Rabbitin

I decided to take a break from fairy tales and fantasies by having a contemporary young adult read this time. My sister and I were discussing about how back in the days we used to write to pen pals from other countries. We were talking about how exciting it was to write and receive these letters. We attach/receive stickers, pictures, postcards and other items small enough to fit on an envelope. None of my pen pals lasted but my sister got lucky. She started corresponding with her pen friend back in high school and now the latter has kids and all but still the two continues to keep in touch. I find it really sweet and I am envious. Anyhow, because of that I decided to choose Secret Assignments from my TBR as my next read because the book is about just that, pen pals and letter writing. Summary from Goodreads : Told entirely through letters, diary entries, emails, and other writing, Moriarty's novel introduces us to Emily, Lydia, and Cassie -- all students at Ashbury High -- who b

"Know Me Better" is a meme hosted by Kathy at I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. Each week she will pick 5 questions off her author interview list and invites bloggers and readers to answer them. You can add your link or find a list of the  participants here . If not, It would be great if you could share your answers in the comments section.  If you could meet one person who has died who would you choose? Hmm...Probably Roald Dahl. He seemed like such an interesting person.    Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate. Preferably in liquid form, piping hot. Or the dark variety...with almonds. :) What do you do in your free time? Read! Mostly books and blogs. Or have a Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, or some Hanna Barbera or Looney Tunes cartoon viewing marathon. What movie are you looking forward to this year? Actually there's two, Hugo and The Adventures of TinTin:Secret of the Unicorn. Spontaneity or Planning Ahead? Planning Ahead for sure. I can't stand being unprep

In books and movies, I have always come across how paintings contain a whole new world inside. It's just a matter of hopping in and out of the frames. But with Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair, you can actually go inside a literary work via an invention involving bookworms (the larvae not the people). For book geeks, this would be the best thing since, well books.  Summary from  Goodreads : Welcome to a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985, where time travel is routine, cloning is a reality, (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem, militant Baconians heckle performances of Hamlet, and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection, until someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature. When Jane Eyre is plucked from t

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Story Siren . It features books you have bought or received during the week. Look at what I won from the ReaderCon Raffle! The Medusa Plot I  haven't read a single 39 Clues Book, but I have heard a lot of buzz about it. And I found out that this book, the Medusa Plot is actually Book 1 of Series 2: Cahills vs Vespers and not part of Series 1 which spans from Book 1 to 11. From the summary on the book, there's kidnapping, stealing, and a whole lot of mystery and adventure. I'm intrigued as well about the Cahill branches: Lucian, Ekaterina, Tomas, and Madrigals. It reminds me of the 4 houses of Hogwarts. This looks like one of those addicting series that will get me hooked. Thanks to the raffle sponsors of the Filipino ReaderCon! And to Celina! :) 

This year, I have had about three books that I did not finish and it's making me feel a bit guilty. My guilt stems from the fact that I have had books that I almost gave up on but glad I didn't because if I did I could have missed out on such a great piece of literature and the great reading experience it could have provided. Here are some books that I've picked up which went through the said initial phase of disinterest but I still went on reading them and I'm glad I did:  1. LOTR trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien - I have read this a long time ago so I am not quite sure as to which part of the trilogy I had a tough time getting through. Probably the second one. I remember wanting to give up when I was on the part telling about about the geography of Middle Earth, describing the locations and landscapes and such. Boy, am glad I didn't gave up on this one. I could have missed out on a great trilogy!  2. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke - The first few p

Growing up, I was more of a Looney Tunes-Hanna Barbera kind of kid. I did adore the Disney Princess but to a lesser extent. I remember a cousin of mine who used to be obsessed with Cinderella when she was little and such an obsession is currently shared by my brother-in-law's niece. I must say, among the Disney Princesses, Cinderella isn't really on top of my list. The story is interesting enough, the quintessential fairytale, it's the characters that I am not quite fond of. But with Gail Carson Levine's retelling, Ella proves to me as the best "Cinderella" I have read/heard of so far. Summary from Goodreads : How can a fairy's blessing be such a curse? At her birth, Ella of Frell was given a foolish fairy's gift—the "gift" of obedience. Ella must obey any order given to her, whether it's hopping on one foot for a day or chopping off her own head! But strong-willed Ella does not tamely accept her fate. She goes on a quest, encountering

I first fell in love with dystopian literature through The Hunger Games. Although a contradiction in terms, I find dystopian literature comforting. Perhaps the comfort stems from the fact that I am safely sitting in my chair away from the destruction and danger contained in most of the books under the said genre. It seems odd that it is only just recently that I've heard of The Giver, when in fact it's one of the firsts among dystopian literature. But better late than never. Summary from  Goodreads: Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back This dystopian book is quite different from the others of the same genre that I'v