26 Titles Since Year 1

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Photo taken by: JNVQ

It’s my birthday today, and this quarantine kind of sucks because I can’t celebrate it with the one person I would have loved to spend it with but I just keep in mind that this is all for the best. We need to stay separated for a while now, so that we can spend more birthdays together in the future.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been doing blog posts about the lessons I’ve learned in my x number of years here on Earth. This year, I thought that maybe I could tweak the concept a little because to be honest, I’m running out of lessons to take note of. Not that I do not learn new things anymore, but it’s just so hard to jot them down year after year. Also, to be honest, I feel like most of the lessons I write were carried over from the past year. So yeah, that concept kinda gets boring in time.

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Quarantine Book Recommendation

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Hey, everyone! I know this is a troubling time for all of us. I, personally, suffer from anxiety attacks every once in while whenever I think about the situation that we are all facing today, especially when I come to the realization that we do not know when this global crisis will end.

We are all well-aware that this is a very serious issue and I am, by no means, disregarding the situation, but trying to avoid and spend a little time away from social media and other things that could possibly increase my anxiety per day would help. We all just need to make sure that we are responsible enough to stay indoors for the time-being until all this is over. I cannot stress this enough, and I think I’ve mentioned this in all my social media platforms: Remember, the more we stay indoors and practice social distancing, the sooner we can go back to our normal lives.

So aside from doing my part in making sure to stay indoors to help stop the spread of this virus, I thought that, as a reader, I could at the very least make a recommendation post for readers out there who are stuck at home or even just for the general public who wonders, “What good book should I read next?” Continue reading

Eureka! Moment #2: Book Shields

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I am not really a fan of e-books and audio books because of the following reasons:

  1. I love the scent of physical books.
  2. I enjoy flipping through a book’s pages.
  3. For e-books, I honestly get a migraine when I’m reading from my phone. Don’t get me wrong, I do e-copies of books sometimes, especially when a certain book that I want to read is not available in the Philippines. I just prefer physical copies.
  4. As for audio books, I just don’t get the hang of it yet. I tried, and it’s just not working for me. I usually end up falling asleep. It’s just not the same as “reading.”

As a reader who prefers to read physical books, I always bring a book with me wherever I go. You know, just in case I get some free time or I get bored. Through the years, I have come to the realization that my books get easily damaged inside my bag (e.g., it gets a few dents or folds) and it frustrates me sometimes because no matter how I put it inside my back, it always ends up getting damaged. Continue reading

Stuff I’ve Been Reading Lately #4

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BOOKS READ:

Cardcaptor Sakura Volume 1 by CLAMP
Cardcaptor Sakura Volume 2 by CLAMP
Cardcaptor Sakura Volume 3 by CLAMP
One-Punch Man Volume 1 by ONE
One-Punch Man Volume 2 by ONE
Timeline by Michael Crichton

BOOKS BOUGHT:

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
Two Roads From Here by Teddy Steinkellner

BOOKS RECEIVED:

Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Good Omen by Neil Gaiman & Terry Prachett

Do you ever get stuck in that phase where you just don’t get any reading done? It happens a lot to me these days because there are a lot of other things to focus on aside from reading. Like, recently we have a lot of projects coming our way at work or some personal issues to attend to or Netflix. I think majority of the reason why I couldn’t get some reading done is because I’ve been watching Friends recently and I wanted to finish all 10 seasons so bad. With that, I haven’t really made any progress in reading Timeline by Michael Crichton, but I did read a bunch of manga. Continue reading

Stuff I’ve Been Reading Lately #3

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BOOKS READ:

  • Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1) by Dan Brown
  • Billionaire Rider (Fortune Riders MC, #1) by Lexy Timms

BOOKS BOUGHT:

  • The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2) by Dan Brown
  • Murder On the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

BOOK RECEIVED:

  • You by Caroline Kepnes
  • Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
  • The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Have you ever experienced trying out something out of your comfort zone or trying out something you always thought you disliked? When it comes to reading, there are still a lot of genres I have yet to try. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while or if you know me personally, you already know that romance is my favorite genre because I grew up reading Nicholas Sparks and though I also find middle-grade books and books with a mix of YA fantasy + dystopian quite exciting reads because of their otherwise fast-paced plot and storyline, I haven’t read much books out of these genres. Continue reading

Thoughts on Book Clubs & Book Buddies

I grew up with only books by my side.

Growing up, I was never allowed to go out with friends on Friday night outs or movie nights. So I ended up spending most of my Friday nights (and weekends) inside my room exploring the world through the magic of books. I find solace in the fact that even when I don’t get to go out all that much, I get to learn things about places I’ve never been to.

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What’s For Halloween #1

Halloween is one of the most looked-forward-to celebrations towards the end of the year because it’s that one time of the year when people get to show off their creativity by dressing up, decorating their homes, etc. And since Halloween is lurking around the corner, I bet everyone’s already busy and excited preparing for those Halloween parties and trick-or-treating!

But some people just aren’t into all that stuff; like those who enjoy spending these holidays by reading books. So if you’re one of those people but you still want to get into that “Halloween spirit,” then you’ve come to the right place.

In this post, I’ll be sharing some of the books (that I’ve read and/or want to read) and articles that will totally creep you out. Continue reading

#BannedBooksWeek: The Freedom to Read Without Censorship

Books are one of the known sources of entertainment, learning, and changing of perspectives. With that, some books have also been labeled as controversial by different organizations which resulted in some titles continuously being challenged and banned in libraries and schools in other countries. Continue reading

Bookstore Tour: Singapore & Malaysia

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My boyfriend and I along with his mom went on this trip in June, and I wasn’t really sure I was going to join them until the last minute and I only thought about visiting bookstores when we were actually there. Thank heavens for the Internet!

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Book Review: Wicked Fox (Gumiho, #1) by Kat Cho

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Maybe it’s wrong for us to hold any one person as our whole world. Maybe it’s wrong of us to owe all of our happiness or sadness to one person.”

I finished reading this book early last month and I just finished writing my review about it. Now, where to start? Well, for one, I totally enjoyed reading this book. It’s about a girl who kills people in order to survive and a boy who was trapped in the forest and was captured by a dokkaebi. Ironically, the girl saves his life and both their worlds has never been the same since.

I’m not really that into K-drama, so I can’t say that I’ve been waiting for a book of this kind like everyone else. But I do love mythology of all sorts, so when I heard about this urban fantasy-romance book, I thought, “Why not?” And I ended up loving it more than I thought I would. All I can say is that for a debut novel, this has the makings of an awesome story. It’s a light, fun, fast-paced read that will surely keep you turning its pages. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Many thanks to Penguin Random House for providing an ARC of this book. ♡