Book Review: The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan

This has been the most unusual book I've read so far. They are stories of people written in, how do I saw this, uhm, different formats. Every chapter is a different person with a different perspective on his/her life. One of my favorites was that one of this girl who everyone thinks is some kind of a whore who steals boys just because she wants to and that she can. They don't know that she sometimes (or maybe most of the time) hates herself for being that way. There's this guy she's dating and has been faithful to so far and she wants to leave him and is convinced to leave him because she knows or thinks she knows she'll just break his heart. She thinks she's desirable especially when it comes to her body but she doesn't think she's beautiful. In another chapter wherein it's her little sister's point of view, the little sister feels that she has never felt more alone without her older sister because the older sister is now in college and thinking of other things. The little sister talks about how her older sister has always been there for her and how she would defend her if someone bullied her. There was one part of her chapter where she talks about her older sister coming home after prom and tells her to come outside with her and they're just lying there in the grass and watching the stars. It reveals a lot about the complications of teenage life in high school, where there's so much drama and, of course, possibilities. I think that many would be confused while reading the first parts of it because they were all expecting the good old format of a traditional novel.I sure was, actually. It's a book worth reading again and again and it even gives you advice in how to find direction where you're feeling lost. That's how most teenagers feel in high school. They feel like they are just floating and drifting in the sea of people without purpose sometimes. It's a good book for teens to read, and I hope that they all put to heart the things they learn from it.

Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The story starts with Death describing his favorite sky which is in the color of Chocolate. It then movies into the events that lead to the book thief's first stolen book. It's a gravedigger's handbook, and I imagine that the look on her foster father's face upon discovering it must have seemed close to the painting, Scream. My head certainly imagined his mouth agape at it. The next ones were also quite interesting. By next one, I mean the next stolen books she'll have. It's nice because it's a story that starts before the war, trudges through the war, and ends well after the war. It was Nazi Germany in a whole other perspective. I always imagined that life in the middle of a war was very difficult and quite grim. The book begged to differ. There was happiness even while there was war. I love the dark humor of Death. It's very compatible with my sarcastic philosophical nature. The story had the potential to make me cry. Death had the potential to make me laugh until my breath runs out. I certainly hope that I'm one of those souls who'll stand and look him in the eye when the time comes. I haven't seen the movie. Yet. It'll show here in the Philippines on February and I am certainly hoping to be there on the opening. I'm only praying that it would do the book justice. It was an amazing read. It's haunting and makes me feel like I haven't truly lived a life, even at my age. I love papa's silver eyes. I love the fact that they were called silver, not some light grey or transparent very light blue. They are silver in the book and henceforth, silver in my head. I confess, the book gave me goosebumps. It was not how I expected it to be. It felt like I was there even though I wasn't really there. It was as if I was sitting there with Max painting pages of The Word Shaker or racing in the mud with Rudy or listening to Papa playing the accordion, mama calling me a Saumensch and whacking me with a wooden spoon or with Liesel reading The Shoulder Shrug or The Whistler. I swear, I could smell that murky basement they were crammed into the second time when the bombs really came. It felt like I was under all the rubble then, too, on the next one. The imagery and the words were swirling around me with this one, It made me think a lot. It wasn't the kind of book that made me scream or yell or cheer. It was the kind that made me quiet for a long time. We had our Christmas Party yesterday and I was really quiet. My friends were all wondering what was wrong with me. There was nothing wrong with me. My case wasn't some kind of flu or like that. It was a book. This was the first time I became really quiet after a book. I don't know why I'm quiet. It just felt like screaming or cheering was inappropriate. Quiet was the option left. It's emotionally draining without being overly emotional. It makes you think of really deep things and I thought that was amazing. It was beautiful and I'm reading it all over again. Heil Hitler!

About the latest review...

It was actually my second time to write a review about that book. The first time was on the other day but then we had a blackout and a power shortage and I was so pissed off because I was about the end the whole review! Uuuuurrrggghhh!!! It was frustrating. I was angry. Really angry. I had worked a long way through that one and the first one was actually more than twice as long as the latest one. I'm very grateful to Steve for giving me that book to read. I can't forget how flattered I was then and I am so glad I read your book. It was amazing and I sincerely hope that you write more and soon. Your fans need that second book any time now Steve, so please do hurry. So far, things have been quite fine here in Bohol. There are still aftershocks but we're used to them already. I miss it when we didn't have a lot of electricity. We did a lot of stargazing and outdoor camping during those days. It was difficult but very fun. Although the loss of electricity happened when Leyte was ravaged by the Typhoon Yolanda (International name: Haiyan). We were all devastated by that. The wouns will heal but I know that the scars of that calamity will remain. We're still doing relief operations here for the Tacloban victims and I pray that thy'll recover soon and fast. It may have destroyed the lives they have built and established but it has given them a chance to renew their lives. The events that have come through here in the Philippines were eye-openers. They've changed the way we view our life and our ways. Everyone hopes that better things will happen after all the pain and the suffering we've all experienced. Happy holidays to anyone who has actually read all this :D

Scapemaker by Steve V. Cypert

I have generally mixed feelings for this book. I have no idea if I love this book or not. The structure was good, as well as the organization. It's interesting enough that I actually finished reading it. Although I am sad to say that I did not scream in agony over Doby's death or cried happy tears when Matt and Amer had kissed. Honestly, this had disappointed me because that's how I know if a book was fine, good, great, amazing or just too damn awesome to actually want to let go of. Also, I really don't belong to any of its fandoms. Now for the more intricate details. Let me start with the story. It's a good one. It really is. I love how the author, Steven, writes in such detail. But the thing is, after a while, I kinda get bored. Not that the narration is boring. No. It's more like it's too slow or lengthy at times. I find myself speed-reading so I could finally get to the dialogues or the action. The plot was very well thought of so it was okay. It really is an interesting book with an interesting story but I'm not sure if I have come to that point of being "in love" with the book. But when the action started happening, I was stuck to it. I imagine it would have been like being high on drugs but since I've never been high or on any kind of drug, I wouldn't know how that felt. I truly do want to read the next one. Next part is, the characters. I just couldn't connect with them. I know that they're all interesting in ways and they do interest me but I just could not be very passionate with them. In the initial part of the story, I was generally sad about what happened with Matt losing his dad to Sandstorm prison. Who wouldn't be when a boy as young as him lost his own dad? But it's wasn't an overwhelming kind of sad. The book didn't elate strong emotions from me I think that's a real problem for me. I know when a book is amazing when it can make me tear up or rage in frustration or blow up in anger when the characters do something real stupid. I was really missing that part about reading a book. I felt sort of distant with this one. I think that's because I couldn't get to know the characters that well. I was reading about them but they were strangers to me. I'm surprised at how good the physical aspects are described in this book when the emotional and personal aspects are not as clearly defined. I find it difficult to imagine many of the characters so vividly in my head. The book needed more personality to it. The difference was that I saw them as characters and not really as people. They weren't very real to me because there was a lack of information about them. I'm not asking for addresses or phone numbers or schools or something like that. It needed more of the little details like for example, Mr. Xoner hated cats because they always looked at Mr. Ferret funny like he was the most delicious thing in the world. Or something like, Matthew wears his lucky socks at every game, and hasn't washed them for 3 years since he'd won his first game. The little details that made the characters more like people you would actually know and say hi to in the halls or whenever you passed by. As I was reading the book, they seemed distant and unreachable to me, like I'd reach out for them and I'd just be ignored by them. I did not like that, to be honest. They seemed more like characters in a story following a plot than people who've ended up in a whole lot of trouble or looking for trouble to get to their goal. Books are worlds in and of itself. To simply put, I was more like a bystander while I read and did not quite belong in it. My favorite characters so far are the triplets, Stanford, Stanley and Nacia. I love the bit where they can't be like a few feet away from each other. That would be so amazing if that were actually real. It's awesome, and fun. Next on my list is the world of the book itself. It is magnificent and I really wish I were a scaper just to get into their school. I am so jealous of these kids! Ugh! I wish I was in there with them to make things a little more crazy with them. This last part is about the cover. Like any other reader, I would also consider judgement over the cover. It's a nice cover but I don't find it eye-catching or very intriguing. The cover kind of adds to that desire to read it. It's a nice cover but it could have been better. Or creepier. Or something just as eerily like the book. I find the cover too simple for a story of this magnitude and honestly think that it does not do the book justice. Just saying. 

P.S. Mr. Cypert, please write the next book because I really want to know what happens next, and I'm curious about this Nox guy I've heard so much about. Thanks :)

Book Review: Submission (Deviations #1) by Chris Owen & Jodi Payne

"Oh, my God."

That's probably the best quote in the book to describe the whole thing. Sure, this was not my first time reading novels about gay sex but this is my first time reading BDSM between gay people. Ugh, it just turns me on! It's so hot, so so HOT! And this book seriously makes me consider the possibility of watching gay people having sex right in front of me! Honestly, by the time I got somewhere in the middle of this first book in the series, I was warm, saccharine, melted chocolate. The sexual aspect aside, I thought it as a really meaningful book. It wasn't just about sex or the kinks of BDSM. The characters have this kind of fathomless depth. You take a look at them and sort of expect them to be a certain way and then boom! out comes a surprise, like you've know this certain character in the book to have this kind of personality and don't expect them to act a certain way. Some, like Phan, act a certain way and give you the impression of being okay but truth be told they actually come from this broken place. I knew there were going to be twists, unexpected or otherwise. I just didn't realize the range and depth of these twists until I was at around the third one in the series. The people are just so complexicated that I literally thought that my head would explode from all of the stuff I've been reading and taking in. I love how the authors wrote the book. I get so immersed into the book and the characters and the story, which I never really expected. When I discovered the existence of such a genre in books, I was quite speculative and was skeptical whether I would enjoy. I more than just enjoy it. I'm bathing in it and I love it. There are also love triangles in it and it's frustrating, which is great! Love triangles are meant to be frustrating. This books actually makes me yell out loud or talk to myself and my friends and family would just stare at me as if something just went wrong in my head and it makes me giddy that this books does that to me. It's also very emotional. It deals with a lot of emotion, issues, things like insecurity or jealousy that we sometimes take for granted or just expect them to exist. This books delves much deeper when it comes to those things. It leaves me desperate for the next and at the same time too drained to get over it because this book is hard for me to get over with. After I read this one, I took over one whole day off from reading books. I need to read books like I need air!(Okay, that's a little exaggerated but it's true.) My head was deep in "subspace" if you get what I mean. I am head-over-heels in love with this book so I sincerely hope that there are more of it to come.

-read on November 2, 2013

Back at last!

Oh God, I missed this! I seriously, seriously missed this! It's been days since we've had electricity but at least we have water here. I'm from Philippines, specifically in Bohol, and hell yeah we've been in  the middle of rough times though I think it's been much rougher for the ones in Tacloban. It's just so awful there. A sister school of my school got wiped out there. I just don't know how they'll put their live back up again but I believe that all of us will be just fine. Whew! *wipes sweat off forehead* It's really been rough with the 7.2 earthquake not to mention the aftershocks. Yes, it's been over a month and there are still aftershocks here. I had volunteered to distribute and repack relief goods around the first two weeks and we've seen broken roads and fallen bridges, landslides, homes that have become barren to the ground, houses that were eaten up (I mean down) by the ground and the churches! Watching all the damages nearly choked my heart. There was even the issue of politics with the relief goods and the rumors are true. There's a cavern underneath our city and we kinda think it's awesome. They say there's treasure buried there. There are ancient shovels down there, according to my cousins. We're all standing strong and putting our lives back into order here. Haiyan's wrath can't stop us from fighting to stand upright again.

Quærite et Invenietis: Sese

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

One of the most clichéd quotes of history, and also among the most misunderstood ones.

Why? Well, books are not people but people are books. You can read them only when you understand the language they write themselves with. If, for example, you took out a book to read, which happens to be written in Latin, and you don’t know the language, you can’t really read whatever is written in it.

People are books written in their own unique languages. Not everyone knows their language and not everyone is willing to know. We all have covers that don’t really reflect or express the true content of what we’re made of. We are seen and judged by our covers. We even do this with real books in a bookstore. We pick out the ones with the best covers, not knowing that what’s inside could really suck.

How does the world see us? How do we see the world? What does the world see in us? What do we see from it? But seeing is not knowing, and to know something does not always require sight.

Humans are built to be selfish and judgmental creatures. Face it people, we have never-ending wants and needs and we are never satisfied with what we have. We are content perhaps, but never satisfied. We all love being on top. We all love how it feels to be better than everyone else. But just because you’re better at something than anyone else, it doesn’t mean you’re a better human than they are. It just makes you different.

No matter how big of a crowd we make, we would always be divided. There will always be the fat one, the pretty one, the nice one, the naughty one, the troublesome ones, and the angelic ones that hold a precious place in our hearts. There are other names for those people in high school: the geeks, the nerds, the flirts, the jocks, the rebels, the Goths, the misfits and so forth. We condemn ourselves with such titles, not knowing if these make us who we are or not. Most of us are unaware if we are hurting ourselves by letting ourselves be called and treated by how we are branded, or hurting those whom we brand.

These do not make us ourselves, but these can change the course of our lives. It is our own choice to have our lives run on by titles, or to run our lives on them.

High school is the most tumultuous stage in life. This is period when we discover the things we are capable of, and how well we are at them. It is a period of awareness, that we all have different faces and different dimensions in their initial stage of creation.

Perhaps, we are not yet seen as who we truly are because we are not ourselves yet. We don’t even have shapes yet, just profiles. But even an outline can already define us. Being a geek doesn’t make you a geek, nor does being a nerd make you a nerd. The common perception is not always right.

Max Ehrmann wrote, “…for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.” People at the top know how rough the road to getting there is. People at the bottom understand that life can get even harder. But for people who have always been where they’ve been and have remained there; they don’t know how it feels to be at the top and have the ground taken from their feet, nor do they know what it takes to build themselves from the ground up because all they’ve known all their lives was how good life could be.

We are all individuals who are misunderstood and misinterpreted. It is rare to find someone who can perceive you completely, if not perfectly. We can’t wait for the world to define us. We have to tell the world who we are. We are the only ones capable of speaking our personal language, and we’re the only ones capable of making the world understand it.

We are all books. God may be the author of our lives but we are the author of our own selves. There is only such a small difference between living and existing. We are breathing, sensing, and feeling when we live but we mean something when we exist. What our existence means is something the world has to know before we are perceived as something else we are not.

People are books with their own specific genres. We are usually seen as groups but what makes us individuals is what matters most. We shouldn’t let the world define us. We should define ourselves to the world.

My review:

Shades of Earth is the last of Beth Revis's Across the Universe trilogy. The plot begins with the Contingency shuttle(Cryolevel) of Godspeed, along with the frozens and 2/3 of Elder's people on board, landing on Centauri-Earth. Well, considering that this planet can support life, it's expected that there is life existing on the planet. The crash-landing isn't exactly a "We come in peace" message for the *cough* uhm.. *cough* aliens. But the aliens aren't exactly, well, aliens. Let's just say that in some distant future where humans are greedier than they are now, and because they're so greedy they're running out of this to take HERE so they're looking for other places to TAKE FROM. Get it? Anyway, the plot has more twists and tangles especially when unexpected things happen and the ones you've come to love and trust cannot be trusted at all. The real monsters aren't always what they seem. The scariest ones are always close even when you don't know they are.

Shades of Earth is an enthralling, fast-paced and hopelessly romantic sci-fi thriller and I doubt anyone could ever get their hands off this book once they start reading. And to know it all and understand how things came to be, they should probably start from the beginning.

Hmm.... guys, does it seem too soon for me to be giving another review? Oh well, I've got some time to kill anyway and the best way to kill time is read books :)

My review:

A Million Suns, in my opinion, is even better than it's prequel, Across the Universe. It's more action-packed than the first one and the story takes quite a new turn of events in this book. Believe me, there is nothing slow about this book and Beth Revis seems to like getting things from point A to point B in the speed of light without sacrificing the details. While the first book revolves around Amy's awakening and the murders of the few frozens, A Million Suns doesn't just answer the "Why?" but also "Why now?" To tell you the truth, that did make quite a lot of sense since Orion's been alive even before Elder's been born and he could have done it then but why did he do them now? The plot starts around 3 months after Amy's been awakened. They still call her a freak but at least they're learning not to flinch away from her. Though Orion's been frozen, he still haunts Amy and Elder. Amy still hates Orion for what he had done but she knows that some part of her understands why he did them. But the book isn't only about why he did them but also why he did them NOW. The important part is the NOW because soon enough Amy and Elder will discover the biggest secret of them all. Now Amy and Elder have to race to get to the clues before it's too late. The fate of Godspeed and its passengers lies in the hands of two teenagers. The book has only one conclusion: they need to get off Godspeed.

But the question is, how? 

Oh folks, just read it. You people are going to love it and none of you will ever regret taking this book out of the bookshelf.

This is my honest review of the book and I honestly think that Beth Revis should be immortal so that she could write books for us forever.  Hahaha!

Review from Goodreads:

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
 -----------------X

My review:

Because it's such an awesome book, a combination of all my favorite genres along with Beth Revis's writing style, it has earned a 5-star rating from me :)

The story opens with Amy and her parents preparing themselves to be cryofrozen  into Godspeed, a ship that's on a mission to go to another planet and colonize it. Or at the very least, survive it. Unlike her parents who are actually really looking forward to the new planet, Amy just wants to stay on Earth and live. But because she wants to be with her parents more, she goes through with it. 

The next chapter opens in Elder's POV. Elder is a guy who is being trained by a man called Eldest to become the Eldest after he dies. Elder soon discovers another one of the secrets that Eldest has kept from him: the cryo level. It is there that he finds Amy, who looks like a frozen sunset in her cryochamber. Then they find her awake and trying to break out of her chamber. Someone has unplugged her from her frozen sleep and that someone is most-likely the one who has been unplugging the others too.

Amy's awakening is just the beginning. The rest now lies beneath Godspeed's secrets and the lies that hide them all. When they finally discover the truth, they must make new choices. Is the truth worth risking all?

------------X

I totally recommend everyone to read this book :)

Dan Brown's Inferno: Another Robert Langdon story

*read below for goodreads summary*

In his international blockbusters The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown masterfully fused history, art, codes, and symbols. In this riveting new thriller, Brown returns to his element and has crafted his highest-stakes novel to date.

In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces . . . Dante’s Inferno.

Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust . . . before the world is irrevocably altered.

-----------------------------------------X

My review:

Apparently, Dan Brown has clearly outdone himself with this book. Although I think Angels & Demons is the best among the series so far and this only comes second in my list. This is simply based on my opinion of the story. Truth be told, there's only a tiny bit of a gap between the two. But this book is really cool!

The story starts with Robert Langdon waking up to find himself in a hospital with tubes and all. He has this really nasty headache and the one thing he could always count on, his memory, can't help him. He wakes up to find company, a female doctor named Sienna Brooks. As Robert struggles to recall how on earth he ended up in Italy when he knows he's supposed to be in a lecture in Harvard. A woman named Vayentha comes soon in the hospital and goes after Robert Langdon, for reasons he doesn't know or understand. Yet. The story unfolds further to reveal a character named The Provost, the man who hired Vayentha, and owns a boat called The Mendacium, that houses a team of specialists for, well, Mendacium. Moving on, the book introduces yet another character. He's a Dante fanatic and created his very own Inferno. 

Read more of Dan Brown's Inferno to know the full story. Available here on Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385537859

Remembrance by Michelle Madow

Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England ... but she doesn't know it yet.

Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's high school at the beginning of the year, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can't stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she get him out of her mind?

Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, fighting fate isn't going to be easy.

-goodreads.com

My review:

This is a tale of tragedy turned into romance. The main characters of this story have been reincarnated to the present time in a town in nowhere, New Hampshire. The name of the place is very significant since they all lived in Hampshire, England during the Regency Era, where people spoke French which ease and fluency. They all meet in this school and the wheels start turning when Drew Carmichael comes into town. Being the new kid in school and the city boy, Drew Carmichael is put to the spotlight especially because he lives in the largest house in Pembrooke. When Drew Carmichael steps into the room, he can't believe the woman of his dreams is literally there! On that first day, sparks fly and the odd feeling of familiarity soon settles into the heart of Lizzie Davenport. This is when the problems start filing in. One, Lizzie's dating Jeremy Williams, who cares more about football and his reputation than what matters more (which is Lizzie), two, Drew Carmichael starts dating Chelsea Givens, Lizzie's BFF since forever and third, the past collides with the present. Not to mention that Drew and Lizzie aren't the only ones. Some things never change (like what's about to happen), but that doesn't mean they cannot be stopped. In this tale of star-crossed lovers and a love that transcends through time, will love overcome the boundaries on this second chance or will fate come between them again?

This is definitely a must-read book. It's currently free on Kindle in Amazon.com and
here's the link---> http://www.amazon.com/Remembrance-Transcend-Time-1-ebook/dp/B005EN77IG

Hey guys! Michelle Sedeño has giveaway events on her blog!

Link to blog: http://michelletheescapist.blogspot.com/

Links to giveaway posts: http://michelletheescapist.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-escapist-one-year-new-name-new-look.html

http://michelletheescapist.blogspot.com/2013/06/first-blogoversary-giveaway-part-3.html

http://michelletheescapist.blogspot.com/2013/05/first-blogoversary-giveaway-part-2.html

JUNE 10, 2013 :))) First Day of School!!!!!! (In Philippines)

Today was sort of fun but at the same time it was disappointing. It was mostly boring and fun was only in small quantities but even so it was still a good first day of school. What disappointed me (and some of my classmates) is that we really didn't have any classes today. A couple of teachers did come today but we have no idea who the teachers are for the rest of the classes. I hope they aren't very strict :/

The sky is really gloomy today and it makes me wanna curl up and huddle under the sheets and read a book while drinking hot chocolate. So right now I am reading Legacy Lost (Of Poseidon 0.5) by Anna Banks. It's available on Amazon.com and I have it in my Kindle reader. I'm still pretty much halfway there. It's the prequel to Of Poseidon. This is the story of Grom and Nalia from how they met. Well so far, that's what I've read. I'm still unsure of how this story goes because I'm really really terrified if the ending's sorta tragic or something. I've read lots of reviews though they never said what the ending was but they did say about "Bam! Bam! Ouch!" so... here is the cover of the book. It's nice so far so if you wanna check it out then do^^

I'm very into photography and I usually go on photo walks all by myself. So uh... I found this cat just chillin' at the side of the road though it doesn't look like the side of the road but I live in the part of the city where there's still lots of grass and trees and all those creepy hiding places where there could be snakes and giant rats and that kind of stuff.

I'm really new at this blog thing. I may not be very good at this so... please have mercy xD

followin'

http://leightmoore.blogspot.com/  :)