Book Review: Ordinary World by Jose Miguel Arguelles

Ordinary World 

by Jose Miguel Arguelles

Bleak. Dark. Hopeless. These are just some of the words that might come to mind for anyone who reads this delectable collection. I say delectable because I hanker for dystopian themes and stories that depict the folly, vileness and helplessness of man. Whether the stories within the pages exacerbate or take my mind away from the current state of the world is a personal burden, but if one has the stomach and mental strength to take in these stories without sinking and to treat them as such: just stories, then I highly recommend this book. There's humor and romance sprinkled in, if it helps.

The artwork is genius: the front cover is really a "front", and the back cover shows the alternative, rather, what lurks behind the face preferred to be shown to the world.

In the afterword, the author explained how he divided the stories into two parts, with his explanation italicized. Under each part, I rate the stories and give my two cents.

Part One: Their Small Worlds deals with the narrowness of the human perspective. We see ourselves as the small gods of this world, independent of each other. We mostly believe that world events unfold in relation to us. And we use our reason - the so-called God-given light - in order to justify our actions, no matter how twisted they are. It is in this context that I arranged the shorter stories in this collection. They represent very narrow, some would even say short-sighted views in life. We live in a world of instant gratification and alternative facts. We live in a world where we do things without thinking of their consequences. But our small worlds often collide with each other, and when that happens, we either lash out at the other small worlds, or allow our own small worlds to collapse.

The New Normal - 3.5/5 

At first I thought this was a prophetic story about the pandemic but it turned out to be about what happens when repression, frustration, and self-preservation run amok in the mind of an average man. The New Normal is actually about the revision or eradication of morals, brought about by the changing of the times, and in the country, as demonstrated by the seated, the uniformed, and the powerful. In a chilling statement by the otherwise harmless man, overcome by his humiliation and need for release, "Nanlaban eh."

Itch - 4/5

How did the first man and woman discover sex? A funny, quick read involving husband-wife, bird-shapeshifting Creators and a flea. 

Dolorosa - 4.25/5

The title of the story is a giveaway. The theme of this short story is grief. A couple navigates life year by year after the passing of their child. Traumatic events can lead to withdrawal into one's self. The reveal at the end about the extreme measures the man must take to be worthy of his wife's comfort will surely make this story a favorite among readers.

The Lower Half - 3.5/5

A dark comedy. What happens when obsession and horror meet? Snicker-inducing and will elicit serves-you-right quips from the reader.

The Child No One Wanted - 3.75/5

Theme is how both man or monster, devoid of moral code, give weight to need, greed and baser instincts rather than indebtedness and loyalty.

Wake - 4.5/5

About The One That Got Away, and how he/she isn't anymore who he/she used to be, in the worst way conceivable. A letting go that has pragmatism overriding all remnants of romantic feelings. I especially loved the last three paragraphs. I would've rated this a 4 if those weren't the parting statements. Another nod to current events i.e. war on drugs.

The Bus Ride Home - 3.75/5

Religious hypocrisy, self-righteousness and a bus full of demons out to have fun. This is the author's Shake, Rattle and Roll entry, I must say.

The Day After - 5/5

My absolute favorite. What happens when doomsday doesn't come? Your bills unpaid, work presentation undone, with dwindling money in your bank account? The day after: when your world crumbles and rebuilds just as soon. I LOVE IT.

 

Part Two: Our Wide World is the other side of the equation. The stories under this division tackle greater human themes. They also show how people struggle to deal with the outside world as it intrudes into our lives. We can never be safe from the wide world, no matter how cloistered or sheltered our lives are. One way or another, it will come knocking at your door and even if you refuse to open it, it will kick it down and drag you out screaming before it fires a bullet into your head and leaves behind packets of crystal-like substances over your body. That's of course, an extreme metaphor, but it is a metaphor for the times we live in.

Part two is just so darn good. These are the lengthy ones, but the writer made good use of that length.

Homecoming - 4.9/5

The political sci-fi of the lot. The story toys at the possibility of Mindanao succeeding in separating from the rest of the Philippines and establishing itself as a country. Plus an attempt of biological warfare, with an "ally" country backing the mission. With old friends sandwiched in between. This gave me goosebumps because of how it closely resembles what is happening in the world right now, conspiracy theories included. 

Out of Time - 4.5/5

Serves fantasy, thriller and horror genres in one story. It is a nod at an industry that needs a little bit of people's time. The main character hoarded time and became a slave to living forever. But is a long life spent alone worth living? The twist was predictable for me, but still a good story.

Republic - 4.8/5

A jab at how the nation is always in need of the next hero, to lift the country out of poverty, fight crime and corruption, and give hope. Only to be disappointed yet again and left wanting. *cough, cough*

The Last Defender of Earth - 4.8/5

A Japanese superhero grieves the loss of his former partner (both in duty and romantically). I felt good reading this. While sad at the beginning, the resolve the main character had at the end to answer the call of duty gave tones of hope and purpose.

Where Dreams Go To Die - 4.7/5

Supernatural serial killer. Crime meets fairytale. I hate it when almost lovers die in the middle of what could have been a happily ever after. While not my favorite, this left an impression and is a respectable closing story to the collection.

Overall: A collection worth your while. Not sure where it can still be bought as Visprint, Inc. has closed its doors. :( I'm looking for Our Darkest Hours by the same author. Anyone who knows where I can still buy... or who I can borrow it from? 

 Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 

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Book Review: Blue Is The Warmest Color by Julie Maroh

Blue Is The Warmest Color

by Julie Maroh

"Oh that graphic novel that the movie with the extensive lesbian sex scene was based on?"

I haven't watched the French film yet, but this graphic novel deserves accolades of its own.

Does it depict romance between two women? Yes.

Does it include lesbian sex in its pages? Yes.

Does the story revolve around these two topics? No.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

"What if, irrespective of gender, our souls find each other, recognize one another, come to love each other?"

- own musing

Blue Is The Warmest Color is a fast, engaging and bittersweet ride. It's also quite short that I was able to finish it in an hour. One could take less time to read it but I would stop every once in a while and let my brain pick at the words and dwell in the emotional pool that the story drew me into.

The novel is posthumously told in Clementine's (fight the urge to sing... "Oh my darling... Oh my darling... Oh my darling... Clementine) point of view, first through a letter to her lover Emma, and subsequently narrating with flashbacks from her journal dating back to her high school days, the prime of her self-discovery. Emma, per Clementine's dying wish for her parents to allow her to gain ownership of her diaries, reads them and we're able to peek into the mind of Clementine as she experiences the pain, alienation, and confusion regarding her identity and developing feelings towards another woman. The words were Clementine's, but it was Emma's imagination and recollection that makes up the novel, I believe.

The heart of this book is not about homosexual love per se, but about a girl entering womanhood with fear of being alienated as she struggles with her identity. Clementine's voice is that of a wide-eyed, excitable, curious, haphazard teenager, which might remind the majority a little of their younger selves. As a young adult still shedding off some juvenile and idealistic tendencies (and having an INFP personality helps as well), I can still tap into Clem's emotional monologue and thinking patterns. Her internal turmoil (homosexual feelings and desires are wrong, wrong, WRONG but it feels so right and within her arms I am home. My parents are homophobic, my friends will mock me and hate me.) is relatable to "newborns" of today.

It's important to note that blue-haired Emma knew Clementine was not strictly homosexual (she could've been an unaware bisexual which she explored quite late into the novel) and that she chose to love her who just happened to be a woman. In part, Clementine reminded me of the protagonist in Every Day by David Levithan, though much less self-aware and self-accepting. Her reading of Clementine's diary is her most intimate reconnection with her after her death, as she has probably learned about who the Emma of those days was in Clem's eyes and heart for the first time.

Emma on the other hand, had her own dilemma in the beginning. She was caught in between what could be true love and her indebtedness to her first love, Sabine. It was Sabine who helped her through her own identity crisis and her social life started with her butch partner's group. She was afraid to dive into the uncertain, initially preferring the safer choice despite her growing unhappiness over her lover's emotional blackmail and infidelity.

Towards the end, the drama escalated. Part one of the climax was when Clem's parents found out about them. The absence of dialogue and reliance on facial expressions and frenzied bodily movement were effective. To a reader that could relate, they could easily fill in with words their own loved ones have said that hurt them. Part two of the climax was Clementine's irreversible mistake. Unable to deal with stark reality (abandonment by her parents, growing distance/misunderstanding/miscommunication with Emma) and still being unable to reconcile her love for Emma and her sexual identity, Clementine commits infidelity. Whether it was an experiment/attempt to change her preference or to divert her feelings (for social/parental acceptance), an act of rebellion against Emma's prodding for her to finally embrace who she has become (Emma was still a passionate participant in sociopolitical activism of the LGBTQ community while in contrast, Clementine treats her sexual identity as a private matter), or a momentary escape from the reality that her choice led her to, we can only speculate. 

Present and most recent events in the graphic novel were in color, while past events were in sepia, black and white peppered with blue to denote the most important details/turning points of Clementine's life. Also, the change from blue to a life full of yellow (Emma's hair included. Ironically, yellow is the warmer color) symbolized the estrangement that was slowly creeping up to the lovers' bed. And using blue over any other color made the best possible title. Blue is commonly thought of as a cool color, creating a good oxymoron in the title. Blue is also associated with sadness, thus it meshes well with the melancholic tone of the novel. It was her love for the blue-haired girl that led to her isolation, and it was the same blue-haired girl's love that kept her warm.

When they were reunited at the beach (care of the awesome best friend Valentin [aptly named] who was Clem's anchor and sounding board), Clem seemingly had a hallucination of a phantom child while Emma was making a sandcastle. Could it represent her aspirations of creating a family with Emma?

While the ending is tragic, allow me to romanticize Clementine's death as the means to finding her peace. At the age of 30, she was stuck in limbo and unaccepting of her own self, resulting to a life in which she cannot fully appreciate Emma anymore. It was hinted that death was by slow suicide (addiction to prescription pills which lead to arterial pulmonary hypertension). While I didn't actually cry, I felt for both women's loss.

All in all, the graphic novel is a good social commentary to a lukewarm acceptance ("tolerance", selectivity and veiled repulsion included) of the LGBTQ community (or to any assumed social deviant) by the current supposedly radical/liberal/modern generation. It's a powerful telling of youth's sexual awakening, a mix of teenage fear and courage to love against discrimination, and how hard reality can bite in the butt.

 Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥


Some of the best quotes in the graphic novel:

“If I had been a guy, Clem would have fallen in love with me anyway.” - Emma 

"Only love will save the world. Why would I be ashamed to love?" - Emma 

"And little by little, I understood that there were many types of love. We do not choose the one we fall in love with, and our perception of happiness is our own and is determined by what we experience…" - Emma 

"What would you do?"- Clementine
"I would follow my heart." - Valentin 

"Maybe this is eternal love, this mixture of peace and fire." - Emma 

"Emma... you asked me if i believed in eternal love. Love is something way too abstract and indefinable. It depends on what we perceive and what we experience. If we don’t exist, it doesn’t exist. And we change so much; love must change as well. Love catches fire, it trespasses, it breaks, we break, it comes back to life… we come back to life. Love may not be eternal, but it can make us eternal. Beyond death, the love that we shared continues to live.” - Clementine 

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Book Review: Everything Leads To You by Nina LaCour

Everything Leads To You
By Nina LaCour

A wunderkind young set designer, Emi has already started to find her way in the competitive Hollywood film world.

Emi is a film buff and a true romantic, but her real-life relationships are a mess. She has desperately gone back to the same girl too many times to mention. But then a mysterious letter from a silver screen legend leads Emi to Ava. Ava is unlike anyone Emi has ever met. She has a tumultuous, not-so-glamorous past, and lives an unconventional life. She’s enigmatic…. She’s beautiful. And she is about to expand Emi’s understanding of family, acceptance, and true romance.

My Thoughts:

Everything Leads To You gives a glimpse of life behind the camera, through the eyes of Emi, an intern (high school student, and soon enough, graduate) as set designer of a production team for a big movie. The team brings movies to life by giving color, lighting, props, texture, sound and the right ambiance to every scene. These people work hard, dodging deadlines, pulling strings, committing locations, scoring deals for props, the whole shebang, so that the viewer could have the best visual and auditory experience while watching the film. 

Eherm, Back to Emi. She was in charge of the female protagonist's room, in which a pivotal scene would take place. She has a keen eye for detail, and she believes that surroundings help in defining a character by even the subtlest details that hint at interests/personality/living situation. Her passion and dedication to her craft is evident in the novel. Too evident that she loses herself and comes to a point of disillusionment and frustration when her naive sense of ownership of her contributed work was shattered by her boss' decision to replace the most important piece that she swallowed her pride for to acquire. I love that the main character is driven and passionate, fully aware of what she wants to do with her life. I love that when the opportunity presented itself (indie film), she dove into it, unsure at first, but eventually trusting herself, building confidence that she could make things happen. I love that while her family members' careers are interconnected, the paths she and her brother Toby (location scout) were taking were not forced on them. Still, we can imagine the heavy influence that their parents and living smack dab in Hollywood gave them while they were growing up.

This is not a coming out story. There are some novels out there that tackle just that if you're looking for such. From the start of the novel, everyone knows Emi's preference and the 'rents, bruh, and BFF are cool with it. However, let me just say that while I approve of Emi's drive and ambition, I kenet. I repeat. I kenet take her stupidity when it came to her love life. The saying "Matalino, pero bobo sa pag-ibig" rang so true for her character. But who the hell are we kidding right? Some of us had been in her shoes, once or twice in our youth (Sadly, this can definitely carry over to our "developed, emotionally stable" adult years).

Fate is laid thick and heavy in this novel (duh, please see title), involving a deceased cowboy actor, a letter, an apartment, a baby, an aspiring actress' best friend, and a shitload of money. Read it if you want to know how that all worked out.

I actually liked how the author (warning: spoilers begin from here) did not give us a rushed romance. The characters were well-fleshed out, and with each discovery and experience, we see their growth in how they responded to each new situation. Emi, being the romantic movie nut that she was, saw Ava first as a mystery to be solved, a project to put it bluntly, coated with the illusion of happiness promised by the glamour and wealth of Hollywood. There's this passage (Emi: I want to apologize for not realizing sooner that what I felt in Clyde’s study was not the beginning of a mystery or a project. She was never something waiting to be solved. All she is– all she’s ever been– is a person trying to live a life.) that reminded me quite a bit about John Green's Paper Towns (Quentin: Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl.). I wonder if that was a nod or just a coincidence, or a common theme on breaking down the manic pixie dream girl trope.

Ava, oh Ava. I cannot describe how much my heart bled for this girl. She represented atonement and hope in this novel.

Charlotte, Emi's BFF and future sis-in-law, is that awesome, frank, and truly caring best friend who looks out for Emi in dealing with matters of the heart and in keeping her sane whenever shit hit the fan. I loved how she would act only half-civil around Morgan and couldn't help dissing her. *glee*

Morgan, while sucking at even trying to love Emi, has to be given credit for helping Emi out best she could, and for believing in our main protagonist's talent. Emi acknowledged at the latter part of the novel that as a coworker/collaborator, she knew she could depend on Morgan. I admire how this nod on the complexity of relationships was tackled in the novel. I'm pretty sure Emi knew she'll have Morgan in her heart forever, though not romantically, and that was okay.

Going back to the romance between Emi and Ava, it wasn't rushed and it felt authentic. Friendship was allowed to grow, with just a hint of flirtation and tension brought about by their reservations (1. at first not knowing if the other liked girls, 2. trust issues from former relationships and 3. Ava's familial identity crisis), leading to... what? The ending was not a period. It was an ellipsis. It was a promise of a great love story waiting to happen.

For me, this was a vivid, poetically-written novel, light and funny, moderately heavy and heart-tugging at the right pace and places. It's about chasing after your dreams, good family relations, friendship, forgiveness and reconciliation, self-discovery, hope, realization of self-worth in relationships, love, and fate. Fate, definitely.

Favorite Quotes:

“Because in the conversation beneath this one, what we're really saying is I am an imperfect person. Here are my failures. Do you want me anyway?” - Em

"When you love someone, you are sure. You don’t need time to decide. You don’t say stop and start over and over, like you’re playing some kind of sport. You know the immensity of what you have and you protect it.” - Emi

“There are no scenes in life, there are only minutes. And none are skipped over and they all lead to the next.” - Emi

"When you really want to find someone, it isn't that hard. I should have known all along that she wasn't looking. I feel so stupid." - Ava; "There's nothing stupid about wanting to be loved." - Emi

"As much as I wanted a love story out of a movie, I know now that movies can only hope to capture this kind of love.” - Emi

“We love films because they make us feel something. They speak to our desires, which are never small. They allow us to escape and to dream and to gaze into eyes that are impossibly beautiful and huge. They fill us with longing. But also. They tell us to remember; they remind us of life. Remember, they say, how much it hurts to have your heart broken. Remember about death and suffering and the complexities of living. Remember what it is like to love someone. Remember how it is to be loved. Remember what you feel in this moment. Remember this. Remember this.” - Em

"Her hair is straight, falling over her shoulders. Her eyes are lined with shimmery brown eyeliner and her lips are shining. I will be able to make toast for her in the mornings. I will do my best to get it right." - Emi

 Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

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Book Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Me, as a reader: I can read a book in a day or in a matter of hours if the story is very riveting, while it takes me days or even months to read something when I am bored to tears by the plot (yeah I have the patience to finish a book I started reading, however long it takes me to do so). However, when I read love stories and inspirational fiction (e.g. Sparks, Coelho), I tend to drink all that literary sweetness in, reflecting on the narration and the dialogue, causing a supposed quick read to extend to 2 or 3 days. :P

Moving on to the review...

First, I want to say thank you to Christy. I won this book from her second summer giveaway in the blog she and her friend Erica owns.☺ It arrived in the mail yesterday, and I was surprised to find a beautiful hardbound book from The Book Depository (I really hope shipping would still be free after being acquired by Amazon).

Title: Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1)

Author: Beth Revis

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian 

Hardcover: 416 pages 

Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin Group

Release Date: January 1, 2011

Source: Book Depository, won from a giveaway

Blurb:

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Alternate Blurb:

Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the spaceship Godspeed.  She has left her boyfriend, friends and planet behind to join her parents as a member of Project Ark Ship. 
Amy and her parents believe they will wake on a new planet, Centauri-Earth, three hundred years in the future.  But fifty years before Godspeed’s scheduled landing, cryo-chamber 42 is mysteriously unplugged, and Amy is violently woken from her frozen slumber.

Someone tried to murder her.

Now Amy is caught inside a tiny world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed’s 2,312 passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader.  And Eldest’s rebellious teenage heir, is both fascinated with Amy and eager to discover whether he has what it takes to lead.

Amy desperately wants to trust Elder.  But should she put her faith in a boy who has never seen life outside the ship’s cold metal walls?  All Amy knows is that she and Elder must race to unlock Godspeed’s hidden secrets before whoever woke her tried to kill again.

Opening Line: 

Daddy said, “Let Mom go first.” Mom wanted me to go first.

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Book Review: Every Girl's Guide to Flings

Every Girl's Guide to Flings by Marla Miniano

Because bad girls fall in love too.

In her high heels, short skirts, and purple eyeliner, Rickie is known as the wayward friend of good girls Anna and Chrissy. Her string of meaningless flings, happening parties, and more boys lining up to ask her out make her the envy of every teenage girl—till she sets her sights on a very bad idea: Anna's ex. Is Rickie headed for disaster? Or will she finally fall in love and get her very own happy ending?

Rule number 1: Know where to start.

Rule number 2: Trust your instincts.

Rule number 3: Don't take things too seriously.

Rule number 4: Mistakes do not make up for other mistakes.

Rule number 5: Learn to take risks.

Rule number 6: All's fair in love and war.

Rule number 7: Know where it all ends.

Rule number 8: Be open to finding yourself.

Rule number 9: Change is inevitable.

Rule number 10: Sometimes, a fling can lead to The Real Thing.

My thoughts:

Okay. I admit. I am in love with this character. Rickie is the party girl of the trio, the one who never gets serious with a guy, the one with flings you need all of  your fingers and toes to count. She's the intruder to Anna and Chrissy's longtime friendship. She's the daughter who is not as talented, pretty, and ma-PR as her older sister, Lexie. She stays out late at night to party with her gay friend Bryan and to hook up with boys. Eventually, she chose to be with Jaime, Anna's ex, much to the chagrin of her friends. It didn't last though, because of Rickie's commitment issues. Rickie turned out to sincerely like Jaime and in a confrontation-for-closure scene she acknowledged the fact that she could have chosen to be with him but she chose to walk away. One weekend changed her perspective on life and love when she learned how her sister Lexie chose not to pursue a relationship with Timmy (Anna's brother), even if they liked each other because it was the right thing to do. I like the fact that Rickie realized that she shouldn't be looking elsewhere for affection, because she had the right people (family and friends) with her to give her the love that she needs if only she chooses to let them in and have a sincere relationship with them. She learned to value herself, respect herself, and see herself as a person who deserves something serious and who is capable of something serious. I sort of related to her character in this vein. I loved that the author was able to let her character speak in this candid, unpretentious voice. Rickie seems to be the type to tell it like it is. Gah, I just love her. I'm confident she and Diego ended up happily as a couple. Rickie, no longer lonely. ☺

 Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ ☺

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Book Review: Every Girl's Guide to Boys

Every Girl's Guide to Boys by Marla Miniano

Because two boys wanting you isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Chrissy thinks her life is problem free (she even sets up an online advice column to make use of all her good girl talent) till her best friend, the boy she's been in love with since she was maybe five, comes back from the US. Now this would be a good thing if she wasn't already in an unofficial, sort-of relationship with her long-time crush Nathan. Is it finally time for Chrissy to trash her good girl image and follow her gut? Or is she making the biggest mistake of her life?

Because I am so passionate about this "trilogy", I shall write as much spoilers as I can. I really am sorry about this Ms. Marla Miniano, but you are one heck of a talented writer.

Rule number 1: Not having (boy) problems is A Good Thing

The story opens with Chrissy describing how other people see her as a girl who has no problems at all which is probably due to her being a responsible, well-adjusted, level-headed, and mature-for-her-age teenager. She chooses to spend time with family than partying with friends on weekends. She has good grades and she has no record of ever being in trouble. Sounds like one of your girl friends right? Or maybe it sounds a bit like you, reader of this blog post. ☺

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Book Review: Sinister Shorts by Perri O'Shaughnessy

The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Nina Reilly thrillers brings her prodigious storytelling gifts to this first-ever collection of short crime fiction. From desperate housewives to hard-boiled PIs to an appearance by Nina Reilly herself, these chilling short mysteries-many appearing in print for the very first time-set the mood and ratchet up the suspense as only Perri O'Shaughnessy can. 

Here are tales of love and betrayal, rage and revenge-nineteen sizzling stories that run the gamut from classic whodunits to winding thrillers to an unusual cozy that casts Gertrude Stein as an unlikely Miss Marple. And here Perri O'Shaughnessy has created some of her most sinister and compelling characters yet: a college student who devises an ingenious method for getting her sexy teacher's attention . . . a haunted ex—homicide cop who takes a long walk into his blood-shadowed past in a twisting tale of brutal murder and escalating violence . . . a model wife who surprises both herself and a bothersome furnace man when she is confronted with an unacceptable ultimatum . . . a lemon tree that plays a pivotal role in the tale of a woman who at long last asserts her independence. . . .

From a blood-soaked scheme that's born at a slot machine in Vegas to the violence that ensues when the fat lady stops singing, Sinister Shorts shows us life at its most menacing, murderous, and unbearably suspenseful. And it proves once again the unique and captivating genius of Perri O'Shaughnessy.

My Php0.20:

I love, love story compilations/anthologies! I read this in November while visiting Dad's grave in the cemetery. It was rainy, the air cold, the sky a dull gray. And me, reading stories this sinister. I liked the plot of the nineteen short stories and enjoyed the twists. How the bad guys turn out to be good, how seemingly good guys have skeletons in their closets (or murderous tendencies). My faves in this collection are Dead Money, House Afire, The Furnace Man, Chocolate Milkshake, The Young Lady, The Couple Behind the Curtain, Sandstorm, To Still the Beating of Her Heart, and Lemons.

Find a copy and get to reading!

 Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

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Book Review: A Bride Most Begrudging by Deeanne Gist

Do you believe in love at first fight?

Any ship arriving from England means good news for Virginia colony farmers. The "tobacco brides" would be on board—eligible women seeking a better life in America, bartered for with barrels of tobacco from the fields.

Drew O Connor isn't stirred by news of a ship full of brides. Still broken-hearted from the loss of his beloved, he only wants a maid to tend his house and care for his young sister.

What he ends up with is a wife—a feisty redhead who claims she is Lady Constance Morrow, daughter of an Earl, brought to America against her will. And she want to go straight back to England as soon as she possibly can. She hasn't the foggiest notion how to cook, she dares to argue with her poor husband, and spends more time working on mathematical equations than housework. What kind of a wife is that? Drew's Christian forbearance is in for some testing.

Headstrong and intelligent, deeply moral but incredibly enticing, Constance turns what was supposed to be a marriage of convenience into something most inconvenient, indeed.

My Php0.20:

I loved reading this historical romance (apparently with slight Christian themes. However, it also has slight application of sexual themes. It won't be a romance if it didn't. It's still quite conservative anyway. THAT is a good thing. :D)

The book is set in a time when women were treated as commodity, and sold off in exchange for tobacco. Here, we have Constance, daughter of an Earl who was won by a farmer, Drew O' Connor. The man didn't want a wife and was afraid to be attached to another woman because of a painful past. Read it to know what it is. I found their constant bickering very entertaining and couldn't help wishing they'd act on all the romantic tension already! :)

 Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

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Book Review: Playing House by Patricia Pearson

Even in a tiny apartment, there were enough rooms for Frannie to get into trouble...

First, there was the bedroom...where it all began in such a casually romantic way.

Next, the bathroom...where things took a suspicious turn.

Finally, the living room...where she picked up the phone and prepared to break the news to the boyfriend she barely knew...

When Frannie Mackenzie got sick all over the sweater section of a major urban retailer, she couldn't quite believe that this was a reaction to gray being this year's black. So she went back to her postage-stamp-sized apartment and took inventory. Jeans tighter? Yes. Boobs bigger? Yes. And the absolute proof-positive...the stick had turned blue.

Frannie decides to give up cocktails, late nights, and anything else fun that the big city has to offer. But one thing -- or rather person -- she's not sure she's going to get to keep is the surprised father in the situation -- an experimental jazz musician with the improbable name of Calvin, who'd taken off to Europe before Frannie figured out parenthood had awkwardly united them. Falling in love was the last thing that Frannie expected, and the happiest surprise of all.

My Php0.20:

Wonder how it feels like to get pregnant by a man you barely know? This book is about that and more. It is a funny and warm novel that touches on the changes unexpected pregnancies bring to a couple. With no original plans of starting a family, Calvin and Frannie bravely treads the slippery road to parenthood, making sacrifices and compromises along the way.

I quite like the spunky main protagonist, Frannie. Playing House  is a notch better than your average chick lit.

 Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

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Book Review: Runaway & Heart-Core Metal

Taglines:

Runaway by Karla Maquiling 

When the going gets tough, pack your things up and move!

Heart-Core Metal by Nikki Domingo

If you're in love with a ROCK God, will you ROLL with the punches?

My Php0.20:

I enjoyed reading both stories! The first story is about a woman who seeks a fresh start after every breakup, making large changes such as finding a new job, packing her bags and moving into a new city, and anything that could majorly cut her off from her old life. The latter is about a girl who "fell in love" with a rock star, not knowing that the "right one" was beside her all along. The authors were able to squeeze believable stories into 60 pages. Though the first story is somewhat open-ended, I am optimistic that the pair would end up together. In the second story, I found myself pitying the guy friend a lot. He was making way for the girl and the rock star to be together because he wanted her to be happy! The girl was just so stubborn and dense! Hahaha!

 Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

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The Merging of Real and Pretend

My Imaginary Ex by Mina V. Esguerra
Here's what happens when you play pretend.

When Zack asks Jasmine to pretend to be his ex-girlfriend, she gamely agrees, thinking it would be fun. A few years later, she still has to keep convincing people that they were never together! Then one day, she finds out he's getting married--to someone she'd just met once! All of a sudden, things aren't so clear-cut anymore. Can Jasmine sort out her feelings (sometimes she can't even tell real from pretend when it comes to her and Zack) before it's too late?

This week will be filled with reviews of literature by Filipino writers because I'm feeling quite patriotic. That and I'm too lazy to pore over more lengthy novels from the West. Hehe.

So the second review to grace this blog would be another chick lit. (Hurrah!) It's actually my second time to read this because I want to remember all the details before I write anything about it. "Que horror!" if I mixed this up with some other book I've read. =))

The novel started immediately with the problem shoved to our face. I like its being straightforward, no beating around the bush. Then the next chapter takes the reader back to how it all started, which is actually, with a lie. From there we alternate from present to a more recent past, and we become frustrated with Jasmine and Zack's push-and-pull relationship. As for the characters, we have a college version of Zack who up to the present has intimacy/privacy issues; a Jasmine who used to avoid everyone blooming into a more confident version of herself  (passionate and sexy, as Zack put it at the end of the novel); Lena and Marjorie, second and third ex (technically first and second) respectively, quite different but similar in their concern for Zack; and of course a good chick lit won't be complete without the villains: cheating, scheming bitch Kimmy, and egotistic, condescending ex-BF Tim (glad he didn't have a lot of print exposure though).

An excerpt:

But all of a sudden, I wished that what Marjorie said was true. I knew she was basing it on a false assumption, and was most likely wrong, but... If she knew I was never Zack's ex, would she and Lena have come to the same conclusion? Would they still think that this girl Zack kept talking about was someone he was in love with, or just a friend? I wanted it to be true, though. So badly that it took me by surprise.  (page 80)

In a nutshell, this is about a guy who couldn't bring himself to tell the girl he loves how he truly feels, and relied on dropping hints that an all-too-dense Jasmine can't pick up. This is also about a girl who for almost a decade, was unconsciously in denial but wondered why sometimes she couldn't tell between real and pretend. Ultimately, this is about the people surrounding them, observers of a love story that wasn't before, but was actually in the making. In Jasmine's recall of an emotional college graduation, she realized, "Because it looked like everyone knew it but us, and that made me want to cry."

All in all, I highly recommend this to those who enjoy good, clean enough (well there's a passionate scene near the end. Who could blame them? They waited nine years for things to happen!) chick lit. I personally don't like Western counterparts that are too passionate (read: graphic *cringe*).

The parting line of the novel was very cute. :) I quote Jasmine:

"He was, in many ways, still my Zack from college."

Awwww... Bring on the cheese!!! :P

 Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

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Quitters Never Win

Grace and AJ are like Christmas lights—off and on, again and again. But their last breakup was devastating. It was enough to make Grace want to run him over in her pale pink Beetle. She even composed 12 steps to quitting him, which wasn’t easy because he admittedly was her first love—the boy she lost her heart to when she was still collecting Hello Kitty stationeries; the boy she never stopped loving since. But something happens that changes Grace’s life forever. Now it’s time for her to reevaluate everything she has going for her and make a decision. Is this the end of Grace’s life as she knows it? Or is she finally going to have the happy ending she so desperately needs?

Attention: This review contains spoilers.

Nothing can drive you crazy like your first love.

So declares the front cover of Faye Ilogon's book 12 Steps to Quitting AJ.

The statement alone has led my mind to stray for a while, recounting the times I've had with my puppy love. Which then led me to thinking about my new flame who I consider my first (and hopefully last) true love. Ours is an "it's complicated"-Facebook relationship status-worthy situation, which I prefer not to divulge to the reading public. :P

Initially, I thought this was about Grace being impregnated by someone else, falling in love with that other man, and she's torn because she thinks she still loves her first love AJ (Andres Jose Bonifacio). I thought she sought comfort from someone else because AJ was such a jerk. That was basing from the summary. Having this scandalous expectation in mind, I started to read.

The plot has a few elements of surprise (but of course I already knew AJ didn't care about Grace being adopted but I didn't realize yet that he got her pregnant intentionally to finally settle down with her) and succeeded in most of its attempts at being humorous. I was laughing every now and then that my mom thought I'd gone off my rocker.  All of the drama naturally comes from the main character Grace, mulling over whether she should tell AJ about her Moses issue or not, and if she'd have a good future ahead knowing she has to sacrifice her laid-out plans. I like Veronica though she appears only very briefly as a surprise support character towards the end, eventually helping Grace make a decision. Though I highly doubt that this "instantly formed sorority between exes on a chance meeting" can exist in our society. Not unless the people involved are very open-minded and have no insecurity or trust issues. I love their gay friend Martin! Just read it to know why. :P

Indeed, theirs is a relationship no different from modern Filipino young couples. All the drama, the tampuhans, balikan ng regalo, sunugan ng litrato occur on any face of the archipelago. AJ is quite interesting to me though, because he hates any form of communication apart from seeing each other in person, let alone express lover's sentiments and affection via phone lines or a text message. The really touching part of the novel was when the love letter AJ wrote was revealed to the readers. Here's an excerpt (which is actually his ENTIRE letter to Grace. Faye please forgive me):

The One and Only Letter Grace, I'm not good with words, I never have been. I can try to be for you, but I will never be half as good as you when it comes to choosing the right words to say. You see, when you're not acting nuts, you do have a way of putting words together. You make me want to buy whatever it is you're told to write about. A few months ago, we watched that CSI: Las Vegas episode where Sara Sidle writes a sad love letter to Gil Grissom. I thought I'd use some of her words to write you my first attempt at a love letter, but I've worked so hard to make sure that it will be just as honest as hers. Honest enough to prove to you that I'm in this for keeps. Here goes... You know I love you. It seems that I’ve loved you forever. Maybe that love had to change over the years and I had to fall in love with other girls before I could find you again. But I love you. Lately, I haven't been feeling very well. There's all this stuff with my parents wanting to go off to live and serve some godforsaken town. I worry about them and sometimes I've taken it out on you. Anyway, I've realized something and I haven't been able to shake it. You scare me. You bring out all my fears. I am scared of losing you in sort of the same way I've always been scared that my parents will leave us for some bigger cause. My brother dealt with it by falling in love and starting his own family as soon as he could. I dealt with it by rolling with the punches. You know, never letting anyone see me sweat. My parents think I can hit the ground running all the time. I just really want to have a normal life and do normal boring things. I have that with you. We're normal and boring and I absolutely like that. By "boring", I mean that I won't be shocked to know that you've left me to start a livelihood project somewhere. It's selfish and so middleclass but that's my version of a happy-ever-after. You and I both know we can do good without disappearing on each other or making too many sacrifices. My family is all about sacrifices and I'm obsessed with being normal. You know what I mean, right? Yes, I'm rambling already. But I know that you get me. So, now, I'm more scared of losing you. A lot of things can happen and you'll run into men who will be able to pamper you and say sweet things to you in French. I'm not exactly broke, but I won't be able to give you a fancy car or a mansion. I'm bad at European languages and the only foreign-sounding endearments I can say to you are in Cebuano.Gihigugma ko ikaw. Despite that, I've realized that it's time for me to bury my stupid insecurities and my god-awful issues. I know nobody else can love you like I do. They can try but I'm the only one who can say that I've pictured you fat, toothless, and old in my mind and I still find myself smiling...and getting dirty thoughts. Know that you are my one and only. I know this won't make any sense but our being together is the only home I've ever really had. I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's been three crazy years and I'm in it all the way. I love you. I always will. AJ

I also loved that it was written not in chronological order, but has Grace thinking of the past, making the readers understand her little by little. I have this newfound love for cute "lists" which in this novel were trivia, tips, "categories of exes" and of course Grace's 12 Steps to Quitting AJ. Prior to reading, I thought the 12 Steps was the highlight of the novel, but to my surprise it wasn't. I could use some of the tips on myself so that my guy won't be running away from me but instead come running into my arms. :P The Betty and Veronica comparison and the Martin-coined-painting-footbridges-and-fences-pink-idea were two of the funniest points in my opinion.

If your love life can be compared to blinking Christmas lights, realize that no step-by-step plans of action nor rules are necessary to keep your beloved. Honesty, trust, faithfulness and a hopeful heart are the best things you can give and you deserve to get. If you want to win at love, never quit without trying.

And oh, this novel is close to my heart because I have a brother named after THREE national heroes.

 Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

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