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Showing posts from February, 2013

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

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Summary from Goodreads : basis, n.  There has to be a moment at the beginning when you wonder whether you’re in love with the person or in love with the feeling of love itself.  If the moment doesn’t pass, that’s it—you’re done. And if the moment does pass, it never goes that far. It stands in the distance, ready for whenever you want it back. Sometimes it’s even there when you thought you were searching for something else, like an escape route, or your lover’s face.  How does one talk about love? Do we even have the right words to describe something that can be both utterly mundane and completely transcendent, pulling us out of our everyday lives and making us feel a part of something greater than ourselves? Taking a unique approach to this problem, the nameless narrator of David Levithan’s The Lover’s Dictionary has constructed the story of his relationship as a dictionary. Through these short entries, he provides an intimate window into the great events and quotidian trifl

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

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Summary from Goodreads : Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row. A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more? Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.  To be honest I am a cynic when it comes to Love at First Sights.

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler (Illustrated by Maira Kalman)

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Summary from Goodreads : "I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened." Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped. I had this on my list because of all the book awards, I am most successful with the Printz, being a YA genre fan. Plus, the illustrations were really lovely, I wanted to eat them. Haha.  The title is a dead giveaway. So I knew the tone of this book and how it would go, generally. It's high school life, young love, heart ache, family issues, friend and 

Top Ten Favorite Characters in the Fantasy Genre

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This is a feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish . For more info click THIS . 1. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling) - Let's face it, the boys wouldn't stand a chance without Hermione. They'd be done for even before they began.  2. Harry Potter (Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling) - I will always have a spot in my heart for the boy who lived. My childhood was made a little more magical because of Harry. 3. Bilbo Baggins (The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien) - He is one cunning and courageous little hobbit that can hold his own against the stout company of 13 dwarves. 4. Eowyn (Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien) - This is one gutsy girl. I mean, she slayed the Witch-King all by herself!  5. Sorcha (Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier) - This is one tenacious girl. Nothing can ever make her give up, not humiliation, not pain, only to save her brothers and her kingdom. 6. Kitty Jones (Bartimaues Trilogy by Jonathan St

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

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Summary from Goodreads : When it comes to relationships, Remy doesn't mess around. After all, she's learned all there is to know from her mother, who's currently working on husband number five. But there's something about Dexter that seems to defy all of Remy's rules. He certainly doesn't seem like Mr. Right. For some reason, however, Remy just can't seem to shake him. Could it be that Remy's starting to understand what those love songs are all about? Sarah Dessen is a name that is widely known in the Contemporary YA genre and I have been meaning to pick one of her books up for so long now. But it always gets pushed way down my TBR because I sort of thought that it just might be too romance focused for me. Luckily, some people over at the Filipino Goodreads Group did a buddy read for this particular novel. And that was just the extra push I needed to finally get started on my very first Dessen read. So, I thank you my lovely reading buddies! Fir

Book Spine Poem Extra Challenge

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I always love reading book spine poetry but never really tried it myself, seeing that I have no poetic bone in my body. But Evie over at Bookish created an extra challenge along side The 2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge, which I am taking part in. So, I thought now is the time to give it a shot . For more details on the said challenge click THIS . Wicked Wintergirls, Speak Twisted, Garden Spells.

Top Ten Favorite Romances (2012-Present)

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This is a feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish . For more info click THIS . It's Valentine's Week! It's time to do one of my favorite lists whenever this time of the year rolls around. My list consist not of my favorite romances of all time but of those romances read in the span of the previous year until the present date of posting, that is,  books read in 2012-February 12, 2013. So, that I can make this a yearly thing without repeating the entries.  1. Kitty and Nathaniel (The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud) - I loved that theirs wasn't really an obvious kind of romance. It wasn't the touchy-feely kind, in fact they hated each other's guts with passion. But eventually, there was a love formed out of the mutual respect of each other's bravery, strength, and goodness. 2. Dash and Lily (Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan) - I love how the paths of these two seemingly opposite individuals, crossed. It w

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

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Summary from Goodreads : Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend.  But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Right after putting the book down and thought about what I had just read, I realized that there are a lot of things I found in the book that will normally not sit well with me. Some cheesy dialogues that either show Etienne's gorgeousness and or Anna's desire for him, like these: "I want to breathe him, lick him, eat him, drink him."; " He's so beautiful, so perfect. I'm dizzy. My heart pounds, my pulse races."; "I don't think

Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay

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S ummary from Goodreads : My wish is to fall cranium over Converse in dizzy daydream-worthy love. If only it were that easy. Marcie has been dragged away from home for the summer--from Idaho to a family summerhouse in New Hampshire. She's left behind her friends, a group of freaks and geeks called the Leftovers, including her emo-rocker boyfriend, and her father. By the time Labor Day rolls around, Marcie suspects this "summer vacation" has become permanent. She has to start at a new school, and there she leaves behind her Leftover status when a cute boy brings her breakfast and a new romance heats up. But understanding love, especially when you've watched your parents' affections end, is elusive. What does it feel like, really? Can you even know it until you've lost it? Love & Leftovers is a beautifully written story of one girl's journey navigating family, friends, and love, and a compelling and sexy read that teens will gobble up whole. Love

Required Reading: February 2013

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When I heard about The Required Reading Challenge over at One More Page , I thought that it's my kind of challenge. It's flexible, and laid-back. It's more of my style. So I decided to join in this month. Here are the rules as seen on One More Page : Books chosen for the challenge should be in the current TBR pile as of the month of the Required Reading post. So if you decided to join at March, the books you choose for the month should be in your TBR pile as of February. Galleys and ARCs can be included. Posting reviews aren’t necessary (but don’t you want that out of the way, too?). I’ll be posting a theme every month but you don’t have to follow that. You can choose a theme for yourself if you want to — what’s important is the books that you put there are books that you want to get to reading. Lastly: have fun. If you don’t finish a book, it’s okay! If you finish it, then…feel free to reward yourself with something. Like a new book.  I would have to go

The Sea of Tranquility by Katya Millay

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Summary of Goodreads : I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk. Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay. Josh Bennett’s story is no secret: every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at seventeen years old, there is no one left. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space. Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated he