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 :)

Teaser Tuesday

Another breezy Tuesday of September.  And so it's time 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!


Here's mine. Kinda long actually.. But a sure intriguing tease...

"Are you going to tell me what this is all about? " 

Alix narrowed her lips, "No."  

"We're roommates Alix. You can trust me."
"Sure I can," she snarled. "Just like I could trust you to tell the truth to the cops." She wasn't letting Laurel forget that she'd taken the fall for her.  

"All right," Laurel snapped and held up both hands. "Have it your way". 

That was exactly what Alix intended.

- page 72, before Chapter 9
The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber

Monday Reading...

 It's Monday! What Are You Reading?


Weel, here's what I am reading now: Debbie Macomber's The Shop On Blossom Street

There's a little yarn shop on Blossom Street in Seattle. It's owned by Lydia Hoffman, and it represents her dream of a new life free from cancer. A life that offers a chance at love...

Lydia teaches knitting to beginners, and the first class is "How To Make a Baby Blanket." Three women join. Jacqueline Donovan wants to knit something for her grandchild as a gesture of reconciliation with her daughter-in-law. Carol Girard feels that the baby blanket is a message of hope as she makes a final attempt to conceive. And Alix Townsend is knitting her blanket for a court-ordered community service project.

These four very different women, brought together by an age-old craft, make unexpected discoveries --- about themselves and each other. Discoveries that lead to friendship and more...

Book review soon...

sunday salon

It has been a hell of a week - or should I say, a month!

I've been meaning to discuss & wrap up the books that I've been reading for the past months, but I never did. Been so busy lately at home, now that I've turned into a "Stay-at-Home mom"..

Anyway, let me share with you the books / e-books I've read for the past 2 weeks:


Perfect Princess (A Princess Diaries Companion Book)  - Meg Cabot
Love The One You're With - Emily Giffin
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Light In Shadow (Whispering Springs #1)  - Jayne Ann Krentz
Remember Me - Sophie Kinsella

 

 

As you can see, I've read chick-lits lately. Hopefully next week, i'll get to read more. Have a blessed weekend everyone!!

The Princess Bride

Review # 35
Title: The Princess Bride
Author: William Goldman
398 pages; Paperback (30th Anniversary Edition)
Published September 2003

"As You Wish"

Hmmm. I don't normally say this, but I found myself  liking the movie version better than the book.

Ouch! Sorry. It's just that the basic elements on the movie itself were complete and more humorous than that on the words written on the book. Although the movie was set, filmed and shown in 1987, I was only able to watch it a month ago and I was rather weary watching it. More like bored, actually. Well, what do you expect? The lighting and the different cinematic presentations of the 21st century was nowhere seen on the 80's film.

But when I got to read the book and compare it with the one I watched, I finally realized, I'd rather watch Buttercup & Westly's love story again on the big screen than dwell with the way the situations and plots were written on the book.

Sorry, it's just my imagination were really flying with colors with the movie. The movie was really hilarious!

But of course, I still enjoyed reading the book, after I've gotten an idea about the story. Yet, I was disappointed because the funny lines were'nt there. Inconceivable! The story of Princess Buttercup and her true love Westley and their adventures is fun, of course, and wonderfully whimsical and inventive, but it has less heart than the movie version.

Okay enough of the comparison. Overall, I'll just say that The Princess Bride is one of the most romantic stories ever written and definitely the most charming! It made me realize about the saying, "You don't know what 'true love' is until you lose it." And then you'll want to give up everything just to have it back with you for any fraction of a second.

Best part of the film which I didn't find in the book:

Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father. Prepare to die!

AS YOU WISH!

hehehehe..

My rating for The Princess Bride: 3 bookmarks!

friday finds - 9/09

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..


Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Hannah's Vow by Pam Crooks
Haunting Melody by Mackenzie Reed

  

 

The Heir by Johanna Lindsey

Moon of Little Winter by Margaret Marr

Portrait of Seduction by Madison Chase

  

A Good Yarn by Debbie MaComber

Pirate's Conquest by Mary Martin

Who's That Girl by Alex Potter

Enjoy your Friday! Happy weekend to every one and all :)

www (sept 8)

It's WWW Wednesdays again. It's 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?

Let's get this over with, shall we?


WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

 Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella


Lexi wakes up in a hospital bed after a car accident, thinking it’s 2004 and she’s a twenty-five-year old with crooked teeth and a disastrous love life.


But, to her disbelief, she learns it’s actually 2007 – she’s twenty-eight, her teeth are straight, she’s the boss of her department – and she’s married! To a good-looking millionaire!


How on earth did she land the dream life??!


I'm now on the 4th to the last chapter of the book.. Hope to finish reading later today :)


WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?


I didn't get to start reading the Princess Diaries Book 8 as I was supposed to last week. 


But I've actually finished the short Companion novel (still from the Princess Diaries series) which is entitled The Perfect Princess. I have it on E-Book so I read it on my Microsoft Reader.


Princess Mia Thermopolis' guide on how to act like a princess with help from her friends. This book is NOT necessarily a continuation of any of the PRINCESS DIARIES books, it's simply somewhat of a self-help book for Princesses, or people who feel they are Princesses, or people who would like to live like a Princess.


Lastly, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'LL READ NEXT?




Hmm.. Still stumped to what should I read after Remember Me. Looking at my sturdy bookshelf, I think I'll go for Jayne Ann Krentz's first Whispering Springs Novel - Light In Shadow. 


According to Amazon.com Review

Hiding behind an expensive, black-market-created identity, Zoe Luce has built a successful interior design business in Whispering Springs, Arizona, and hopes that she has just as successfully buried her past. She can't ignore her unique psychic abilities, however, and when she walks into a new client's bedroom and hears the walls scream and moan, she knows something terrible has happened in the house. Did her client murder his wife? She's determined to find out, but investigating a possible murder is beyond her expertise, so Zoe turns to Ethan Truax, a private detective new to the small Arizona community. Solving the murder of the businessman's wife is a piece of cake for Ethan compared to the complicated enigma that he finds in Zoe. Mysterious nightmares haunt her and when a would-be blackmailer is found dead, Zoe's past inexorably collides with her new life, threatening their dreams of a future together.


Author Jayne Ann Krentz is at the top of her form in Light in Shadow, a nonstop roller coaster ride of thrills and chills. Romance, suspense, humor, and danger challenge an intriguing cast of characters and blend seamlessly in a plot that twists, turns, and surprises. --Lois Faye Dyer

Teaser Tues (Sept 6)

The First Tuesday of September.  And so it's time 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!


 Alright, here's mine!

"You don't remember your wedding? " Nicole looks agog. "You don't remember anything about your husband?"
"No." I look up suddenly with horror. "I didn't marry Loser Dave, did I?"

- page 54 from the book Remember Me?
by Sophie Kinsella

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Musing Mondays - September

 Musing Mondays is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading's Miz B.
 This week’s musing is…

Who do you think is the hottest male/female character from a book? 

Oh my. I'm sure, even if I haven't read the blogs of other Musing Mondays participants, I think the runaway winner would be Damon Salvatore from the Vampire Diaries. Who would think otherwise? He's got the looks, the body, the sneer, the physique, the wit, the fangs! ... everything!

He's everything a lady desires (don't even think of comparing him to Edward Cullen because Damon is waaaayyyy super hotter than him, hehehe.. )

Honestly, I haven't finished reading Vampire Diaries books (I'm still on The Awakening, gosh!) But I'm a regular viewer of the TV series and Damon is the reason why my ass is glued on my seat while watching the series.

The other Hot Male character for me would be John Smith from the book I am Number Four, written by Pittacus Lore (a pseudonym for James Frey and Jobie Hughes). 

John Smith is the protagonist of the novel, and Number Four in the sequence protecting the nine Loric children living and hiding on Earth. He was portrayed by Alex Pettyfer in the movie (of the same name) . Alex is exactly the person I envisioned when I first read the book. For me, he's perfect for John Smith! Hot!

 As for the Hot female characters from the book, I only got one choice and that would be, none other than Katniss Everdeen - the main character of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games trilogy

Katniss Everdeen is everything a girl could dream of - she's a perfect role model for the youth. Katniss is a highly skilled archer, hunter, and trapper, having learned these from her father and bestfriend Gale, honed to keep her family from starving. . She's brave, bold, logical & loving. Jennifer Lawrence is set to portray Katniss in the upcoming movie The Hunger Games.

So that's my choices. How about yours? Who do you think is the hottest male/female character from a book?

Friday Finds for September

The first Friday of September. Time for another Friday Finds.

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS.. hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

And I'm just psyched to tell you that I've discovered a lot of books this week. So here we go:

She Went All the Way by Meggin (Meg) Cabot

    

Born At Midnight by C. C. Hunter

Eldala by Michelle Gregory

Lemniscate by Jennifer Murgia

Out for Blood by Alexandra Harvey

Solid by Shelley Workinger

Spying In High Heels by Gemma Halliday

& 

Arson by Estevan Vega

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

Happy Weekend to all of us. May this month bring us more joys and eventually tease us with a wonderful holiday season.. (So advanced, hahaha!!)

Till next week :)