me to my past and my present and my future. It reminded of those moments where I almost killed myself and all those people who "tried" to help. I realized so many things in this book and it also gave me some happiness to know that someone (even though fictional) sees and feels the way I do about issues like this, like suicide and death. In a way, I could say that I partially found bits and pieces of myself in this book because it opened my eyes to my past and present experiences, past and present self, past and present choices. It was like a portal through my life that wants me to see that there's MORE for me, that I CAN succeed somehow despite every obstacle that I have and will go through. This book gave me so much and that's why it means so much to me and why it's now one of my favorite books of all time.

I can't think right now. Review to come.

This is my first Sarah Dessen book (and hopefully not the last). This Lullaby bored me. Yes, IT BORED ME. The only character I liked was Dexter but I hate his name. I only read upto the fourth chapter. I couldn't stand Remy blabbing the story, making it less interesting to read. Ugh. I don't want to be mean but I really wish I never had read this. Hopefully, Sarah Dessen's other books are better (or at least readable) than this.

I love how the story ended with Grace's birth showing how strong Halley and Scarlett's friendship is. I love how Sarah Dessen focused more on their friendship than Halley's relationship with Macon (although I also loved their relationship). But I was quite confused on what she really thought about the (view spoiler)[teen pregnancy (hide spoiler)]thing, I did not understand what she really thought about it; her stand about it. I love how real the characters felt to me; their personalities were intact and just right except for Halley's mom. She's a therapist, right? How come she's not being very therapist-like? How can her character act that way if she's someone who's supposed to understand why her daughter is doing this, why she does the choices she makes. It doesn't make any sense, meaning it annoyed the hell out of me to the point that I actually yelled at the book in public... and then people turn their heads to me with judge-y eyes screaming "weirdo". Each chapter contained some boring parts but I like how Dessen added some flashbacks stories (like how Michael and Scarlett met, how he was to other people around their town, how Halley and Scarlett became friends, Halley & her mom, etc.). I did not have an urge to give up the book because it was that interesting to me. Yes, I was bored sometimes but it was like a process; "I'm bored, Ooooh, WHY?!, bored again, Interesting..., etc." The story was overall good but I can't help but wonder what might or will happen between Halley and Macon. I think that's he only part of the story that I want to know more about, more than anything. Yes, I did say that I loved the ending but I also want some details about this particular issue. I'm a hopeless romantic, sue me. I wish I knew somehow if they're gonna get back together when Macon fixes himself up because I really loved their relationship or actually, I loved their individual characters when they were all in love and whatever. I imagine him giving Halley some space and while he does, he will be working on himself to be a better person for her. And once he accomplishes that he'll show or prove it to her in a grand way or in a way that he deserves or is right to be with her. And then they'll get back together and be happy. I don't know but I hope it ends like that for both of them.

"Forgetting isn't enough. You can paddle away from the memories and think they're gone. But they keep floating back, again and again and again. They circle you, like sharks. And you are bleeding your fear into the sea, Until, unless, Something Someone? Can do more than just cover the wound." REACTION AFTER READING THE BOOK: Story of a Girl is a heart-wrenching, heartbreaking novel that hits me right deep in the heart. After reading this book I literally cried like crazy, I even had one of those hard to breathe breaths and clogged nose and pained/heavy heart. This book tear me into a kajillion pieces and I'm still haunted by its contents. I've went through similar events in Deanna's life (like being tormented at school for something that happened to you long ago). Not necessarily in the being caught by your dad thing and the sex but in the outcome of those events. I've been outcasted and talked about and bullied by my schoolmates. I've lost friends because of those rumors, I've been perceived by my parents as a troubled teen and worse. I've been judged, pushed around, and just everything that amounts to the same events in Deanna's life. So I understand what's she's been to and her strength about it all makes me have hope for myself. It was hard to read the story at first. Deanna kept telling information about her family and school and just about everything that I didn't know where to connect to. By the middle of the story I finally started to understand things. And that's where I really saw everything that was happening in Deanna's life. Although at times I feel like they were taken into extremes, Sara Zarr still kept true to making her characters feel real to me. It was absolutely amazing (even if all I did was cry over this story - it's worth it). And the ending wasn't forced, that would have made the following events fake. I love how Zarr kept it true and epic-ly real. Bravo!

My best friend from grade school, Abby Paraiso, told me about this book a year ago and I feel so bad for not reading it before the movie came out. Unfortunately I am one of the people who read the book after the movie. This is not my first time in reading a book after the movie but I surely dis-encourage myself to do so. Not because the movie wasn't good but because I prefer to read before I watch. It gives me a sense of what things are all about before watching it on film. Like with books that dont have movies yet I like imagining the things that will happen in my head and "watch" it while reading the book. So I read it after the movie! It turned out pretty well actually. When I watched the movie there were some parts that I didnt understand like I thought Gale said that he was in the Games 25 times when he and Katniss were talking in their usual spot after they go hunt. While reading the book I realized that Gale said that he put his name 25 times and I found out why. They really didnt explain that in the movie and the audio and cinematography for the movie was pretty bad. Reading the book after the movie really helped me in understanding the movie and the story more. And here's the commonly used yet popular question; Which do I think is better? The book or the movie? If you know me personally or got to know me through any social networking sites or read my book reviews and personal blog post you would know that I prefer books than movies. Although I do love a lot of originally written movies I prefer books that are turned into movies than the movies that are based from books. If you asked me this question before I got interested in books which was 5 years ago then I would say movie but since I'm not that person anymore I'd definitely go with books. The book is better than the movie. As I said above the cinematography of the Hunger Games were poorly done and sometimes the audio was too low that I couldnt understand what the characters were saying. I do give props to the costume department and effects, this was done really well. As for the characters I think all were portrayed really well. I have no doubts for any of the characters. And now, my favorite part of writing these things, the book review! Plot The plot, of course, was very interesting and very strong. I like the way Susan Collins wrote this book although I would love to read the other characters perspectives besides just Katniss'. I really really loved how Suzzane Collins thought of every little detail to writing this book. The preparations for the Games, the Games itself - how there are Gamekeepers and rules and a history behind it, the characters - each character's roles to play in the story and a character's brief history or background, the setting - the Hob, the Seam, the Districts - how each district had a specific job to do and the levels from rich to poor, the clothes - Cinna and Portia are seriously drop dead, and basically every single detail to this book is absolutely FANTASTIC! Characters I love Katniss' character! I think she's very relatable (in terms of being from District 12 - the poorest of all Districts, and the way she handles herself in the events that was brought or has happened or is happening to her), I love hearing her opinions about the Capitol and her relationships with people and also her thoughts. I especially love how she represents strong independent women. I love Peeta's character the most! Now I know why girls - who read the books or watched the movie - are so swooned by his character and why they desperately want a Peeta in real life. Peeta's character is definitely swoon-worthy and I really love how he loves Katniss for reals. I like Gale's character too though his character was not mentioned much in the book, maybe I'll get to know him better through the next one. And I seriously think he's in love with Katniss. I hated Haymitch at first but then understood why he is the way he is and felt his pain. I think Effie's character brought the balanced to the other characters personalities really well. Her cheerful, optimistic personality versus everyone else's glum and gloomy personalities showed how versatile and how a wonderful writer Suzzane Collins is. I also super loved how some of the dialogue from the book was used exactly as it is in the movie. I felt like I was watching the movie through reading the book although in some parts (that they made changes in the movie) I just imagine Jen Lawrence and Peeta in the cave where they stayed most of the time in the Games in my head. Since I watched the movie first I didnt have to create a person in my mind to represent the characters I just used the actors/actresses from the movie. Overall, this is a great book. I just really feel bad though that I watched the movie before reading the book. It was okay though I feel really bad for it completely ignores my rules in reading books. It helped me understand the movie and story more and that's what matters. But I do hate that they did not completely follow the book. I really hate it when people dont follow every detail of the story from the book - where it was originally wirtten - especially when a book is awesome. I think it would be best if people were to make awesome books into a movie they should follow every detail of the story from the books instead of basing the story of the movie they are making from the book especially when they plan to make a sequel to that movie using the second book. Which in this case is Catching Fire. I wonder how they will explain the parts they have changed in the book to the sequel (view spoiler)[ like Madge giving the mockingjay pin to Katniss not Prim. (hide spoiler)] I recommend this to everyone. Yes, every single one of you. ENJOY!

The reason why I took so long in reading this book was because every time Kate's cancer was mentioned or when they explained what she was going through, I stop reading. It's hard to be reminded of the things that your loved one went through especially when it's explained in a book - it becomes so detailed that you remember every similar thing that happened to your loved one and at that point I just couldn't take it. My aunt, my godmother, my favorite aunt died on cancer. I don't know what type or kind and I don't plan to. It will just hurt more. And every time I read something or be reminded of something related to it, I get really emotional. (Not to mention the time she told me she also read this book and also watched the movie). That's why, when I tried to read by John Green I stopped because at the first two pages I was already in tears. Anyway, this book was absolutely amazing. If you watched the movie before reading the book like me, you'd expect a lot more from the book. And at first, I have to admit, I was doubting the book. I almost didn't want to read it anymore because it was so similar to the movie that I thought I wouldn't be missing anything... But I was so wrong. There were six people narrating the story; Anna, Sara, Brian, Jesse, Campbell, and Julia. It was so confusing to know who was talking (especially in Sara's parts because sometimes she narrated the past and then all of a sudden the present) but I understood the story anyway. I also did not expect the end. And I think that's what made this book more special than the movie. I was so shocked when (view spoiler)[ Anna died and Kate lived (hide spoiler)] but it was because of that, that made the story even more beautiful than it already was. It was such a wonderful read that now, I know I have to buy this book. Happy reading!

So I've finally finished this book... took me a while to get my reading rhythm back but I finally finished it! YAY FOR ME!!! The beginning part of this book was boring. I only realized this when I felt excitement rush through me when I was in the middle-to-end part of the book. That was the only time I felt like I wanted to know more on what happened to the story and why it did. That's how I usually felt on the two other Nicholas Sparks books that I have read and I've been longing for that feeling ever since I started reading this. So when that feeling came I was so inclined with joy that I literally screamed "YES!" It was a the shining moment. The only thing I had a problem with this book is that... (Oh, man. I hate to say it) I liked the movie MORE than the book . The movie made me feel so many emotions and brought up so many memories (especially in dealing and accepting the death of my Godmother) that I didn't feel while reading the book. I don't know if it's because I watched the movie first (but even though it is this, it shouldn't be reason because the movie was based on this! It rarely happens that a movie is better that the book it's based on) or whatever but I sincerely didn't feel the emotions I usually feel in reading a Nicholas Sparks book. This book is nonetheless amazing but it lacked that captivating, goosebumps-giving, tear jerker moment that I love when reading books. ---------------------------------------------- May 13, 2013 I've decided to not read this book for now. I don't know why I couldn't read this book or why every time I try to read it I get frustrated with myself for finding it very boring and unenjoyable. I definitely loved the movie - it even made me cry. I don't know why the book makes me feel so... UGH. Maybe I should read this in actual book form or I don't know... Maybe I should read this at a time when I can stand it. Not giving up on you, Nicholas Sparks. No way. You're one of the best authors that I like.

"I finally understood what true love meant...love meant that you care for another person's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be." This is one of the most amazing books without a happy ending stories I've ever read in my life. I love how reading the book made me understand the whole story more. Of course, when I watched the movie I wasn't into books yet so I didn't understand why Savannah and John didn't end up together. And now, I can say that Channing Tatum & Amanda Seyfried portrayed the main characters really well. I love how I actually saw them in my head while reading the book. The book and the movie wasn't completely the same and I wish that it was. The book was so informative and it felt more real than the movie was. I love how their love story was built up faster than A Walk to Remember. I love how there were so many moments that I felt like I was the characters and I was making those decision they did and I was falling in love. The letters were my favorite part... I can't explain how beautifully written they are. They just are. In the movie, I was mad at Tim for being the one Savannah ended up with in the end but when I read the book I was glad they did. I especially loved this quote from Tim; "Its possible to go on, no matter how impossible it seems, and that in time, the grief... lessens. It may not ever go away completely, but after a whole it's not overwhelming." I just love this story so much. I can't even describe how I was deeply affected by the events in all the characters' lives. It was just extraordinarily wonderful.

I'm so glad I read this books first among all the other Nicholas Sparks novels. I expected that I'd love this book as much as I did for the movie but I didn't know how much. Since, this was my first Nicholas Sparks book, I didn't know if I would like his style of writing. If I would get into it as much as I do with my other favorite authors, if I'd be able to stand it, or even get into the story besides it. And now that I have read some of his other books I must say that his writing is absolutely outstanding. It's beautiful in a way that makes me feel like I'm living within the setting he places each story. It also easily catches my attention and makes me want to know more or flip through the pages with ease. I just love how he writes, I love how he makes me feel each emotion his characters go through, and I love how smooth his transitions are and also the amount of conversing lines he puts in the novel. I've always loved books with a lot of conversations (the ones that have "this" in it even without stating how they say it or feel when a character says it). I love this story because I kind of went through the same feelings that Langdon felt when finding out about Jamie's leukaemia. And since I have experienced having someone that I love so deeply have this illness I know how hard and how tragic it is in real life. The story almost feels as if it's real. It's just being narrated by Nicholas Sparks but the contents of it is absolutely true. It makes me go back to those memories of dealing with a person you love go through the stages of cancer or how they try to fight it. The realness that this book has affected me and I truly believe that "Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it." The newest information I learned after reading the book was knowing why the title is called "A Walk To Remember". For other people it may be easy for them to know why it is so but for me, I only understood it after reading the book. And for me, that's the most intriguing and wonderful realization I had for Nicholas Sparks writing skills.

For the record... I watched the movie before I read the book. It was one of those years were I haven't found my love for reading yet so I didn't care about this book at all - or any book, for that matter. "...the first time you fall in love, it changes your life forever, and no matter how hard you try, the feelin' never goes away." I was confused, dumfounded, even, by how the story started. The second chapter (entitled "Ghost") felt like it fast forwarded to when Noah was building his dream house and Allie was away at school and is engaged with Lon. I felt like I was being tricked, like someone tore the chapters from the book to screw with me. I searched the book if it did have missing pages but it didn't. So I just read on... But I was completely saddened by this because I wanted to hear their love story first. It was like Nicholas Sparks just jumped into the conflict of the story without giving any knowledge to the profound love the two main characters had (unlike the movie). I wanted to feel, to hear, to understand their love first like I have through the movie and was expecting more from the book because that's where it was based off from. And besides that, I've read three Nicholas Sparks books already and knowing his writing style, I KNEW it would be especially heartfelt, well-told and awesome. So while reading the book I struggled with understanding the problems and pains the two protagonists were going through. I tried to not associate the movie with the book at all, for I know it would be different as to most books turned to movies. So I was left with no basis as to what they were going through because I didn't know how they fell in love and all their memories that came with that. Honestly, the whole time I was reading I kept questioning myself, "Am I supposed to connect it with the movie?", "Did they purposely made the movie as a companion to this book?", "Were you supposed to link the two together to understand the story more?" I didn't know. I still don't know. :( Anyway, as always, Mr. Sparks writing is breathtakingly beautiful. The way he explains things, events are so deep but have a simple meaning and I don't know how he does this. Sometimes I feel like flying in a fluffy cloud when reading his novels because the words he uses, the way he describes things are so celestial and pleasing that you kind of forget that your in the real world. Like your just floating through the story, watching the characters through a fluffy cloud. The characters were good. They felt real but as I said above the book lacked memories they had before the conflict started. They also stuck through to their given personalities and I really applaud the actors and actresses who played these characters in the movie. Their acting is EXACTLY the same as how the characters are in the book. The only problem I have is that I loved the movie and only liked this book. It's like the movie gave more meaning to the book. Like the book was based on the movie rather than the other way around. I feel bad for saying this because Mr. Sparks is one of the best authors I know and to have me say this is heartbreaking. *Note: Please, please, please inform me if I have picked up a false or damaged book because I really don't want to think and remember that this book wasn't magical. Thank you in advance!

This is book eighteen (18). I think this is my favorite book so far in the whole series (as I am already reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). Ron was incredibly funny in this one, especially around Lockhart. Basically, Ron was my favorite in the whole book, really. All the lols. Thanks Ronald. And it's not just Ron who made everything amazing but the story. This is where Tom Riddle makes his first appearance and what a pleasant little butterfly princess he is. Just the story in general was amazing. It was easy to read through too unlike the other books in the series. (To be continued...) Happy Reading! :)

This is book seventeen (17). I remember trying to read this after the film came out back in 2001. I was 7 or 8 years old and I had a huge crush on Daniel Radcliffe. Who didn't? I think it was my sister who asked my parents to buy the first three books that were already published (if they didn't then my godmother gave them to us as she was the one who always encouraged me to read) as she started to read through them. And when she finished, that's when I held this book for the first time. I was nervous, I never read a book of such scale before and I was in the 2nd grade so we weren't required book reviews and such yet. I read the first chapter and then gave up. I think I was too young to appreciate the book by then and wondered why there were no pictures or why it didn't follow the movie. I was naive. And I didn't love books then. I feel a bit ashamed to only just read this now, in my young adult years, especially since we have the three physically copies of the first three books at home just staring at me in the face over the years. I didn't even dare read this after finding my love for reading, I don't know why. But I guess, having the MG Experiment helped me be motivated to pick this up and finally read it. And let me tell you this was completely I just wish that I've read this (or any of the other books) before the films because if I did I'd be one of those people who knew the little secret things that all those nonreaders don't have a clue about. And would know first and what happens in each chapter of Harry Potter's life. I wish I was a part of it all, the same way I was a part of those people who read The Hunger Game series, Divergent, The Maze Runner, The Little Prince, The Giver, The Hobbit, etc. before the films came out. That secret little club makes me feel impeccably safe because it gives me a shot to be just myself (which in case nobody knows, I never get to do irl). Anyway, in case you were wondering how this went on my MG Experiment. Well, of course it passed! I think everyone who's read this has felt like they were in Harry's shoes after receiving that letter from Hogwarts. Just the amount of magic and thought that came into writing this beautiful gem makes it worth a read. J.K. Rowling definitely deserves every award and praise she got from writing this series as she did a bloody well job of sharing this wonderful magical world to the world. Happy Reading! P.S. I know one person who has never seen the films nor read the books so I definitely recommend anyone who hasn't either to read the books before watching the films as it would without doubt provide you with the best imaginative exploration of this world as I have experienced that through most of the books I've read before seeing the films. Enjoy! :) Don't be tempted by the films, read first. It's definitely worth it! PPS. To J.K. Rowling,

This is one of those books that once you read it it'll change your life forever... or at least it has for me. I read this book four times now; (1) when I was a 4th grader - it was for a book report, (2) when I was in first year high school - another book report, (3) when my family went to New York for my summer break and saw a pop-up copy in my aunt's house, and (4) when I was a junior in college - for my class' GLR project. I've always loved this book! It's one of those books that just touch your heart, even if at the first time I read it I didn't fully understand what it was about. As I gradually read this through the course of my life I found that every time I read it at a different age my understanding and perception of the book changes. It's like when my older sister told me that some people prefer to read The Chronicles of Narnia at different stages of their life because it gives them different meanings of it each time they read. Like when you get older and you read it you see the presence of God more in Aslan or how you should let go from things in your life because you have to grow up. This is similar to The Little Prince because when I was in grade 4 I didn't understand the meaning of the story at all. I just appreciated the friendships The Little Prince had with the Pilot, Fox, Snake, and the Elder people. For the second time I read this I understood the friendships more - that you'll find friends that may be different in their physical appearances or personalities but they'll be there for you in the end, in short; diversity. When I read it during the summer time, when I saw the pop-up version, I understood the relationship of The Little Prince and the flower more - true love/care. And just last year I discovered the meaning behind The Little Prince's death or disappearance - (*hint hint*) acceptance & reality. I also love how I found a connection with The Little Prince and the pilot when he was a child - I never understood how elders can't see/understand the artworks that I've done. Most of the time they misinterpret it to something else like the boa constrictor that ate the elephant for the pilot. And also I felt for The Little Prince on his search for knowledge - at times I feel stupid and naive because I don't understand a lot of things besides the fact that I'm twenty years old. [image error] I learned so much from this 100 and less paged book than any other 400 or more paged book. And it is because of this that I love this book unconditionally.

Veronika Decides to Die is my first Paulo Coelho book. Why? Because it involves suicide. I know that probably most of you people first read The Alchemist because it was asked by your English teachers for your book report blah blah. Well, my English teacher didn't ask this of me, of my class in high school. I wish she did but I'm also happy she didn't. Because this novel is amazing. Suicide. It's something that I understand extremely well. I've only done it twice but I do have suicidal thoughts everyday. Killing yourself takes courage, something that I lack - maybe that's why I'm still here. At this time, I was still a bit confused about my stand in books. I didn't like reading as much as I do now so choosing a book that involves something that I'm going through or is constantly thinking about was a great idea. This novel opened my eyes to how surreal suicide really is. I found a GINORMOUS comfort with this book. It gave me hope that the events happening in my life at the time wasn't the end of the world. That I may survive it, that I may find strength amongst it.

This book brought up a lot of emotions - emotions that I didnt know I even possessed or have or feel. I bought this book because of Daniel Handler. Yes everybody, Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snicket aka the author of one of the best books series ever aka The Series Of Unfortunate Events. But I didnt look at Daniel Handler as Lemony Snicket in this book - even if he is Lemony Snicket in real life. I believe that authors can have second or more perceptions or versions of themselves. So technically... This is my first Daniel Handler book. The beginning was pretty boring. The story build up too slow. But I kept reading cause I really wanted to know why they broke up. Props to you, Daniel Handler! I also got bored with reading Min's obsessive talk about movies. I love movies but she describes and explains movies that are not familiar or movies that I dont know or give a damn about. I sometimes wanted to skip the parts where she described movies but I didnt cause I thought I might miss something important. I didnt understand how Min was so upset by small things that Ed did. Every guy isnt the perfect guy most girls expect. Everybody screws up sometimes. And if she didnt like it so much why didnt she just tell him. How would he know that he's doing something wrong if you, Min, didnt tell him. That's unfair. When I got to the middle to end part it finally made me interested in reading it. The story in these parts made me understand why Al is the way he is and why was it so important to mention Min & Ed's love story. The end was the most shocking of all! The end truly surprised me. I didnt know the real reason why they broke up was that, that stupid unforgivable thing! The thing that made me love this book so much was Maira Kalman's paintings. She is now one of my favorite artists/illustrators ever, forever. She's in my top 5 favorite artists of all time. Her art just blew me away and it contributed in making me keep reading this book - if I keep reading I keep seeing new art! Her art is to die for.

These book series are absolutely incredible! It soulfully explains and describes everything that Stefan feels, experiences, sees, thinks, etc. There were parts in this book that I was truly surprised and happy about. I wont tell you these scenes because I dont want to spoil anything and because I want you to read this book yourself. Although I will tell you why these scenes surprised me and made me happy at the same time (it was a happy surprise or a giddy surprise). Are you ready? These scenes were featured in The Vampire Diaries TV show! Awesome, right? I've always knew that these book series' were different from the actual book itself, The Vampire Diaries. It is very obvious why; this is only based on the TVD novels by L.J. Smith and the TV series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec (you dont believe me? It says so on the cover). That's (actually) the reason why I bought this book (and plan to buy the others) and why I wanted to read these books. Trivia: I've thought of reading The Vampire Diaries books but I just didnt want to. I watched the series before I heard about the books and when I was interested to read the books (I tried to read it, there was one of the books in our school library and) it just didnt have the same connection I felt watching the series. The Vampire Diaries TV show series is my favorite TV series of all time, like forever, like for all eternity. And reading the Stefan's Diaries really helps in understanding and feeling the emotions of every character more. It's definitely a good read, for me.

I just finished reading THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER today at exactly 11:38am. I should explain. About three or four days ago I was nervously just walking around the second floor of my house. It was almost bed time and I had nothing to do. At that time I just finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair and I didnt want to read The Last Battle yet, not because I couldnt find the book, but because I didnt want to ruin "the moment" for me. I like reading books (now) before they show the movies. It all started when I read The Voyage Of The Dawn Threader, which is my favorite Narnia book so far (and I've read everything except Prince Caspian, Horse and His Boy, & The Last Battle) and maybe second place would go to The Magician's Nephew (the first Narnia book I read and it will be the next movie in the Narnia saga, whatever you call it). Going back to the story... I had nothing to do and I was bored. I actually almost grabbed one of the Twilight books and thought to read it out of curiosity but then I panic-ly put it back cause I heard my older sister approach the room. After, I quickly then just pretend I was "cool or chilling" in her room. I think she didnt notice anything but I did tell her that I was bored and that I just finished reading The Silver Chair and that I wanted to read a new book. She saw the book (Perks of Being a Wallflower) on her study table and handed it over to me and told me to read it.I should explain something first, something that you would want to know about me and books or just basically my take on books. I dont really remember if I wrote about the first time I got interested in books and in reading (not just the forced reading I usually do in school). I really dont like reading, maybe its because I'm lazy or its because I just dont want to. I havent really figured that out. But that all changed with one book, this book is special to me and I will never forget the first thing I felt before, while, and after reading it. The Boy Who Couldnt Die. If you ask any of my siblings what my favorite book would be they would say this. Let me tell you a flashback story. Last summer in 2008 (for my older sister and brother's graduation celebration) we went to New York, Canada, Texas, Florida (for Disney World), the back to New York for the remaining 2 weeks. In the remaining 2 weeks of our time their in the fabulous foreign country our Aunt, my godmother, thought of us reading books instead of doing nothing productive. Trivia: She loves reading books, I think she read over a thousand books already, no kidding. So she took us to the library near their home and told us to chose books we wanted to read. Personally at that time I didnt know what books I wanted to read, I was never interested in books, I dont like reading or the fact that I have to read and I didnt know what to do. My younger siblings told me to just look at book covers and titles and see what intrigues me or read the description in the back or something. I was scared to pick a no-sense-of-reading book so I asked my older sister for help. She already had a couple of books in her arms, so she took the time to help me find a book for me. That was so nice of her. She found a couple but I felt like I wouldnt read them, I would just pretend to read them or read them like I read school books (which wasnt a very good habit of mine, slowly improving, trust me). So she kept searching. She went to the thriller, suspense, drama area, fiction really. And took this book that had a skull on it and gave it to me. It was like "my job here is done" moment for her and I told her thanks because I love skulls and always found them interesting like a form of art or something. So she walked away with her "couple of books" after smiling at me cause she saw how grateful I was of her to help me. The first time I ready the book was the first time in my life to a new world and my imagination exploded while reading and turning every page and I just felt infinite (you see what I did there, people who read the Perks of Being a Wallflower? I mean it). I read the book twice but I never finished (2nd time) reading it (cause it was time to go back home to the Philippines). And that's when I started loving books and reading, that's when I found out about the genre of books I like to read and genre of books I want to explore reading, and the feeling I have whenever I read a certain book. Ever since then I've been looking for that book, I want to buy it or even borrow it from someone or just get the chance to read it again, but I would really like to buy it. I never got the chance to read it again or finish the chapters I havent read ever since that day. It's been 2 years now, I know, I'm disappointed too. The book's by William Sleator btw. I just want to point out the connection of the two books. My sister picked out the first book who gave me all that mentioned above and gave me the book I just finished today. I really appreciate her for all these things whether she knows it or not. Okay. So, back to the story? Yes. All right. So she handed me the book. It's actually not ours, it's my little sister's friend's book. Her friend let her borrow it because her friend liked it and she did read it, well, for a while then she stopped because she didnt like the other parts of the book and I agreed with her. I mean its not like I dont like those parts but its just I thought that it was right of her not to continue to read it. It had a lot of rated parts, if you know what I mean and if you read the book already. You see, we have a different culture here in the Philippines, our high school is different from other countries? USA high school is almost like colllege to us and our high school is a whole different to USA's. It's just two worlds and I think the book is inappropriate for their age especially when they dont have an open mind about certain things and will not follow the lives of the people in the book or be curious in experiencing these things or try these things or are not matured enough to understand these things. And since I'm old enough and have an understanding and is always open minded about books and sometimes people and situations or events, I read the book. It didnt get me as interested to read the next chapters unlike The Boy Who Couldnt Die or the Narnia books or other books I've read. It only got to the middle-to-end parts that I got very interested in finding out what comes next. You know that feeling? It's kind of special to me. Anyway, I even stayed up late last night when everybody was sleeping already and I was still reading the book. I couldnt stop, I really wanted to find out things. I also thought that Charlie's gonna mention who "friend" was but he didnt (SPOILERS, sorry I had to), I had a few guesses though. Also while reading, I kind of thought about how they would make it into a movie and how would the characters be and I do hope they follow everything in the book or else they shame the book just like what The Voyage Of Dawn Treader did in the movie. Book was better. I hope it would be like the Harry Potter movies, followed the books, hid some things but still followed the book. I really do hope so or else I would hate those people forever like I do in the Voyage... I also do hope they follow the personality of the characters in the book. I'm excited to see Logan Lerman cry a lot and I dont really like it that Emma Watson plays Sam although it's appropriate cause I think she's really pretty too but I dont want her to smoke and I feel that way about Logan too. Nina Dobrev would be a great sister of Charlie because of her Katherina Petrova character in TVD. I dont know who Nic Braun would be though, I hope he's Michael or Peter. I think Ben from AHS would be perfect as Charlie's dad because of how he performed in AHS. Johnny Simmons, I think is his name, he plays Brad, which I think is appropriate, maybe, I'm not really sure. And I dont really know the other actors and actresses but I hope they do good. If not good, great! The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. It got me thinking about my life and how I could compare it to Charlie's. Charlie's life is more something (forgot the word) than mine is but mine is somewhat difficult too. I will never and has ever smoke nor do drugs. I did get drunk once, but that will be my last. I think I was a wallflower too, I think I still am, maybe a little. I wish I was as smart as Charlie was but I dont think I will ever be. I could relate to some parts of the book. Especially the pain he feels about his Aunt Helen (Tita Aida...), death of his bestfriend Michael (Lose of friends for me although I have experienced a death of one of my friends), and him being confused and overthinks about things too much (everyday of my life). Its a good book but I would recommend it to someone who dosent think like me and Charlie do, or basically me. I would recommend it to people who dont see light at the end of the tunnel or people who think they got the worse life when they really dont. People similar or related to that, maybe. I just hope people who reads this book gets the point of the book. I recommend this strongly to my friend, Adam. He needs to read this, fo rizzles. I will reflect more on this book soon. But the greatest thing I have got from this book is how much I missed writing. And how much I wanted to be an author someday, maybe after or during my masters or something. This book, well, Charlie encouraged me to write again and I thank it for that. I thank you, Charlie, for that. And I'm grateful to have read this book and shall read it again some day.

"There could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison" -- Jane Austen, Persuasion

Anna and the French Kiss is a debut novel by Stephanie Perkins. The genre of this book is Young-Adult contemporary romance and/or Chick-literature which means the majority of readers are girls, most likely teenagers (and/or high-schoolers). I find it pretty hard to rate this novel because I don't dig chick-lit but this book received favorable reviews from my Goodreads friendlist. So I thought, I might like this book; but then I was just being too optimistic. Another reason why I read this novel is because I thought this book maybe fun; that this may not be another romantic-shiz; that maybe the girl protagonist will not be just a stubborn and whiny hypocrite who seems to be always on menstrual period; And that MAYBE the guy-protagonist will not be just an Edward-Cullen-like man who is so attractive, shiny, charming and has brilliant accent. SO MUCH FOR MY EXPECTATIONS. SO MUCH FOR MY UNANTICIPATED BUOYANCY. This book tells the story of Anna Oliphant, a girl who has parents who are separated and a senior (in school) that is forced to attend a boarding school in Paris. She was "FORCED" to leave behind things that she loves such as her best friend, younger brother and her crush. "Sad" and "Forced" as the novel says it does, the story goes on indulging into the life of our whiny, stubborn and flirty girl whose moods always swings from the moon and back. Anna met a charming boy with a perfect accent Etienne St. Clair and who is perfectly taken by his steady girlfriend. As the story progresses, Anna discovers that she may actually have a chance with Etienne yet. Amazing.... Naaat -___- Conversely, there are some points I appreciated in the novel. First, Perkins did a great job of making Paris come alive as a place to live in through the descriptions of Anna's adventures and exploration; and second, there were scenes in the novel between Anna and her little brother Seany that made me quite happy because it was sweet and touching and it reminds me of my funny relationship with my baby brother. But a lot of my feelings towards Anna and the French Kiss consist of intense dislike, and now I keep on telling myself "this is the reason why I don't read chick-lit!". On the contrary, this book may be a fun, cute book for anyone who's looking for a light romantic story with a picture perfect setting.

Legend is the first book in the trilogy by Marie Lu. It's a dystopian novel set on a post-apocalyptic state (Los Angeles). It is one of the most interesting dystopian novels I read so far. It got me thinking of the rise of the popularity of dystopian fiction amid both science-fiction and non-science-fiction readers. It appears that dystopian novels are a complete hit to all readers. Well, I can't blame them because dystopian fiction shares so much more than a fictional place where people live in fear. And when I say fear, it includes the abuse and misuse of the powers of the government, the government's break-down, not-to-mention WAR and Natural Disasters that will all lead the humanity into a complete mess. These fears are used as literary 'device' of the writers and put the protagonist to explore and conquer these ideas. Likewise, what made dystopian novels a real sensation is that it deals with real issues that we face every day, and turn them into a ominous prediction of what could happen to society if we don't change our way; if the government don't change their ways. Here's a short plot of the story. This is taken from the goodreads, I didn't bother making up my own summary because I might end up giving more than I should have (or I'm just really worn-out to write some more. Haha. Forgive me!): From very different worlds, June and Day (our two protagonists) have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets. This almost had me into giving it a perfect score, but I was taken aback (negatively) by the following reasons: (1) the initial "cheesy" reaction of our protagonist during their first encounter. E.G: "When I look to my side, I see a boy holding out his hand to me. He has bright blue eyes, dirt on his face, and a beat-up cap on, and at this moment, I think he might be the most beautiful boy I've ever seen" or Day's reaction be like: "I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, You're attractive".These are two of those scenes where I was quite scared that I might end up being utterly disappointed with this book. I feared that at the end of this trilogy (or this novel perhaps), I'll close the book and bring into conclusion that Marie Lu is yet another female writer that uses the very same tactic-- A CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE NOVEL DRESSED AS A DYSTOPIAN GENRE". On the contrary, there is nothing wrong with this tactic, it's just that, it will be a little too out of the genre; that instead of focusing on the seemingly interesting premise it was working with, it focused on romance. I'll never forgive the writer. (2) Second, (and by far, the last), I hate how young our protagonists are. In the novel, they're fifteen (15) years old and I can't help but complain how flirty they are; how (in such a young age) they knew how to drink; how mature they think (well, probably much mature than I am and I'm like five years older than them, haha) Anyway, this is just my opinion. Overall, my feelings towards Legend consist of intense adoration; it contains nonstop action, suspense, and it is sure to entertain the readers as much as it gives. PLUS! It's a short, fast-paced novel that will surely burst you out of your seats!

Have you ever been so angry at someone that you killed that person inside your head? Have you ever experienced possessing so much loathe that you imagined choking someone, stabbing him straight to the heart and other dreadful ways to destroy him? Well if yes, relax. Those were just thoughts. At least, you're safe inside your mind....but Mara. Mara Dyer isn't. In Mara Dyer's world, if you think a simple rage inside your head will do no harm. Think again. Mara's life used to be normal. She was leaving a happy teenage life until one day, she woke up in a hospital to discover that her world had been shattered. Literally. She's diagnosed with PTSD -- Posttraumatic stress disorder. It is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity, overwhelming the individual's ability to cope. As an effect of psychological trauma, PTSD is less frequent and more enduring than the more commonly seen acute stress response. Diagnostic symptoms for PTSD include re-experiencing the original trauma(s) through flashbacks or nightmares, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, and increased arousal - such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, anger, and hypervigilance. Formal diagnostic criteria (both DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10) require that the symptoms last more than one month and cause significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. [PTSD's Wikipedia page] What the doctors thought they conclude was that, she's been traumatized by the death of her best friend, boyfriend, and boyfriend's sister and the sudden guilt she has for being the only survivor, with barely a scratch on her--and she has no memory of that night. She's so traumatized by the drastic event that she cries in her closet, and has nightmares and visual hallucinations. She does things she doesn't remember such as wind up with a bloody shard of mirror in her hand. The family, then, moves to Florida hoping for a fresh start so that Mara can heal and move on...or so they thought she will... This book is one of the most intriguing psychological-thrillers that I have read in awhile. It blew my mind, kept me on my toes, crawled under my skin, bugged my heart, and it still won't get out of my head. I want to dedicate this part of my review to my bookworm friends who recommended this book. [?]

[Click SEE REVIEW to view picture] "What do I sound like?" I asked, more breathily than I intended. God, so predictable. He considered his answer for a moment before he gave it. "Dissonant," he said finally. "Meaning?" Another long pause. "Unstable." Hmm. He shook his head. "Not the way you're thinking," he said, the shadow of a smile on his lips. "In music, consonant chords are points of arrival. Rest. There's no tension," he tried to explain. "Most pop music hooks are consonant, which is why most people like them. They're catchy but interchangeable. Boring. Dissonant intervals, however, are full of tension," he said, holding my gaze. "You can't predict which way they're going to go. It makes limited people uncomfortable - frustrated, because they don't understand the point, and people hate what they don't understand. But the ones who get it," he said, lifting a hand to my face, "find it fascinating. Beautiful." He traced the shape of my mouth with his thumb. "Like you." -- Michelle Hodkin, The Evolution of Mara Dyer SO MUCH FEEEELS. The Evolution of Mara Dyer is the second book of the Mara Dyer Trilogy. And this has to be the most thrilling novel of the year! As soon as I started reading this I was taken on a journey through every single emotion Mara has. I was so worried about Mara and I was caught up with the curiosity on whether or not her wicked sickness is psychological or spiritual //or what she saw or felt was real or not real. But whatever it is, could feel it. In this sequel, the story returns with the intoxicating blend of romance, psychological horror and mystery that enthralled the readers from the first book. Risks are raised and poor Mara finds herself in a very awful position where even her family doesn't believe her. No one does. Except for Noah. If you loved Unbecoming, you will in no doubt love Evolution of Mara Dyer as well and find it hard to put down (I know I did. Mehehe!) Mara's family dynamic takes center stage and I still wish Daniel was real so I could adopt him as my big brother. Some questions are answered but new ones also arise leaving one to question the sanity of everyone. Without giving away any spoilers, I do just want to say this. Prepare yourself for the last page. You definitely want to sit down while reading the last few chapters because if you don't, you'll definitely fall. That's all I'll say because I don't want to give the electrifying story away. NOTE: I know, this review is pretty off, I was quite unstable when I wrote this. But I promise to edit this soon. Thanks!

"What's wrong with this statement?" -The Mysterious Benedict Society The Mysterious Benedict Society is probably the best Holiday-read ever! It's a combination of the Harry Potter adventures and The Series of Unfortunate Events! Specifically, I felt that the mystery which made this book an ultimate page-turner is very similar to the Harry Potter series and the characters are akin to The Series of Unfortunate Events, especially Mr Benedict, who reminds me of Lemony Snicket's Uncle Monty. Mr. Benedict is a very important character in this novel, he is the one who makes a series of tests to find gifted children to assist him in stopping Mr. Curtain, who is heedfully plotting to rule the world. He puts an advertisement in the newspaper, and he gets four (4) very gifted children that he could have only hoped for - Reynie Muldoon, Sticky Washington, Kate Wetherall, and Constance Contraire. "You must remember, family is often born of blood, but it doesn't depend on blood. Nor is it exclusive of friendship. Family members can be your best friends, you know. And best friends, whether or not they are related to you, can be your family."

"SOMETIMES I THINK that everyone has a tragedy waiting for them, that the people buying milk in their pajamas or picking their noses at stoplights could be only moments away from disaster. That everyone's life, no matter how unremarkable, has a moment when it will become extraordinary--a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen." -Robyn Schneider, The Beginning of Everything The Beginning of Everything started with a boy named Ezra Faulkner who initially had a life every Highschool Teenager have wished for. He was the Golden Boy, President of the student Government Junior division, Star tennis player hanging with the popular crowd and dating the popular girl. Ergo, everyone knows him. All of the stardom life has changed when an accident happened and his life wasn't the same. The story is told from Ezra's point of view and I began to like him from the first chapter because I found myself laughing quite often. From the first few chapters, there are full of humor and school life problems that I certainly love and I was assuming that after reading this, I will be giving this book a perfect score (five (5) stars) but I just can't. When I was in the middle of the book's story, the plot went in all directions as possible and it wasn't that exciting anymore albeit I still hoped that this book will get better in the end. The end, however, broke my heart into tiny little pieces. Despite my disappointment, I have the urge of recommending this to anyone who is looking for short stories that has moments of loneliness, laughter and romance.

For the past few years, I can't imagine myself reading a chicklit-romantish novel. But now I'm in love with Rainbow Rowell. I loved Attachments. I loved Eleanor and Park. Attachments was written so whimsically that you can imagine yourself in the lives of different characters. Like you were there, inside the book (dating Lincoln/ Chris OR being Beth or Chris...or Lincoln. hihihi). I was overwhelmed with the idea that I can picture myself with the amount of stalking-investigating powers in Beth. I cried for laughing too much actually. I loved this so much. Attachments is about a wholesome-multiple-degree-holder guy (Lincoln) and two brilliant ladies (Beth and Jennifer) dreaming about a perfect life. A perfect love life but then who knows what a perfect life is? There are different levels and views about a perfect life and a love life. Anyway, the three characters work on a same newspaper company, The Courier. The guy, Lincoln works as an internet security officer. A job where he is allowed to sneak and peek on other people's email so that they will not slack off during work. Honestly, I never thought that there is really a job like that before (welcome to the 90s! Haha). Well, this is how Lincoln indirectly met Beth and Jennifer, both writers and editors, he was amused with their wits and humor from their explicit emails. In the end, he finds himself falling for Beth. Unfortunately, Beth, has been dating a handsome and hunk musician for nine years. She's dying to get married and have kids. But then she got dumped. Now Lincoln shows up being awkward, how can he tell her that he has been in-love with her? How can he approach her without being awkward? How can he approach her when he already knows so much about her (thru her email)? Is it already too late? Well, that's for you to find out. Read this funny and heartwarming novel! Here's an excerpt from the book, I found it realistic (and I can relate to it. -- I don't know what to do in my life so I just study. Study. Study. Study again. Sigh.) and funny at the same time. "I don't know how I feel about that, Lincoln. I'm starting to think you might have a problem. With school." (Lincoln's mother) "I've never had a problem with school," he said, knowing how lame that sounded, knowing that refusing to take part in the conversation wasn't the same as avoiding it. "You know what I mean," she said. She wagged a dirty spoon at him. "A problem. Like those women who get addicted to plastic surgery. They keep going back and going back, trying to look better until there is no more better. Like they can't look better because they don't even look like themselves anymore. And then it's just about looking different, I think. I saw this woman in a magazine who looked just like a cat. Like a cat of prey, a big cat. Have you ever seen her? She has a lot of money. I think she might be from Austria." Excerpt From: Rowell, Rainbow. "Attachments."

"Life begins outside your comfort zone.." Life begins outside your comfort zone because outside that thin line you'll meet new experiences, new people, new strength and weaknesses. This is simply extraordinary. If you're burnt out on the New Adult genre, read this. Fangirl is a 2013 young adult novel by Rainbow Rowell. I chose to read this novel after I got utterly hooked up to its previous YA novel published earlier in 2013, Eleanor & Park. Fangirl is ultimately a modern story about fan fiction and first love which could describe today's era. It focuses on Cath, who has been a fan of the Simon Snow books her entire life. When both Cath and her twin sister go to college, her sister begins to stay away from the web fandom life and from Cath. And now the rest of the burden lies on Cath, on how she learns to exist outside her comfort zone, away from her twin sister. [Review, to be continued...]

The Graveyard Book had been in my wish list for months. I became thoroughly interested to this book because of its uncanny and (seems-to-be) creepy, gothic-like plot (yes, I'm interested to those kind of stuff) but sadly, upon reading this book, my expectations were not met. I was expecting something akin to Coraline's gloomy theme and atmosphere. Regrettably, I hated some of the book's trying-hard-to-be-unique-mysterious-eerie catchphrases and names for characters, especially for the main character, "Nobody Owens". Ugh. When Nobody/ ('Bod' for short) name was revealed, I wanted to stop reading this, the only thing that stopped me from putting this book back on the shelf was that I hate having unfinished books. It gets me the "O.C. Feeling". Anyway, The Graveyard Book tells the story of a boy (Nobody 'Bod' Owens) whose parents were murdered when he was still an infant. He was then raised by souls and a cemetery guardian in a known Graveyard in their town. Despite my disappointment, I still gave this book an appreciable verdict, there are lots of lessons to be learned especially for kids! It is only natural for kids to be afraid of the creeps (ghost, ghouls, witches and the like) reading this (for kids) considering that they already met the traditional halloween scarers and that they have set the barriers for those creatures, will make them braver and wiser as ever. In other words, fear and hard truths will be bestowed in this kind of process, so is an unbiased perception of the world. "You're always you, and that don't change, and you're always changing, and there's nothing you can do about it." -- Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book "Face your life, its pain, its pleasure, leave no path untaken." -- Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book

Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray is a unique novel that speaks for fulltime-taken-for-granted mothers who are all day doing household works and taking care of kids. It might sound really lame at first, but the twist is that, in the new millennium, majority of mothers are figuratively experiencing "invisibility" at home. For instance, (excerpt from the book) The boys can be looking at naked women on the internet and they don't so much as twitch when I walk into the room. I can ask Steve (her son) what time he wants dinner, and he keeps on texting like I wasn't even there. As you can see (read), some mothers are taken for granted, they do so many things for us, for the family, and they don't get something in return, including respect and mutuality. As for me, they deserve a lot of respect & a share of expressive love and care -- heck, they deserve a lot more. The story started with Clover suddenly disappearing physically inside her home and then at some time she discovers that there are others like her, women of a certain age who seem to have disappeared as well. As she uses her invisibility to get to know her family and her town better, Clover leads the way in helping invisible women become recognized and appreciated no matter what their role is (goodreads summary). This novel is hilariously written and emotionally stimulating! Perfect for a one-sit, one-time read!

October 27, 2013: Disappointed. Will be writing a review tomorrow morning. October 28, 2013: The long wait is over, Divergent 3 or Allegiant is now on the rampage. Divergent fans are waiting for this moment to come. The cliff hanger moment Veronica Roth left us from the second (2nd) book, Insurgent made as crave for more of Tris's senseless yet selfless ways in saving the world. But let me get this straight. Initially, I don't know how to say this in a less overt manner but I'll say it anyway, I dislike this Allegiant (Divergent 3). I hated almost everything. There are too many conflicts, too many characters dead, too many romance scene, and not to mention, the almost-unpredictable and unlikeable ending. &^@Q$*(%(*&%#q*&%^*!~ To the reader's convenience, I tried to widen the thoughts I have during and after reading the Allegiant. (WARNING: TOO MANY SPOILERS AND HARSH COMMENTS AHEAD) (view spoiler)[First off, Allegiant has too many conflicts, seemingly interesting conflicts, and WTF extra scenes From the beginning of the story (almost 100 pages long), the book focuses on the battle between the factions and the factionless. And then another faction showed up and introduced themselves as the Allegiants. The narration of the story began focusing on the newly introduced characters (not necessarily new people in the story but new title or category of certain group of people) totally forgetting about the conflict about the factions and the factionless. I almost assumed that the story's pace to another conflict would resolve the first one out but then it seems like it was completely forgotten. The seemingly super awesome, frightening and mind-boggling plot turned into romance and chaos (and by chaos I mean instances where foolishness and the like survive). The book started with Tris Prior still stuck in the shattered faction-based society that she once believed in. It was fissured by violence and power struggles by power hungry people which were blinded by a scarred past or by loss and betrayal. Tris and the other dauntless people were offered a chance to explore the world past the limits known to them. And when they ready, they got beyond the fence. *YES, BEYOND THE FENCE* *thrilling, frightening, yeah....NOOOOOOT!!!!!* Beyond the fence, Tris and Tobias have thought of finding a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. And as they think of themselves and their hopes to live happily ever after, a few supporting characters die (and other supporting characters from the first book shows up *crazy, I know*), but the readers wouldn't care anyway, because that is what the author intends to do; kill, kill and go for another KIIILLL!!! It's like; the author didn't bother spending time developing old and new characters so she let them die. And you were there, reading like you don't really care. As the story progresses, we find out that Tris's new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind (surprising? I guess not). The old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless and were altered by the explosive new truths. And once again, our distressed protagonist, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature and of her selflessness and selfishness while facing the apparently terrible choices about bravery, loyalty, sacrifice, and love. Another thing I want to point out is the constant switch between Tobias and Tris's point-of-view (POV), although I appreciate reading Tobias's perspective but it was a little TOO annoying. Instead of having certain problems and conflicts resolved between characters and the openness of their feelings toward each other and most importantly made the readers understand the things happening in the novel's world, IT MADE IT MORE CONFUSING!!! Lastly, the ENDING, tragic, sad, gloomy and UGLY. Don't get me wrong, I have to problems with happy endings, sad endings and cliif-hanger endings AS LONG as the ENDING makes sense with the story, with the WHOLE EFFING STORY!!!!!!! I think the ultimate thing I hate about this book is how it made me dislike the author in so many ways. It was so frustrating and annoying. (hide spoiler)]My review of this is actually quite irksome for me because I don't like criticizing books of famous and good authors so I sucked up a little bit and gave this book 2 (two) stars!

If you ask someone what type of book I want, they'll all say 'oh you know, her usual boring stuff (and that includes my addiction to anything historic, mystery, suspense, legal fiction, courtroom dramas, etc). I always hated anything romantic or chicklit-ish. But Eleanor & Park made me feel like a young girl who likes to write and read anything about love. It made me think like a different person. Like I don't know myself. Anyway, I'll cut the story short, I LOVED THIS BOOK. This romance-themed teenage book. Eew. I know. (This is so not me). This book tells a story of an extraordinary love. Two misfits strangely brought together by fate told in a sweet and heart-throbbing tale. You'll love this book. And I am sure you will never miss a single letter. "What are the chances you'd ever meet someone like that? he wondered. Someone you could love forever, someone who would forever love you back? And what did you do when that person was born half a world away? The math seemed impossible." -- Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor & Park

This is what I'm scared of the most. I started reading it and it seems so good but I can't help looking for characters like Harry Potter or Neville. I need a Harry Potter rehab.

Honestly, I bought this book just because of its very attractive cover. It's very pleasing and bewitching that I just randomly picked it up (didn't read the description and the author as well) and went straight to the cashier. The good side is, it's only sold for 50Php. Not bad. This book is not on my list for sembreak reads, but I read it anyway. I temporarily listed it last despite the fact that I'm still not done with the second book on the list which is The Cuckoo's Calling. Don't get me wrong, The Cuckoo's Calling so far, is a good book however, I can't help but look for characters like Harry Potter, Neville or Snape. I think I need a Harry Potter rehab before finish reading it. --Oookay, so much for that. The Cell by Stephen King. Let me get this straight, I didn't like this book. The only thing that stopped me from ripping it off from page to page is because of its artistic paperback cover and that I hate despising and destroying books (contradicting statements, I know). Here are the possibilities (and the reality) why I hated The Cell: To start with, it was never my intention to buy this book (read again above's dillema. Haha). Hence, the randomness of my actions. (Forgive me, was this an excuse? Haha) Whatever. -I am not a fan of Stephen King. (Yep, everr). I don't mean to criticize him or say anything against the author, but we just don't click. He loves writing sci-fi novels, and I hate reading it (with certain exceptions of course). Nevertheless, the point that "I am not really into sci-fi novels" needs an emphasis. I don't why but generally, I'm into realistic boring stuff (except Harry Potter, of course!!!). Lastly, the plot seems unoriginal. I don't want to make a bad statement again but, the plot is very familiar. I think a worse crime an author can make than being gramatically bad is to literally have nothing new to give the readers. Let's say that some people who would be reading this book might be a fan of zombie apocalypse or anything that's why they would still enjoy or even love it but since they are just into the novel's theme they wouldn't mind or even notice the "crime" committed. The author just used what is always being used in zombie novels, which gives me the idea that he did not think about writing this. He just (most probably) automatically wrote The Cell in a soulless and pointless manner. Soulless and pointless to people like me. Well, maybe it's all a matter of opinion, and this is mine.

"The president had shifted to the 'we' mode now, something he invariably did when a potentially unpopular decision was at hand. For the easy ones, it was always 'I.' When he needed a crutch, and especially when he would need someone to blame, he opened up the decisionmaking process and included Critz." Every so often, we wonder how the decision making process goes inside the government, particularly in the seemingly superior branch of the government (go figure). The Broker gave us a little preview of how the decisions go into process inside the government legally and (surprisingly...not!) illegally. In this novel, the process goes a little too corrupt. It began with a Washington power broker-lobbyist and a lawyer, Joel Backman. He is, in the story, the famous broker that was sent to jail for six years. Upon the dissolution of his sentence, the political wheels in Washington have turned and numerous powerful people want him dead. So, several bloody bargains were made. Unexpectedly, the outgoing disgraced president granted him a full pardon at the request of the CIA. Joel Backman now finds himself out of the prison in the middle of the night, bundled onto a military plane flown to Italy to begin a superficially new life. He began having a new name and mysterious "friends" who will teach him to speak the language and to blend in with the people in Bologna. The Broker is not a very good book but I don't hate it. The novel's plot has a lot to offer but I was surprised that it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to be. There are too many "extra scenes" and the pacing was too slow. For instance, the story intensively put the attention to Joel Backman's idle days where he ordered pizza, cappuccino before 10:30am in an Italian cafe speaking Italian. The routine of his life is too reiterated, that it is too much to be told. Anyway, this book is one of my Vacation Reads , so I am off to read a new one! *happy*

If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until you can hardly bear to look at it. A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. -The Twits, Roald Dahl

"I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted just like that, and it didn't mean anything? What then?" Coraline tells the tale of Coraline Jones, who moves to a new town and a house with her family and several other strange characters. As the story goes on, Coraline's parents just seem to have no time for her, and so she takes to exploring her new abode by herself. In her exploration, she uncovers a small door in the house, which seems to lead to nowhere. But upon revisiting the door late at night, it opens onto a parallel world that is much more whimsical and fun than the real world. The one difference is that in the 'Other World,' almost all the inhabitants have buttons for eyes. But still, the other parents in this world pay attention to Coraline compared to her real parents. It seems just so perfect...or is it? I just had this funny little thought, even though your parents may be unnecessarily neglectful and mean, at least you're not threatened with eternal damnation in a home with a woman claiming to be your mother who really just wants to steal your eyeballs and sew buttons in replace.

"There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose." -- Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain There are books that are made for foolish-"laugh-box" burning laughters, unimaginable madness, wicked mysteries, heart-thrilling suspense, mind-boggling twists and some books are made for ugly crying. And this is one of those books. The Art of Racing in the Rain is not your ordinary type of book which talks about life and how to live it; most of the books tackle life in a cut-and-dry manner: dying man trying to save time for it is truly the very important thing in the world --with romance and tragedy as unexpected (or totally expected) sidelines, this novel, on the other hand, talks about life as a race, life in a race and a race for life. Literally and Figuratively. The story is uniquely told from a wise dog's point of view. His name is Enzo, unlike any other dogs who are under the influence of the usual dog habits like barking and biting, Enzo is different, he is more like a human disguised wholly in the form of a dog; he feels and understands a person's life beyond the limits known to man and his kind. In other words, he thinks more than a human. To tell you the truth, I am certainly not a dog lover, I am more like a cat person. And upon reading this book, I felt the same love I have for cats towards dogs (I hope this won't last long because I think I am kind of betraying my cat ancestors..kidding). Anyway, The Art of Racing in the Rain combines everything under the sun: life's hardships as a friend, neighbor, husband, father, son and a race car driver combined together with romance, unbelievable humor, common sense, unbearable rage and sorrow--blending those together produces a complete helluva novel! This book will absolutely stay with me forever. Seriously. *sigh* To complete my thoughts about this wonderful book, I ended it with a quote and a little twist. And I just really want to share this to you, perspective readers of this book. This extraordinary novel made my heart ache and tears fall so much, and it is not because the novel is badly written or the story is awful but the horrific truth about life it uniquely imparts. "To live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how I would like to live. To feel the joy of life, as Eve felt the joy of life. To separate oneself from the burden, the angst, the anguish that we all encounter every day. To say I am alive, I am wonderful, I am. I am. That is something to aspire to." (Excerpt from The Art of Racing in the Rain)

"This was another of our fears: that Life wouldn't turn out to be like Literature." -- Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending "The Sense of an Ending" is a short story that will make you feel like you have only started to read the first chapter after you have finished it but I don't mean it in a bad way. The author reveals truths that have taken a lifetime to disclose like the mysterious elements of memory that will make you miss an opportunity of a lifetime.

I was having a hard time advance studying for law school and so I decided to read a relaxing novel. Thank you John Green! The king of all Young-adult genre writers has done it again! An Abundance of Katherines is indeed, one of his best works! It's published in 2006 and won the Michael L Printz Award honor book a year after. I admire the humor, the drama, the knowledge the protagonist shares with the readers, and now, I must admit that this is (by far) the best John Green novel I have ever read. This book can be linked with novels with famous child prodigy like Christopher Boone in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time . But this time, the protagonist is teenager. His name is Colin Singleton. Colin is a genius kid addicted to anagrams, anagramming and everything that comes with it! And because of the crazy things anagramming has done to him, he will not date, court and befriend any girl whose name is not Katherine. In fact, he dated more or less than 19 Katherines. It's spelled only as K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E not C-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E or any names that is quite similar or rhymes with it. Anyway, It's kind of cheesy but, I think one of the things John Green is trying to tell us through Colin Singleton is that love cannot surpass any knowledge and theories we have in life. Whether you are genius or not, when love has finally hit you, you have to go a little behind and above your comfort zone. An Abundance of Katherines is a very witty, clever and charming novel. It has full of lessons that you can learn only by reading between the lines. Although, do not expect that the things you will learn in this novel is life-changing or anything, but I promise you that this is worth your time to read. :)

Before I completely write a review about this novel, I would like to make a small statement. I think this might be my last book review for this year because my nights now consist of me being courageously buried in law books, highlighters, post-its, energy food, water and cases...but mostly, CASES. Anyway, this novel is about two (2) randomly distinct boys named Will Grayson and will Grayson (the other always spelled with a small letter 'w'). One day, our two Wills crossed each other's lives that later on changed their zones in ways they could never have imagined. "Following the rules works. So I shut up, and I don't care, and I keep walking, and soon it's over." http://www.goodreads.com/starryfields

Colleen Hoover is a great writer and I don't doubt her abilities to create beautiful novels but This Girl just didn't hook something new for me. This Girl is not for me. After I have read 2 of the Slammed series (Slammed and Point of Retreat), I was in deep awe. As much as I don't want to get disappointed....I can't because I really feel discouraged to read more of this. The Point of Retreat's mop-up led to Lake and Will's final statement of locking their selves into the real and legal adult life. Thus, came This Girl. This Girl more likely contains mixed up questions and answers from the star-crossed lover's life back in the Slammed and Point of Retreat. To sum it up, it is Lake's Post-Wedding Interrogation of Will". And the gist of all this is that, it is told through Will Cooper's point of view (while having their honeymoon). Did I just make that sound bad? If I did, it's absolutely not my fault. :p I didn't hate This Girl but I didn't like it very much either. It wasn't bad at all, but there's lot of parts where I actually said, 'I read that already' and 'Yep, I can still recall it immediately from Slammed'. Hence, there was too much I already knew. I am not saying that the writing was awful. It is still congruent and nice but it was just too much of Slammed. There were glimpse of Honeymoon scenes after the flashbacks but it was too repetitive for me. And don't get me started with Will Cooper. Will's perspective was just okay but I think he was too feminine. I might even get goosebumps and butterflies if he had sounded a little bit manlier. I think the ultimate thing I hate about this book is how it made me dislike both characters in different ways. There were times I thought that Lake is being too paranoid and was being too much of a spoiled brat. And it was so frustrating and annoying. I cannot live with that! -__- My review of this is actually quite irksome for me because I don't like criticizing books of famous and good authors so I sucked up a little bit and gave this book 3 (three) stars!

'Savage' is a negative or brutal word use to describe uncultivated scenery where there is a lack of civilized human beings and also an advance culture. And 'savage', is also the word we use to call a bunch of innocent little kids trapped in an island despite of trying to civilize themselves, lead to the scenes and things commonly described as savages. The Lord of the Flies is an allegorical classic novel by the British writer Sir William Gerald Golding. It's published in 1954 and has won the Nobel-Prize award for literature. The story is set on a deserted island dated in the midst of wartime evacuation. The British government set forward a plan to release/ escape the young ones away from the hostilities; putting them on a plane destined to a place not mentioned. However, the British plane containing the kids of all ages crashes on an isolated island near the Pacific Ocean. The only survivors left from the plane-crash are boys in their youngest stage described as "littuns" and middle childhood or preadolescence stage or"bigguns". The boys have no choice but to try to govern themselves starting with an election or choosing a leader among themselves. And as the book progresses, it lead to a complete disastrous results. There are numerous things to learn and think about this novel. It talks about Leadership and governing strategies in different ideals familiarly known as autocracy, democracy and aristocracy. It's truly ironic how the children find themselves brutally involve in the negative side of those ideals. I appreciate how William Golding ironically depicts human interaction, the inner brutal nature of our characters as well. I found myself having goosebumps when I reach the darkest peak of the book where the youngest children find themselves in an extreme helpless and barbaric situation. "Maybe there is a beast... maybe it's only us."

I've been in a long vacation outside town this week, and for me, a long vacation always comes with a lot of pages, a lot of books. Hence, I have finished reading Stephen King's 11/22/63 and Michael Conelly's Echo Park. First off, I have never read any of Stephen King's works because my grandmother (my ultimate supplier of books) is not and forever won't be a fan of Stephen King. She hates his novels for some reason which was caused by a certain book she read. She describes his books as "common" or "ordinary" and "plain boring". I respect her opinion, however I still asked her to give Stephen King a chance and let her borrow and read this breathtaking novel, 11/22/63. (And she said she will read this next week! Hooray! for my power of persuasion!) Anyway, 11/22/63 is a time-travel themed novel. This was published on November 8, 2011 and swiftly became a number one bestseller. And according to my research it has stayed on the list for more than five months. It even acquired the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Best Mystery/Thriller and the 2012 International Thriller Writers Award for Best Novel and was again nominated for the 2012 British Fantasy Award for Best Novel and the 2012 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel as well. The novel started with a High School English teacher, Jake Epping (a.k.a George Amberson) who is deeply affected by the life story of a high-school janitor, Harry Dunning. In the novel, Jake Epping is described as a man who has nothing to lose. And so, a chance to be "someone" has crossed Jake Epping's life the moment a man named Al Templeton mysteriously summoned him from work. With the information from his local friend, Al Templton, Jake Epping is now inexplicably tied in a Time Travel life. But it does not end with that, after some trials of changing things in the past that will soon alter the future, they finally discover that it is possible to change history. Al persuaded Jake to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, assuming this would lead to a better world. I actually planned to start my review of this book by bringing up these questions: What if you have the chance to save the world? What if you discovered a time machine that would change history? Will you be able to sacrifice your time and your life to save the people you haven't really met? If you answered, "Yes, I will save the world. I will be a hero and I am not going to expect anything in return". Then I am shocked that maybe, Heroes still exist.. I love the book's historical facts. I also learned that the facts he mentioned are true. Stephen King studied various conspiracy theories, finally ending to the conclusion that Oswald acted alone. King also met with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, an assistant to Lyndon B. Johnson and the author of books about several presidents, and used some of her ideas of worst-case political scenarios in the absence of Kennedy's assassination. (Information from Stephen King's Monster website). When I was reading this I can feel that the pages just actually turned themselves. I was brought inside a world of American history. Although, I am not much of an American history fan. I have once more picked an awesome book to read at a low price. I feel so great. This will be one of my happy death by books moments!

This is my third novel by the famed Young-Adult writer, John Green. My first was the very popular The Fault in Our Stars and after that I pursued reading Looking for Alaska. During those times I was reading his novels, he made a mark in my brain. You will never think of any writer who writes the way John Green does. The way he puts his signature in his writings is absolutely beautiful. For me, he usurped all of the Young-Adult genre writers! (*Hey Margo, I used your usurped) Paper Towns is somewhat a mystery novel where you effortlessly use your detective skills - thus it sort-of produces a comforting impression. And yeah, since this is a Young Adult novel, it will not make you look for a dictionary or go Google to find out the meaning of a difficult word. Even though it isn't a challenging read, I can still say that I enjoyed it. Simple words have its purpose- making you feel relaxed. Anyway, the novel first set off in a subdivision called Jefferson Park (named after the Dr. Jefferson Jefferson -a joke only Paper Town readers can get) with a certain Quentin "Q and his gorgeous neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman discovering a corpse. And then the novel flashes onward to Q and Margo as teenage highschoolers who have already grown away from each other. But one night, Margo shows up at Quentin's bedroom window wearing "ninja" outfit. She talks Q into sneaking out and helping her get revenge on people she feels have hurt her. After the fun-filled wild adventure, Q and Margo returned to their houses to close to the time where they actually get up and go to school. Eventually, Q cannot stop thinking how he already made a big connection with Margo, making him feel that he knows everything about her. But that's until he woke up, went to school and find out lately that Margo is missing. This book is indeed profoundly moving, it tells us how we should not assume things immediately, specially people. I remember a line from the novel saying: "What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person." ; to elaborate this I'll quote a dialogue from the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: ""You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it". :)

Beautifully written. Beautifully intensive. This is another Sidney Sheldon novel that will take you off your seats, a real page-turner. A masterpiece. Another Phenomenon. If you remember his novel Nothing Lasts Forever where it revolves around an intelligent doctor, now, the Rage of Angels tells the story of a young brilliant lawyer and anything that goes around the courtrooms. Rage if Angels is filled with love, tragedy, and a woman with two men. One of them is a good (white) angel, another is a dark angel. The young intelligent attorney is Jennifer Parker, an attractive lady who lives in a cruel man's world, full of crimes, lies and murders, as she tremendously rises as a successful prominent lawyer in New York after being framed for threatening the District Attorney Robert De Silva who is the Chief executive against a Mafia boss, Michael Morreti which in turn leads to a situation that almost break her life's dreams. As the story progresses, our protagonist picked up every pieces of strength and dignity she still has in her and after having been successful in her pro bono cases she turns out to be the figure of the Godess of the courtrooms. If you are an aspiring lawyer or in the field of law, this is totally a book for you. You will learn several courtroom dialogues which might be useful for future Criminal Cases whether you are a Prosecutor or a Defense Counsel. You will also learn how to look into details in every possible (legit) way. [..to be continued]

This is my third novel by the famed Young-Adult writer, John Green. My first was the very popular The Fault in Our Stars and after that I pursued reading Looking for Alaska. During those times I was reading his novels, he made a mark in my brain. You will never think of any writer who writes the way John Green does. The way he puts his signature in his writings is absolutely beautiful. For me, he usurped all of the Young-Adult genre writers! (*Hey Margo, I used your usurped) Paper Towns is somewhat a mystery novel where you effortlessly use your detective skills - thus it sort-of produces a comforting impression. And yeah, since this is a Young Adult novel, it will not make you look for a dictionary or go Google to find out the meaning of a difficult word. Even though it isn't a challenging read, I can still say that I enjoyed it. Simple words have its purpose- making you feel relaxed. Anyway, the novel first set off in a subdivision called Jefferson Park (named after the Dr. Jefferson Jefferson -a joke only Paper Town readers can get) with a certain Quentin "Q and his gorgeous neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman discovering a corpse. And then the novel flashes onward to Q and Margo as teenage highschoolers who have already grown away from each other. But one night, Margo shows up at Quentin's bedroom window wearing "ninja" outfit. She talks Q into sneaking out and helping her get revenge on people she feels have hurt her. After the fun-filled wild adventure, Q and Margo returned to their houses to close to the time where they actually get up and go to school. Eventually, Q cannot stop thinking how he already made a big connection with Margo, making him feel that he knows everything about her. But that's until he woke up, went to school and find out lately that Margo is missing. This book is indeed profoundly moving, it tells us how we should not assume things immediately, specially people. I remember a line from the novel saying: "What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person." ; to elaborate this I'll quote a dialogue from the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: ""You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it". :)

October 27, 2013: Disappointed. Will be writing a review tomorrow morning. October 28, 2013: The long wait is over, Divergent 3 or Allegiant is now on the rampage. Divergent fans are waiting for this moment to come. The cliff hanger moment Veronica Roth left us from the second (2nd) book, Insurgent made as crave for more of Tris's senseless yet selfless ways in saving the world. But let me get this straight. Initially, I don't know how to say this in a less overt manner but I'll say it anyway, I dislike this Allegiant (Divergent 3). I hated almost everything. There are too many conflicts, too many characters dead, too many romance scene, and not to mention, the almost-unpredictable and unlikeable ending. &^@Q$*(%(*&%#q*&%^*!~ To the reader's convenience, I tried to widen the thoughts I have during and after reading the Allegiant. (WARNING: TOO MANY SPOILERS AND HARSH COMMENTS AHEAD) (view spoiler)[First off, Allegiant has too many conflicts, seemingly interesting conflicts, and WTF extra scenes From the beginning of the story (almost 100 pages long), the book focuses on the battle between the factions and the factionless. And then another faction showed up and introduced themselves as the Allegiants. The narration of the story began focusing on the newly introduced characters (not necessarily new people in the story but new title or category of certain group of people) totally forgetting about the conflict about the factions and the factionless. I almost assumed that the story's pace to another conflict would resolve the first one out but then it seems like it was completely forgotten. The seemingly super awesome, frightening and mind-boggling plot turned into romance and chaos (and by chaos I mean instances where foolishness and the like survive). The book started with Tris Prior still stuck in the shattered faction-based society that she once believed in. It was fissured by violence and power struggles by power hungry people which were blinded by a scarred past or by loss and betrayal. Tris and the other dauntless people were offered a chance to explore the world past the limits known to them. And when they ready, they got beyond the fence. *YES, BEYOND THE FENCE* *thrilling, frightening, yeah....NOOOOOOT!!!!!* Beyond the fence, Tris and Tobias have thought of finding a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. And as they think of themselves and their hopes to live happily ever after, a few supporting characters die (and other supporting characters from the first book shows up *crazy, I know*), but the readers wouldn't care anyway, because that is what the author intends to do; kill, kill and go for another KIIILLL!!! It's like; the author didn't bother spending time developing old and new characters so she let them die. And you were there, reading like you don't really care. As the story progresses, we find out that Tris's new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind (surprising? I guess not). The old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless and were altered by the explosive new truths. And once again, our distressed protagonist, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature and of her selflessness and selfishness while facing the apparently terrible choices about bravery, loyalty, sacrifice, and love. Another thing I want to point out is the constant switch between Tobias and Tris's point-of-view (POV), although I appreciate reading Tobias's perspective but it was a little TOO annoying. Instead of having certain problems and conflicts resolved between characters and the openness of their feelings toward each other and most importantly made the readers understand the things happening in the novel's world, IT MADE IT MORE CONFUSING!!! Lastly, the ENDING, tragic, sad, gloomy and UGLY. Don't get me wrong, I have to problems with happy endings, sad endings and cliif-hanger endings AS LONG as the ENDING makes sense with the story, with the WHOLE EFFING STORY!!!!!!! I think the ultimate thing I hate about this book is how it made me dislike the author in so many ways. It was so frustrating and annoying. (hide spoiler)]My review of this is actually quite irksome for me because I don't like criticizing books of famous and good authors so I sucked up a little bit and gave this book 2 (two) stars!

Looking for Alaska is the first novel by the popular Young-Adult writer, John Green. I heard a lot of great things about this novel. It even won a lot of awards a year after it was published. That is why I began my Great Perhaps by reading this novel. The Great Perhaps A Greek scholar known as Francois Rabelais left these words before he died : "I have nothing, I owe a great deal, and the rest I leave to the poor.....I now go to seek a Great Perhaps". Francois Rabelais's Great Perhaps referred to what could happen after death. It's also like theorizing a future state. And so we think that there are really a lot of "perhaps". However, in Looking for Alaska by John Green, Miles "Pudge" Halter's Great Perhaps denotes to what he could possibly do and experience in life. It's different than a defined goal because a goal is set realistically and on an organized manner. The Great Perhaps is the possibility of an adventure, of curiosity, of what could be and our intense desire to know what will happen with our every "WHAT IF" situations. Certain curiosities rise from our teenagers years. Yes, I am talking about adolescence. And teenagers ought not to take that stage alone. Miles Halter's social status during his high school life in Florida was: (1) He had limited and (2) close to not having true friends at all. Miles decided to leave the school and set his junior year in Culver Creek Preparatory High School in Alabama. Before he leaves his home in Florida his "so-called" friends throw him a painstakingly awkward and unattended farewell party (unattended because it was only joined of more or less than three). His parents inquisitively asked him if his departure was the effect of his lack of friends, he denied it and said: "I go to seek a Great Perhaps". On my opinion, his argument for leaving home at such an age is not a reason to seek the said perhaps before he dies.. Every person deserves to be asked. Every question deserves a rightful answer.

"The sky is always beautiful. Even when it's dark or rainy or cloudy, it's still beautiful to look at. It's my favourite thing because I know if I ever get lost or lonely or scared, I just have to look up and it'll be there no matter what...and I know it'll always be beautiful." First of all, I would like to praise Colleen Hoover for her BAGS AND BAGS AND BAGS AND BAGS AND BAGS AND BAGS AND BAGS OF CREATIVITY! W.O.W. After Slammed and Point of Retreat's Lake we have Hopeless' Sky. I loved how her creativity brought indelible characters. Perfect stars for that. Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies... I never thought the word hopeless could turn out to be something positive. It can be so wonderfully emotional and so opposing to the real meaning which is desperate or despairing or disheartened or depressed and weakened. I never imagined what this book could be until I turned the pages. What Colleen Hoover has done in this amazing story is beyond unimaginable. That is why we ought not to judge a book by its cover. Do not judge HOPELESS by the title. Hopeless tells the story of a witty and pretty teenage girl named Sky. She has lived a seemingly protected life until she meets a guy; Dean Holder. Dean Holder apparently is a guy with no feelings whatsoever. He even tattooed himself as "hopeless". Hopeless became hope to the star-crossed lovers especially to Sky when they both feel that being together can make themselves feel complete more than anything else in the world. It's ike a shattered glass glued altogether again. Okaaaay. To make sure I don't spoil anything, I will stop here. A little advice will do you good: Find a quiet place so you can just read without stopping. You might also need a lot of tissues, but do not get me wrong, the sadness is not brought throughout the story. There truly is hope throughout the whole story. There is hope in hopeless. And being hopeless is beautiful.

If you want a 'happy ever after' ending for a story. Do not read this book. Haha! Although it was written in a hilarious way, the specific events happened to the unlucky Baudelaires siblings was dreadful. @.@ Anyway, after the fire that destroyed the Baudelaires' home, the three siblings are left orphans with large fortunes. They were initially taken care of Mr. Poe (their parent's banker) for the meantime. A someone named Mr Olaf claimed to be a distant relative of the children but then found fraud. Mr. Poe calls the arrest of Olaf, but only Olaf's car is found during the attempted arrest. The story ends with Mr. Poe objecting the offers of people to adopt the Baudelaires siblings. Leaving the Baudelaires in the forever care of the kind Mr. Poe.

How can a fairy's blessing be such a pain in the ass? On a wonderful morning in a land of Frell, a beautiful baby was born, her name's Ella. Having been born that beautiful morning became a disaster to Ella and her mother as a foolish fairy gave Ella the gift of "obedience". Well, that doesn't sound bad, doesn't it? The twist is, having the gift of "obedience" means that she has to do whatever a random person tells her to do, like chopping her head for instance! Ella, on the other hand, does not accept her fate. So against all odds, she enters an adventure in search of the foolish fairy that can take out the blessing curse. XD Ella Enchanted was my favorite elementary romance-princess novel! The characters, setting, story are all believable and likable. I would like to read this elementary princess novel again! ;)

This book's protagonist, Matilda is a precocious, intelligent and telekinetic little girl who has ignorant and dimwitted parents. Lately, Matilda begins schooling and encounters a loving schoolteacher named Miss Jenny Honey. She is astonished by Matilda's implausible intellectual abilities to the point that she even wants to move her into a higher class, but the school's unsympathetic headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, who disciplines the pupils with abusive physical punishment, turns her down. Miss Honey also tries to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood about Matilda's supreme brainpower, but they don't believe her. One day, Miss Trunchbull visited and checked on Miss Honey's students. She didn't know that that certain instance will change her future, Miss Honey's career and Matilda's life. A lot of surprises happened up to the last story of Matilda. You will love it just like I did! I love Matilda! I'll be very much delighted to have such a good, humble, and precocious daughter like her! ;)

I was a 13 year old teenager when I happened to stumble upon this novel six (6) years ago at my uncle's house. I liked it way before because it was my first tear-jerker romance novel but now, the "Girl-protagonist-dies" routine is very over-rated. The plot is simple. A standard teen fare, wild child in search of redemption and uncool geek fell madly in love with each other. But the way Nicholas Spark's writes made this an extraordinary novel. [TO BE CONTINUED]

I am not sure what to say about this seemingly "Dictionary" type novel. My emotions are quite busted. haha. This is a unique novel written like a dictionary --a series of random words from A to Z each representing something about the protagonist's most recent relationship (The status, heartbreaks, love scenes etc). It kind of resembles to a diary as well. But all in all, I can say is, I think I forgot what I just read. It feels like a book just landed on my hand and read it really fast then zoom! I was like "HEY,I WOULD'VE CHEATED ON YOU TOO." -_- "love, n. I'm not even going to try."

After the tearjerker drama that Slammed #1 offered intensely, I must say that I expected something nice, easy and relaxing life was in stored for our couple (Lake and Will). Slammed's sequel gave action to the lessons we learned from its predecessor book and I think it was done pretty off-guarded. But don't get me wrong, I liked and admire the story and concept even more! Think of it like a score of 9 out 10. Not bad, isn't it? Anyway, this book gave us a preview of our "What If" concerning the lessons we learned from Slammed. Like What if we don't question ourselves before deciding on things and such? And some other things as well. There are minor things I want to point out because it really means a lot to me. Stop Carving Pumpkins. This is Slammed's version for the cliche 'I don't want to talk to you' or the Silent Treatment. I found this humour (yes, I take it as a humour) very hilarious and brillant! I don't know what kind of brain Colleen Hoover has but it's butterflying awesome! (Butterflying. Maybe I would stick to that half-mean half-beautiful and positive word. Hoho) Julia It is kind of directed in the novel the feeling and life without parents. That the thing when your parents die, you feel like instead of going into every fight with backup, you are going into every fight alone. The narrator. I have been in awe when I started reading it and found out that this time; Will is in charge of the wheel. Yes, Slammed #2 is narrated by Will. Another point of view, another perspective. Lastly, I think this book deserves a lot of Basagna! :)

Curiosity has driven me to read Colleen Hover's Slammed series. And I thank Curiosity! This book is a brief and unique version of Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie and For One More Day. And damn I would say that it was much better. It tells us the inevitable things you'll experience in dealing with life. A lesson that everyone must know and remember permanently. The story is great. You don't want me to list all the points. Because the point is (always) poetry. I listed things that have made a big impact to me and also some of Layken's selected moments that I can relate to. And hopefully, it will change some of my outlooks in life. (1) Regretting vs Questioning. How can they be different? Regret is counterproductive. It's a result of what you did back in the past. And you can never change it. Whereas, Questioning is to only question things as they occur can prevent regret in the future. Get it? Questioning prevents regrets from ruining your life. So do not REGRET. Just consult and question yourself with whatever things you do and you will do in the future. (2) The three questions to find your perfect man (Oh damn, I sound like a lady). The three questions Layken's mom uttered was one of the best things in this novel. Especially the third (3rd) question, which is: "And finally, does he inspire you to want to be a better person? You find someone you can answer yes to all three, then you've found a good man." I don't mean to sound bitter (particularly to my last ex) but I regret (oh no) not asking that particular question to myself. Why didn't I think of that? (Whoa. and now that's a good example if you didn't question yourself first. You'd regret the future outcomes...and I did). (3) Of all the things that should make me cry in this novel, I am probably the only person who cried in the part where Kel (Layken's younger brother) asked his mom to make him a "Lung Cancer" for halloween [When it's time to pick Caulder and Kel up, Will still isn't home. I bring both of the boys back to the house and we begin another discussion on Halloween costumes. "I know what I want to be now," Kel says to my mother. She is folding clothes in the living room. She lays a towel on the back of the couch and looks at Kel, "What are you going to be, Sweetie?" He smiles at her. "Your lung cancer," he says.]. I was not just having tears in my eyes but it's more like having two (2) open faucets stuck on both sides of my nose. Even before I read this novel I knew that a mother's love is the purest form of love there is. Her sacrifices, no matter how big or small can make a positive output on you. Love your Mom. Love your Dad. Love your siblings. Love your best friends. Love your friends. Love your teachers. :) NOTE: I LOVE JOHNNY DEPP TOOO! OM <3

I heard about The Sea of Tranquility as one of the books who raised too many stars here on goodreads.com and now it climbed on the top of the bestseller lists!! I've read it last week and I felt like I was reading John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones again because I was emotionally invested in it right away and the novel's characters almost shared the same fate. The characters moved my heart with their sad sad sad stories and I really wanted to heal them, to reach my hands for them! I admire their strength. They are (Josh and Nastya) are incredibly tough persons who are left to deal with their ghastly situations alone, they have no choice but to both feel like no one can grasp what they are dealing with because they refuse to take help from outside. I was having tears in my eyes because the big part of this book hit me, the story had a firm clasp on my heart and I couldn't let go of this. Here is the plot: The story started with a girl named Nastya. She is a beautiful girl who truly reminds me of Susie Salmon (the star in Lovely Bones). She is besieged by her dreams and life as she knew it was shattered into pieces two (2) years ago by a random act of violence. Her life suddenly change path when she met a guy named Josh. That guy is described as a guy who you don't want to mess with. But it turns out that both of them shared a world surrounded by pain, death and self-imposed isolation. Both of them have survived something wounding and dreadful that no one their age should ever have been through. Strange as it seems, they found cure in living with that pain every day just by being together. And so begins their extraordinary, yet beautiful relationship.

Another one of a kind scientific dystopian novel! Same awesome level as George Orwell's 1948 (nineteen forty-eight)! This can also be in the horror genre but without the ghosts, ghouls or any of those kind and even though there is no clear enemy, no apparent reason or cause for the white (literally white) blindness affecting the whole numerous people of the city. The horror in the novel is not the thrill of finding the cause of the white blindness or voracious zombies or anything but it is the inconceivable fragility of our so-called social structure, political or not political. Sometimes we also have to think if our leaders designed our society to keep ourselves safe. The story of Blindness begins on an unnamed city during rush-hour traffic. As the traffic lights change. A random man turns blind. He describes the blindess "swimming in milk". With the help of a seemingly good citizen, he helped the blind man by driving him straight to his home. The "rescuer" departs with the car keys and steals the vehicle. Upon arriving home later that evening, the blind man's wife noticed her husband's blindness. Consequently, the wife and the blind man called and consulted a local ophthalmologist who, after testing the man's eyes, can identify nothing wrong with his sight and recommends further evaluation at a hospital. Several days after, a lot of people turned blind. They call this plague 'White Blindess'. And the government takes all the ill on an asylum and treats them all inhumanly. I love how the novel convinces the readers to see life beyond the rat-race that we are all permanently going through. It let us imagine the circumstances if one of the most precious gifts that we are all blessed with (that of vision) was deprived to everyone for a long time and even just a length of time. In the end, I understand what the novel is trying to say unintentionally. We are so blind of the promises the government is giving to our country that we seem not to take notice of the society itself. The society is blind. The novel is trying to open our eyes to what really cause the blindess in a political community/society. It is not just us, but the social political structure that we designed (voted) to let them keep us safe from any harm. Think wise! hoho. We have to keep an eye for an EYE.

"I've always tried to happen to life; but it's time I let life happen to me." "I think we are just insects, we live a bit and then die and that's the lot. There's no mercy in things. There's not even a Great Beyond. There's nothing." This book has been in my to-read list since forever that's why it feels very fulfilling after reading this ingenious novel. It is one of those books you can't put down. The story is mysteriously captivating and it would make you ask for some more. The Collector is a psychological and suspense novel that tells the story of an impotent sociopath bug collector Fredereick (Freddie) Clegg who is passionately and madly in love with an art student named Miranda Grey. He abducts and imprisons her and gave her anything she likes except her freedom for two (2) months. He kept her unwillingly as a trophy wife by force and not as a sex slave. The story just doesn't wholly revolve around the weird man - Frederick Clegg's life, because the second part of the book came from the victim, Miranda Grey's perspective, adding to the story's uniqueness and nail-biting suspense. The Collector is one of the best psychological novels I've ever read. This classic novel sent chills down my spine several times. The protagonist, Freddie Clegg, is very creepy and exceptional. At first Freddie appears a bit silly and pitiful, but as the story goes on, horror soon steps in. Imagine a man who's fond of collecting beautiful butterflies and then he collects a woman of pure beauty. Totally wicked! I recommend this book highly.

Never Let Me Go is my 1st book by Japanese-born British author Kazuo Ishiguro and it won't definitely be my last. I was taken aback by his style of writing and the way he created and twisted the idea of a Dystopian place. I believe I entered the realm of Gothic darkness while I was reading this novel. It's way more than Fantastic. The story tells the readers one of the scariest ways of the government in dealing their people (I am not going to say how and what scariest ways are those, because I want to create curiosity in your minds. The probability now is that, you will have the motivation to read this novel). It was narrated by a girl named Kathy H. As children, Kathy and her friends, Ruth and Tommy, spend their childhood at a seemingly peaceful boarding school. As years pass by, they grow into young adults (of course), they find that they have to come to terms with the strength of the love they feel for each other, while they didn't notice that the seemingly peaceful school is preparing them for a dreadful reality. *Spoiler Alert* Sorry, but I have to share this heart-breaking scene in the book: In that certain part of the book, A teacher (Madame) explains to the students that the boarding school they went to was paid for donations and fund raising by the government so that they could be brought up like normal people. Before that, they will be modeled on as clones. And the clones will be brought up in concentration camps and treated inhumanly. The whole point of that scene was that Madame and a few others were willing to make great sacrifices because they assumed the clones had the same rights and privileges as all other humans, while the rest of the world thought of them only as livestock that were being raised for consumption. Never Let Me Go will stay with me forever. The ending left me with a lot of inquiries. What if this is really the reality that awaits us (people on the average social class)? Are we going to be used as lab rats and after we are "completed" we get nothing in return? However, we all in a sense, share a similar fate. Life is short, live and love while you can.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon can be simply compared with R.J Palacio's Wonder for the reason that these novels tend to explain the situation of "special boys (boys who are born with unusual circumstances). However, in the case of August Pullman (the boy in WONDER), his mind works out the way it is. Not extraordinary but normal whereas Christopher John Francis Boone has odd but extremely gifted talents (talents in the mind that will surely blow you away). Christopher, a fifteen-year-old boy born with a bizarre range of conditions classified as pervasive developmental disorder, lives with his father. His father explains that his mother, Judy, died two years ago because of severe heart attack. One night, while Christopher is still wondering in his room he discovers the dead body of Wellington, the neighbor's dog (Mrs. Shears' Dog), stabbed by a garden fork. Shocked with what he saw, he consequently began investigating who killed the neighbor's dog. Little did he know that, he would unexpectedly unlock all the mysteries that have been seemingly bugging him two (2) years ago. I know sometimes you hate meddling kids, but hey! Christopher is different, surely he is extremely intelligent when it comes to Math and Science (academics in general) but, he still doesn't understand human feelings. I remember a scene in the book where he doesn't seem to comprehend the feeling brought by the truth he learned instead he just hugged his knees and throw sick around the place. Anyway, although it takes a lot of Understanding and Patience to love these kids (August Pullman and Christopher Boone) we must bear in mind that they didn't choose their situation. We must learn the concept of acceptance because if you don't; you will be considered as one of the worst dudes ever. :p

SALYMAR'S REVIEW Coming soon... http://www.goodreads.com/starryfields Fantastic.

"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house All that cold, cold, wet day." -First paragraph in the Cat in the Hat story. I remember it like it was yesterday ;) The Cat In the Hat was meant to be one of the first books a child could learn to read (in advance if you ask me 'cause the book also includes rhythm, proper pronounciation and spelling! ;p) It also featured lots of meaningful and colorful words to go along with the wonderful illustrations in the modern era of children whose mom always leaves home for work. I love Dr Seuss since I was a kid. In fact, I always quote one of his best motivational sayings, the famous: "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

"I understand what you're saying, and your comments are valuable, but I'm gonna ignore your advice." -- Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox This short story reminded me of the The Three little pigs. The three little pigs here in the story are the farmers except that they are dumber, clumsier and stinkier. haha!

Frankly, this is an okay (average 2/5 stars) and bloody novel with a nice concept but I was just mainly annoyed by two facts which entirely destroyed the books' reputation. First, Anytime these Lorien Gards (Loric Guards) have their opportunity to plan and defeat all the Mogs,they didn't do it! They just stood around messing like children with their mouth open wasting time until the Mogadorians have the chance to attack them. ARGH! Here's the bottommost fact I detest the most, I hated how the author didn't just squeeze a little romance but he made that puppy love (I am pointing out Four and Sarah) revolve around the story too much! grr. I am Number Four's concept should have only focused on how the remaining Loric Guards defeat the Mogadorians because this is a Young Adult action novel so to speak.

I have to be completely honest. I was really, really, reaaaally expecting big things from this novel because its predecessor left all of us hanging. The book#1 background stories of its characters are all bland which led to a huge disappointment. That is why I was simultaneously sceptical as well. And now, from the bottom of my heart, I comment that this very rare sequel live up more to the grandeur of the initial book. Suffice to say that my scepticism was very short lived as this book answered all my queries! The story of the second book revolves around two of the famous heroes or members of the Garde (Loric) named Marina (Six) and [the covent life of] Seven. I must compare, John Smith (Four) powers are just simple and weak whereas Marina (Six) powers are AWESOME. Rarely do a girl hero succeed more than the guy. Haha! Girl power! LOL. Anyway, The story alternates between Number Four and his bestfriend Sam and also Number Six in search for the other members of the remaining Loric Garde.

This is a modern SCI-FI story about aliens with the sole purpose of destroying earth and other civilizations. The story started with the complicated deaths of Lorics (aliens whose physical appearances are better than human) particularly numbered with names such as Number one (1), two (2) and three (3) respectively on earth. Specifically nine (9) Lorics and their Cecan (Guardians) have been hiding on Earth from their destroyer known as the Mogadorians for over ten (10) years after their planet Lorien was destroyed. Anyway, due to some sort of spell or charm (as they call it) the Mogadorians are forced to kill the nine remaining Lorien kids in the proper order (the spell requires that the Lorics can only be killed in numerical order) and Number Four is next on the line. And this is Number Four's story. Well, I think this book didn't catch me with all its hot-aliens hook for the reason that, even though Pittacus Lore have created the idea of beautiful aliens and such, still, all of the characters' personalities are bland with so little back story like for example: we find out barely nothing about John's (Number Four) past life and his parents that lead to frustration rather than intrigue. Also, the dialogue is very weak (But I tried to forgive the author for having such weak dialogues, because its targeted and preferred readers are very young people...i think). THREE STARS! :)

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is one of the seemingly thrilling novel about a life of a Dominican boy named Oscar and his family. I was extremely slow in pace since I need my ipod nearby the entire time, with Spanish to English translator open. This was also annoying because it meant that I couldn't really read on the car or elsewhere without an internet connection, unless I wanted to miss half of the story. I will skip my rage and proceed to what makes this novel beautiful. One of the interesting things about this novel is that it covertly tells the effect of recent democratic changes, independence and slavery, arrival of the Spanish and the Americans in 1492 in the modern Dominican Republic. [FYI, the Dominican Republic was twice been a colony of Spain (1821 and 1865) not to mention the Three (3) Gs: "God, gold, and glory".] I'm sure most of us who have read this had been contemplating what the Dominican History has to do with Ghetto Geeks and Oscar but at the same time it's hard to wonder why Oscar has to go through so much trouble. People exist in geek circles, but does Oscar's atomosphere of geekiness produces dirty air in public and among Dominican people? And what does any of this have to do with the sad history of the Dominican Republic? These are the crazy questions I asked myself upon finishing The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao....and then, it hit me. I realized that the answers were all the same. Diaz illustrates through Oscar the sad truth of people who have suffered in pain and are rarely made better in Dominican History. Diaz's history of the Dominican Republic describes a nation that went through colonial rule and dictatorship to a military state in which neighbors betray one another for personal and material gain and sadly, to avenge petty fights and misunderstandings. I will not forget how the story depicts a corrupt modern era in which cruelty is the order of the day. -_-

[image error] [Click see review to view the image] oooh! I found Harry Potter's copy of the book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!" on the intanet (actually, internet. Just trying to sound like I have the awesome British accent - I am never going to be good at that) This book is home of almost 60+ beasts found in the famous Harry Potter series (with Potter's funny descriptions and comments of each beasts --that is almost on every page). haha! Harry Potter and his friends needed this book in the 1991-1992 school year(I think that was in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone or Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) but they did not start to care for Magical Creatures and Beasts until the 1993-1994 school year. And also, Dumbledore states that this book is required for Care of Magical Creatures in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. "My brother Charlie was the outdoors type, so he went for Care of Magical Creatures." --Percy Weasley

I browsed through quite a few reviews here before writing my own, and I was surprised that many have the same issues while reading this - "I WAS BUSY" drama. We were all busy that we had to set this aside for a bit and for a long time. Since the story is pretty the same with Charles Dodgson's highly acclaimed 'Alice in Wonderland' I didn't find it hard to grasp. Admittedly, for the time I haven't thought of finishing this, I used this children-like book as a bed time story. It really helped a lot (for making me sleep ;p). (One more thing, I am devoted to my religion but I have read this with open mind. I believe we all have different faith and morally things that we truly believe). This is one of the few books who will soon be considered as an academic material for philosophy class. It is still not credited in some schools because this philosophical text is pretending to be a novel (and I was a victim of it as well but it's a good thing). The book comprises of almost 10 philosophical topics but I summarized it and only wrote some of the major parts of the story, particularly: The Garden of Eden- believed to be the first "garden of God" The Top Hat- A creative chapter where it describes how we are similar to a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat. Hence, life itself is like a magic trick, and philosophers must always observe it with wonder. The Myths- This part of the 'letter' explains the situation leading up to the beginning of Western philosophy and Norwegian philosophy (THOR, my love ;p), before the Greek philosophers and so, it explained how people live a life through myths--stories about the gods. It all started with these three major concerns and the philosopher's first few questions to Sophie: who she is and where the world came from. Those (of course) made her think. These questions are undemanding and easy to ask but almost unattainable, but what is most astounding of all is that people already stopped asking those questions. That is where Sophie realizes that she has never really thought about these things before, and when she does she understands that nothing could be more important. It seems that knowing who we really are is necessary for our lives to have meaning and significance. Beyond that, we live in the world, and are in invariable interaction with nature, yet most people take that interaction for granted and do not stop to consider how the world itself came about. As little children we are tremendously inquisitive, and we wonder about everything, but as life goes on we begin to take certain things for granted even though we do not understand them. [I remember my old little self hanging on the cliche: "THAT'S NOT FAIR!". Even of the smallest child, I remember making such statement and I never thought that certain instance made me prove that I AM DEDICATED TO GO TO LAW. Justice is what I already know surprisingly since I was a child.] The Natural Philosophers, Democritus, and Fate- Ancient Greece up to the present moment. In this chapter, Sophie finds that everything she learns seems to make sense to her and she finds it extremely applicable to life. Philosophy is not an activity that takes place outside of everyday life. In fact, philosophy has become a regular part of Sophie's life,like science. The Major's Cabin and Aristotle- In a way, after reading about Plato, Sophie's life has become majorly intact with philosophy. Her sensory experiences--the postcards sent to Hilde, the mirror that blinked at her--are in direct conflict with what her reason tells her could be possible. The same conflict between what perception and reason that the ancient Greek philosophers struggled with has become valid within Sophie's life. Everyone faces this sort of conflict, but this time for Sophie, it has become critically real. The Renaissance and The Baroque- Birth of modern diplomacy (I learned this from my history class and International Relations ;p). Aside from that, this is the part where Sophie learns about philosophy being a continual and integral part and task for humanity. Why? Well, in a way people ask questions that may not be answerable in an attempt to better understand life and existence. Darwin and Freud- Darwinism. The ideas that have now pass through our time period, in spite that we probably cannot specifically identify them while we are in that certain period, it may lead to a large amount of problems that we soon are going to try to solve and set the limits for the solutions. Our Own Time and The Garden Party-The author seems to wholeheartedly embrace existentialism (e.g works of ALBERT CAMUS). Although all of the other philosophy that has been studied has much to offer, it seems clear that one must find meaning within life. Counterpoint and The Big Bang- Not much to say but we must ought to know that in an attempt to understand the universe is the same as an attempt to understand ourselves. In short, the course chronologically covers thirty major periods, schools of thought, and philosophers from the pre-Socrates to Aristotle, Aquinas, and Hegel to the Big Bang. Each is presented in an accessible chapter of a dozen pages, with the philosophy teacher simplifying and clarifying points for Sophie. "The notion of a separate organism is clearly an abstraction, as is also its boundary. Underlying all this is unbroken wholeness, even though our civilisation has developed in such a way as to strongly emphasise the separation into parts." The Undivided Universe, by D. Bohm and B.J. Hiley

I loved Charlotte's Web as much as I love 21st century books! The novel tells the story of a hyperactive pig named Wilbur. People such as Mr. Arable see him as a runt trouble-maker pig and so he's thinking of killing the little pig Wilbur. But Wilbur, thinking about almost anything under the sun have seen that thought sooner. He already have set his mind that there will be a time where he'll eventually end up on the dinner table. Knowing Mr Arable's plan of dispatching him, the pig decided to make plans with the help of a wise spider named, Charlotte. I love how the novel's creativity defines teamwork and justice. Oh, also Charlotte tells as that we should keep our eyes open for small miracles that happen and can happen around us anytime. This is a kind of book you read as a kid, and still smile when you think about it. Highly Recommended! :)

The Curse of the Mummy was the fifth book in the Goosebumps book series. This was an alright story because the concept is very common. I've seen stories similar like this from various sources. Well, this is how story goes: Gabe Hassard is spending Christmas vacation in Egypt with his parents. Gabe's parents own a company, so they are in Egypt for business. However, Gave's Uncle Ben is working at the pyramids and so they take the opportunity to see him. They visited Uncle Ben in Giza and then the story goes on and a mummy appeared to take them all out. that's it -_-

I love goosebumps when I was a kid and this was one of my favorites. 'Say Cheese and Die!' was the fourth book in the Goosebumps awesome book series. The story starts with Greg finding an old camera at a spooky house owned by Mr. Spidey (a strange old-man with spider-like appearance). Greg's very amuse with the idea of having a camera so he began by taking a picture of his friend Michael who is leaning on the stair railing. Suddenly, the railing gives way and Michael falls. Michael obviously got hurt upon the uncanny landing. Greg surprisingly discovers that the picture does not show Michael standing by the stair railing but instead FALLING. Caught dumbfounded, Greg and his friends continued to investigate and discover the unearthly events the "evil" camera had caused to go along with them. Years after years, I found out that there's a sequel to it (forty-fourth book): Say Cheese and Die - Again!, and Say Cheese - And Die Screaming!

It does not matter how old I get because this was probably my favorite and the creepiest Goosebump series I have read in my elementary years. The idea of a DUMMY that talks and stalks totally wacked my brain out! Totally wicked! :p The story is about Kris and her twin sister Lindy Powell who both love to play with dolls and dummies (just like a typical princess-brat girls). One day Lindy, found a dummy (she named it Slappy) for her to play with. The twin sisters started to fight over the dummy so their father decided to buy a dummy for Kris. So Kris named the new dummy Mr. Wood thinking it was a perfectly nice dummy. Days have passed and the dummy started acting suspicious because when Kris and Lindy try to play with it...it started to move by itself! Bewildered and breathless, the twin sisters started to get rid of Mr.Wood but the dummy is so strong and wicked it even strangled and killed the family dog, Barky! The ending was unpredictably scary because when they got rid of the evil dummy Mr. Wood and went home, Slappy (the other dummy that Lindy found in the garbage) says to Kris, who is going to shut the open window at their room, "Hey, slave - is that other guy gone? I thought he'd never leave!". Seriously, I had goosebumps! Spooky isn't?! The following scary questions actually started to nag me night after night after reading this: What if you had a favorite dummy but then you speechlessly figured out it was haunting you? What if you had a dummy who you must obey or else it would kill your loved ones? Well that is exactly what happened to Lindy and Kris in the book Night of the Living Dummy by R.L. Stine! I must say (again) that this was one of the greatest and well-remembered CHILHOOD BOOK in my life! :3

Welcome to Dead House was the first book in the Goosebumps book series. I read it in our allotted library hours back in my elementary school. I appreciated this a lot more because this was my first goosebumps book. The story starts with Josh and Amanda moving with their parents into a relic of a house willed to them by their late uncle. Amanda and Josh felt sad about their uncle and they are not too thrilled about the new house or town. Amanda tries to give a chance on liking the new place but strange things start to happen. Amanda sees and hears stuff in her room. And when their dog, Petey, goes missing, Josh and Amanda find out the town's bloody secret.

TAGLINE: IT LOOKS COULD KILL. This stand second among the list of my favorite goosebumps book series! :) R.L. Stine's 'The Haunted Mask' is the eleventh book in the series of the higly-acclaimed Goosebumps. This book follows a girl named Carly Caldwell who was teased of being the most unscary girl in the block when it comes to halloween costumes and the like. So, Carly founds herself at a Halloween store and buys a downright scary looking mask, little does she know that after putting on the mask, she starts acting differently and ominously. Soon, she discovers that the mask has become attached to her face and she is unable to take it off but the biggest problem she must face is to how to stop herself in making evil deeds and killing off her loved ones. Luckily, she found a way to get rid off the mask but now she must be extra careful, because once she puts on the mask the third time...it can never be removed and the evil will stay with her forever.

Have you ever felt that a huge crowd has been watching you and staring straight right at your face? Have you caught your best friend trash-talking you just to be on the popular side? Have you ever thought how those people WONDER? WONDER why they badly care? WONDER why don't they get the deal obviously? WONDER why they don't accept people as who they are?WONDER why should they waste time mumbling in and out of the business of others? WONDER why they lack the sense of sensitivity? If I would have the time to jot down the WONDERS I had during and after I have read this...it would take forever. This WONDERful story started with August Pullman -- the child that was born with unusual sickness, the mandibulofacial dysostosis caused by an autosomal recessive mutation in the TCOF1 gene, which is located on chromosome 5, complicated by a hemifacial microsomia characteristic of OAV spectrum, in simpler words, his face's sickly deformed. Auggie's parents, Isabel and...I forgot his dad's name were forced to homeschool him for years. One time, they decided to enroll Auggie to school but only if Auggie says he's ready. And unexpectedly, Auggie agreed for he know what sort of trouble and pain he will get into. But what surprised Auggie was the pain brought by the one he trusts. Auggie has better senses than any normal human being. I wouldn't call it a supernatural power or chemically created power brought by the surgeries he had but, he has the unique ability to see things and keep it really quietly because he exclusively understands (It kind of reminds me of being a wallflower actually). Moreover, as a child, he knows his place, he knows what's happening and he never argues with it (well, maybe sometimes...you know every child has tantrums and a blasted curious minds). Going beyond the story, I really have this urge to comment about being RUDE. If you see a man with an unusual face, would you actually tell your friend or the person beside you "hey, the man looks weird, he has long mustache and a big nose and all" barefacedly? I mean, what are you trying to get?! What could you possibly get from destroying a person's ego? If you can't help it, DON'T YOU THINK IT'S TIME TO ACT AMBIGUOUSLY? I mean come on! Haven't you heard the thing called "SELF-RESPECT"? Lastly, a unique boy like Auggie sees what we see and feels what we feel (if you know what I mean) that's why we better not judge that boy by his face. Heck, we better NOT JUDGE ANYONE without knowing who he/she is and regardless of his/her status in life.

If you were inspired by Tuesdays with Morrie and For One More Day, I bet you will love this book :) The story started with an 82-year-old man named Eddie. He works as a maintenance man at a Carnival near his home. One day, his time has finally come to meet his final rest. But before that happens, he must first learn the foremost moving lessons from his life through five people. Five People, Five Lessons I listed the Five Lessons Eddie have heard and learned from the Five People he met in Heaven. There are no Random Acts. People are all connected; accidents all happened for a reason and a cause. And from that, we get the reason that anyone's life cannot be separated from each other. Sacrifice. Everybody makes sacrifices but sometimes people get angry over theirs and they would end up thinking about what they have lost. Sacrifices do not necessarily mean that you are going to lose something precious, always think that it only means that you are passing it on to someone else. Anger. Anger is a poison. It eats you from the inside. People get the wrong idea that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we also do to ourselves. Memory. Memory is always your partner. You may have lost somebody you love but they will always be there, alive and well in your memory. Forgiveness. Forgiving starts with you and ends in forgiving others whole-heartedly.

Every Day by David Levithan. I'm going to make this review short as possible. It's not me, it's the book. Since almost everyone I know has given this book a pretty high rating, I figure reviewing this is pretty pointless. I'll be straight to the point. I was completely (THROUGH AND THROUGH) deadly disgusted disappointed with this book. Definitely not my cup of tea. Not my type of book. Despite its superbly impressing/ interesting plot. This book left so many questions unanswered, so many creepy unrelated dialogues and mind-numbing scenes. Although, I must say, I was totally excited to read this book initially. And my expectations went from 90% DOWN TO 5%. I know you wouldn't expect that because I have rated this book 2/5 stars. Well, that's because I hate criticizing books of famous and allegedly good authors so I sucked up a little bit and gave this book 2 (two) stars. Some say this book had all the things you may be looking for a book. As i browse among other reviewers majority say:It had mystery, it had romance, but most of all, it made you want to turn the page again and again and again and again!' MY REACTION: there's no mystery in this novel, well, yes, you can say that A's astral projection-like transformation or whatever you like to call it is a mystery, but dang it didn't make me want to turn the pages again and again. I hated it. From the start, I must say that I was sort-of not bothered by the lack of answers. It was pretty obvious from the first few pages that Levithan isn't the sort of author who really cares about those details. So since I could tell I wasn't going to get the kind of story I would have liked, I instead focused on the story we did get. And I MUST SAY (ARGH-AIN) that the story we did get is, entirely NOT GOOD. And one of the reviewer goes: "One the things that I didn't like so much about this book was that even though I knew A didn't have a gender, the whole time I was reading it I always imagined A as a boy. So when A woke up in the bodies of girls I found it quite hard to get my head around!". Well, my opinion is: This is possibly the only book I've read that has ever inspired my covered feelings of disgust because I realized that I hated everything about A. Especially on how A stole or went inside different human bodies. When I say DIFFERENT HUMAN BODIES, I meant every class you think there is (except ages ranging from 17 above). Maybe. Just maybe this book wasn't for me...

A child can never choose between his/her mom and dad. In fact, a child can have both. A child can never be complete without the love and care of his/her mother and the guidance of his/her father. This is a one-of-a-kind novel that reminds us how precious the little time we all have and how more valuable time with our family is much more important. Cherish the moments before they're gone. The story started with Chick Benetto's struggles with his wife and daughter about 8 years after his mother, Pauline 'Posey' Benetto died. He decides to die for the depressing reasons he had with his family and because he is still racked with guilt about not being there when his mother died. So this man (Chick Benetto) got lucky (yes, that's the way I see it) because he was given the opportunity to spend one day with his late loving mother. I love how the novel demanded to be FELT. I seriously wept a lot (crazily a LOT) after I have read this, particularly when I read about the part where Chick shared his "The time my mother stood up for me" and "The time I didn't stand up for my mother" moments. Now, I can't help myself but to share the heart-warming lessons I picked out from the novel: A mother's love is the purest form of love there is. No matter what happens, no matter what and how you feel, what you think or what you've done and no matter how much you argue, your mom will still be the person who can understand you. [page 3(PDF file) "Come on, Charley, what's the story? But she wasn't around, and that's the thing when your parents die, you feel like instead of going into every fight with backup, you are going into every fight alone."] Sacrifices. The sacrifices your parents do/did no matter how big or small can make a positive output to you and your family. [page 76 (PDF file) 'SHE WAS YOUR FATHER'S WIFE...I tried to picture that awful moment. In a car, after midnight, with the windows rolled up-from the outside, two figures silently screaming. I tried to picture how our family slept in one house while another family slept in another, and both had my father's clothes hanging in the closet. I tried to picture charming Posey of Pepperville Beach losing her old life that night, crying and screaming as it all collapsed in front of her. And I realized that, on the list of Times My Mother Stood Up for Me, this would have to go at the top. Furthermore, FORGIVING YOURSELF is one of the few steps to a better life. It is never too late to make the most out of your life. LOVE CHOOSES NO AGE, NO TIME AND NO CHANCES. So GIVE LOVE and do not WASTE it. For everyday you have the right to choose, to live the life fruitfully or mess with it. I CANNOT, REALLY, I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS HIGHLY ENOUGH!! PLEASE, HAVE THE TIME TO SIT BACK, RELAX, HOLD A BOX OF TISSUE AND READ THIS. P.S: I LOVE YOU MOM, I LOVE YOU EVERYDAY!

** spoiler alert ** Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway is a short story about abortion, feminism and relationship. The story is set on a bar section of a train set to Madrid. Simple as they can appear, an American man (who is not named) and a girl named Jig are sitting and having an intense and enduring discussion over whether or not Jig will get an abortion. The American man, however, tries to convince Jig that undergoing abortion is just easy as pie which is completely insulting. At the end of the story, the train is about to arrive to its destination and the outcome of their discussion is still unclear because the last words she said were: "I feel fine". We are now left wondering if she went through with the operation or not. Significance of the Title: Hills like White Elephants Hills: Hills are curved land formation. If we draw a hill vertically (position it on a portrait vision) it will look like a pregnant woman (the hill acting as the womb of a woman). Take for example the letter 'b'. :) White Elephants: White elephants signifies a precious item. In the story it describes the hill (The baby inside the womb). A white elephant is very rare and a beautiful gift to some culture but its cost perhaps surpasses its usefulness. Suppose, you give someone a gift like White Elephant, it will become totally useless to the recipient. And that is exactly the reality of what Jig is going through. She has received a gift (the baby on her womb) which is, at that time in her life, useless to her because it was unexpected. It is also a gift that could be priceless to another.

I read this for our Literature Class. This is a fun classic read. An awesome read. http://www.goodreads.com/starryfields

FOR A GIRL THAT IS TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH FOUR. THIS IS TOTALLY A DREAM-BOMB! FANTASTIC!