My attempt at the 2009 100+ Reading Challenge starts here.
Fate has brought you to this sketchbook - a slice of life behind the eyes of a seventeen-year-old Filipina residing in sunny England.
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I feel like going out today - but it’s so cold outside. And I’ve got homework to do, anyway.
I spent a few hours talking to my Kuya and Ate over at Skype. I miss them so much ^_^ There is just everything to talk about and I just wish they’re here.
So, apparently, our little puppy called Posh (who is with my siblings at the moment) is going to give birth really soon. I wonder how many pups will be scrambling around for attention when I go back to the Philippines this summer (I really hope everything goes as planned - I haven’t seen my siblings in a while now). I think everybody knows that I’m not so much into animals, especially dogs, since I’m a self-confessed scaredy-cat. I literally freeze when I see a dog lurking somewhere. Maybe I’ll get over this phobia, if it indeed is acceptable to be classified as a phobia, when I get home and finally stay under the same roof with a dog.
I think I’ll shut the PC off now. I have a to-do list on my mind which seems endless. Please let the sun shine a little today - just so I can walk over to Burger King later on when the stomach growls.
TGIF! :]
So yeah - my key assessment went fine. I was able to get most of the things right. The first few questions on ligand exchange were horrible, though =/
I also managed to finish printing the last few pages of my Stargirl e-book! Yay! :] I’ve already read it halfway. I’ll read myself to sleep tonight.
Thanks to Tin, by the way, for sending me a copy of the e-book. See, this is what the blogosphere is for - sharing your blessings i.e. free copyrighted material. Lol. ^_^
I dropped by the library. Again. This time I only got one book - just ONE, okay? If I get more, then I probably won’t be able to complete the gazillion exam papers I have to do for Maths. Anyway, the book is entitled The Wish House by Celia Rees. And, no, it’s not from the children’s section - in case that’s what you’re thinking ^_^ I got it from one of the teenage shelves :]
So far I’m liking both Stargirl and Sophie’s World. I don’t know how I manage to do this - reading more than one book in a week, I mean. Let’s just say that I have my books handy when my ICT teacher leaves us unattended. Lol :]
Title: A Certain Slant of Light
Author: Laura Whitcomb
Rating: 5/5
Book 2 of 100: (The 100+ Reading Challenge)
In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: for the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen, terrified but intrigued, is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.
If books were soulmates, A Certain Slant of Light has to be my perfect match.
In January of this year, I was browsing Teenreads.com when I chanced upon a description of this book. It intrigued me the first time. Have I mentioned that I’m into the paranormal genre? It didn’t occur to me the next day I went to the library that this title would be waiting for me. I was really surprised when I saw its spine - I wasn’t searching for the book but there it was, smiling cunningly at me on one of the shelves.
I have to say that Laura Whitcomb is one of the most imaginative authors out there - this story is just enchanting. It convinced me that when you die, all hope is not lost when it comes to finding true love. Helen, a ghost who is forever in her twenties and has been stranded here on earth for more than a hundred years, couldn’t believe what she saw - a human being was staring at her. It must feel weird for the living to know there’s a spirit of some sort haunting them, but it must feel weirder still if it was the other way around.
Helen is Light. James is like Helen, too - he’s a ghost. But what makes him different from her is that he inhabits a human body, Billy’s, making him one of the Quick. As they fall for one another, they realize that the only way that they can truly be together is for Helen to abandon her host and also to be a parasite to another body. This is when Helen and Jenny, a living teenager, become one. Jenny’s soul, however, leaves her own body at will - allowing Helen to sink into Jenny’s skin as if it were her own.
Initially, I found this part hilarious: when Helen finally wears her new body, the first thing she does is make love to James. It did make me jump at first, considering this is a teenage book, hence, I wasn’t expecting to read any intimate sexual references. But the way it was written gave it justice - it was really beautiful.
Whitcomb also put in as much of literature into this book. For instance, she gave Billy the full name of William Blake, the writer. I didn’t spot it immediately but I thought it sounded familiar. In addition, she also referred to Jane Austen’s works quite a few times. When given the opportunity to talk about library books, Helen said:
They line the walls like a thousand leather doorways to be opened into worlds unknown.
Genius, innit? :]
This is one of those books which enlighten readers not just about life and death, but also of divinity. I wouldn’t mind telling my great great grandchildren about this book. Banishment from heaven may be a bad thing, but it wouldn’t really be so if it meant meeting a little soul on earth called James.
Marie Digby - Miss Invisible
As the week draws to a close, I’m itching to get my hands on The Time Traveler’s Wife. I really should stop making Waterstones a home. I guess the lady who runs the till is tired of seeing my face already. Lol. :]
School is holding me back from getting on with the 100+ Reading Challenge.
I’ve got my Chemistry key assessment tomorrow. It’s not the stuff about Benzene, thanks. I’ll probably live. Still a few more Maths questions to go through, though. I am in grave need of Visine.
I want to start revising already. But the stomach is growling. I’ll say a quick hello to the refrigerator first. ^_^
Note: I wrote this review about a month ago. It’s been saved on my computer for a while now, gathering dust. I was pretty juvenile when I wrote this so I apologize for any cringe-worthy moments you might encounter while you’re at it.
Title: Bridget Jones’s Diary
Author: Helen Fielding
Rating: 3.5/5
Book 1 of 100 (The 100+ Reading Challenge)
Right, I have to admit. I pretty much suck at writing reviews. So here goes my feeble attempt at writing one. As you all know (or not - I’m not really sure. Lol), I’m resolving to write a review on every book I read this year - and maybe in years to come, hopefully - so I can keep track of my reading. I am sure that everybody in the world knows how much of an amnesiac I am so if I don’t write this now, I am most probably going to forget everything that I feel about the book when I wake up in the morning.
But, no. That’s not really going to happen because I love books. I don’t usually forget things that I have read. Lol. But you know what I mean about the amnesiac part.
Oh, yes. I’m writing this on Notepad at the moment due to snail-pace Internet connection. I’ll post this on my blog in a day or two.
Silly me for picking Bridget Jones’s Diary as the first book to read in 2009. Don’t ask me how but I had a pretty rough transition from 2008 to this year. Don’t get me wrong - I adore Bridget Jones but somehow, in the back of my mind, I don’t feel that this book suits me at all. Like a musical composition, I do believe that books are written not just by the author but also for a specific reader. I think each piece is tailor-made and it may just take some time to find your match. Sure, it was a good laugh and all that. But I’m not certain that I’m prepared to read more books in which characters cuss in between every syllable they utter. You know what I mean? Lol. But, then again, the story was set in modern-day Britain. What was I thinking?
And, yes, I did watch the film ages ago. I just didn’t expect that much in the book. ^_^
Okay. A thing or two about the book - if you haven’t heard about it yet. Girl (Jones) gets ordinary job after graduating from the Uni of Bangor (seriously, did Helen Fielding have a thing against this University? Why name and shame? ^_^). Girl gets posh guy (Cleave) as his boss and boyfriend thereafter. Girl also meets bumblebee-sock-wearing nerdy-but-rich guy (Darcy) and makes her feelings of disgust known to him right from the start (and his to her). Girl blushes about granny knickers. Posh guy reveals (nearly at the end) he’s engaged with American girl. Girl dumps posh guy (or was it the other way around?). Girl gets new job at TV company. Girl embarasses herself at a live news update by climbing up a pole instead of down (I totally laughed at this one. Lol). Girl’s pathetic excuse for a mother (Mrs Jones) gets hooked up with a Portuguese bishonen (did I just use the term bishonen? Lol) and runs off with him with loads of money. Talk about estafa. Bumblebee-sock-wearing nerdy-but-rich guy saves the day and, thus, happily ever after.
I do love this book. Forget what I said earlier about how it’s not a good year-starter. It’s probably not one of the grandest I’ve ever read but, still, I like it. Actually, if you think about it, Bridget Jones’s Diary should be everyone’s year-starter since you get a glimpse of how NOT to live your new year in a paperback. The story starts off with a list of New Year’s resolutions and gradually enters the days in which each resolution is broken. Poor Bridget. But brave, nevertheless. I particularly like the bits that come at the start of each diary entry where she scribbles down her daily calorie intake and all that jazz. It seems funny in a way, but to her, it must be a serious thing.
Her mum is one of my most-loved characters. Charming, prim and proper, Pam has her own way of making everyone cry. Leaving Bridget’s Dad, for instance, for a broken-English-speaking guy. It just makes me think of how weird the world can be at times.
I’m not too sure that I like how it is written - I mean, it’s very unlikely that a person can write in his or her own diary almost every second of the day. But it’s still entertaining, nevertheless, and made me want to travel back to London once again. As for Mark Darcy - well, he’s drool-worthy, alright.
Bridget Jones is today’s Elizabeth Bennet and her diary is where love (and stress!), friendship, and career are all rolled into one.
Aly & AJ - Chemicals React
I admit - I don’t have a list of resolutions this year. However, I came across someone’s blog just recently and decided to have a go at this reading challenge.
A hundred books? That’s a long way to go. It’s nearly March now and so far, I’m only on my fourth book. Which is why I think having an attempt at this will get my molecules colliding.
When I was fourteen, I had a reading rate of about five books per month. It’s a shame that I barely have any time now to drop by the local library ang get a handful of reads. I hope this challenge works out well. I’m pretty sure that working my way up to a hundred will make me a better person, if not wiser, by the end of 2009.
The 100+ Reading Challenge is hosted at J. Kaye’s Book Blog. The mechanics are pretty simple. All you have to do is sign up for it and get reading. Keep a list of the books you are reading. Blogging about how well you are doing or how interesting you find a particular book is also a good way of keeping you motivated as well as letting you keep track of what you have read.
If you don’t reach the mark, that’s okay - trying is what’s important (and simply enjoying the sinking of words into your system, of course). I’m not saying that I’m definitely going to be able to read a hundred or more books this year but I’m pretty much up for the challenge
Please visit J. Kaye’s Book Blog if this entry gave your heartstring a tug at some point, sign up (it’s free and doesn’t take more than two seconds) and unleash the bookaholic in you. Have fun! :]
I will be updating this entry as I go along with the challenge. This will serve as my reading list. ^_^ I might put up a scroll box or something on my sidebar later on to list the titles. I will also be posting up my reviews on the books that I have read this year.
To be continued…
Norah Jones - Time After Time (Acoustic)
A family friend has died today.
Even my grandfather is very likely to breathe his last tomorrow.
It’s silly how life is intertwined with vines of joy. And a whole lot of sadness later on. I pray for the family the former has left behind - especially for his little kid who I hold close to my heart. I pray for my lolo who I’ve only met for three instances in my life, but nevertheless had a great impact on me in a way that words cannot explain.
Death can cause despair. But it can also show us how blessed we are with our own.
We meet people at different points in our life. It may take a very long time for the roads to cross again, but they still will eventually.
It has just been a couple of hours after my last update. Lo and behold, here’s a new one. Lol :]
Three full pages of my report are now over and done with. I have less than an hour to prep up for school and arrive on time for registration. It’s really weird that I sometimes come in just one second before the bell rings considering that I live just next to the school. Literally.
Here goes another attempt at liking Maths and ICT. Good thing I only have two subjects today.
Having less than five hours of sleep is not pretty. But, as most things go in life, I have to make amendments to an otherwise peaceful doze.
A word-processing document stares idly back at me at the moment - I need to finish this report on current working practices for my ICT class this afternoon. It’s just a case of what-if’s and could’ve-been’s, really. I am now contemplating on things that could have happened if I never chose ICT for my A-levels.
The subject is really good - don’t get me wrong. I just can’t stand one of the people in my class. Let’s just say she’s one giant photocopying machine and all the ideas I put into my project eventually get altered and put into hers. It is so apparent where she gets every feature and whatnot of her multimedia product from. I really don’t get how there are people like these - people who feel good about themselves only because they have a host to cling on to.
And, no, I am not bitching about her at five in the morning. This is just my side of the story. Enough said. I really just want to pluck this out of my system. Geez - problems are aging me quite fast! And I’m barely even eighteen. =/
It would seem insane but, really, I’ve already set up four blogs within a matter of two months this year. Here I go again with a new one and hopefully this will be the one I stick to for the rest of my blogging days.
I’ve been thinking of getting hosted again, however, the coding and everything else has been doing my head in. I am just one of those people who, no matter how hard you drill knowledge of CSS and PHP and whatever-abbreviated-phrases into, will never understand a word of it. Maybe I choose not to - but it’s more likely that I really can’t ^_^
Okay, let’s fill this canvas with thoughts. An intro, perhaps? I think a brief one will suffice as I am only trying to get the hang of this interface. My name is Rows (I prefer to spell it this way) and I live somewhere in England. My life has been, and still is, a storyboard of airplanes, shuttle buses and trains. Hopping from one location to another is a norm and I feel blessed to have come from a family of voyagers. Having said that, I still prefer to lounge around at home with a good book and a warm cuppa tea.
College is stressful, I know. Which is why I can’t wait to get started with University a few months from now and make things right. Uni life will most probably demand a lot more from me compared to college but at least I will be doing something which has been chosen by the very pulse of my heart.
I do not have any initial plans for this blog to say the least. All I know is that my tendency of scribbling random notes on post-its and the odd piece of lined paper not only cost me a few pence, but cluttered a vast area of my desk as well. With a sketchbook up on the web, I probably won’t have to worry about wasting paper, sharpening my pencil and spilling tea on my scrawls.
No, I’m not new to blogging. But it would make sense if I turn over a new leaf and breathe life into this blank canvas with fresh paint.
