Another Story About Books

Every time I bring a new book in school, my blockmates would always ask me what I am doing. Can’t they see? I’m reading? Isn’t obvious? And then, they would ask me what is the title of the book that I am reading. Finally, they would comment that they’re not fond of reading (as if I care). I’ve heard those lines for the nth time! Seriously, I’m getting tired of hearing those lines all over again and again.

I want to ask them if they would mind if they will mind their own business, but that will sound very rude so I don’t ask them.

What I want to point out is that you don’t disturb someone who is reading, just to say that you don’t like reading or anything for this matter. Well, unless there is a life threatening situation. Okay, I’m exaggerating, but you get the point, ‘ayt? I don’t like being disturbed especially if I’m so engrossed with the book; my concentration is being lost. And mind you, it is rude.

*****

I’m already on the fourth book my uncle gave me. The first one “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen was good, I like it. I’ve already wrote a draft of my review of the book but I still have to type it (now, I’m wondering where I put my draft), The second was Mark Haddon’s “A Spot of Bother”. I did not like it much but nevertheless, the story of George was still somehow captivating. Like Haddon’s first book — “The Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” — the protagonist has mental problems. I’ve also finished “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. It is really a good book (and I encourage you to read it also) and I think it is the best book I have read this year so far. The reviews of the book don’t lie! It’s indeed a haunting book!

When I was choosing which book I wanted my uncle to buy me, I was not really considering “The Kite Runner” because of the author being an Afghan1. But I was in short of one title, and I can’t find something interesting else so I chose it. And now, I found out that Amir and Hassan’s story was really captivating and riveting.

And because of Hosseini’s style in writing, I bough his latest book, “A Thousand Splendid Suns” last Friday2. I’m now reading “A Long Way Down” by Nick Hornby. It’s about four people who wanted to end their life and they all met in the building where they were supposed to jump.

*****

Last Sunday, we went to Subic to visit the beach. There were only few people swimming that day and the sun was behind the dancing clouds. After we ate lunch, I decided not to swim anymore, the sea was very salty that you can even smell how salty the sea is! I looked for a secluded place near the shoreline where you can hear the waves smashing. There, I continued reading “The Kite Runner,” I was on page 110 when suddenly, tears started to flow from my eyes. I was glad that no one saw me crying.

Okay, I should stop talking about that. But before I’ll end this entry, I want to tell you all that after two years, we are going to Baguio once again this Saturday! Yahoo!

  1. I’m not being a racist, okay? It’s just that most of the authors of the books that I’ve already read are either American or British. []
  2. Which cost me almost 500 pesos. []

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Falling Books

As I have told you in my previous post, I didn’t have the time to surf the internet during the weekend. It was only on the night of yesterday I was able to surf the internet again. But I was very tired so after checking this and that, I already went to bed.

Last Friday, we went to NAIA1 to fetch my uncle and aunt. We waited for about two freaking hours before we finally saw them. And God, the traffic was horrible even though there were loads of guards and traffic aids there.

Well, at least, I’ve got now the books I’ve told my uncle to buy for me. Great!

Latest Installment

From the top of the stack of books is “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen, and then, we have Don Piper’s “90 Minutes in Heaven”1, “A Long Way Down” by Nick Hornby, “A Spot of Bother” by Mark Haddon2, and “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini.

I’m currently reading “Water for Elephants” and I’m about to finish it. What? Sixty pages left, I guess. Since I have a test tomorrow, I hope I can finish it today so I can start with a new one.

I also got a book light. It’s a device that you put on top of the page you’re reading and it will illuminate it. Cool isn’t it? Everyone who have seen my book light were so amazed. You can read more about it in this site.

Oh well, bye for now. I want to finish the book of Sara Gruen today. :rawr:

I’ll leave comments in your blogs some other time!

  1. My uncle didn’t find Adelin Yen Mah’s “Falling Leaves” so he bought it instead. []
  2. Finally! I’ve got a copy of this book! []

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Book Galore

Last Saturday, instead of watching the latest Harry Potter movie which truly sucks (you can find my review here, please be noted that it’s full of spoilers) I decided to finish Mitch Albom’s latest book, For One More Day, which I have started to read last year. It took me months to finish reading it because the first part was really boring to me.

If I just didn’t miss reading so badly and school was not hell to me, I wouldn’t be able to finish it until now. The book was great (except for the first part). I liked it, it’s one of my favorites. For One More Day is about Chick Benetto’s experience. In the book, he tried to commit suicide, but instead, to his astonishment, he saw his mother… her mother’s ghost. (Yes, Mitch’s latest book has a touch of death again) According to the author, this story of Chick is true. I don’t know if I would believe it, what I know was that I was touched with Chick’s story. The last part was really saddening. Okay, no more spoilers.

Yesterday, when I got back home from a tiring day at school, my father asked me if I wanted to go to the mall. Though my prelim exams started today, I decided to go with them without thinking twice. As usual, I went to the local bookstore. The first book that I have seen was “Chinese Cinderella” by Adeline Yen Mah. I’ve seen it years ago but I wasn’t really interested with it because the book looked so plain. Months ago, I’ve read, if I’m not mistaken, in Kathrin’s blog that it was a good book. Since then, I’ve been wanting to get a copy of my own, but it was only yesterday that I have seen a copy of it again, and so, I bought it.

And now, despite that I sat my very hard 30-item PolSci prelim exam this morning, and I will take my English and CF exams tomorrow afternoon, I have already finished reading the 200 plus paged book. I can’t believe it, I’ve already finished reading it in only a day (I might as well go to the store where I bought it and demand to replace it with another book. Lol). I suppose I just really missed reading, that I can’t stop reading.

Chinese Cinderella is the story of the author herself, an unwanted daughter who struggled throughout the years while she was under the guidance of her stepmother and father who even forgot her name and the date of her birth. She was a very studious girl, desperate to be noticed and loved by her father. And in the end, she proved not only to her self, but to her father, stepmother, and siblings as well that she can reach her dream even though there are so many hurdles in her life. Now, she is a writer and physician.

Her story was really captivating, it would have surpassed the standards of Maalala mo Kaya1 and Magpakaylanman2in choosing the stories of people that they want to dramatize and be broad casted nationwide. It’s really a good read. [EDIT] You can read a full review of this book in It’s my Choice. [/EDIT]

Ah, three more days and I can have the last Harry Potter book in my hands. I can hardly wait! My father told me that we’ll go to Manila on Saturday, and I guess I’ll get my copy there. Unfortunately for me, there had been some changes in the schedule of our prelims, we’ll sit our exams in our major subjects next week, but that does not mean that I will not read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Saturday and Sunday. I may not be able to finish it this weekend, but I’ll make sure that I will be able to read at least half of it before Monday.

And before I’ll look for something else to do (I still haven’t reviewed yet for my exams tomorrow, I guess I’ll go early to school tomorrow and stay all morning in the comforts of the library) I want to say that I really hate the only decent local bookstore in our place. As what I have written in an entry here in my blog, it’s not really a bookstore because it also sells other things like school supplies, toys, and during the Christmas Season, Christmas Trees. And now, they’ve put signs that says “No Private Reading.” No wonder why almost all of the fiction books that they sell are covered with plastic. That’s totally insane! How am I and even the other customers would know if we like the author’s style of writing and the story is good (even just the first part of the book, the synopsis usually found at the back of the book is not enough and sometimes, quite misleading)? That’s why I don’t want to buy Mark Haddon’s latest book, “A Spot of Bother,” though it’s in their bestseller list and I know the author. I want to read its first two or three pages first. Luckily, we will go to Manila this weekend. There, I can find a real bookstore that only sells nothing but books and does not prohibiting “private reading.” I might as well add “A Spot of Bother” on my book list.

Any other books that you can recommend to me? Btw, I’ve provided a list of the books that I’ve already read.

PS: I want to share to you this photo that I took during our excursion last Sunday with my family to the place where a piece of land that turned into a fish pond owned by my grandmother.

Boat Alone

That was the boat that we used to get to that place.

  1. A program here in the Philippines that features anthology of stories of various people. []
  2. Same as Maalala mo Kaya. []

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