Bookmark Monday #14: Brilliant Minds

A segue before getting to the actual Bookmark Monday stuff: I haven’t posted in a while because my brain seems to want to take a break from writing about books and just concentrate on actually reading them, and also to just keep watching K-dramas instead of blogging about them. XD This has resulted in a bad case of procrastinating on blog posts that I wanted to actually write, and on articles that needed to be submitted like…ages ago. So, apologies to those who have been waiting for the result of the “Hush Hush” giveaway. I will post the results sometime this week.

On to the actual Bookmark Monday post!

A few weeks ago, Leia and I had a “Museum Day With The Neffy-poos” at The Mind Museum in Taguig. It was tiring (we cannot compete with the boundless energy of young boys) but it was fun!

One of my favorite interactive exhibits is Literature-related.

I could swear my heart rate sped up a bit because of that excerpt from D.H. Lawrence’s “Sons and Lovers”…

Anyway, after roaming around for several hours, we passed by the Museum Store on our way out. We spotted these super cute magnetic bookmarks at the Museum Shop, and of course I could not resist buying them for my bookmark collection. I just wish they had more designs available, and therefore more featured scientists.

FOR SCIENCE! 😉

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Bookmark Monday is hosted by Guiltless Reading.

Bookmark Monday #13: Word Count

Leia, the Lady of the Flower Gardens (wink, wink), gifted me with this cute bookmark. (Thank you! 감사합니다!)

This is made of metal and has a clip at one end, which you can use as an anchor on the front or back cover (for paperbacks) or somewhere in the middle of the book. The chain with the abacus charm is then inserted as the place holder. The charm can be a bit bulky, so this is recommended for regular paperbacks whose pages won’t suffer too much with a bulky placeholder.

Leia has a version of this with a coin instead of an abacus, but I’m not sure how many other designs there are. 🙂

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Bookmark Monday is hosted by Guiltless Reading.

Bookmark Monday #12: Hanami Lady

My friend Minami got this lovely bookmark for me during her trip to Japan. (Thank you! ありがとう!)

The design of the lady and the cherry blossoms is engraved on a thin, hard plastic. I used my old phone’s camera to take the photo, so unfortunately, it does not properly show how dramatic the gold highlights make the design look.

When I first saw this bookmark, it immediately reminded me of one of my favorite books, Arthur Golden’s “Memoirs of a Geisha”, and this scene from the 2005 movie adaptation:

“Memoirs” is one of my “ritual books”; I try to read it at least once a year. I don’t like books set during a war, but this one is an exception. Golden’s style is very evocative, and…the feels. ^_^

And that movie may have been trashed by critics, but I still loved it. Ken Watanabe is awesome, the costumes and cinematography are wonderful, and of course, John Williams’ musical score is flawless, as always.

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Bookmark Monday is hosted by Guiltless Reading.

Bookmark Monday #11: Full of hot air

More friends have been donating to the Bookmark Monday cause! Here’s a new one I just got last weekend from Leia (Thank you! 감사합니다!)

This is a multi-purpose metal bookmark that also serves as a ruler and stencil. This one is locally available, and if you keep your eyes peeled, you should find one in a National Book Store outlet near you. 😉

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Bookmark Monday is hosted by Guiltless Reading.

Bookmark Monday #10: The Floating Lady

Today’s bookmark is another one of those souvenirs from my friends’ trips abroad. Bro Echo got this for me from his Hong Kong trip. (Thanks, bro!)

I can’t tell what the lady is doing. I’m imagining she’s part of some kind of Chinese trapeze act or something. 😛

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Bookmark Monday is hosted by Guiltless Reading.

Bookmark Monday #9: Dream

It’s been a while since my last Bookmark Monday post. But since I cleaned up the house last weekend, I was able to finally make sure my bookmarks are all in one place after I’ve used them.

Today’s bookmark is pretty, but it can be impractical.

The moon and star are magnetic and are attached to an elastic string. You pull the moon and star apart and use the string to mark your page, then you snap the moon and star back together over the book’s front cover. It’s impractical because the elastic is ideal only for medium-thickness pocketbook-size books. The “Midnighters” book shown here is unconventionally sized–a little larger than a pocketbook but smaller than a trade paperback–but if I go any further reading, the elastic will soon reach its limit.

Still pretty, though! 😉

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Bookmark Monday is hosted by Guiltless Reading.

Bookmark Monday: Indonesia!

Wow, I’m actually on time for Bookmark Monday! No need for flimsy time-travel excuses today.

Today’s bookmark is a very pretty leather one from Indonesia which my friend Minami got for me when she went there. (Thanks, Shei!)

It probably won’t be wise to take this out of the packaging when I use it because it seems so delicate and it’ll be a shame if it gets dirty. 🙂

Time Travel Thursday: Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle

No, I didn’t come up with a new feature, this is actually for Bookmark Monday. I am posting this on a Thursday because I can bend time and make it Monday!

Okay, fine. I’m really just a procrastinator. (But also, I was kinda busy.) 😛
 

(Belated) Bookmark Monday!

Ever since I got into “The 39 Clues” thanks to friends at Scholastic Philippines, I’ve managed to collect a lot of game cards.

For those who don’t know about the series, it’s multi-media—you read the books, collect cards, use the cards to get clues and play online missions parallel to the story lines of the books, and there’s supposed to be a movie in the works.

Since I didn’t know what to do with my cards anymore, I’ve started to use some of them as bookmarks. They’re sturdy, they look cool, and when people see them, they become conversation starters about the series and about books in general.

Maria Marapao is from the Philippines! Job: Eskrimador, Bad Poet. LOL

I still keep the cards that come with the books in their respective in-book compartments, but I’ve already discarded the packaging for the cards that I got from separate card packs. So, I’ve re-purposed an old “Ewoks” VHS case (I have no idea where the actual tape is now. I should send out R2-D2 to find it!) and put all my cards in there.

You can register on the The 39 Clues website as a player using the serial numbers in the cards from your books. Once you do, you become a Secret Agent, and you get “sorted” into one of the 4 branches of the Cahill Family. Every player gets an Agent Name and an Agent Card with a serial number, just like the in-story Agents and characters. Here’s mine:

I’m an agent from the Ekaterina branch. Nerds for the win!

Naturally, I had to have Maria on my card because of the Philippines connection. I added the stamps as I went along and finished particular books set in those places, kinda like a reading passport. Although I have finished the first and second series, I haven’t had time to update my Agent card, though. 😦

If you’re an Agent too, add my card! And what do you do with your The 39 Clues cards? 🙂

Bookmark Monday: So yeah, it’s not Monday anymore

…but that’s okay! It’s probably Monday in some other universe or something.

I don’t have anything special today (pretend with me that it’s Monday), just cute and popular bear Rilakkuma.

And oh, look, nail art!

I guess this really is just an excuse to take a photo of the nail art (which was drawn by my sister) and to post it somewhere. 😛

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.