a spoon of fun.

I need a breather after days of work and a series of sleepless nights reading a book. I have finished reading the first two books of the Mortal Instruments. And although I started reading the third book, I'd rather take a break because the book is literally suffocating me. It's thick and the plot is so simple, yet it's worth a read. After scarring my wallet, I spend days trying to destroy my eyes. Reading under a poor light and actually almost everywhere where prying eyes are not present. I prefer to read in McDonald's 'coz literally the place is jam-packed of people who mistakenly think it's a library oozing with caffeine and burgers, so camouflaging with your book is effortless. Anyhow, I digested two books and I'm reserving the third book for dessert.

Lately, I can't help but be allured by books. The last purchase sent me thrilled and baffled. I just bought "I Am Number Four" by Pittacus Lore. It's lurking inside my bag waiting to be stripped of its dignity. The busy schedule and the endless excuse of eye fatigue will temporarily put me under the shadow of reading hiatus. And blogging hiatus? The latter is actually due to laziness. I don't exactly know the reason behind this, but my mind seemed to be at focus when I'm snuggling with my blanket. It's like there's a spontaneous firework of ideas and I'm too lazy to stand and get my journal to jot them. Random ideas seemed to flock incessantly inside my mind like a cafe filled with morning coffee drinkers. Restless and volatile. When I try to make a mental note, I will just wake up frustrated trying to catch the last thread of my memory. I need rest. Life is a mixture of poison and antidotes. I need the antidote side of it. I need fantasy. Life is too real that I need to dilute it with fantasy.

I need to watch a movie.

I watched Burlesque. It's a story of a small-town girl dreaming something big and suddenly had the biggest break of her life when her talent was accidentally uncovered. Well, as the line in the movie went, "every opportunity has a shelf-life", Ali (Christina Aguilera) grabbed that opportunity and went to a series of ups and downs and literally the movie ended like a fairytale. Watching the movie was like watching an anthology of Aguilera music videos with the special participation of Cher. The grooves of half-naked girls, brazen colors and the striking lines somewhat paid off, putting life between boredoms. Stanley Tucci and Cher tandem pulled it. Tucci’s acting, for me, is nostalgic to The Devil Wears Prada, minus the awkward scene between Tucci’s character and his lover.

There were scenes in the movie which were actually confusing as to where did they get the inspiration to include such parts. The seduction part, although sexy and naughty, was an example. The business part was cliché yet its importance was revealed at the end. If you opt for the intellectually challenging movie, then this movie is not for you. Burlesque was just my right type of antidote.

I want to watch it again ‘coz it’s like watching a flimsy yet colourful musical, not serious but not boring. When your life is ragingly toxic, even a spoon of fun is worth it.

best reads of 2010

the books I enjoyed reading this year, though I really didn't start on January

Thanks to ms. blooey of Bookmarked! for giving me "The Monster of Florence" as a Christmas gift. Finally, something to add to my growing collection of books. Wish granted!

Thanks to my Honey for giving me "Lamb" by Christopher Moore. Biff always brightens my day. Hehehe.

My year has been an adventure as I flipped those pages. Happy New Year!

book review #1: lamb: the gospel according to biff, christ's childhood pal

You may find yourself asking why it's the first book review. I've done quite a few already. Well, I'm going to start it this new year and I like to have an inventory of the books that I read. Reading is a passion right now, not just a hobby or whatsoever. And to start the new year with a bang, I also chose a book that will surely make a big bang of laughter out of you. I enjoyed reading this and it made me laugh the bejeezus out of me. Well, it's a "Gospel" to start with. Can there be more strange-sounding than this? I'm laughing.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal (phew, such a long title) is written by Christopher Moore. The book talks about the missing link in the life of Jesus, the in-betweens when he was seven and the time he started his ministry, as was told by Biff, his seeminlgy all-knowing, sexually-crazed but loyal friend. You would wish to have such a friend as Biff. Well, there are ten things that I like to point on this book which are quiet interesting.

1. Biff, the titular character, and Joshua (Jesus is the Greek name)

Their friendship is like a Yin-Yang, a balance of naivete and smartassness (correct me please). Where Joshua lacks the knowledge on one area, it is there that Biff tries to fill. Theirs was a complete riot. Biff becomes Joshua's window to sinly human nature as Joshua tries to discover more about sin and his way of becoming the Messiah.

2. The angel Raziel

The stupidest angel (another book by Moore) who loves soap opera and was disappointed by not meeting Spiderman. He loves wrestling and thinks that everything in the TV is true. He resurrected Biff, dead for 2000 years, and commanded him to write this gospel. His is a halo that Biff describes as "stupidity leaking out of his head". Makes me laugh everytime I remember that.

3. Angels do have sex. And Raziel left his sex organ in heaven. Makes me imagine Biff's face, his reaction.

4. Balthasar's 8 concubines.

Tiny Feet of the Divine Dance of Joyous Orgasm, Beautiful Gate of Heavenly Moisture Number Six, Temptress of the Golden Light of the Harvest Moon, Delicate Personage of the Two Fu Dogs Wrestling Under a Blanket, Feminine Keeper of the Three Tunnels of Excessive Friendliness, Silken Pillows of the Heavenly Softness of the Clouds, Pea Pods in Duck Sauce with Crispy Noodle, and Sue.

Their names are amusing but Biff manages to call them by their short names. Sue is for Susannah. Huh?

5. While Joshua learns how to multiply the grain of rice through the Divine Spark (the Holy Ghost or Spirit, as we call it), Biff is so busy learning the ancient knowledge of Kama Sutra (LOL) and manages to have a banter with Joshua (who also learns the Bhagavad Gita).

6. The 3 Magi, Balthasar, Gaspar and Melchior, have been actually searching for their own personal desires which is the reason why they travelled to see the Messiah. Joshua finally found them and sought help on how he can become the Messiah. He gave them lessons instead.

7. Joshua loves drinking coffee. And is a contortionist. He fitted inside Biff's satchel, a backpack. He can also become invisible, which he learned when he was a monk under the tutelage of Gaspar. And he, together with Biff, battles a demon named Catch. What a catch that is. He had a comic language banter with this demon, while Biff infuriated it by peeing on it.

8. Joshua doesn't like sex at all after the incident when he saw Biff lying together with a toothless old woman. To be safe, his view of sex changed after this incident. Remember, Joshua was still learning the anatomy of sin so to say. His instructor was actually Biff who had carnal pleasures with different women so to describe this to him. As I say it again, Biff is the smartass while Joshua maintained his naivete.

9. That the Sermon on the Mount was actually planned. The Beautitudes. Everything was written as was dictated by Jesus and some suggested by Biff. Let me share to you an excerpt:

Biff: "Seven"
Jesus: "Not enought. We need one more. How about the dumbfucks?"
Biff: No, Josh, not the dumbfucks. You've done enough for the dumbfucks...
Jesus: Blessed are the dumbfucks for they, uh - I don't know - the shall never be disappointed.

Biff: No, I'm drawing the line at the dumbfucks. Come on, Josh, why can't we have any powerful guys on our team? Why do we have the to have the meek, and the poor, the oppressed, and the pissed on? Why can't we, for once, have blessed are the big powerful rich guys with swords?"

Makes me laugh all the time.

10. Judas was killed, rather strangled, by Biff who killed himself by jumping off the cliff. The smartass died by suicide but later resurrected by the angel to write this gospel.

The anachronism is quite interesting and so is the sarcasm. I love everything about the book, especially the humor between Jesus and Biff. Christopher Moore played well with the reader's imagination about the characters, the setting, about everything in totality. I can't recommend it enough. Read irony. Hehehe. A caution though, if you're a chuckler, then at least do not read this in public. The languages are funny and some parts are quite disturbing especially for "Pharisee-ish" mind, close-minded that is.

4.9 stars out of 5 (I'm saving the 0.1 for the air, I'm running out of it while reading). Seriously, 5 out of 5 for the good humor. Curiosity is the beginning of wisdom, or sham. Read the book to see it for yourself. I'm reading it again.

monster are real. really.

I bought the book The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey and immediately read it. Obviously, I haven't finished it yet and although I'm not really a fan of grotesqueries, I find it intriguing and somehow informative owing to the fact that there were some information from scientists and authors in the first leaf of the book telling the existence of Anthropophagi. I really don't know if these things or foul creatures exist but to read their description in the book will give the same reaction Will Henry had. It's tickling my gag reflex. Monsters are real. The back cover said so.

I paused to think and ponder about it. Yes, it is true. Monsters are real, while human beings live. I am not contemplating on a self-righteous theory but you will agree with me when I said this. People nowadays are inclining to be monsters and worst, we recognized them already, but we just appear to be oblivious, or I don't know, maybe plainly we just are indifferent. We feign awareness. We see the corruption and the vile deeds of our fellow Homo sapiens but we still choose to be ignorant of these blatant facts. Blind. Yes, we are blind.

There are monsters lurking everywhere, it may be your seatmate now, or your date or that poor grocer at a distant. Picking orange. The point is monsters can even be our very own selves. I know you know what I mean. The clock is ticking.

For the mean time, got to finish my read. Ciao, ciao.

bbc's 100 books to read before you die.

Speechless. 

Every time there's a topic or raucous about books, I can't help but be teary-eyed. God knows how I love, oh no, how I adore books, any book for that matter. Any genre. Any form or any format. And all the time I always find myself disarmed by these whenever I am in a bookstore. The books seem to be talking. My version of "The Confessions of a Shopaholic". Taunting me. Inviting. As if faced by an Eve-in-the-Eden situation, I can only do nothing but succumb to this wanting. 

There's one thing I want to say actually. Forget those blubbers. 

I LOVE BOOKS. And when BBC released their list of the books to drool upon, I just can sigh. Pooh!!!

Here's the list:

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott 
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien 
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell 
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald 
23. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
24. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
25. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky 
26. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
27. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
28. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
29. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
30. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
31. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis  
32. Emma - Jane Austen
33. Persuasion - Jane Austen
34. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
35. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
36. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
37. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
38. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
39. Animal Farm - George Orwell
40. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
41. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
42. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
43. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
44. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
45. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy 
46. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
47. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
48. Atonement - Ian McEwan
49. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
50. Dune - Frank Herbert 
51. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
52. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
53. Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
54. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
55. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
56. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
57. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
58. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
59. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
60. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
61. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
62. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
63. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
64. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
65. Fear of Flying - Erica Jong
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Inferno - Dante
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray 
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White 
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I read some of them. And I will definitely read all of them, that if I still can manage to. But I think I will. And also collect some of them. Weee..Something to look forward to next year.

let the hunger games begin.

This week's a busy one, so reading a book was like stealing Mona Lisa. Lol. Anyway, although busy, I have not given the thought to finish at least a book per week or at least have a glimpse of the pages. Hahaha. I have read the Hunger Games Trilogy and the experience was quite overwhelming at the same time disappointing. Overwhelming, in a sense, that this was the first time I collected the complete books of a series. Collecting was like an addiction. Can't explain and can't contain the excitement altogether. I became an instant bibliophile. I have been collecting books lately and some of them became instant reads and some became instant depressants. Bedside drugs, I call them. Disappointed, especially with how the book ends in the Mockingjay, the 3rd installment. Anyhow, the first book, The Hunger Games, let me talk about this thing.

The Hunger Games deals with Katniss Everdeen, her struggles, her story, her fate and her game for life. A post-apocalyptic scenario which requires young blood to vindicate a rebellion. It's a YA fiction so it doesn't require a dictionary to aid you in case you meet a nosebleed-inducing word. Fast-paced. It's like watching a mash-up of Gladiator and Tournament, but this time with younger participants.

There are things which I found unique and intriguing in this book.

1. The book cover. Simple yet meaningful. The bird, which was actually a mockingjay, became the theme of this trilogy. You can find the same bird in the succeeding books and the bird did have a role in the story. The Mockingjay and Katniss. Hmm...Read please. By the way, what's a mockingjay? Mockingbirds exist, but mockingjays? Hmmm...

2. Muttations. At first I thought this was a typo error but actually it does exist in this book. This is what I like with authors. They can freely alter anything and create anything, all for the sake of fiction. And boy! Suzanne did her job well. Muttations or mutts are experiments gone awry (at least as I perceived it until I read the last book). Mockingjays are the cross-breeds of mutts and an ordinary bird. It's actually more of a mutation with a touch of sinisterness.

3. The fashion before death. The tributes (selected children from each District) have to undergo a beauty regimen and fashion showdown only to be murdered by each other in an arena. I mean, will I still care on what I will wear when at the back of mind I can see my dead and mutilated body afterward?

4. District 13. Its existence is as mysterious and intriguing as the fate of District 12. Only 12 districts were mentioned so far and what is District 13? The Districts were assigned with varying job roles with the District 12 as coal miners. The Capitol, being the head, bitches them all, getting various supplies from each of them. The Capitol initiates the Hunger Games to teach the other districts who's the boss of them.

5. The funny names. Enough said.

6. Avox. Vox in Latin means voice. If Harry Potter has the house-elves, then HG has the Avoxes. Except for the fact that Avoxes swallowed the remote control switched to silent mode. Kidding! Their tongues were cut for their treacherous deeds for the Capitol. So they're rendered silent for the rest of their lives. Katniss met one in the Capitol.

7. The Chocolate at the end of the Cornetto. No ice cream in this book. Hahaha. That's how I described the end of every chapter. Every chapter ends with a wham line which redirects the flow of the story and keeps my interest high for the next chapter. The beginning of the Hunger Games welcomes you with this.

Now if you want a good read, grab one. I'm not a fan of romance so I focused more on the survival game and the subtle violence. In as much as I like Harry Potter books, this one's a good catch also. The violence's not overkill and the characters are not boring. Although Peeta is sometimes.

One thing, I am so happy that Hunger Games did not end like Breaking Dawn of the Twilight. Brrrr... Indescribably disappointing. They should have lift a finger to kill Bella. Annoying.

There...Done with my homework. Hehehe
Next: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

i still have time to read. and to blog.

I acquired the book of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind, and I was thrilled. I devoured the book at hand and managed to finish it (after periods of interruption and frustrations) after two days and a night. 

I watched the movie first, if you remembered. The movie was after all an almost faithful recreation of the book, with the characters brought to life solidifying my imagination and enhancing my memory as each pages were procreated as flitting and well-befitting as the concoction of the words that were used. The book was a mediocre work of a god, that if you know what I mean. I was merely (an understatement) drawn by the words which were as clear as they were colorful,  as they reverberated in the inner recesses of my brain. If Grenouille was so intoxicated by virginal scents, I was allured and drugged by the wondrously harnessed texts. I forgot I was just a reader. At least temporarily. The story was a perfect work of a genius with Grenouille being a perfect murderer, a sublime image of a psychopath, a personage worth hating and loving at the same time. 

I definitely gave a thumbs-up for the story, the plot. The movie, however, still could not contain the delightfully macabre description of everything that was on the book. Don't fret for the movie though. It is as volatile as the book, and to watch it is blissful as reading the book, however with certain degree of  homage to the book.

Spoilers. The movie salvaged 12 virginal scents with the addition of the final scent, that was Laure's, to complete the perfect scent that Grenouille concocted in his mind. However, in the book, Grenouille needed 24 sacrificial virgins and Laure, to perfect his gallery for the creation of his infamous perfume. A major modification? That's why sometimes movies suck. And we who watched suck the most. So read! Lol. Click.

i'm on a reading spree. stop me.

Remember my Moleskin journal? It's slowly feeling the pressure of my comments, lambasting whims, criticism brouhahas, juvenile censorship which were actually in some way or another cushioning the repressed emotions I broil inside me. A wannabe writer? A frustrated poet? Name it, I don't want it. Lol. I'm just on a reading spree and I'm knocking the books on my shelf one at a time. And God, how they bleed. Lol. Without further ado, I present to you the parade of books I just chewed and digested.

The Hobbit (JRR Tolkien)

What could I say? This book is quite a good read if you opted for adventures, dragons, goblins and dwarves and all those swashbuckling so-and-so's. Need I to mention the Lord of the Rings? Enough said. JRR Tolkien is really a storyteller and a good one.

Makes me want to read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I'm currently scavenging for a copy. *sigh*

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Mark Haddon)

Story of an Asperger-inflicted 15 year-old child. Interesting? Absolutely. If you have watched "Adam", then I bet you will understand that this book is quite interesting as it was uniquely narrated at first-person perspective by a savant. The chapters were numbered using prime numbers which was quite a catch for me. I was like, huh? Do I really need to read this? If you were to hear from pundits, then some would say this book would be a boring recipe. But, acknowledging the fact that this deals with Asperger's, I'd rather shrug the idea. No mistake, it was a good choice. The plot was like induction-induction-climax-climax-denouement-denouement-drooooppp! That was actually the flop side of the book. It ended immediately, robbing me of the element of self-reflection, rather harassed by the element of surprise.

The Client (John Grisham)

Courtroom drama turned action with a child-lawyer relationship riveted by mafia intervention. That would suffice I think. Heheh. Anyway, this was actually a re-read book. I just don't read the book again if I don't find it entertaining and educating, the latter one being the main ingredient of a good book. I consider this book my first major addiction. A Grisham work of genius.

Plan of watching the movie, but I'm afraid it may ruin my already-fossilized impression of this book. Suggestion?

Twisted 7 (Jessica Zafra)

She's the bitch you'll meet in Hell and you'll be proud you meet her, but sadly in Hell. Actually the book shares the twisted ideas of Jessica Zafra. I got hooked of her Twisted series but since I was still deciding whether to buy them, I've contented myself with rigorous and patient skimming, rather reading of these in National Bookstore. The read's for free. Haha!

Gone for Good (Harlan Coben)

This one's on my menu every night starting last night. The reason why I got those Edward Cullen circles under my eyes. Deal with it. Haha. I'm currently reading it. Can't get the whole point yet, hey, I'm still on the second chapter but my friend said that this one's a good catch. Want to prove this firsthand. I'm on a reading spree really and I'm eager to devour this book.

Haven't you noticed I don't give lengthy summary? Excuse me señoritos and mademoiselles, spare me of your homework! I don't want to deprive you of your firsthand experience of the book. I'm not a sucker for spoilers! Johnny Reader, keep on reading! By the way, my Moleskine book journal's getting filled. I'll show someday. Ciao. Ciao.

"The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" : Another Twilight Book

Who's Bree Tanner anyway?

Stephenie Meyer, yes, the author of the famous and much anticipated "Twilight" series, has once again opened another character for this renowned "vegetarian" vampire clan. It is in the embodiment of Bree Tanner. She is the only newborn vampire left after the Cullens triumphed in wiping out the newborns. This novella (short novel) will explain what happened to the newborns in the perspective of Bree. It will be included in the upcoming movie, Eclipse, and will be played by Jodelle Ferland. This novella will be available for FREE! Just visit breetanner.com and get it online starting June 7th to July 5th.

I'm a vampire book fan, but I am disappointed by what happened at the end of the fourth book, Breaking Dawn. I was more of expecting a bloody and epic war but it turned out to be the opposite. Their unique talents proved to be just a show-off rather than be a showcase of such. *sigh* By the way, Eclipse is already coming soon this June 30. Hope it's not disappointing.