Teaser Tuesdays: “Unseen Moon”

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

✻ ✻ ✻

I’m reading 4 books right now, it’s crazy.

Here’s what my dance card looks like: “The Mango Bride”, which is for a review assignment for GMA News Online; “Dying of the Light” for our book club; “Icon of the Indecisive” for Mina V. Esguerra’s secret project; and this book, for which I also have a review request.

“It always felt like this here during Lent,” Ben said. Notes of pasyon drifted into the jeepney, the old woman’s voice rising and falling like a wave. Pagdaka’y ibubulalas parusang kasindak-sindak sa harap ng taong lahat. “Like the town’s hallucinating.”

✻ page 39 (review copy), excerpt from The Ghosts of Sinagtala from “Unseen Moon” by Eliza Victoria

*chills* This excerpt is so effective at setting the tone of the story, and even more so if you understand the Filipino language. I can’t help but fear for the characters, and nothing’s even happened yet!

Confession: I’m a scaredy-cat. I hope I survive this book.

“Unseen Moon” is a collection of five suspenseful stories by award-winning Filipino author Eliza Victoria. If you’re interested in purchasing the book, click HERE.

*goes back to reading*

Bookmark Monday #6: Despicable!

Wow, I just realized I didn’t blog for like…a month. So many things to do, so little time!

Anyways, time for another Bookmark Monday, this time, featuring some cute little yellow creatures and some cute little girls.

 
I got these back when there were movie promos for “Despicable Me”. There used to be about 5 different designs, but I gave away 3 of them to other readers already.

And the reason why these are shot with “Seven Wonders: The Colossus Rises” is it’s also time for another giveaway, which I will be announcing later this week. Stay tuned!

Waiting On Wednesday: “Unbreakable Icons”

 
Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.
 
 
 

Even though I haven’t ventured beyond “Beautiful Creatures”—and I do mean beyond the first book—I’ve read enough to be excited by the prospect of Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl publishing books separately.

Unbreakable
By: Kami Garcia

When Kennedy Waters finds her mother dead, her world begins to unravel. She doesn’t know that paranormal forces in a much darker world are the ones pulling the strings. Not until identical twins Jared and Lukas Lockhart break into Kennedy’s room and destroy a dangerous spirit sent to kill her. The brothers reveal that her mother was part of an ancient secret society responsible for protecting the world from a vengeful demon — a society whose five members were all murdered on the same night.

Now Kennedy has to take her mother’s place in the Legion if she wants to uncover the truth and stay alive. Along with new Legion members Priest and Alara, the teens race to find the only weapon that might be able to destroy the demon — battling the deadly spirits he controls every step of the way.

Publication Date: 1 October 2013

This one appeals to me more than “Icons”. The premise of a secret group of people whose members are being killed off one by one, making it necessary for their offspring to take their place is nothing new, for sure; I most recently encountered it in Michelle Zink’s “A Temptation of Angels”. But if Garcia can put a different and exciting spin to this, then I’m on board.

Icons
By: Margaret Stohl

Your heart beats only with their permission.

Everything changed on The Day. The day the windows shattered. The day the power stopped. The day Dol’s family dropped dead. The day Earth lost a war it didn’t know it was fighting. Since then, Dol has lived a simple life in the countryside — safe from the shadow of the Icon and its terrifying power. Hiding from the one truth she can’t avoid. She’s different. She survived. Why?

When Dol and her best friend, Ro, are captured and taken to the Embassy, off the coast of the sprawling metropolis once known as the City of Angels, they find only more questions. While Ro and fellow hostage Tima rage against their captors, Dol finds herself drawn to Lucas, the Ambassador’s privileged son. But the four teens are more alike than they might think, and the timing of their meeting isn’t a coincidence. It’s a conspiracy. Within the Icon’s reach, Dol, Ro, Tima, and Lucas discover that their uncontrollable emotions — which they’ve always thought to be their greatest weaknesses — may actually be their greatest strengths

Publication Date: 7 May 2013

Just please don’t let this turn into another YA X-men.

And I just noticed that both books have characters named Lukas/Lucas. (Oh noes. Can’t break the mindmeld? Must hail Mr. Spock!)

One of the reasons why I am very curious about both these books is I want to see more of Garcia and Stohl’s individual styles. They admitted that while working on the “Beautiful Creatures” series, they couldn’t tell who wrote what anymore once they’re finished, suggesting that their writing styles are similar enough or at least that they can adapt to each other’s style to produce stories that don’t sound schizophrenic. But I really want to get to know both authors better based on their own merits.

I hope these are worth the wait.

Teaser Tuesdays: “Pacific Rims”

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

✻ ✻ ✻

My sanity needed a break from this:

Nang magsayaw nang naka-hula skirt ang subconscious ni Ana Steele... #Tagalog50Shades @dementedchris @minavesguerra http://t.co/dNmL65AtQR

—
Meann (@almeldiel) March 14, 2013

 because I’m starting to become paranoid:

"My library is an archive of longings." -Susan Sontag *looks at book pile and sees #Tagalog50Shades* ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ No, Ms. Sontag, just...NO.

—
Meann (@almeldiel) March 16, 2013

 And if your emoticons already look like this:

ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ

it will take just a few more pages for it to start overturning tables:

ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ ┻━┻

And then, to a less of an “Emergency! Call 117!” degree but still within the “It is seriously trying my patience” range, there is also this:

So Iris Murdoch described a house for pages and pages but wouldn't describe how an "engaging toad" can be engaging. #TheSeaTheSea #TMRS

—
Meann (@almeldiel) March 16, 2013

 I thought maybe some literary first aid is in order. Ergo:

Just started reading "Pacific Rims" by @Rafeboogs. Oh, the memories of being the lone Alaska fan in a family of Ginebra and SMB die-hards.

—
Meann (@almeldiel) March 18, 2013

 

I paused to look at the black treads and the big white Swoosh, grass poking through the rubber, and thought that if I were a basketball shoe, this is how I’d want to live and die—on the feet of someone who treasured me so much that he wore me until I fell to pieces, then spending eternity with front row seats to the game that was my raison d’être. Standing there marveling at the rubber scraps, I felt like those people who claimed to see Jesus in their Cheetos.

-page 17, “Pacific Rims” by Rafe Bartholomew

*goes back to reading*

Snapshots: My Bookmark Love (#5) is peculiar

My tiring but book-tastic weekend is over, but…hey, it’s another Bookmark Monday!

Today’s bookmark was sent to me a few years ago by the awesomest person in Cebu City, Marivic a.k.a. Miss A.M.! Thank you! *mwah! hugs!*

This is a thin wooden bookmark with a carved wooden owl that’s designed to perch atop your book. And it’s made in Cebu City, of course! At least I can say I’ve been there. (^_^)

I took a shot of this with my signed copy of Ransom Riggs’ “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” to commemorate Random Ransom’s visit to the Philippines.

Speaking of Random Ransom…in my giveaway this month, someone is going to win a signed copy of “Miss Peregrine”! Stay tuned for the mechanics. (^_-)-☆

—
And once again, I apologize for the quality of the image because I still haven’t resolved my uploaded image quality problems here on the blog. Everything looks fine in my computer, but they pixelize once they are uploaded to WordPress. If there’s a kind soul out there who can help me solve this, please message me?

Shout-out to Leia: Thanks for the help with the coverage and for force-cajoling me into ordering that cake. (^_^)

Snapshots: Bookmark Love #4

This is a painted bamboo screen bookmark from Vietnam. It would be cute if you could actually roll this up like window blinds if you want to start reading, and roll them back down to mark the page.

Again, Thank You / Salamat / 감사합니다 to my globe-trotting friends for this one. I wish that next time, I can say “I got this bookmark during my trip to [insert awesome destination here].”

Snapshots: Bookmark Love #3

This is yet another gift from my globe-trotting friends. It’s a woven bookmark from Malaysia, which is made from dried and dyed pandan leaves.

Snapshots: Bookmark Love #2 + “The Hunger Games: The Filipino Edition”

I’m back with another Snapshots post to fulfill my promise of sharing more bookmarks and just in time to join in Bookmark Mondays at Guiltless Reading. ^_^

This one’s from Thailand, and is a present from 엄마 Monster (a.k.a. Mabs) and 동생 Echo. It’s a thin wood bookmark with a metal design of a lucky elephant.

Apparently, it’s a lucky elephant if it’s depicted with its trunk curled up. Down-turned trunks = not good. And that’s our Lesson for the Day.

And as you can see from the photo, I’m starting on “The Hunger Games: The Filipino Edition.” It’s turning out to be better translated compared to “Takipsilim (Twilight)”.

I turned to one of my all-time favorite Hunger Games scenes when I took the photo. *_* Strategic!Stuttering!Lovestruck!Peeta = ❤.

ReaderCon 2012 Filipino Friday #4: Books and Friends

Books and Friends. We will have book discussions hosted by several book clubs during the ReaderCon, so to prepare us for that, let’s talk about books and friendships and book clubs. Are you a part of a book club? If yes, what made you join one? What’s your favorite activity that you have with them? If you’re not a part of one, will you consider joining one? Why or why not? Or if you’re not (yet) a part of a book club, do you have friends who share the same passion for books as you do? Do you have a “bookish” best friend? If yes, tell us about them! How did you become friends? What’s your favorite memory with them?

Before I answer this week’s question, come join me in singing the Garfield and Friends song! Raise your hand if you watched this series when you were a kid! *raises hand*

My reading group is actually one of the clubs that will be participating in the ReaderCon. We’re called The Mysterious Reading Society, and I’ll let the mystery carry on further until they put up the post at the ReaderCon website. EDIT: The post is up! Learn more about us.

But yeah, most of the very good and close friends that I have now, I met through my love of books. In particular, I met many of them through the Harry Potter and Twilight fan groups. (Shelve the hate, please. )

I share the same favorite authors and genres with a handful of these friends, and these eventually became the people that I am now in TMRS with. I am thankful for these 5 people (Leia, Echo, Lianne, Claire, and Ron,) who I spend a lot of time with, both online and IRL, because their company keeps me sane amid the day-to-day craziness of life.

Looking back, I realize that my oldest friends are also fellow bookworms. I spent my Sweet Valley and Sweet Dreams and Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes phases with close friends from elementary and high school, and my Harry Potter phase with friends from University. And I began my epic fantasy, The 39 Clues, and science fiction phases with friends from work.

Of course, books aren’t the only things that I share in common with these people, but it’s satisfying to know that I’ve actually shared more adventures in different worlds with them than I initially thought.

*Choose a drink –butterbeer, blue milk, elven wine…blood?– and raise your glass! (Mine has soju because I think the only way I’d be able to drink an entire glass of that is in a fictional setting, haha!)*

Here’s to good friends to share more good books and good memories with!

See you all at the ReaderCon!

United We Read — The 2nd Filipino ReaderCon will be held on August 18th from 8:00am-6:00pm at the Filipinas Heritage Library, Ayala Triangle, Makati City. For more information, visit the official website at filipinoreadercon.wordpress.com.

Pre-registration for the Con is now open and you might want to participate in The Great Book Swap!

___
Previously, on Filipino Friday 2012:
FF 1: Introductions
FF 2: School of Reading
FF 3: Reading Habits and Book Formats

ReaderCon 2012 Filipino Friday #3: Reading Habits and Book Formats

Reading Habits and Book Formats. Where and how do you read? Can you read anywhere and everywhere, or do you need a certain place/mood/state of mind to get reading? Do you read more in the morning or at night or any minute that you can? Where and how do you usually read? Are you exclusively for print, or do you go for ebooks more than print? Have you ever tried audiobooks?

I have to find ways to get decent reading time these days, so I try to read whenever there’s a lull in my daily activities. I usually read during the commute to and from work, at night before I sleep, while waiting in line in banks or government agencies, lunch break at work, while waiting for people to arrive for meetings, during plane rides, and…ummmm…sometimes in the bathroom.

I used to exclusively read print books, but ever since I installed Kindle for PC, I’ve been reading more e-books.

I realized just recently that I am not a monogamous book reader. I take a different book for commutes, a different one to read in the house at night, a different one loaded in my Kindle for PC, and yet another for the…ummm…bathroom.

I don’t really know how I keep up, but I do still manage to remember where I am in the stories and what happened last I read them. I haven’t thought too deeply about why I do this, but I suspect this is an effect of having too many books in my To Read pile.

What about you? How, when, and where do you read?

See you all at the ReaderCon!

United We Read — The 2nd Filipino ReaderCon will be held on August 18th from 8:00am-6:00pm at the Filipinas Heritage Library, Ayala Triangle, Makati City. For more information, visit the official website at filipinoreadercon.wordpress.com.

Don’t forget to cast your vote for the 1st Filipino Readers Choice Awards. Click here for more details. Also, pre-registration for the Con is now open and you might want to participate in The Great Book Swap!

___
Previously, on Filipino Friday 2012:
FF 1: Introductions
FF 2: School of Reading

ReaderCon 2012 Filipino Friday #2: School of Reading

School of Reading. We all started reading somewhere, and more often than not, we were influenced by someone. Who got you into reading? Your parents? A friend? A librarian? One teacher who always lends out his/her books? How helpful was your school in helping your reading habit / fueling your book addiction?

I have my late mother to thank for my love of reading. If I didn’t grow up seeing her reading books, I’m not sure if I would’ve gotten into it at an early age.

Our school library was also a haven for me. I went to a private school during my elementary and high school years, so I was lucky enough to be able to borrow lots of fun and interesting books.

Here’s more about my reading history from my FF post last year:

I used to accompany my Mom to bookstores, where I wandered off to the more age-appropriate sections while she browsed for her Sidney Sheldons and Danielle Steels and Jackie Collinses and Robert Ludlums.

My elementary and high school library cards were well-used. On average, I went through 3 Borrower’s Cards per year (I needed to allot time to studying too! ).

In elementary, my reading list included Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, The Three Investigators, Beverly Cleary books, and Choose Your Own Adventure books. Oh, and Paddington Bear; let’s not forget him because he’s ridiculously adorable.

In high school, I went through the Sweet Valley and Sweet Dreams phase like most teenage girls, but I also started to pick up occasional YA fantasy fare, like E. Nesbit, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Diane Duane, and Madeleine L’Engle. It was also in high school that I was introduced to the Dragonlance saga, which would ignite my interest in epic fantasies.

In college, I started reading my Mom’s books, and that piqued my interest in general fiction. I also continued to hunt down Dragonlance and Michael Crichton titles. And I read Isaac Asimov short stories in the library in between classes.

Hrmmm…on hindsight, after re-reading the above, I can now see why my current reading list consists mostly of YA and fantasy.

What about you? How did you get into reading? Feel free to comment below.

See you all at the ReaderCon!

United We Read — The 2nd Filipino ReaderCon will be held on August 18th from 8:00am-6:00pm at the Filipinas Heritage Library, Ayala Triangle, Makati City. For more information, visit the official website at filipinoreadercon.wordpress.com.

Don’t forget to cast your vote for the 1st Filipino Readers Choice Awards. Click here for more details.

___
Previously, on Filipino Friday 2012:
FF 1: Introductions

ReaderCon 2012 Filipino Friday #1: Introductions

The ReaderCon Filipino Friday Meme is back!

Introductions. As with every start of a weekly meme, we need to know a bit about you! Talk about your top 3-5 (or more!) favorite books of all time, the genres you read and would never read, the books that surprised you this year. You can also talk about how you became a reader and why you love it so much! And finally, if you were in the ReaderCon last year, talk about your experience too! If you weren’t there, but you’re planning to go this year, then what do you expect for the upcoming ReaderCon?

Hello! My name is Meann and I love to read.

I participated in last year’s Filipino Friday, so for starters, here’s my FF Intro Post from last year: click! The How I Became Reader post is here: click!

Nothing much has changed since then (or I could just be the epitome of a lazy blogger, heh) so I’ll write about the things we didn’t get to write about in the previous FFs.

the genres you read and would never read, the books that surprised you this year

I don’t know about “never” reading any particular genre, but there are those that I do not actively seek out if I don’t have to, like non-fiction.

The book that surprised me this year was…wait, I think I should say the series that surprised me this year so far is Yukio Mishima’s “The Sea of Fertility” cycle.

The first book, “Spring Snow,” was one of my book club’s Book of the Month selections or I really wouldn’t have picked it up otherwise. To be honest, I was intimidated by the book because it was written before I was born (and so was the rest of the series), it’s considered a modern literary classic, and it was originally written in Japanese, which means I’m partially at the mercy of the translator and how good he is. (For the record, Michael Gallagher, you are awesome.) And also there’s that little tidbit in the author’s biography that he committed seppuku (ritual suicide) after he turned in the manuscript of the final book.

The series surprised me because this isn’t my usual fare, and yet I found myself finishing it despite being required to read only the first book. Until now, I can’t quite pinpoint what it was that made me want to finish the series, sometimes even at the expense of other books that I told myself I absolutely had to finish then. Most of the Cycle is bleak, even depressing, and there are big chunks of text on religion, philosophy, and history that do not affect the plot but are mostly there only to reinforce certain themes or ideologies. My pet character didn’t even make it past the first book! So yes, indeed, this was a big surprise to me.

The even bigger surprise is I’d probably read another Mishima book if I can get a copy of one.

if you were in the ReaderCon last year, talk about your experience

Last year’s ReaderCon was rather short but sweet! I had fun meeting the book bloggers who I only know from visiting their blogs, and some local authors who I admire. The panel discussions were very informative, and it was nice to see enthusiastic participants there. It was also gratifying to know that so many people care about Filipino readers and are willing to support events and projects that will promote reading in the country.

On a personal level, after meeting and connecting with the people from the Con last year, I was gradually introduced to many Filipino authors and works. I’ve started to read more local books since then, and have come to appreciate them.

I hope more people will come to this year’s ReaderCon, so spread the word!

United We Read — The 2nd Filipino ReaderCon will be held on August 18th from 8:00am-6:00pm at the Filipinas Heritage Library, Ayala Triangle, Makati City. For more information, visit the official website at filipinoreadercon.wordpress.com.