These are the books that I’m hoping to finish this month.
As you all know, I’ve read the second book in the Mara Dyer series last November and I was hunting down the third book right after I finished reading it, but it always seemed out of stock, but just a few weeks ago, my officemate told me he saw it in a Fullybooked branch near their place in QC and yeah, I asked him to buy it for me. Finally, I’d be able to know the conclusion to Mara and Noah’s story! Meanwhile, I stumbled upon Kissing Ted Callahan and Other Boys yesterday and the cover was just so cute and I knew that I just had to have it!
There are so many things I’m looking forward to this month and I just can’t wait! Commissioner’s Cup will also start next week, so yeah, more basketball! Yay!
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been fascinated whenever I see someone reading a book. It always seems to me that they shut the world out and they’re in a different dimension, but what really started this hobby was when our English teacher asked us to read Plagues and Federation: Diary of Kitty Barnes by Vashti Farrer for our book report and then I started reading Nicholas Sparks books and it was heavenly and after that, I never really knew how to leave the house without anything to read inside my bag anymore.
These days, I find it really hard to squeeze in some reading because I’ve been busy with a lot of things; Work, family, basketball and other stuff too. I was still able to finish reading one or two books a month during the past year but this year, so far, I suck at my reading challenge/status. I still haven’t finished anything since 2016 started and I’m really frustrated about it.
I’m currently stuck with White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout and it’s really going well and I don’t have a decent excuse about not being able to finish it other than I usually just end up sleeping when I get home from work. So, yeah. Boo me.
The whole Christmas vacation, I thought, would be the best time to finish a lot of the books that were sitting on my shelf for a very long time but, well, that didn’t happen. I only finished one book during that two-week vacation and it was Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour.
The first time I tried to read this book was last November and I didn’t get the chance to finish reading it because the first few chapters was a tad bit too sad for my life. I haven’t picked it up until last December when the Christmas vacation started and from then on, I knew that I had to finish reading it.
I can’t believe I went across different states of America while sitting on our patio. It was the greatest and sweetest road trips I’ve ever had. While reading the book, though, I always find Amy very… sad. I don’t blame her, though. She’s been through so much for a 17-year-old and though she sometimes frustrates me and makes me wanna shake her up and tell her that everything’s gonna be okay, I still understand that she actually has every right to feel and act that way.
Roger, on the other hand, was the sweetest thing I’ve ever fallen in love with. He was just the perfect guy for the loneliest girl in the whole of California. It was a very awkward trip for the two of them but along the way, they managed to learn so many things about each other and they’ve developed a really strong friendship. Roger has his own issues and I really, really love the way he dealt with all of them.
All in all, this book made me smile at the end. It may not have been the best ending for everyone, but I liked it. It just makes it more realistic.
“If you don’t feel great on the inside, just look great on the outside and after a while you won’t be able to tell the difference.”
To All The Girls Whose Hearts Were Broken By The Man They Thought Would Never Hurt Them,
How have you been lately? Aren’t you tired of crying yourself to sleep almost every night after he left? I hope you are because no matter how much you cry or how much sleep you lose, it wouldn’t change the fact that he’s gone. Stop waking up every morning with the hope that he will hit your phone up or will change his mind, instead, do something that will change the way you see things. Focus on yourself and figure out how to get over this mess you’re in.
I know it hurts. I know how much it hurts to accept it, I know how much it hurts to be replaced and I know how much it hurts to be betrayed. I know, because I’ve been there. I know that you’re still trying to understand how all this happened and how you didn’t know about it. I know that you’re still trying to blame yourself for not being good enough for him.
I know how hard it is to let go, move on, forgive and forget. It’s never too easy to do all those things at once, especially when you’ve poured your heart out loving him, especially when you’ve invested so much for the relationship to work. I know how hard it is to let go of something you once thought would last forever.
But the thing is, people change and sometimes, they turn out to be the person they swore they’d never be. Sometimes, they turn into this monster you’ve always been afraid of and you should know that. You should learn to realize that this person, the one who’s causing you so much pain isn’t the same person you fell in love with all those years or months back. Don’t let the same face confuse you because what’s important is what lies inside.
One thing I thought of during that tragic experience that helped me move on is this: Do I want to be stuck here for the rest of my life? Do I want to spend all my waking hours with this monster? No. And at that point, I knew that I should walk away and I did. Without looking back, without second thoughts. I let him go and let him be with the other girl. I did not lose, though. To tell you the truth, I won. Because I found my freedom and I turned out to be stronger, better and wiser.
So to everyone who doesn’t think they can do it, I’m writing this for you to tell you that you can and you will get over it. There’s so many things out there to be happy about, don’t let yourself stay in a situation where all you feel is pain. Spread out your wings, it may be a little bit bent but you can still fly.
So last Monday, I finally received the book my blogger friends and I are passing along to read for our little book club. This is the pilot testing of our project, the original plan is to read one book per month but since we are all too busy with school/work, it took a lot of time to read. Since it’s just the pilot testing, that’s okay, at least we already know what to do next time.
So for our first project, we decided to pass along Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.
Project Annotations means that we could do anything we want to the book while reading it. Highlight quotes, underline phrases or words, write comments on a certain chapter, write sticky notes, etc. Anything as long as the owner of the book approves.
So far, I have only read three chapters. I’ve been really busy with work and when I get home, I usually just immediately pass out, so I have little time for reading. Hopefully, I make a lot of progress during the weekend since it’s a holiday on Monday!
I’m the third person to read the book and there will be someone after me and then we’ll be passing along another book. So, you see, this is a mini book club with some of my blogger friends here. And while this is really enjoying, I find it really weird to write stuff on a book. It’s just…. I don’t really do that often. Wait, I don’t really do that. So this project is very new to me but so far, I am enjoying the process.
Another book I’ve finished during the APEC week was The Future of Us. Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler’s combination came out pretty amazing. It was just a very light read, which is a perfect pause from the dark and crazy world of Mara Dyer.
Set in 1996, Emma gets a new computer from his dad and her best friend, Josh, who she hasn’t spoken with for a while comes over her house with a CD-ROM with 100 free hours on AOL and as it was installed they discovered that it comes with something called Facebook. As they surfed through this webpage, they suddenly found their 30-year-old selves’ own Facebook page. Yeah, you got that right. W T F.
The Future of Us was just unputdownable. It simply shows us that a simple ripple in the “now” can create big changes in the future. It also shows us how we cannot let the fear of the future affect how we live in the present.
And while I am not really sure that a lot of people would love this book as much as I did, this book is certainly recommended for everyone.
“I’ve always protected myself when it comes to love. And maybe that’s the problem. By not letting myself get hurt now, it ripples into much bigger pain later.”
The APEC week turned out pretty well for me. I filed a leave from work last November 17 & 20 while 18 & 19 are special holidays because of the APEC, making it a 6-day vacation.
Our family stayed at our rest house in Tagaytay to get away from the noise of the city thus, to have a peaceful rest. I brought this book with me and since I haven’t really finished a single book since August, I didn’t bring any other book with it because this book is a 525-page book and to my surprise, I managed to finish it in two days. I just couldn’t put it down! I loved the first book but the second book is just so freaking great that it actually drove me crazy myself!
This series just keeps intensifying as we get nearer to the conclusion of Mara and Noah’s story. Everything in this book just kept me guessing and guessing. I love the writing, I love the creepiness. I love the suspense. Everything in this book is just plain a w e s o m e. I’m sorry if I can’t write a review that will give justice to this book because I honestly, I don’t have the right words to express my love and adoration for this trilogy and for Michelle Hodkin as well.
As I finished reading the book on the second day, I just felt the urge to get a copy of the last one so I immediately went to the nearest bookstore to buy it but unfortunately, it was already out of stock so, yes, the ending made my stomach turn because I was so freaking eager to continue reading and to find out what happens next!!
All in all, this book was amazing and was written very, very, very well.
“Just because you can’t prove something, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.”
I’ve been kind of busy with life lately. Trying to find myself in the midst of everything that happened this year and so far, I’m happy with the little things unfolding before my eyes and yesterday, I thanked God for all the things he has blessed me with, I know that what he took away is leading me to something better. It feels very calming to know that things have changed for the better and losing a few people isn’t always a bad thing.
I am currently enjoying every moment of my life and I’ve learned not to let negative things and people affect my vibe and so far, it’s going pretty well. The past three weeks has been a mix and clash of so many things and to make it up, here’s what transcribed:
Lunch out with the whole team @ Kenny Roger’s.
Watched Goosebumps with my bestfriend x Thai food for lunch!
Visited my Grandpa’s brother @ Victoria, Laguna which has always been a peaceful place for me.
Stayed at our rest house in Tagaytay during the APEC week. The signal may have been really crappy, I can’t send a text properly and I didn’t have a decent connection to the internet as well, but I’ve had a really great time. It was such a great time to rest and unwind from all the things happening in the city. Plus, I’ve managed to finish reading two awesome books in just four days! It’s been a really long while since that happened and I’m very happy about it!
Also, we went to Ayala to eat lunch during our last day in Tagaytay and this shop caught my attention because it’s so pretty!
So, that’s just about it! I’m currently reading the last book in The Mortal Instruments series which is the City of Heavenly Fire. It’s quite a long read, over 700+ pages, I think, but I woke up one day and just wanted to know how Clary and Jace’s story will end. I’ve actually bought this the day it was released and I kept it in my shelf for a year because I didn’t think I was ready to end their story, but recently, I’ve been craving for the old Shadowhunter feeling so.
I’ll probably write a quick review about what I think about the two books I finished reading over the short vacation that I’ve had in the next few days, so until then, I’ll leave you with this cliche of a quote, but I’ve recently proven to be true:
One day, I woke up with the sudden realization that I have to work on my dream of becoming a writer. I’ve already wasted a year of not doing anything about it that it started to haunt me everywhere.
I’ve always said that I really wanted to take up Journalism because writing has always been something I am fond of doing but my parents didn’t want me to. So instead, I took up a course that I didn’t really like. I survived school, I graduated on time, I can also say that I made my parents proud but I didn’t make myself proud. I went and marched on that stage a year ago with a smile on my face that everyone thought was so genuine but it wasn’t. That night, when I got home, I stayed awake until dawn… It hurt, it hurt so much that I felt it in my bones.
The next day, I woke up and promised myself to practice and never stop writing no matter what. I did. I wrote book reviews, I wrote about sports, I wrote personal experiences, I wrote about everything I could write about.
Yesterday, a friend asked me what course I took up in college and the conversation went on and on until I opened up about always wanting to take up Journalism. He told me that he would try to refer me to a friend of his who works in a known newspaper company and my eyes automatically lit up. I considered that conversation a sign that I should do something about this dream of mine sooner or later. I don’t want to regret not being able to pursue it when I grow old.
Today, the PBA Board of Governors released 17 players to the national team pool making them the available players for Gilas Pilipinas in the Olympic wildcard qualifiers in July 2016.
The players released by the PBA Board of Governors are LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar, Calvin Abueva, Terrence Romeo, Marcio Lassiter, Greg Slaughter, June Mar Fajardo, Gabe Norwood, Jayson Castro, Paul Lee, Matt Rosser, Ryan Reyes, Marc Pingris, Ian Sangalang, Troy Rosario, Ranidel de Ocampo and Jeff Chan.
The Samahan Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) shall release a final line-up of 12 players to include the naturalized player by the end of January 2016.
Starting in November, the players will start preparing for the Olympic Qualifiers with a schedule of Monday practices before they step up on their training in June.
Lenn of Spades ♠ 