Firefly Summer

Title: Firefly Summer
Author: Maeve Binchy
Paperback; 768 pages
Published August 2006

It was a summer of warmth.... Kate Ryan and her husband, John, have a rollicking pub in the Irish village of Mountfern... lovely twelve-year-old twins... and such wonderful dreams.... It was a summer of innocence... but all that is about to change this fateful summer of 1962 when American millionaire Patrick O'Neill comes to town with his irresistible charm and a pocketful of money... when love and hate vie for a town's quiet heart and old traditions begin to crumble away.... It was a summer of love that would never come again.

Maeve Binchy did a good job developing numerous characters, and anything that brings you to Ireland has a great setting. Patrick O'Neill definitely turned the town of Mountfern upside down..

This is my first Maeve Binchy read and it was quite a long story... Not crazy about the ending though.. The saving grace of the tale? the Twins!

presenting...

Kurt Liam Santos 

born 12/12/2011

my youngest boy :)

Welcome to the Christian World..

The best gift we received this Christmas :)

the lucky one

coming in theaters next year..

from the best-selling author, Nicholas Sparks...

one of my favorite books - starred by one of the cutest Hollywood hunk... hihihi..

The Lucky One

..soon...

Vive La Paris

Title: Vive La Paris
Author: Esme Raji Codell
Hardcover; 210 pages
Published October 2006

Taken from the back cover of the book:

Paris has come for piano lessons, not chopped-liver sandwiches or French lessons or free advice. But when old Mrs. Rosen gives her a little bit more than she can handle, it might be just what Paris needs to understand the bully in her brother's life...and the bullies of the world.  

This companion novel to the award-winning "Sahara Special" is an affecting look at what it means to be your brother's keeper, and how we hold onto hope when the world seems dark. (Rose-colored glasses optional.)

I had an exceptionally great experience reading this book. I learned a lot about Paris and the Holocaust.

Paris is a special black girl who is living in New York, aspiring to go to the City of Love one day. She and her brother Michael took piano lessons from Mrs. Rosen - a Jew, who taught her not only about keys and high notes, but also about life. Eventually, Paris learned about the Holocaust and became saddened, but in the end she bounced back and made good about her discovery.

The book also relates to us the value of acceptance in order to make new friends. It also touches on racial discrimination and personal responsibility. Esme Codell did a great job in reminding me about how we see the world through other people's eyes - and yes, through rose-colored glasses too!

My rating for Vive La Paris - 4 bookmarks :)

weekend read..

reading this weekend... City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, from The Mortal Instruments.

Finally! After a long wait, I'm gonna read the much-talk about Jace & Clary! I hope I'm not yet too late to participate in discussions..

Friday Finds (Oct 14)

TGIF! Thank Goodness It's Friday, I'm in love. Another Friday Finds edition :)

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS.. hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Let me share you mine for this weekend.

 

Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy 

Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher

Someone Irresistible by Adele Ashworth

   

A Man To Call My Own by Johanna Lindsey

Affair of Honor by Jayne Ann Krentz

Operation Sunshine by Jenny Colgan

Firefly Summer - Maeve Binchy

It was a summer of warmth.... Kate Ryan and her  husband, John, have a rollicking pub in the Irish  village of Mountfern... lovely twelve-year-old  twins... and such wonderful dreams.... It was a summer  of innocence... but all that is about to change  this fateful summer of 1962 when American  millionaire Patrick O'Neill comes to town with his  irresistible charm and a pocketful of money... when love  and hate vie for a town's quiet heart and old  traditions begin to crumble away.... It was a summer of  love that would never come again.... A time that  has been captured forever in Maeve Binchy's  compelling family drama... a novel you will never forget.

 - - From the Paperback edition

Winter Solstice - Rosamunde Pilcher

Rosamunde Pilcher's novel, despite its chilly setting, will warm the hearts of her growing army of loyal fans. Winter Solstice has all the familiar trademarks of a Pilcher saga, spun in her inimitable, homey, beguiling style. The story is told, chapter by chapter, from the perspectives of an eclectic array of characters. Former actress Elfrida--not very good by her own admission--leaves London for a geriatric bolthole in the country where she meets retired schoolmaster and organist, Oscar. Meanwhile, Carrie (Elfrida's second cousin), returns to London from Austria where she had a brilliant career in the tourist industry, only to find her niece, 14-year-old Lucy, sadly neglected by her selfish mother and equally spoiled grandmother. Finally, handsome Sam is recalled from New York by his company chairman to revive an ailing Scottish textile mill.

- - -  from goodreads.com

Someone Irresistible - Adele Ashworth
Mimi is the daughter of a talented scientific sculptor, and she shares her father's ability to take giant bones dug from the earth and create models of them for scientists to study and others to marvel over. Nathan is one of that fascinating new breed of scholars, a paleontologist. On the night he was to unveil his great discovery, and take his place among the scientific elite, his wondrous specimen vanished, leaving him a laughingstock. It's been three long years since then, and Nathan is finally ready to take steps to restore his reputation. His theory is that Mimi stole his astounding find, and he blackmails her into using her talents to set in motion a series of events that should lead him to the missing bones and expose the theft. There's only one thing wrong with his plan -- Mimi wasn't the thief, and his willingness to forgive her for a crime she didn't commit riles her even more than his false accusations. But, as they work together to uncover the truth, the totally unscientific attraction between them soon has their heads and hearts spinning as they explore the astonishing depth of passion that they share.

- - from goodreads.com

Happy Weekend everyone!!

www Oct 12

Welcome to another edition of WWW for the month of October.  WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

Here are my answers this week:

Currently Reading:

Radiance by Alyson Noel

Another bestseller from the Immortals author.

I haven't read any of The Immortals series, but I'd like to get to know Alyson Noel through this Riley Bloom series. As summarized by Goodreads.com, Radiance sounds both intriguing and fun.

Riley has crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. She has picked up life where she left off when she was alive, living with her parents and dog in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. When she’s summoned before The Council, she learns that the afterlife isn’t just an eternity of leisure. She’s been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a possibly cute, seemingly nerdy boy who’s definitely hiding something. They return to earth together for Riley’s first assignment, a Radiant Boy who’s been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But all of that was before he met Riley . . .

Recently Finished Reading

Past Redemption by Savannah Russe

The sequel to Savannah Russe's Darkwing Chronicles, a book about a team of spies who are actually vampires.

In this second book, there's a lethal new recreational drug out on the party circuit. To stop its spread, Team Darkwing must immerse themselves in New York City's nightlife, where they discover ties between the drug's revenue and the country's most powerful dynasty. To infiltrate the family, Daphne flirts with its weakest link, a party boy whom she'd love to sink her teeth into. But even as their dalliance leads her deeper into the case, Daphne can't stop thinking about Darius, the darkly sexy human she claimed with a passionate bite. He's the bad boy she knows she must forget-if she doesn't, she'll be risking not only the mission but her own heart.

Will Read Next:

Shimmer by Alyson Noel


This is the sequel to Radiance (Riley Bloom Series). I'm not yet sure if I'll be able to read this right after Radiance, but I will sure try. Here's a gist of the story:

Having solved the matter of the Radiant Boy, Riley, Buttercup, and Bodhi are enjoying a well-deserved vacation. When Riley comes across a vicious black dog, against Bodhi’s advice, she decides to cross him over. While following the dog, she runs into a young ghost named Rebecca. Despite Rebecca’s sweet appearance, Riley soon learns she’s not at all what she seems. As the daughter of a former plantation owner, she is furious about being murdered during a slave revolt in 1733. Mired in her own anger, Rebecca is lashing out by keeping the ghosts who died along with her trapped in their worst memories. Can Riley help Rebecca forgive and forget without losing herself to her own nightmarish memories?

Tuesday Teaser (Oct 11)

Another Tuesday! Time flies so fast, doesn't it? In the next few days, we're on the middle of the month! Whew!

So welcome to our Teaser Tuesday!  This is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

To participate you:
* 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!

Here's my share for this week. I hope I'm not yet too late.

I reached for the handle, eager to get the heck out so I could track him down and really let him have it. And I’d almost succeeded, when someone called out from behind me and I turned, scowl planted firmly in place, dreading even a moment’s delay, only to find myself face-to-face with what I assumed to be an angel. 

An incredibly beautiful, glittering angel.

page 48, Chapter 6
Radiance (Riley Bloom # 1)
by Alyson Noel

themes

As for those who do not know me, I am actually a reader who would like variety in her reading life. But sometime in the middle of this year, I decided to read books based on Themes.

Actually it started in March, when I decided to read books that has one-word titles. What I mean is, the title of the books I've read contains only one line. So I called it March One-Liners. Like for examples:

Beastly, Shiver, Neverwhere, Flipped, Ingo, et al...  

Then in June, my book theme was June Fantasy; so I read books about dragons, witches, knights, faeries and even aliens. Here are the books I've read during that month:


Eragon - about dragons
Lament (Books of Faerie, #1) - self explanatory
The Summer Country / Avalon High - both are Arthurian stories
Peter and the Starcatchers - Peter Pan!!
Stranger in a Strange Land - Alien from Mars
Cloaked - a fairytale (about Frog Prince)

In July, I tagged that month as July Book-to-Films because most of the books I've read were made into movies.

Red Riding Hood
A Bend in the Road
City of Ember 
The Lovely Bones 
and The Golden Compass


August was more of the Narrative Mode month; where the narrator is the actual character in the story. To explain better;  the story is relayed by a narrator who is also a character within the story, so that the narrator reveals the plot by referring to this viewpoint character as "I".

Example of the books I've read where the storyteller is always the first-person:

Careful What You Wish For, Would You, Simmer Down, The Manolo Matrix, Shadowland, Red Blooded Murder and Winter Rose.

And last month, my theme was simple: September Chick-Lit; a genre fiction which addresses issues of modern womanhood, often humorously and lightheartedly. Those I really enjoyed were:

Love The One You're With, Remember Me, Spying In High Heels, Who's That Girl & LA Candy

For this month, I call it October Duos, where I'm gonna read either anthologies, bundles or those that has Book 1 & Book 2. I've already started with Irish Girls About Town,  and have started the 2 Darkwing Chronicles (Beyond The Pale & Past Redemption.) Hopefully next week, I'll be able to start the Riley Bloom series (Radiance & Shimmer) and then the Donovan Legacies (by Nora Roberts).

Oh this is gonna be an exciting month. Hope I would be able to stay true to my themed reading. Have a nice weekend everyone!

All Pictures on this post are derived from Google Images. Thanks Google!

Friday Finds

TGIF! Thank Goodness It's Friday, I'm in love. Another Friday Finds edition :)

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS.. hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Let me share you mine for this weekend.

 

Lucky by Jackie Collins

The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky

 

Radiance (Riley Bloom Book # 1)

Shimmer (Riley Bloom Book # 2)

both by Alyson Noel

and

Summer Pleasures by Nora Roberts

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Tuesday Teaser (Oct 4)

Welcome to the first Tuesday of October. Another day for our Teaser Tuesdays. This is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

To participate you:
* 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!

For this week, actually I'm reading an anthology book. It's a collection of short stories authored by some of famous Irish novelists - Maeve Binchy, Marian Keyes & Cathy Kelly, et al. The book is called "Irish Girls About Town".

Here's a teaser from one of the short stories:

There was a note on the door. 

Waited until half past. Understand that you mightn't have wanted to see me. If you were mine, I wouldn't want to let you our of my sight. Best wishes, Dave. 

What a sweetie.

page 292;
Girls' Weekend
by Marisa Mackle
from the " Irish Girls About Town" anthologies

Musing Mondays (Oct. 3)

Today's Monday musing from Miz B of Should Be Reading, where she will ask a book/reading-related question, and you answer with your own thoughts on the topic:

What are you most excited about reading, right now? (can be a book you’re currently enjoying, or a book that’s yet to be published, etc.)

Actually, I'm excited with a lot of recently published book (sequels). So I'm making October my Sequel Month. Here are some of the books I'm excited to read in the next few days.

Vanish (sequel to Firelight)

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone. 

Uncommon Criminals (sequel to Heist Society)

Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners. 

There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous and that is simply… the emerald is cursed. 

3rd quarter-end wrap up

Whew, can you believe it? It's now October! Time flies so fast! We're now on the last quarter of the year, which was a truly blessed year for me. I know we still have 3 more months before we say Bye to 2011, but hey,  there's nothing wrong in appreciating the blessings that came along our way these past 3 quarters.

Christmas is just sitting around the corner.. Hmmm.. Before we go to that, let me share with you the books / e-books I've finished reading during the last 3 months.


July

The Princess - Lori Wick
Red Riding Hood - Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Nicola and the Viscount - Meg Cabot
A Bend in The Road - Nicholas Sparks
The Wanton Bride - Mary Brendan
Twins - Roxanne Pulitzer
Blue Moon - John Morgan Wilson and Peter Duchin
City of Ember - Jeanne DuParu
Love in The Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Untamed - Helen Kirkman
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman




August
Careful What You Wish For - Lucy Finn
Would You? - Marthe Jocelyn
Simmer Down - Jessica Park
In The Eye of Heaven - David Keck
Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
The Manolo Matrix - Julie Kenner
River, Cross My Heart - Breena Heart
Vive La Paris - Esme Raji Codell
Fisherman's Bend - Kinda Greenlaw
Shadowland (The Mediator Series #1)  - Meg Cabot
Red Blooded Murder - Laura Caldwell
Winter Rose - Patricia McKillip


September
Perfect Princess (A Princess Diaries Companion Book)  - Meg Cabot
Love The One You're With - Emily Giffin
Light In Shadow (Whispering Springs #1)  - Jayne Ann Krentz
Remember Me - Sophie Kinsella
Princess Bride - William Goldman
Darkening Echoes - Carol Smith
Spying In High Heels - Gemma Halliday
Who's That Girl - Alexandra Potter
Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
L.A. Candy - Lauren Conrad
The Nanny Diaries - Emma McLaughlin

WWW Sept. 22

Welcome to another edition of WWW Wednesdays..  More books read, and more to explore!

WWW Wednesdays is  another weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

Here are my answers this week:

Currently Reading: 

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

Yes, the very same book that was recently made into a movie. Though I haven't watched the film yet, I've heard a great deal about the actors who starred on it. R-Pattz & Reese, hmmm.. unlikely couple in film but, I can't judge coz I haven't seen the movie. But from what I am reading, the story is quite nostalgic and entertaining.

Here's a bit of a tease:

Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.

Hope to finish reading the book this weekend.

Recently Finished Reading:

Who's That Girl by Alexandra Potter

Very entertaining read. I was quite bored at the beginning. I thought I wouldn't be able to finish it. Three days later, I found myself entertained. Yeah, it took me that long to finish the story but I liked it. It was a story about going back in time so you can teach yourself what to do next so you won't commit the same mistakes again.


Might Read Next:

L. A. Candy by Lauren Conrad 

I've got Lauren Conrad's book on my lap, but I am still contemplating if I should read this or not. It's entitled L. A. Candy. Yes, it's the book written by the reality-star Lauren Conrad and I just got curious about her, that's why I bought her book and decided to try. Hopefully I won't get disappointed.

Just comment below if you have any suggestions :)

Thanks everyone. Have a great day ahead :)

The Shop On Blossom Street

Title: The Shop On Blossom Street
Author: Debbie Macomber
Paperback; 416 pages
Published May 2005

This is another Debbie Macomber book that I couldn't put down. I'm a sucker for family-related stories and with this one, I ended up with tears on my eyes, not because of loneliness but because of the warmth and love depicted on the story.

By the way, here's the summary at the back cover of the book.

Four lives knit together ...
There's a little shop on Blossom Street in Seattle called A Good Yarn. You go there to buy knitting supplies and patterns -- and now it's offering a knitting class. The first lesson: how to knit a baby blanket.
For owner Lydia Hoffman, the shop represents her dream of beginning a new life free from the cancer that has ravaged her twice. A life that offers a chance at love ... and maybe marriage.
Jacqueline Donovan is stuck in a marriage that has dwindled into an arrangement of separate rooms and separate lives. She disapproves of the woman married to her only son, but if she knits a baby blanket, she can at least pretend to like her pregnant daughter-in-law.
For Carol Girard, the baby blanket brings a message of hope as she and her husband make a final attempt at in vitro pregnancy.
And tense-looking Alix Townsend -- that's Alix with an "i" -- is learning to knit her blanket for her court-ordered community service project.
Brought together by an age-old craft, these four women make unexpected discoveries -- about themselves and each other. Discoveries that lead to love, to friendship and acceptance, to laughter and dreams.

Interestingly, The Shop on Blossom Street is the first in the Blossom Street series and it deals with knitting. It also deals with a woman who is surviving cancer and striving with her life after her father's death. She gets a scare when the cancer may have come back and she finds out who is truly there for her. The development of her relationship with her sister's characters had a great impact on me.

There are 4 women, thus four stories, with Lydia and her yarn shop (the tie that binds the stories together) at the center. Each woman has their own crisis and are very different from each other. Yet, they all become friends and learn to support and receive support from each other.

It was awesome for a feel good story. It's a romance book, but not a bodice ripper. The women are complex, have issues, and you can see why they made the choices that landed them in the position. Somehow, I got into the lives of the 4 main characters. I look forward to reading the next book and learning more about these 4 women.

My rating for The Shop On Blossom Street: 3 Bookmarks!

friday finds Sept 16

Another Friday, another weekend!

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS.. hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Here are my finds this week...

 

 

Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot

Black Girl in Paris by Shay Youngblood

Isle of Dogs by Patricia Cornwell

Persuader by Lee Child

The Locket by Stacey Jay

www Sept 15

Here we are again on another edition of WWW Wednesdays.. Time flies so fast! Next thing I know, it's gonna be another weekend.. Yay!

WWW Wednesdays is  another weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

Here are my answers this week:


WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

Today I've started reading Darkening Echoes by Carol Smith. This appears to be her first book venture and so far, so good. I am initially intrigued.

According to Goodreads:


It is about a meeting of five very different women in a hospital sparks off enduring friendships and deadly rivalries. As they resume their lives and continue to see each other, things start to become uneasy, climaxing in the suspicious death of one of the women.

Very intriguing indeed!

WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

Just finished Debbie Macomber's The Shop on Blossom Street. 

I've actually purchased this book a long time ago, but I was only able to read it last Sunday. It's a story about four women brought together by knitting - for reasons of their own.

It's a feel-good read, made me want to read the sequel A Good Yarn which discusses more about the Yarn Shop owner, the cancer-survivor Lydia.

My book review for The Shop on Blossom Street will be shared within this week. :)

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'LL READ NEXT?

Who's That Girl by Alexandra Potter

here's the synopsis I got from her website:

If only you knew then what you know now…
Imagine you could go back ten years and meet your younger self – would you recognise her? And what advice would you give?

For Charlotte Merryweather, there’s no need to imagine. She’s about to find out for real.  With some surprising consequences… 

Looking forward to reading all of you posts for our WWW this Wednesday. Ciao, friends :)