No Reading Night

Tonight, I'm taking a break from reading to watch the American Idol Finale.

I am rooting for Phillip Phillips. But, I would not feel bad if Jessica wins. She's half-pinay after all.

Reading Diary: LOTR Day 2

Ok. So, I only have 10 minutes of every day to read Lord of the Rings. That's not even enough time to finish a chapter. Anyway, this post is not about me ranting about not-having-enough-time-in-a-day-to-read. This post is me sharing my state of mind prior to reading the book. I guess the photo above gives you a clue.

I do remember sharing that I've read LOTR a long time ago. I was grade 3 to be precise. From what I remember, it was kind of difficult to read. Sorry guys, I guess at that age my comprehension level was limited to sentences of simple construction. Plus, I remember that this book was pretty good in making me fall asleep.

I guess it would be an understatement to say that I dreaded re-reading this book. But, I wanted to give it another chance. Thus, the need for chocolates.

Anyway, I read the first 2 chapters last night. I must say, it's not as bad as I remembered.

My current mood for this book? Hopeful!

Reading Diary: LOTR Day 1

The first time I read Lord of the Rings was in grade school. Back then, I didn't really understand most of it. The writing, I felt, was a bit old and I found myself dozing off after reading a few sentences.

The only reason I continued to read it was because my busmates from La Salle GH High School were raving about how awesome it is. Confession: I was a bit boyish back in the day and these High School busmates of mine were the epitome of cool. I wanted to have something in common with them. As such, I endured and finished the book. To be honest, I did not hate the book. But, I did not like it that much either.

Years later the movie came out and I did not expect that I'd enjoy it. But, surprisingly enough, I did. I liked it enough to want to read it again. Only, I never got around to doing so.

Now that Fellowship of the Ring is TFG's book of the month for June, I finally have a reason to start.

Plus, this could be the second book for my Chunkster Reading Challenge.

Here's to finishing LOTR... again.

I'm Back

Just like anybody, I do hate excuses. As such, I'm not going to waste this post by giving you excuses to explain my very long absence. It's easy to say that I got too caught up in work... which is true. But then, saying that would mean I'm more committed to my work than to my personal projects... this blog included. 

Truth is, for the past 2 months, I've been super-stressed with too much work. I've discovered that part of the stress comes from the fact that I no longer have that much needed "me" time. I no longer get to spend an hour or two reading a book while enjoying my venti soy latte or milk tea. I no longer have my Sunday afternoons scouring Booksale branches for award winning finds. I no longer get to interact with people with the same passion for reading.

It's time I put an end to that. Bottomline is reading books and talking about them makes me happy. Sharing my thoughts makes me happy. Sharing my finds makes me happy. Having friends who enthusiastically share their thoughts on books makes me happy.

So, here I am. Again making a promise to myself that I will set aside at least 30 minutes of everyday to the simple joy of reading.

I'm back my friends. Please forgive me for the long absence.  

Kindle Giveaway at ficbookreviews.com

It's the anniversary of ficbookreviews.com and they're giving away a Kindle. Click the button below, if you want to enter the giveaway.

Saturday Dreams: Blue Blood Series

Last Sunday, after an art-coaching session with one of my students, I had lunch with a few friends at Hainanese Delights. We were done with lunch, coupled with a lot of chit-chat at around 2pm. But, we still wanted to talk a little bit more prior to attending mass at the Shrine. We decided to attend mass at around 5pm. What to do with the 3 hours? We were a bit too stuffed to go for coffee or milk tea right away so we decided to walk around Galleria for a little while.

Suze Orman: Tough love girlfriend!

As you know, I just created my Twitter account last week. One of the people I admire, Maria Ressa, is on Twitter and I am following her there. Today she posted a link to an article written by Panjee Tapales. The link lead me to the Rappler article Suze Orman: Tough love girlfriend!

It is a feature article on Orman's 2-hour talk on financial health in her recent visit here in Manila. Through this article, it is brought to our consciousness that the financial situation we are in was brought about by our attitude towards money. The article mentions that fear, anger, and shame are the 3 main obstacles for financial success. Not quite what I expected to learn when reading about finances. But, the article rings true and is worth reading; whether you are in a financial rut or not. I won't spoil your reading pleasure by re-hashing the article here. But, I do hope that you visit Rappler and read Panjee's article.

Here's to an abundant outlook in life.

Saturday Dreams: The Magic by Rhonda Byrne

This next Rhonda Byrne book is scheduled to be released on March 6, 2012 and I can't wait to get my copy. I've read Rhonda Byrne's "The Secret" and "The Power". Both books have been instrumental in my journey to self-mastery. I'm looking forward to reading "The Magic"   because I'm sure, just as the title suggests, it will add a little magic to my life. 

I'm pretty sure that after reading this book and applying it's lessons, I would end up having a wonderfully magical life stemming from an equally wonderful and magical me.

Giveaway Alert: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Julie Kagawa is giving away a signed copy of The Immortal Rules. Giveaway is open until March 15. Want this book? Visit her blog here.

Reading Plan: March 2012

For this month, I plan to finish these books:

As you can see, for this month I'm trying to go for diversity. Starting the month with Dance Dance Dance, written by Haruki Murakami, one of my favorite authors. I've read this a long time ago as a borrowed book from my college library. But, I now have a copy. Thank you to Trish,  a former officemate, who gave this to me as a gift last Christmas. 

My 2666 Experience

It took me quite a while to finish reading this book. More than a month actually. It's not a hard book to read, if one is judging it purely based on grammar, sentence structure, and progression. 

The writing was quite simple, but the details lead my mind to think and wander. While reading 2666, I, being an overly analytical person, was already going ahead of myself and forming my own conclusions. Thoughts, that because the writing was too detailed and extended, became more of a distraction. Picture 2 different songs played simultaneously, one slow and monotonous and the other fast and syncopated. What do you get? Noise. Yes, my friends. I read 2666 for more than a month because I suffered from "brain noise".

I'm on Twitter

I've been locked out of my Twitter account for the past year and I've been trying to create a new Twitter account. But, I keep on getting a message that I am currently not allowed to create to do that, I was using my Macbook in these attempts.

Today, while trying to organize my iPod Touch, I discovered that I have the Twitter App installed and that I could access my old account through it. Nice.

On a whim, I logged on Safari using my iPod Touch and tried creating a new Twitter account for Kikay Reader. My fingers were black and blue just because I was crossing them so hard. Hahaha... To make the long story short, the attempt was 100% successful. Now, picture my jumping up and down and doing the happy-happy-joy-joy dance.

I'm so happy, I could die!

I take that back. I don't want to die. I want to tweet.

See you online my peeps! ;p

Book Review: Three Junes by Julia Glass

Summary from Bookbrowse:

Three Junes is a vividly textured symphonic novel set on both sides of the Atlantic during three fateful summers in the lives of a Scottish family. In June of 1989, Paul McLeod, the recently widowed patriarch, becomes infatuated with a young American artist while traveling through Greece and is compelled to relive the secret sorrows of his marriage. Six years later, Paul's death reunites his sons at Tealing, their idyllic childhood home, where Fenno, the eldest, faces a choice that puts him at the center of his family's future. A lovable, slightly repressed gay man, Fenno leads the life of an aloof expatriate in the West Village, running a shop filled with books and birdwatching gear. He believes himself safe from all emotional entanglements--until a worldly neighbor presents him with an extraordinary gift and a seductive photographer makes him an unwitting subject. Each man draws Fenno into territories of the heart he has never braved before, leading him toward an almost unbearable loss that will reveal to him the nature of love.

Rant: T.U.L. Bummer

I spent almost my whole day yesterday creating The Ultimate List saving the list after adding a few Titles. To tell you honestly, I was kind of looking forward to pressing the Publish button  by the end of today.

Almost half-way through the list, after watching the American Idol replay and sleepy with allergy meds, I placed my laptop on sleep mode. Yes, of course, I too went to sleep mode.

No reading yesterday, except for that one hour prior to the idea of the Ultimate List. Sorry, Richard Yates. Revolutionary Road is an easy fast read. But, when an idea hits me, it's pretty hard to concentrate on reading. Putting the idea into action takes priority in eating up my leisure time.

So, I wake up today, went back to my laptop with the list staring back at me. Before, I continuing with the list, I decided to check my Facebook. Facebook being my usual company during breakfast. While doing this, my browser crashed.

My thought bubble was, "Don't worry. Blogger has auto-save. Your work is safe." Well, I was wrong. Nothing was saved.

Does this discourage me from doing the list? Hell, NO! I'll just re-start, publish an incomplete list and update it until the list is complete. That's the plan. If you happen to see the tab for the list and click on it, please know that you might be looking at an incomplete list.


QUALITIES I NEED TODAY: Determination and Focus

The Ultimate List

Last year, around May, I joined the Goodreads - The Filipino Club (TFG). I've noticed that most of my friends from this group are following reading lists. Up to that point, I didn't know they existed. The only list I am familiar with are the best-seller lists that bookstores display to entice us to buy the most popular books.

It was through TFG that I first heard of the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die, the Man Booker Price, Pen/Faulkner List, Pulitzer List, and National Book Awards List. This got me curious as to what other lists are out there. So, just like anyone with a computer and limited internet access, I googled for information.  Aside from the above mentioned lists, I found the Nebula Awards list, the Modern Library Top 100 list, and of course the Oprah Book Club list.

Being an avid reader of Fantasy, the Nebula list was the one that piqued my interest. But, then again, if I read only those books I just might get sick of reading fantasy and decide that it's not my favorite after all.

Since, I am reading a lot lately (As opposed to my usual 10 books or less a year), I've decided to stretch myself and go beyond what is comfortable to read. As such, books from all these lists, plus TFG's very own Top 100 books, will be added to my reading schedule.

If you are OC like me, you'd cross out the books from each list once you've read them. But somehow it's quite difficult to remember from which list the book came from if your following many lists. And you end up wasting time trying to look for the title just to cross it out. Thus, the birth of THE ULTIMATE LIST. What is it exactly? It's a compilation of the titles from all the lists I am trying to follow.

I'm dedicating a page for this. Watch out for it in the next few weeks.



Oh... Don't worry. I do not intend to read all of the books in the list. I'm not that crazy. Besides, I still want to read YA, Romance, and Non-fiction books. Plus, I do have other interests and a life apart from reading.

Book Review: Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me

Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me is a memoir written by Lisa Fineberg Cook. I stumbled upon this book in one of my spontaneous Booksale hunting whims. For those not in the know, Booksale is the haven for bibliophiles on a budget. It is a place where the persistent bargain hunter will be rewarded with Php10-finds. Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me is not one of those Php10-finds.

As far as I can remember, I've been obsessed with anything Japanese. Just the mere mention of the word puts my antennae stand up on attention. Oh... and a somewhat recent romance with someone of half-Japanese decent who recently moved to Japan for good somehow ups my interest for this book. Part of me is wishing I was the offered marriage and asked to move to Japan. Hahaha... Crazy wishful-thinking.