Brida by Paolo Coelho

I started reading this 312-page paperback last July… 2009! I know I am a slow reader, but more so if the story is really not that interesting. I bought Brida because one - it’s a Paolo Coelho book and I have loved many of his novels for years; and two - because it’s a book about being a witch and I’ve always wanted to be one as evidenced by my love for the Wiccan ways which I share on my Wiccan Blog. Unfortunately, for me, the pace of the story in the beginning was really not that fantastic and I got bored to tears. It’s only during my morning rituals (after I do my daily tarot reading, meditation and spell) that I try to read a few more pages just so I can finish this blasted book. It was only when I was reaching the last few chapters that the story became more exciting to the point that it was giving me goosebumps and hair tingles. This meant that finally, I was one with the book and it was as if I was Brida finally consummating my journey into  my real self, that of becoming a witch.

Brida is a young Irish girl who has always been interested in magic, spirituality and anything and everything that is other worldly — just like me. ^_^ Fortunately for Brida, she really pursued her destiny and met two teachers a long the way — a Magus, her teacher; and Wicca, a real witch. They taught her everything they know about the Tradition of the Moon and the Sun. They helped Brida open her eyes to the possibility of magic, and to trust in the goodness and beauty of the world, and to dance with its music.

Just like any person seeking for his or her destiny, Brida also struggled with her emotions and thoughts. There were times she doubted herself and what she was pursuing. But despite all that, she knew that she was on the right path. She followed her gut, her inner voice and everything she has always wanted came into fruition.  

Brida taught me great things, just like what I’ve always been learning all these years — to know what I want and to go get it. It’s okay to make mistakes along the way. The important thing is to stand up again, follow through and persevere. For in the end, your efforts will be rewarded.

Brida also educated me about the ways of magic… that it’s a bridge between the visible and the invisible and can manifest in very simple ways, just like when I meditate in the morning or put myself in another state of consciousness. Brida may be a slow read at first. But it delivered well towards the end. 

Last Night at Chateau Marmont, Dead and Loving It, One Fifth Avenue

 

 

 

The Carrie Diaries

Finally, I am done reading The Carrie Diaries. Finally, I was able to meet Carrie  Bradshaw before Sex and the City. For a suburban kid who has lived a normal life, with all the intricacies and delinquencies of teendom, Carrie has indeed come a long, long way. But in spite of having a family with its own delinquencies (whose family doesn’t have one anyway?) and being put down several times for following her passion in writing, and going through all those broken friendships and tainted love, Carrie has remained witty, funny, forgiving and generous, pretty much the same Carrie Bradshaw we’ve known in the hit HBO series and movies Sex and the City 1 & 2.  Candace Bushnell has portrayed young Carrie very well and brought her readers to the inner motivations and aspirations that made Carrie unique out of all the spectacular book characters out there.

While reading The Carrie Diaries, I felt like I was reading one of those Sweet Valley High pocketbooks I used to collect back in High School, only this time, the face of young Sarah Jessica Parker kept popping in my head. ^_^ How I wish I could be like Carrie, you know? Like even as a young teenager, she already knew what she wanted to become — a writer, by hook or by crook even if almost everybody around her tells her otherwise.

All the twists and turns in the story had given me such insightful revelations as to how Carrie became the writer  that her character is today, how she found her writing voice, and how she remained to be a hopeless romantic.

I loved how Carrie’s friendships became so twisted that it led her to finally meeting one of the main SATC characters we know. Even now as I write it, it’s giving me goosebumps, but in a good way. I so did not expect it! Candace Bushnell surely knows  her Carrie Bradshaw very well. I wonder if there’s another book after this? ^_^

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Eat Pray Love, and Archie Comics

This blog is becoming a photo blog of my recent book buys. LOL! I’m not even done yet with Carrie Diaries but I really do hope to read all my new books before this year ends. It’s one of those things I promised myself on my Wanderlust Blog even if I can’t count the number of unread books I have anymore. I am staying positive!  How I wish I can just bum for a month, stay at a beach and read books all day. What a wonderful wishful thinking. I can dream, can’t I?

Anyway, watching the new Harry Potter movie trailer for Deathly Hallows  always gives me the kind of goosebumps that feels like it’s Halloween. And you know how Halloween makes me so happy… happier than Christmas even. So I told myself, even if I might not be able to immediately read it, I might as well   buy the book now. Just its presence on my bookshelf might entice me to sacrifice some of my time to sit down and go read it. Hmmm… Maybe, I can sacrifice one whole Saturday to just read it. Wouldn’t that be divine? I hope my husband won’t mind  if Iock myself up in our study so I can peacefully be transported to the land of magic. ^_^

I have also been touched by the movie trailer of Julia Robert’s  upcoming movie Eat, Pray, Love. It never fails to make me cry! To think it’s just a movie trailer. A huge part of my soul can relate to the plot of the movie. Didn’t I give up a high paying job to go travel and follow my heart?  Didn’t I quit taking all those diet pills so I can enjoy whatever what I want to eat? Didn’t I get married to a guy who is the exact opposite of what my parents want for me? I do hope the book  will not disappoint me. But then again, it was made into a movie so the story must be really good.  I really can’t wait to read it! But my O.C. (obssessive compulsive) tendencies want me to finish the other books I have already started reading. Again, can I have one Saturday off from my busy schedule  so I can enjoy this book in peace? ^_^

And since I was already at National Bookstore that time I was shopping for books, I also got four new Double Digest Archie Comics. I never get tired of reading those. Looking at the covers and smelling the pages always transports me back in time… back to the happy days of my early teen years.  ^_^

So ciao for now! Hopefully, when I blog again here, I would have some good reviews and thoughts to tell. 

The Carrie Diaries and The Last Song

When I went shopping for additional craft and beading supplies yesterday, I couldn’t help buying these two books written by two of my favorites authors — Candace Bushnell for The Carrie Diaries and Nicholas Sparks for The Last Song. I honestly don’t know when I’ll be able to read them because as you can see from my reading list on my side bar, I still have tons of books to finish first.

But knowing me, I’ll probably stop reading the others and start with The Carrie Diaries especially since Sex and the City 2 is still fresh in my memory. This book is a chronicle of Carrie Bradshaw’s life and I am so interested to find out. I heard they’re making a movie of it too! I just wonder how they will make Sarah Jessica Parker look younger. LOL.  

As for The Last Song, there’s a laready a movie for this one. I shared the trailer on my previous blog post and I hope to watch the movie too. ^_^

The Chronicles of Narnia OT is Out - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

OMG! OMG! OMG!

Check out the trailer here:

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

It took a while for me to start reading The Choice by Nicholas Sparks. I dunno if it was because I was busy, or if the prologue was just a bit boring to read that I never get past it for some time. When I finally did, that’s when things started kicking in for me and I was finally captivated by the story.

I think the boredom I felt at the start of the novel was because I was quite confused with the prologue. It happened at present which was 11 years after the main plot of the story. Travis is in his 40’s, to visit Gabby at her place of work, while tentatively carrying flowers, which was 3 months after their big fight and the last time they slept in one bed. It made me feel like some sort of an impending doom is in the air and I felt uneasy, sad,devastated, teary-eyed,and just crushed. 

The build up slowly happened… Travis is not your typical celebrity-looking vet  with ultra white teeth and perfect body. While Gabby works as a PA in a nearby hospital and just recently transfered to a new place to be closer to her boyfriend and at the same time, find herself. She is also not the typical beautiful-looking girl. The way Nicholas described her, she’s the type who’s not so pretty , but has a certain charm that grows with you. 

Anyway, as opposite as they were, with Travis being the more adventurous of the two (a world traveler,  a sailor, a surfer, and does all sorts of other water sports activities)  and Gabby being the more sheltered one, they fall in love and build a life together.

But in the end, choices have to be made. 

For what it’s worth, Nicholas Sparks does really know how to make twists and turns in making a novel. He knew from the start how things would end, and as usual, he unleashed a waterfall of tears like he did in his other books. 

I plan to read another book of his (The Last Song), but perhaps I should rest my emotions first and read something light instead (like the tons of books I bought from Reader’s Digest). 

For now, I can just watch this trailer of The Last Song’s movie adaptation (starring Miley Cyrus)and maybe just buy a DVD copy  of it soon. ^_^

My Archie Collection

I remember back in high school, I used to borrow Archie comics from my crush who was also our neighbor in Cagayan de Oro. Since then, I got hooked on Archie comics and on my crush as well. Too bad, my feelings for my crush didn’t last long but my love for Archie and his pals lingered. ^_^ So whenever I have spare cash, I’d buy Archie instead of  food. I’m not really a collector, I just love reading Archie stories. So far, here are the Archie comics I have collected. It’s not much but they are all so precious to me.

So every time Peter and I would go to a 7-11 store, or National Bookstore (which is really not that often), I’d always check out the new Archie comics. If I have the budget for it, I’d buy some like what I did recently when we went to another beach destination and passed by a  convenience store that sells comics and magazines. 

Yipee! lately, these are the books I’ve been carrying to the beach with me. ^_^

Amazing Tales From Times Gone By

It’s been a while since I posted something here. With the many books I got, plus the work load I’ve been having, it’s no wonder that I sometimes have to beg the universe for some time off just so I can update my blogs. Just ask my personal project blog. It knows everything. Teehee.

Anyhoo, I just want to share my latest buy from Reader’s Digest — AMAZING TALES from Times Gone By. This book is filled with strange but true extraordinary stories from 5000 years of human history. It includes incredible stories of love, intrigue, ambition, tragedy and even muder. For instance, “Why was Russian tsar Ivan known as ‘the terrible’? Did Herod really order the murder of all Bethlehem’s children? Who was the woman so hideous that she inspired the term ‘ugly old bag’, and what happened to Pu Yi, the last Chinese emperor?” In this informative, entertaining volume, you can read more than 75 stories of strange events, fascinating people, the twists of fate and how historical truth was rewritten or hidden.

I’m excited!!! I actually placed all my books from Reader’s Digest at our lanai so I won’t forget to read a chapter or two whenever I have the time. ^_^

Reader’s Digest, Archie Comics, Tarot Books, Etc.

I am such a bookworm! Did you know that when I was a kid even until college, I like hanging out at the library coz: One… I just love the smell of books (both old and new). Two… I love looking at vivid pictures… from astronomy, to geography, to architecture, to food and people, etc.! And three… I just love to learn new things. I actually prefer the company of books than people. Go figure! No wonder I married Peter coz he’s like a walking encyclopedia. Teehee.

Anyway, I literally jumped for joy when the books I ordered from Reader’s Digest last month finally arrived! Weeee! To think that I still have a ton of books here at home I haven’t even opened yet. Well, that will change this year. By hook or by crook, I will read most if not all of my books this year. Anyway, here they are after I opened the packages:

After I smelled each of them, I browsed at the pages while feeling so happy that this is another great purchase  for me. Everything only cost me Php3,770. I think there’s still one more that they forgot to send me coz from what I remember, it’s supposed to cost me Php5,000. Oh well! Weeee!!!!!

EARTH, THEN AND NOW is a collection of 250 stunning images showing locations around the world as they were and as they are now, with captions explaining the often breathtaking changes that have occurred in just a short amount of time. This book is a thought-provoking reminder of the devastating impact that humankind can have on the environment, with evidence of issues such as global warming and climate change presented in the most graphic way possible.

Gaston Leroux’s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Bram Stoker’s DRACULA, Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN. I never really got to read these masterpieces when I was a child and I believe it’s not yet too late for me to enter the mysterious  and uncanny worlds of these classics.

GLOBAL SAFARI is a book that will take you on a dramatic journey around fifty of the world’s most astonishing wildlife sights, brought to life with some of the most vivid and moving photography ever taken. James Perry provides detailed profiles of the key species that exist in each of the featured locations, and discusses the issues involved in the long-term protection of these areas of natural wonder and the eco-systems they support.

OMG! I’m so giddy I can’t wait to read them all!!! And since we’re on this topic of books I want to read, I am aiming to finish not just these new arrivals but the ones below as well. I’ve already started with the following and I also hope to finish them all this month:

My Reader’s Digest Subscriptions (From Oct. 2009 to Feb. 2010 editions)

 Archie Comics!!! I’ve been a fan since high school!

 My Tarot Books! I think I will keep on reading these until forever… See my Wiccan Blog for more info.

 Oprah’s LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE, Jack Canfield’s SUCCESS PRINCIPLES (which I discuss in my self-help blog), DON”T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF IN LOVE, My DRUMS BOOK and my PARA-GRAMS. Whew! Go go go Jen! I can do it!

Happy reading to me! ^_^