Cress book cover!!!!

synopsis from goodreads:

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard. 

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

Have you guys seen and read this? I got the book cover and synopsis form Goodreads.  So excited to get a copy.  I read that this will be out Feb 2014...See you in Cress!!!!

Episode: New Cago

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Think Superman entering a local bank coz there’s a crazy super villain terrorizing it. He announces that it’s his city and everyone should obey him.  The police comes in firing at superman and the supervillain. Superman raises his hand and blasts yellow energy on them, vaporizing the police. While that’s happening the super villain tries to grab superman from behind but your dad shoots him. Your dad shoots the super villain dead and superman is looking at your dad. Not coz he’s awesome but coz his bullet grazed his face and is bleeding. it should not happen coz bullets don’t affect him. He walks to your dad and shoot him with his own gun. Your dad dies.  You’d grow up to be a superman anti-fan right? And you’d want him dead!

But it’s not Superman, not even a version of him on black kryptonite. It’s Steelheart, a high epic who just declared that he owns New Cago.  And one of his anti-fan is David, the child of the man he killed at the bank. He grew up in a place called the Factory, like an orphanage and school with child labor issues. His only goal in life is to take revenge on Steelheart.  He studies the Epics, their strengths, weaknesses, where they go, everything.  He’s like Wikipedia of Epics.

Epics are men who started having superhuman powers after Calamity showed up. Calamity is a red star or meteor that appeared in the sky and is still visible even without light. All epics, like super villains, are bad. They destroy, conquer and makes lives miserable for the people living in their city. Nobody stops them but the Reckoners.  The Reckoners is a small group of people that kills epics, lesser Epics till David came and impose on them his mission in life, to take down Steelheart.

If you are a comic book superhero fan, you would like this book unless you’re like me.  It took me more than a week to finish this book coz I keep putting it down after a couple of pages.  The story is good, don’t get me wrong. This story does not have a Superman, Iron Man, Thor or Spiderman to save the world, it has super villains and the ones stopping them are just regular people or at least not as powerful as they are which is so cool.  The problem that I had was not really the story but my low EQ.  Some parts felt like watching a tournament arc on an anime or a fight scene on bleach, it takes several episodes to finish I freaking fight.  In this case, several chapters of David convincing them that they should let him join, or several chapters on testing Nightweilder. I know they are needed, I know planning and strategizing is important coz they’re not powerful like the high epics. I also know that this is not a movie or a comic book but it didn’t stop my mind from wondering off. It’s the same reason I can’t and won’t play strategy games.  What I do like about this book are the action parts especially at the end. It was crazy. And also the twists in the story.  I totally didn’t expect them. It was like seeing that clip after the end credit on marvel movies that makes you say “oh shit!” then you make up possible sequels in your head.

Episode: New Vegas – Frozen

Frozen by Melissa dela Cruz

It’s freezing but casinos in Vegas are still hot hot hot! Welcome to New Vegas.

She eyes me with confusion then says “Can I deal you in?”.  But before I could answer, somebody bumps me off the chair and I hear a man’s voice saying “Maybe, what’s the ante?”. I saw her looking at me from the table and I waved trying to tell her I was ok.  I face planted but I was ok.  She’s Nat, Natasha Kestal, blackjack dealer at the Loss who escaped from the psych hospital by jumping off the window and gliding. She a marked, she doesn’t know what her powers are yet but she is.  And just like other marked, she wants to find the blue, well at least that is what the voice inside her head is telling her. Now you know why she was locked up! Haha. It’s not really why she’s there…but I’ll talk about that later.  The guy who bumped me off my chair (he probably didn’t see me) is Ryan Wesson, also known as Wes, a former marine sergeant now the best runner in New Vegas.  

Frozen is set in the Big Freeze, the second coming of the Ice age.  Some places survived, some became a waste land and some, were fully covered up by ice. It’s also a place where people born with colored eyes are also born with a Mage’s mark and they possess special abilities.  Some can control people’s minds, some have telekinesis, some can tell the future.  There are also the small men, the sylphs and the drau.  They used to be drafted in the military but due to an incident showing how strong their powers were, People were taught to fear them and they get locked up. Nobody knows about the voice in Nat’s head, but she is marked, that’s why she was there.

Ok so let me fast fast forward to what happened. Nat needed 3 things to get to the blue, the map to Arem which is the doorway to Vallonis (the blue), money and a runner with a boat that would be willing to take her to the Blue.  Nat was in New Vegas to for the map. It’s a blue stone with a circle in the middle which rests on Joe’s neck. Joe also works at Loss. She got the map from him, I’m thinking using some of her unknown powers.  She got the money by stealing 4 platinum chips that Wes tried to steal when she dealt him in.   And for her runner, she got the tall, caramel-colored hair, honey brown eyed Wes and his crew, Shakes, Daran, Farouck, Zedric.  Leaving New Vegas, they got into a gun fight coz they broke the curfew and did not stop to have an inspection for their secondary identification then they were off to the Trash Pile.  During the Big Flood, trash was carried from California to Vegas and that whole stretch of land where the trash settled is was now called Trash Pile. There they passed MacArthur Med, the treatment hospital Nat escaped from, they saw thrillers, a bear killed  by caravan hunters, got into some pop-can explosions while Daran and Zedric were trying to loot houses, they paid a huge amount toll booth, then they hit K-town and won back Wes’s boat.  They took Wes’s boat to the gray poisonous waters of the Pacific now known as Garbage Country coz of the heaps of garbage floating around as if they were icebergs. So what happened during their journey thru the Garbage Country? I can’t say, I got too sea sick. I’d rather not spoil the story too much. ;)

Frozen is one of my top YA dystophian novels. Why? Coz it’s fresh, and if any of the dystophian novels would come true, this is how I think the world would end up.  A great flood then back to the Ice Age.  I think its fresh coz of the Las Vegas feel at the start (casinos, shows, newlyweds, people who don’t know when to stop gambling), the old world inserts (songs, places) and the fantasy novelish ending. And the trash.  Mountains of trash floating at the ocean.  Polluted water. Dark sky.  Those things could happen and as strange as it sounds, they make this novel fresh.  On the Old World inserts,  I liked it that when the first time the thrillers showed up, somebody sang “thriller, thriller night”  I found it funny. There was also K-town. When they mentioned it, first thing that popped was K-POP hahaha. Then after describing its location, I thought maybe it’s Korea town? Then there was turo turo.

“At a turo turo, (Nat knew it meant “point point” in forgotten language), all a customer had to do was point at the food they wanted to eat…”              

I LOLed at that coz I remember my aunt trying to explain what a turo turo was to a visitor we had from the US. She said the same thing! “point point” coz you have to point at what you want, no menu, just point.

Frozen is a good book. Originally realistic world with a different save the world attack.  Hahaha. The only thing that I probably didn’t like is how fast the final battle was. It was so easy. Well, I guess it had to be like that to show how powerful Draikon is.

See you at our next location!

Episode: IM

TTLY by Lauren Myracle

TTLY is different from the books that I usually read. It’s not an escape-to-another-word book but a reminiscing one. It’s a chat log of 3 friends going thru 10^th grade, Maddie (mad maddie), Angela (SnowAngel), and Zoe (zoegirl). Maddie is the tough girl crazy for personality online quizzes and who is so angsty about having in crowds and those who are out. Having everyone follow or copy what the queen bee says or does coz it makes them cool…well, till she got the queen bee’s attention. (But who isn’t like that in high school??). Angela is the trio’s fashionista with a huge tendency to go boy-crazy (she was the one I related with, not the fashionista part thou…and the boy-crazy part not till college. I was a late bloomer.) Zoe is the “good girl”. Straight A student, people pleaser and doesn’t drink.  She had a crush on a teacher who made moves on her. Creepy! Good thing she had BFF’s to save her. 

 I really enjoyed reading TTLY.  At first I thought, I might not be able to appreciate it for more than a couple of pages coz the characters were 20yrs younger than me.  I was wrong.  I just kept turning the pages till I was done. I was so funny.  Well, it wasn’t funny like LOL funny.  It just brought back memories.  We didn’t have IM at that time, but we did have phones and nobody can cut in once we start chatting.  We also wrote letters, notes to each other.  Seems cheezy these days but not then.  Like Maddie, Angela and Zoe, I was not a part of the in crowd and was so angsty about teachers giving them more attention than us and we’d talk about it for hours. I never disliked the popular girls in our level thou coz they were really nice and they don’t really do anything to get extra points or stuff like that.  For me, it was the teacher’s fault.  Plus, their zombies were from the lower level.  During my time in high school, it wasn’t on clique against another.  It was more like, one class against another and we’d talk about them the same way the 3 girls talked about Jana and her minions.  Like they think they’re so good, like they’re above us coz we’re a bunch of misfits. Whatevs haha.

There were also those talks about boys but those did not happen till we were in college.  We’re not weird or anything, it’s just that, we’re from an all-girls high school and the boys that we went to classes with during grade school were basically neighbors.  It kinda felt weird at that time to be attracted to them since they saw you since you were in diapers.  Every girl goes thru that phase, it’s written all-over the YA world.  You don’t fall for someone you grew up will till you spend some time away from them and they turn out so HOT that you’re panties immediately fall.  Or that you suddenly notice that every other girl is into him and he only has eyes for you…awww.

I also like the concept of this book, IM chat logs. It reminded me a lot when I was writing stories.  I had this friend Ivy, and we were crazy about this band.  We fantasized about meeting them, being friends with them, having them as boyfriends.  We ended up creating stories with them and us in it eventually.  At that time in 4^thyr high school, I was just beginning to get into reading and had no clue how to write a story ( I still don’t know how)  so I just made the conversations look like that, chat logs. It was so fun reading them coz every time I read a line it was like there’s this voice over in my head saying how she would have said it. 

The book says it’s a runaway bestseller and I do believe that.  

Episode : Rieux, France

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

This story picks up after Dr Erland, a lunar who has been working at New Beijing at the same time searching for Princess Selene, leaves Cinder at her cell. There are two stories in this book. The story of Scarlet searching for her grandmother and Cinder escaping and looking for Michelle Benoit, Scarlet’s grandmother.

Let’s start with Scarlet’s story.  Her mother went missing and everybody’s saying she just left coz she’s crazy.  Which of course she didn’t believe.  On one of her deliveries,  Scarlet’s family owns a farm that grows the best tomatoes, she met Wolf, a handsome guy with a dangerous aura about him.  Second thing I liked about this story,  first was that Cinder and Kai are still in the story, is that Wolf is not a warewolf.  He doesn’t turn into a warewolf.    He’s strong, he fights like an animal and he howls but does not turn into a wolf.  Except for Infernal Devices and Mortal Instruments, I normally don’t like warewolves.  Especially those that has love triangles  between them, humans and vampires. Oh and those between vampires and warewolves.  I can handle law of physics being broken but pheromones, not.

Scarlet comes home seeing his dad, who she hasn’t seen for 5 years, trashing their house.  He says he’s looking for something his mom, Scarlet’s grandmother was hiding.  He was also abducted like gran-mere but they let him go with the promise to bring back whatever that as that she was hiding. He said that the people who took them had a tattoo with letters and numbers on them, LSOP and some numbers.  A tattoo that Wolf had and made Scarlet hunt him down. LSOP, Loyal Soldier to the Order of the Pact.  Wolf was a part of it but he left.  LSOP a lunars working for Queen Levana and they took Scarlet’s grandmother coz they think that she knows where Cinder is.  Cinder was under the care of Michelle Benoit for several years before she gave her to Mr. Linh.  Wolf knew they took gran-mere to Paris so he and Scarlet went there to get her.  The travel there made me go back a bit to Divergent with the jumping in and out of trains.  As soon as they got to the Opera house in Paris, Wolf hands Scarlet over to the  thaumaturge Jael, the one who controls their pact.  Wolf told her he’d help and they even kissed on the train, Scarlet felt betrayed. And worse, they no longer needed gran-mere coz the  mission to retrieve Princess Selene but still kept her just because she can’t be glamoured. 

Scarlet found gran-mere the day the pact was ordered to do an attack on Paris. Wolf gave her an ID chip that helped her get out of her cell.  She tried to escape with her grandmother but failed coz her grandmother couldn’t move and Ran, Wolf’s brother was there stopping them.  At this part the lines “grandma, what big teeth you have” started running through my head coz I knew someone would end up dead.  Like the story of little red riding hood, grandma was killed by a wolf, a wolfish lunar, Ran. After he was done with gran-mere, he went for Scarlet but Wolf came back saying “She is mine”.  Scarlet escaped but Wolf caught up with her.  They were having a moment but he suddenly fell.  Cinder shot him with a tranquilizer.

Now Cinder’s part.  She escaped from prison and went out of Earth with the help of Captain Thorpe.  It was like watching a TV series with escaping convicts.  Going thru air vents, dirty sewers but more like a funnier version coz of Thorpe.  He’s not really a captain.  He was a lieutenant pilot who stole an American hover among other things.   He feels like he is God’s gift to women.  He’s so arrogantly funny and so DOM-ish. Haha. I can totally feel cinder when she rolls her eyes on him. I would too. 

Oh wait, Iko is a ship now. Cinder used her chip to be the auto-control for their ship.  She was totally unhappy at first, well, I guess she’d still rather be in an escort android’s body but she’s not complaining, not as much anyway. Hehe. After they went to the Benoit farm and finding the capsule that used to hold Princess Selene for a few years, Cinder decided to go to Paris to look for Michelle Benoit. And that’s where they met Scarlet, underneath Wolf’s tranquilized body. 

Wait I almost forgot, Prince Kai is marrying Queen Levana.  She lauched attacks on cities around the world and Kai offered marriage to make her stop.  She’s a perv!

I know I didn’t give justice to this story in my retelling, have I ever? I tried but it’s hard. So much good stuff going on.   I realized after reading this that I’m hooked to the Lunar Chronicles as badly as I got hooked on Maguire’s Wicked.  Like they’re the real fairy tale and not an adaptation of it.  One thing I kept thinking about midway of the story was Scarlet being part Lunar. Is she? She is, right? Her grandmother didn’t say that Logan Tanner was her grandfather but she did say he’d be proud of her. Why would he be proud of her if they’re not related, right? So, would she have power’s too? I wish she would so she can take care of Sybil while Cinder takes care of the ugly queen! Wait, is Dr. Tanner really lunar? Can Earthen’s survive in the moon? Argh, I’m making my head hurt!!!

I guess we’ll all find out next year. See you in Cress.

Episode: New Beijing

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

This is a retelling from a Ragdoll: (SPOILER ALERT)

I’m in an anime place but live action.  The business office side, there are  awesomely high tech glassy skyscrapers and on the residential side, dilapidated apartment buildings and a whole lot of people.  I can also glimpse on some pagodas.  Again, a whole lot of people.  In fear of getting my ragdoll-self run over, stomped on, I went to hide on a shop in this weekend market.  Then I saw this girl removing her foot. Yes, her foot. No blood though.  Of course, she’s a cyborg!  Next thing I know, a guy walks in carrying an android.    This totally hot Asian guy’s looking for Linh Cinder who turns out to be the this girl I saw decapitating herself who call’s Mr hot Asian guy Your Magesty! Cinder and a prince? Totally Cinderella!

Cinder and Prince Kai live in New Beijing.  Cinder is the best mechanic and Prince Kai is the heir to the throne. 

After Prince Kai leaves, there were sirens and hovers came.  As I found out while walking around, the world is currently plagued by this blue fever  and it still does not have a cure.  Cinder and her android friend Iko with Prince Kai’s broken android slips out the marketplace.  Of course I follow them.  I can’t be left there.  Once an infected person is found, they test everyone’s blood if they are also infected. Preventive measure, I get it but I don’t have blood. Cotton, I have a lot.

That’s where I saw the wicked stepmom and the stepsisters, Pearl and Peony.  Peony is nice jolly girl, same age as Cinder.  Thank God one of them is nice. I’m done with the one fat, one stick thin and the one bitch and one dumb tandem. I am honestly still traumatized by the tragic sister’s from Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.  So the one bitch and one sweet stepsister is a breath of fresh air.  Cinder different from the other cinderella’s I’ve encountered.  She doesn’t really do typical housework. Iko does them.  Being a cyborg and since wicked stepmom does not want to use her money to maintain Cinder, she’s not allowed to get wet.  She might rust.    Instead, she fixes stuff at the house and works as a mechanic to bring in money for Her Wickedness.  Plus, she has more spunk.  But same as the other cinderella’s, she’s not allowed to attend the ball.  Not allowed to dance with the prince that every girl is drooling about.  Well, at least she has Peony and Iko.

But that did not last long. Peony got infected during their trip to the Junkyard. They were looking for a belt to fix the family hover for the ball.  They also found a car among the junk, Cinder’s get away car.  She’s planning to leave New Beijing during the ball.  I heard Iko saying that gas is pretty expensive and as I figured no body uses cars anymore.  That’s when Cinder saw a spot on Peony’s skin.  She’s infected and was taken by the Med-drones.  Cinder was not infected. She did not catch the infection from the market place and infected Peony but she was still blamed.  Ardi volunteered Cinder to be a test subject.  In trying to find a cure for the plague, the government uses cyborgs as test subjects.  They have a list of cyborgs and if you end up on that list, your family would be compensated and the cyborg dies.  In the lab she meet’s Dr Erland. She was a perfect test subject, young, with enough percentage of human left in her.  And like a miracle, the virus does not affect her.  They injected her with the virus and it disappeared.  While she was there, the prince came and he was obviously into her. Obviously!  As much as she was into him.   But then, something weird happened.  The doctor lied.  He didn’t tell the prince why Cinder was there and didn’t tell him what he found on Cinder’s test results.  I wanted to punch him in the leg. He’s a bad man! I was so sure he was planning something devious. Thank god I was wrong and I’m preempting.

The next events were a total chaos.  The King dies.  He’s infected and have been struggling with the illness.  Queen Leevana is coming to New Beijing.  Peony is on stage 4 and dying. I know I failed to mention the queen.  Queen Leevana is the queen of the moon, literally.  They are people who has characteristics superior to humans and their military force is a lot stronger than all 6 military forces of the world combined and they live on the moon.  She and the Earthen Commision led by the emperor of New Beijing (now Prince Kai) are attempting to make a peace pact.  Earth want’s peace, the Moon Queen want’s prince Kai, Emperor Kai to be her husband.

As the queen arrives, she glamors everyone to think she’s beautiful and she tries to control Prince Kai’s mind into thinking he’s in love with her.  Good thing our Prince isn’t only hot, he’s smart to and was able to resist.  She also has a vial of plague cure and hand’s it to the prince.  A day after the king dies, she hands a cure! She wanted the old Emperor dead coz he wouldn’t cave in to her demands.  Prince kai gives the vial to the doctor to see if it’s legit and if it can be replicated.  The doctor in turn gives a part of it to Cinder as a part of their agreement.  Cinder agreed to continue with the tests but Peony has to be the first to get the cure once available.  Oh and money deposited to Cinder’s account.  But the cure is too late, Peony was dead.  So she just gave the cure to another kid.

One thing I don’t get though is Prince Kai’s ability to push aside bigger issues like his dad’s death and Queen Leevana’s motive for being there, whenever he sees Cinder.  I felt that there was no trace of sadness, frustration. He was just focused on asking her to the ball.  Too focused. What the hell is wrong with you? I get it, he likes her, a lot and her being with him at the ball would give him less time with Queen Leevana or his fangirls.  But It’s too flirty, like everything not Cinder dissolves.  Then I remember, it’s YA love.  I love it!   But I still wanted to kick him so he’d come back to his sense…or maybe kiss him. LOL!

Then comes the ball. I always love this part. Cinder said she wouldn’t go but she now has to.  She found out what Queen Leevana’s plan and she needs to warn the prince. Wearing Peony’s gown and riding the car she fixed, Cinder goes to the ball.  She would have looked ok, I guess, if it didn’t suddenly rain.  The drenched Cinder walks in, the prince, now officially emperor, dances with him.  The final dance. Final coz after that the Kai will make his announcement, marry the queen to save his people or start a war. Cinder warned him but he has already decided. He has decided not to marry the Queen. The furious Queen sees Cinder and announces that she is Lunar, moon people. And it is people like her, a Shell,  that has brought the virus to earth.  But she’s not a shell!!!  She’s the princess the prince has been looking for! But she didn’t’ say it.  it’s suddenly like when the clock struck 12, chaos. Words, gun shots, Cinder fleeing, Cinder falling leaving her foot.

Cinder got caught and will be brought back to the moon and for sure will be executed. Good thing the doctor told her to escape and she does…I just hope Kai still believes in her.

I love Cinder. It’s fast paced. It made me dizzy sometimes. It did not have the action scenes that I love but it didn’t matter.  All the conflict and twists made it so interesting.  I also loved that the world wasn’t totally made out. I mean, most stories would describe the world in detail and here Melissa Marr didn’t.  I think it’s coz much detailing is not needed as compared to novels like Partials, Maze runner and Divergent.   It gave me more space to make up my own.  And yes I imagined it like I was watching anime.  For some reason KARAS and Resident Evil kept popping in my head.  I didn’t get sucked in enough to feel like I was Cinder but it was more like watching my favorite series or anime of playing a new game. I’d feel dizzy sometimes coz without realizing it, I’ve been holding my breath.  And the never ending what’s next what’s next what’s next…

See you all in Scarlet!  

Episode: Divergent

As I opened the book I got sucked in to a world divided by factions. I’m 16 years old and had to undergo a test. I don’t remember nor do I care what happened to the test but by the time of the Choosing Ceremony, I chose dauntless. I got scrapes and bawled my eyes out going to Dauntless (getting in and out of the train and jumping into the pit) but I was still the first to jump. Well, more like 1.5 coz the first one was Tris and I was her shadow. 

Maybe it’s because she used to be a Stiff or she was probably to concentrated in proving to herself that she made the right choice that she didn’t immediately notice that Four liked her. Well, I did.  There were a lot of initiates but he seems to notice her a lot. So every time he comes near, regardless of what he says a smile creeps though my lips. Just as fast as I realized that Four had a thing for Tris, I also realized that I wanted to kill Eric. Good thing shadows can’t do anything.

Being dauntless is tiring and being Tris’ shadow is double that especially since I’m afraid of heights.  I kept holding my breath thru the ferris wheel climb and the zip line. It almost killed me. I know I’m complaining but I’m happy that I was her shadow. Why? Coz she’s Divergent. Divergent is what they call people who exhibits traits of more than one faction.  Abnegation is the faction for the selfless.  They’re like Mother Theresa but I’m not really sure if they are doing things out of kindness.  Erudite is the faction where people are in quest for knowledge.  They’re like scientists and people we might find at NASA.  Candor is the faction where people say what’s on their mind.  Truth stuff like those hosts that do expose on TV. And there’s Amity. I almost forgot about them.  I had to google what they represent,peace. Yes, there was a time that Tris went to the Amity but the experience or the people didn’t stick.  Divergent is not a faction. They are just people who  shows traits of more than one faction. Like us. Better yet, like kids. They are more fearless, more honest and more curious. If I got stuck as somebody non divergent, I would probably die.

During initiation, they said that if you don’t pass you would become factionless. Factionless is a non-faction faction. It’s were people from different factions converge coz they don’t have a choice.  They are not treated well.  Based on Tris’ reaction when he encountered a factionless man, it gave me the impression that they are treated like “taong grasa” even if they are not at all crazy.

Being Divergent is awesome.  They can resist serums and simulation.  But being that awesome also has a price. Divergent people are being hunted. In this world, you can’t tell anyone you are Divergent coz it would cost you your life. Why? You’ll learn in later books.

Veronica Roth was able to paint a picture of this world so clearly you’d get sucked in it.  I got so sucked in that I can’t even include spoilers in this episode coz I’m not exactly sure if it really happened in the book or my mind wandered off and created my own scenes. Hahaha. She was also able to make me remember the important people, events and conflict to make me remember them and not flip through Divergent while reading Insurgent. This also prepares you for what could happen in the following books.  This is a good first book for a series.

(This is the first time I’ve written about my book episode so I’m sorry if it’s not that good. Hopefully, I’ll improve in writing my experience as I do more.)

Me and Books

A friend said to me the other day “Mahilig ka talaga sa libro noh?” upon seeing me carrying my new book “Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore”.  I wanted to say yes but I couldn’t for some reason.  So I just joked around and said I just love carrying them to look smart. 

I spend most of my paycheck on books and lately, skincare stuff, but I can’t really say I love books or like reading.  Don’t get me wrong, I read everything that I buy but I have to admit that there are some that I don’t get to finish.  Why? Coz some of them are hard to read.

I’m a late bloomer in a lot of ways and it includes reading.  My mom’s a teacher and I remember her getting so frustrated with me coz I was already in grade 2 (8yrs old.) but I still could not read even simple words.  I remember it was apple that made her smack the table and walk out.  My mom was a patient woman (I said was coz she died when I was in grade 3), but grade 2 was a really trying time for us.  It was the year my principal said my family might want to consider transferring me to another school because of my lack of social skills.  (Aside from my 2 friends, my cousin, and neighbor, I almost never spoke with anyone, not even teachers. Whenever girls in class would invite me to eat with them, I would but I don’t take part in conversations. When I’m called to recitation, I would just whisper the answer to whoever was seated beside me.  And when the taught us how to order/buy stuff from the canteen, I just pointed and said please.  I think that was what got me in trouble.  They probably thought I needed to go to a special school.  I was just extremely shy towards people I’m not familiar with.  I wasn’t new in school but coz of my health condition, I wasn’t able to spend a lot of time in class during kinder, prep and grade 1. ..but that issue was history as soon as I started grade 3.) Back to reading.  Our English teacher, made us memorize 10 words a day and we had spelling quizzes during class.  I using my palm as a scratch paper trying to spell queen and got humiliated by a boy in class for it. You might be wondering how I got thru grade school and always ended up in section A.  I was really good in math, science and religion.  I also had a really good memory.  I can remember things that teachers say and write on the blackboard exactly as they wrote it or said it. Just don’t make me read the words and I’m totally fine. You can tell me to write a certain letter and I can do it. If you give the meaning verbally, I can figure out the word for it, I can try to write it but you might think you’re looking at an html code. But it’s kinda weird when it comes to jumbled letters. Do you know that exercise when the teachers would jumble the letters and have you figure out what the word is? I was pretty good at that. I remember when I was in grade 3 and our teacher divided us into teams and had us compete on who’ll get the most words correctly. Everyone was surprised, especially my teacher, when I was able to unjumble the word “stranger” which at that time was still a stranger to us. Thank you Sesame Street for teaching kids not to talk to strangers.  I didn’t only had problems reading in English, I also had the same problems in Filipino (my first language), I was just better in faking it since I was fluent in the language. Teachers and my family just thought I was having a hard time spelling even if Filipino words are spelled the way it’s said. 

I started getting better when I was in grade 6. We had a teacher in grade 5 who made us read books and do oral summaries of them.  I guess she understood my problem.  She asked us to read books that were popular at that time (Hardy boys, Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley high) but she also gave me English and Filipino comics to read.   She told me to read the words and if I can’t figure it out, to stare at the pictures to get an idea what’s going on.  By the time I reached grade 6, I can figure out most sentences but I’m 4 times slower than my classmates and I can’t read without saying what I’m reading.  My reading improved every year but I never got into reading till we started learning mythology and Edgar Allan Poe in 3^th year.  By that time, I can read like everybody just at a slower pace.  Everytime I tried reading at their pace, it was kinda like speed reading.  My eyes would only catch key words which was fine unless we have to recite what we were reading. 

I started to like reading when we started Edgar Allan Poe in 3^rd year coz they allowed us to give different interpretations of his work.  Then we also studied a bit of Greek mythology, I got hooked after that. It was like being transported to a different world.  My imagination was more vivid than ever.  I’ve always had a wild imagination.  It was wild enough to give me sleepless weeks after I’ve watched a horror movie and to make me fall in love with a fictitious character.  I’ve started enjoying reading as well as writing my own stories from that time.  I even remember exchanging stories with a friend. But aside from novels/books prescribed for book reviews and The Firm, which my dad told me to read, I’ve never really read any novel till I got into my junior year in college.  Most novels a thick and I’m not a fast reader so I still avoided non-school related books. 

When I was a junior in UP, I roomed up with a high school friend, Raia. She was an English major and she introduced me to bookstores and hording novels.  She would always buy 3 or 5 books aside from the ones she orders online and she reads all of them.  We had another friend and my roommate since freshman year, Amy, who was also into books. I kinda felt out of place whenever they’d start reading but it didn’t last long.   Raia suggested that I read her new book “Sofie’s Choice” coz I was taking philosophy that semester.  She said that it can help since I wouldn’t even look at my Philo book.  Then she suggested another one Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice and I collected the whole series after that.   The 3 of us lived together of less than a year and I stopped after that till Harry Potter came.  That’s when I realized my growing fondness reading.   Since mythology and Edgar Allan Poe (and The firm), I’ve always been taken to another world/life very different from my own and I enjoyed being there but it also scared me.  It scared me coz even after reading them, it felt like I’m getting stuck in their world imagining what it could be like if I was the main character and what might happen if things different from the story happened and what they would do after the story has ended. Being with Raia and Amy taught me that it’s ok to be like that.  It’s normal if you really like what you’ve read.  

Today, I still can’t read as fast as other people and I still have days where in I totally can’t read (Yes, there are still days that words are just a bunch of meaningless letters to me and it’s scary…a friend said that I probably have cognitive issues) which is why I can say I love books and reading.  At 35, reading is still a struggle for me (I don’t even proof read my blog entries haha).  So no, I don’t think I really like books, I just can’t resist the worlds within.

PS

For those who know me and don’t know my reading issue, now you know why I have staring moments at work.  I’m not really in deep thought, I’m just trying to figure out what I’m looking at hahaha.

And those who have kids who are having difficulty reading, give them a comic book or tell them stories from books, it might help.      

I might start doing book reviews but it would not be as good as others (it might even be weird) but I hope you guys would enjoy it.

Etude’s Bubble Peeling Foam

My skincare routine has always just been splashing my face with water.   Except for those days where I had to wear thick make up.  I would usually remove them using a make-up remover tissue.  Even during the time I had an anti-aging phase. I tried every brand brand my paycheck can handle (till i found Celeteque) and when I went crazy searching for a BB cream suited for my color (Skin79 Hot Pink), it was always just water.  Unless the BB cream was sticky, I’d sometimes use the pink Belo toner (pretty effective shrinking pores). Why? Coz my face gets itchy and I get major breakouts (3 huge pimples. If get more that, I’d probably go into coma).

Unfortunately, this year is not being good to my skin. I went through a whole lot of stress. There were even months that I’d only sleep 2 hours a day, including my sacred weekends.  Plus the surgery I had to go through, a whole lot of strong medication and weigh gain.  My face looked dull, old, dirty and started to sag. I aged a lot during these months. The only pick me up that I had was when I had pink hair.  I didn't look as dull.  (oh and I’m turning 36 this year) It’s about time I up my skincare routine.

I decided to take baby steps and started with a facial wash.  I liked the pink Belo cleanser so I also wanted to try their facial wash but I decided to go with Etude’s Bubble Peeling Foam coz it was so hard to resist.  

Aside from the lilac packaging, it had an attached facial brush. I obviously haven’t used a facial foam and facial brush before so I really had to get it. 

I liked it coz it didn't itch and there were no breakouts. There was also no need to touch my face.  I’d splash water on my face then pump some foam then brush (gently).  My face felt nice, tight and clean after washing. 

What I loved about Etude’s Bubble Peeling Foam:

• ·         My face didn't feel itchy
• ·         I didn't breakout ( if brushing is done under 1 minute…I’ll talk more about this when I talk about my new facial routine)
• ·         It made my face feel really clean.

Things you might wanna consider before buying:

• ·         It’s a lot more expensive than the local brands.
• ·         If you have a lot of pimples, you might opt for something that doesn't have bubbles (from what I've read)
• ·         If you have really sensitive skin, don’t use the brush, it might irritate it.

I’m currently still working on my skincare routine. The one I’m doing now made my skin worse. Any suggestion of what facial wash to try next that’s suited for Asian skin?

SNOE Star Night Star Bright

SNOE is a local brand and a my go to brand for sulfate free conditioner. Here comes another that would surely end up as one of my regular favorites, SNOE Star Night Star Bright. It’s a toner with anti-aging, whitening properties.

It comes in a brown plastic bottle with a snap off cap. Like other SNOE products, the label is well thought of and is cute.

The toner is colored brown. It has a lavander and a sort of medicated balmy scent but disappears once absorbed. Once applied, it gives you a minty feel and gives a matte finish and smaller pores (well, maybe except for those on my nose, coz their huge to begin with).

Description from SNOEBeauty website
“Contains powerful whitening ingredients, antioxidants and vitamins that are clinically proven to visibly reduce wrinkles, heal acne and remove spots. It promotes clarity and revitalizes your skin’s appearance while you sleep”

Though it says on the description that it works while we sleep, I use it day and night. My nights are my days anyway.

After washing my face,almost immediately after,i pat my face dry for a second (1 pat haha),then i pat on the toner.

After seeing that it has retinol, i was expecting my face to turn a bit red or that it would sting but it didn’t. That’s a huge check on my list. It also makes my face seem brighter. I’ve used this for 6 days and even used it like a pimple spot corrector (i’ll talk more about that on my pimple wonder routine). Aside from fine lines on my forehead and nose bridge, i don’t have any other wrinkles, so i’m not sure how effective it is on wrinkles. I mean, i’m not expecting those areas to lose those lines maybe unless i stop having facial expressions. (I’m realistic sometimes LO!)

Why I’d purchase it again:
-it has retinol, good for anti-aging
-it works really well with It’s skin Power 10 VB Effector as a zit zapper. (1 drop Star Night, 1 drop VB Effector on pimple)
-it suits my budget

Things to consider before buying:
-the color. i would have loved it more if it was colorless
-the scent. it seriously reminds me of those chinese medicated balm that works on almost everything.
-you should not forget to use sunblock if you decide to also use this in the morning.

I love this product. I might alternate it with another toner just to test if the toner’s the reason why my serum gets sticky if used together or if VB Effector really just gets kinda sticky if mixed with other products. I’ll also try to use it with SNOE Twinke Skin Star once i’ve used up my VB Effector.

If anyone from SNOE is reading this, can you guys make a bigger bottle of this. Please!

My SM North EDSA mini haul

After I my brazillian blow out at Envy Me, Robinsons Galleria, I went straight to SM North EDSA to check out the It’s Skin shop.  I haven’t stepped on that mall for years and I heard that it has undergone a lot of remodeling so prepared myself to be Alice in Wonderland. And wonderland it is.  I’m a huge fan of Korean skin care products so finding It’s Skin, Tony Moly, Nature Republic, The Face Shop, Missha, Etude, Skin Food stores was like a day in the playground with a thinning wallet. (I’m so broke right now haha).  I wasn’t really planning on buying anything but with my (very) recently renewed wrinkle and saggy chin scare I wasn’t able to resist it. 

The things that I got:

                                          It’s Skin Protector 10 SYN-AKE and VB Effector

                                      

                                          Missha Rose Water Skin Care Controlling Jelly Cream

                                       

                                        Tony Moly Collagen, Rice and Hyaluronic Acid Sheet Mask

               SNOE Star Night Star Bright ( Snoe Beauty is my go to local brand for sulfate-free hair care)

I’ll review them individually on my next posts including some Etude House reviews.