[Book Rave] Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles 1) – Marissa Meyer

 

The first book in the Lunar Chronicles series is a spin-off from my most favorite fairy tale in the world that goes by the title, Cinderella. It's all about this girl Cinder who lives in New Beijing with her evil step mother and of course the ever present stepsisters (though only one of them is mean). But Cinder is not an ordinary girl, she's a cyborg living in a world where Androids and Humans coexist and where cyborgs are, well, pretty much discriminated. And then there's Prince Kai, the oh-so-charming prince and future emperor of Eastern Commonwealth which Cinder had somehow gotten involved to.

When I first read about the book in Goodreads, I thought that the story has so much promise. You can still see glimpses of the original Cinderella stuff but Meyer twisted some and made the story her own. And let me tell you how much I love the way she wrote her characters.

Cinder; I love every bit of this fantastic girl. Of course I totally adore Cinderella and it's a given that I'd totally like Cinder. As Prince Kai said, she's the best mechanic in New Beijing, isn't that awesome? And then she's kind, brilliant, loving, and even funny. I like it that she's strong and knows when to fight and when to shut up. No doubt Kai totally fell for her (since there were no formal announcement, I’m just assuming here)

Prince Kai; Kai's character reminds me of that Prince Leonard character in one of those Japanese Cinderella anime, especially when he dressed up like a commoner and went to find Cinder and asked her fix his android. That was cute. I like the guy's sense of humor as well, and oh boy, he is the perfect gentleman. He's so noble I swear the Eastern Commonwealth should build him a monument or something. Lol

One of the things I liked about the book is how the attraction between the two unfolds. Really. The chemistry is so obvious I was squirming on my seat when they first met in the market and every other scene involving the two of them gave me maximum level of giddiness. Their interactions were just so cute and light, never overly dramatic...even the ball and stairs scene was just perfect for young readers like me who doesn't really want them heavy dramas.

Oh, and the supporting characters were just great. There's Ike the android, which you can't help but adore, faulty personality and all. Peony, the kind stepsister...I grieved and cried when she died in Cinder's arms. Dr. Erland who was, in a way, became Cinder's godfather. The story wouldn't be the same without these people.

And lastly, the antagonists; I know Adri was supposed to be the evil stepmother, but I can't help it if Queen Levana fitted the bill more perfectly that Adri.  Truth is, I dunno which between the two of them I should hate more since both of them want Cinder dead. But Queen Levana is definitely a scheming, lying, and mind controlling bitch. SHE is THE perfect epitome of the word EVIL. At least Adri is somehow capable of loving.

The ending was a cliff hanger and I honestly can't wait for the next book, and the next, and the next. Seriously, can't 2015 just come in the blink of an eye?

Birthday Month Reading List : Revisiting the Past

My Birthday month is fast approaching. Since I've decided to make my September reading list into a joint month reading list by making it my September-October reading list due to uber-busy-ness this month...I'm planning early for my reading list for my BIRTHDAY month which is on November.

My November-rific reading list will include books which I totally loved.
Nine books. Nine UBER-FAVORITE books for my Birthday month.
A treat to myself. Booyah!
I seriously can't wait for November to come.
My Reading List will serve as some kind of a consolation. LOL. You know, me, getting a year older. Naaah!

PS: One book per author only. Let's be fair, Hafsa, xD

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Complete in nine handsome volumes, each with an introduction by a Doyle scholar, a chronology, a selected bibliography, and explanatory notes, the Oxford Sherlock Holmes series offers a definitive collection of the famous detective's adventures. No home library is complete without it.

Comprising the series of short stories that made the fortunes of the Strand, the magazine in which they were first published, this volume won even more popularity for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Holmes is at the height of his powers in many of his most famous cases, including "The Red-Headed League," "The Speckled Band," and "The Blue Carbuncle."

Graffiti Moon

Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He's out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy's stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they're suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.

Pride and Prejudice

  "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
So begins Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners--one of the most popular novels of all time--that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues. Renowned literary critic and historian George Saintsbury in 1894 declared it the "most perfect, the most characteristic, the most eminently quintessential of its author's works," and Eudora Welty in the twntieth century described it as "irresistible and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be."

The Da Vinci Code

  An ingenious code hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. A desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe. An astonishing truth concealed for centuries . . . unveiled at last.

While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci—and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.

   

Manhunting
                

Kate Svenson may be a dynamite businesswoman—but after three failed engagements, she’s decided she’s hopeless at romance. What she needs is a Business Plan to help her find Mr. Right. The Cabins resort is ripe with eligible bachelors, all rich and ambitious—just her type. But they’re dropping like flies, and after fishing Kate’s latest reject out of the swimming pool Jake Templeton is convinced that Kate is nothing but trouble. Especially for him. A man who’s sworn off ambition and a woman hanging from the top of the corporate ladder don’t have much in common. But in that unpredictable territory known as the heart, anything can happen 

                                     

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. 

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. 

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart

                                                                                               

                                                                                    

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

  It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who’s just walked in to his band’s show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City—and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date.

This he said/she said romance told by YA stars Rachel Cohn and David Levithan is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story about one date over one very long night, with two teenagers, both recovering from broken hearts, who are just trying to figure out who they want to be—and where the next great band is playing.

Told in alternating chapters, teeming with music references, humor, angst, and endearing side characters, this is a love story you’ll wish were your very own. Working together for the first time, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have combined forces to create a book that is sure to grab readers of all ages and never let them go.

The Book Thief

  It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

Flipped

  

Flipped is a romance told in two voices. The first time Juli Baker saw Bryce Loski, she flipped. The first time Bryce saw Juli, he ran. That’s pretty much the pattern for these two neighbors until the eighth grade, when, just as Juli is realizing Bryce isn’t as wonderful as she thought, Bryce is starting to see that Juli is pretty amazing. How these two teens manage to see beyond the surface of things and come together makes for a comic and poignant romance.

PS: Series are not included. And NO Agatha Christie's too. LOL

Photos and Descriptions: Goodreads

REPOST: (From Facebook) SA MGA BABAE, TAKE TIME TO READ. FOR GUYS HOPE U READ THIS TOO. :)

Ang galing ng kung sino mang lalaking nagsulat nito:
"Ang mga babae, madaldal/mabunganga." Oo, wala talagang tigil ang bibig nila sa pag-rachada sa kasasalita. Lalo na sa tuwing pinapaalala nila sayo na oras na para inumin ang iyong gamot, kapag nagtatanong sila kung kumain ka na ba, kapag ginising ka nila sa umaga upang hindi ma-late at sa mga pagkakataon na nag-aalala sila sayo at tinatanong kung nasaan ka na at bakit hindi ka pa umuuwi. Walang duda, madaldal nga. Hayaan mo na, balang araw, siguro magbabago rin sila. Tipong maririnig mo lang ee "Oo", "Hindi" at "Pwede". Para kayong naglalaro ng Pinoy Henyo. Romantic siguro ng buhay nyo nun. "Ang mga babae, masyadong sentimental." Sinabi mo pa. Tandang tanda nga nila ang petsa at lugar kung saan kayo unang nag-date, isinulat niya rin sa kanyang diary kung ano ang mga ginawa ninyo, nakatago at ingat na ingat siya sa mga larawan nyong dalawa, daig pa niya ang Smithsonian sa pag-aalaga ng mga iniregalo mo at kahit kailan hindi niya nalilimutan ang mga importanteng okasyon tulad ng anniversary, monthsary, weeksary o birthday mo. Nakaka-inis ba? Ok lang yan, malay mo next time, hindi na siya ganun. Tipong i-aasa na lang niya sa Facebook ang iyong kaarawan. Tapos tamang post na lang sa wall mo ng "hapi bday". "Ang mga babae, emosyonal." They cry about movies. They get teary with a romantic novel. They blush and gasp upon seeing a picture of a cute dog or a cuddly baby. Bakit ba ganun sila? Buti na lang tayo hindi. Kinikimkim lang natin lahat ng emosyon sa loob hanggang sa sumabog at atakihin sa puso o di naman kaya ee magpapakalasing tapos magwawala at maghahamon ng wrestling. Di ba mas logical yun? Madalas pa mag-imagine na ikakasal kayo sa simbahan. Lagi nag a-iloveyou, imissyou, take care at mwah mwah sa text. Asar ka na ba at nacocornyhan? Ayos lang yan. Darating din siguro ang time na titigil siya at isesend ang mga un sa iba. Women are probably the greatest gift to men, from God, beside beer and sizzling sisig. At para sken, women deserve all advantages, lalo na sa pag-ibig. Sana lahat ng babae ay maging masaya ang lovelife. Sana, walang babaeng heart-broken, kasi, tayong mga lalake, we're meant to pursue them and it's okay if we fail from time to time. It's the way nature intended it. Gaya ng isang leon sa usa o pag-ikot ng earth sa paligid ng araw. Mas okay kung tayo na lang ung masasaktan. Ee sila? Isipin mo, nagkakaroon sila ng "dalaw" at nababaliw kada buwan, nabubuntis at nahihirapan ng 9 months, at pinaka matindi sa lahat, kailangan pa nilang panatilihing makinis at walang buhok ang kanilang mga kili-kili. Ano ba namang pasayahin sila at gawing "scar-free" ang kanilang buhay pag-ibig. And if you are with a great gal, do everything to make her happy. Don't ever break her heart. Wag kang magpa-uto sa mga statistics, na nagsasabing, mas marami ang babae sa lalake, kaya okay lang mang-chiks. Ano pa bang gusto mo? Hindi pa ba sapat na minahal ka niya sa kabila ng iyong pagiging engot at kawalan ng Romantic DNA sa katawan? Malaki man ang papolasyon nila sa mundo, napaka-liit ng tsansang makakilala ka ulet ng katulad niya na magtya-tyaga sayo. Tandaan, pansamantala ka mang maakit ng naglalakihang pulang high-heels o maaarteng makintab na sandals, mas masarap pa ring umuwe sa nag-iisang tsinelas ng buhay mo. :)

Sa kung sino man ang nagsulat nito, sumasaludo ako sa'yo!

I Want It That Way (Or What Happens Inside the ABS-CBN Newsroom) #Spazz

1:09 - Uber Epic!
1:18 - Kamusta naman yung lip sync ni Kuya Boy? Hahaha
1:28 - Feel na feel ni Julius, performer keeyo.
1:42 - Ang trolley (trolley ba?!) The Best!
2:09 - Epic sa lahat ng epic. John Lloyd Cruz!
2:26 - Emote kung emote lang.
2:46 - Marc Logan, Ikaw na...Ikaw na ang galing sa banyo. Haha. Patawa lang.
3:01 - The famous "Bolpen sa bulsa" ni Ted Failon. lol
3:11 - Ang kyut ni Mario. Parang bata.
3:19 - Si Korina, daw rockstar.
3:26 - Isa pa tong si Kabayan, save the best for last. xD


Spazzworthy kaayo ang video. Dinaig pa lahat nung mga nag-Call Me Maybe.
I Want It That Way?! Very ORIGINAL!
Thumbs Up.
This video is definitely epic. 

Call Me Maybe (FrancElla, my OTP)

Francella, FTW!

FUBU X TOP F/W Promotion Film Pt.01

30 Days Book Challenge - Day 30

Day 30 - An Author you will read whatever they put out.

All of my fave authors. Haha
That's part of being a fan. LOL

30 Days Book Challenge - Day 29

Day 29 - An Author that you completely hate/avoid/won't read

DANIELLE STEEL and NICHOLAS SPARKS.

Don't get me wrong. I don't hate them. Actually, I love their books. So much!
I just stopped reading them because their books usually give me headaches. Hahaha.

#APrettyLameAnswer