The Bibliophilism: August 2014

[Weekly Wrap Up]: 25 August 2014 - 31 August 2014

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by the fabulous, Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Last Week on the Blog

So, the first of week of college did not go really well for me. The studies indeed were normal, but for some good reasons, I lost a bit of spirit and I'm already wanting the other eleven weeks to pass quickly.

On this Thursday I woke up getting a terrible news that one of my best friends' mother passed away in the morning of the day. I went to pay respect for her family on Friday. We are still mourning now and that was one of the reasons my week was not that good.

I really hope the days ahead are getting shinier and better for me and my friends' family and hope you all will do the same :)

[Book Review]: The One by Kiera Cass

Image Source: Goodreads

Book Title: The One
Author: Kiera Cass
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Purchased
Genre: Dystopian Young Adult
Year: 2014
Page Count: 323
ISBN: 9780007466719
Add to your Goodreads shelf.
My Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:

The Selection changed America Singer's life in ways she never could have imagined. Since she entered the competition to become the next princess of Illéa, America has struggled with her feelings for her first love, Aspen—and her growing attraction to Prince Maxon. Now she's made her choice . . . and she's prepared to fight for the future she wants.

Find out who America will choose in The One, the enchanting, beautifully romantic third book in the Selection series!

This third book focuses how America finally chooses Maxon over Aspen, even though the Prince has put a great affection toward Kriss. America has a great intention to win Maxon's heart again. Meanwhile the political situation in Illea heating up, America finds herself get involved in a scheme to eliminate the caste system where Maxon cooperating with the Northern rebels.

At the end, Maxon accidentally catches America's involvement with Aspen. Can Maxon really be assured that he is the only one who has America's heart?

The One is the third book of The Selection series. The previous books are The Selection, and The Elite. The fourth installment, The Heir, will be released on summer 2015. Kiera Cass also published two companion novellas for the series; The Prince and The Guard. To read my review for The Selection and The Elite, please click here.

I was really glad to read and find that Ms. Cass finally mended the previous mistakes in The Elite by this book. In The One, we can get a bit more of adventure of America and Maxon to end the Southern rebels and eliminate the caste. I think the author really works hard in this book to pay for the mistake that she sets up everything logically. Even though it doesn't seem that smooth, I appreciate the effort.

I'm still on my ground that Ms. Cass is not that good of an romantic author, but generally she has done a great job so far on the plot. I'm really curious on how America and Maxon finally be the monarch and rule Illea, how is America's journey with her family and the rest of the Selection girls, and how finally America and Maxon are getting an heir. Thus I can't wait for The Heir to be released soon. Summer 2015 sounds such a long time to wait!

I heard there will be two other novellas to be released in between the end of the year and early 2015, titled The Queen and The Favorite. The latter will recount story focusing on Marlee. While I'm expecting the other books, I'm going to sit back and read the first novella, The Prince and The Guard :)

[Book Review]: The Elite by Kiera Cass

Image Source: Goodreads

Book Title: The Elite
Author: Kiera Cass
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Purchased
Genre: Dystopian Young Adult
Year: 2013
Page Count: 323
ISBN: 9780062059970
Add to your Goodreads shelf.
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:

The Selection began with thirty-five girls.
Now with the group narrowed down to the six Elite, the competition to win Prince Maxon's heart is fiercer than ever—and America is still struggling to decide where her heart truly lies. Is it with Maxon, who could make her life a fairy tale? Or with her first love, Aspen?

America is desperate for more time. But the rest of the Elite know exactly what they want—and America's chance to choose is about to slip away.

This second book continues America Singer's journey as part of the Selection participants to become the crown princess of Illea. As Maxon's promise at the first book that he wants to keep America as long as possible to help her mend her broken heart at the palace, America is now one of the six Elites, along with her best friend, Marlee.

However it is not that simple. As both of them realizes their fondness to each other, things keep getting complicated. America is still not sure whether she wants Maxon or Aspen, the rebels getting more savage as they break down to the palace a number of times and when Maxon is becoming tired of America's hesitancy, he turns to the other Elite, Kriss Ambers.

The Elite is the second book of The Selection series. The previous book is The Selection, and the third one is The One. The fourth installment, The Heir, will be released on summer 2015. Kiera Cass also published two companion novellas for the series; The Prince and The Guard. To read my review for The Selection, please click here.

Personally, this second book is a bit annoying for me. There are just too many times at America's narration which is kind of boring, not plausible and inconsistent, whenever she comes to think about Maxon and Aspen. I don't think that America is a dull character, but the author fails at the her characterization in only a little part, but significant one. Such as when America meets again with Marlee after the latter leaves the palace, the author even makes a much better job on Marlee than America.

In my opinion, the book would be much better if the whole romance part was cut. The idea about the process of the Selection, the mystery behind the palace politics and social issues are brilliant. But the Kiera Cass is just not a good romance author.

Despite being a bit disappointed with this installment, I will still carry on to the third book. The book still has that promising chance, I believe. I hope the author will mend this issue in The One.

[Teaser Tuesdays]: August 26

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• 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!

Below is my teaser after a month absent from Teaser Tuesdays :]

click the picture to visit the original source

"I risked peeking back and saw the king grabbing Maxon by the neck of his suit jacket, pulling him away. I could see the terror in Maxon's eyes as he stared at me."

~p. 159, "The Elite" by Kiera Cass.

[Biweekly Wrap Up]: 11 August 2014 - 24 August 2014

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Two weeks without Sunday Post. I'm such a slow blogger :|
I had a fantastic holiday two weeks ago with my mother and little sister. We had four day trip around Singapore, visited so much public places which I hadn't been to on last November and finally went to Universal Studios, even though I didn't try all the attractions, since it was too nerve-wrecking, I couldn't stand it.

Last Two Weeks on the Blog

A week ago, I was nominated for Liebster Award by Steph from I Am Simply A Book Drunkard. I would like to thank you again to her on this recap post. I have paid it forward by nominating another fabulous bloggers. You can check the complete list here.

A few weeks ago, I tried to sell my Fifty Shades of Grey at a second-hand bookshop, but they only offered around USD0.68 for maximum. I was a bit disappointed since I bought the book at price USD8.99 and it had not even been a month old at that time and still in a very good condition. They reasoned that condition of the book was not only the factor, but the quality of the story affects so much too. Oh well, I couldn't even argue at that point.

College is gonna started again tomorrow. I really hope for a better grade this semester, since the last one was not good enough for me. It's very likely that my reading will be even much slower than before, so the blogging will be affected as well. But I hope it's not too significant.

Hope everyone's gonna have a good week and happy reading!

[Book Review]: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Image Source: Goodreads

Book Title: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Speak - Penguin Group
Format: Compact Disc, Hardcover, Paperback, Paperback, eBook, Digital Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Year: 2011
Page Count: 260
ISBN: 9780142420898
Find it at: Official Website of Gayle Forman
Add to your Goodreads shelf.
My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
It's been three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life.

And three years he's spent wondering why.

When their paths cross again in New York City, Adam and Mia are brought back together for one life-changing night.

Adam finally has the opportunity to ask Mia the questions that have been haunting him. But will a few hours in this magical city be enough to lay their past to rest, for good - or can you really have a second chance at first love?

Opposite from the first book, Where She Went is narrated by Adam Wilde. The book takes moments in one day. In one day, like any other day, Adam wakes up, goes through her daily routines as the frontman of a bona fide rock group and deals with the emotional breakdown when Mia left her after her accident three years ago and thus he never sees and hears about her again.

In one day, the book recounts about Adam and Mia at the beginning of their relationship, a little about how he was coping when Mia was still in comatose condition, how the accident affected their relationship until Mia decided to one-sidedly end their relationship.

In one day, after a small fuss with a reporter, with his band manager's approval, he goes out for a walk to clear his head, surrounding the New York city. And there he sees an advertisement with a picture of her, telling him that there is to be her concert that night. In that one day, he will see her. Will Adam gets the answers to his questions all this time? Will Adam get a clear disclosure of their relationship? Will Adam be finally healed with his eventual encounter with Mia? Those all are to be answered in one day.

Where She Went is the sequel to If I Stay. To read my review for If I Stay, please click here.

As I recall, there are not too many young adult books out there with male as its main character, or at least I haven't read them in a significant number.

I know that men have emotion too. They deal with happiness and sadness in quite different ways with women. Before I read this book, I could not believe or at least, haven't witnessed emotional breakdown on men. I don't believe that they will feel and hurt that deep.

But Gayle Forman fights against all my perceptions. She spells every little detail about Adam's emotional struggle amazingly that I sometime found myself agape when I read it. The first point of view the author adepts on If I Stay was awesome, it made me know how Mia feels and think. But in Where She Went, I could understand and felt in behalf of Adam. The narration in the whole book, made me like I was in Adam's head for real, and I was the one who experienced it all as Adam. The angst, depression, and tension Adam felt, I could feel it too.

Near the end of the book, I was already too depressed that I could only hope that Adam ended it all up with Mia, even I hoped that he would yell, shout and went mad at her, made her know how she had broken him down to the point he did not know who himself was anymore.

Apart from that all, I'm glad now that I've been over all that agony as the book was finished. And I willingly give this book the highest available rating in my standard for all the feeling experience the author rendered to me.

[Book Review]: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Image Source: Goodreads

Book Title: Clockwork Prince

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Format: Hardcover, Unabridged Audio Download, eBook, Trade Paperback, Unabridged Compact Disk

Source: Loan

Genre: Young adult, Fantasy, Romance
Year: 2011

Page Count: 502

ISBN: 9781416975885

Find it at: Official Website of Cassandra Clare

Add to your Goodreads shelf.

My rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

There is no personal summary from me as the Goodreads' blurb above is more than enough to explain what is needed to know for peekers. This second book is absolutely much better than the first installment. In Clockwork Prince, I get to know the more profound yet dark secrets entangled each character, and encounter the fact that one of the Institute occupants betrays them (but I think you can already guess who it is).

The book also lets various point of views than the previous one, which almost majority is occupied by Tessa Gray, e.g. there are of Will Herondale, Charlotte Branwell, Sophie Collins, etc and that enables the readers to comprehend each character's trait more. I'm glad that the author finally reveals what is more to Will's self-destructive and provides a well-enough closure even though there is a really startling news that is going to complicate his relationship with Tessa. This is one of the causes I can't wait to read Clockwork Princess.

Clockwork Prince is the second novel in the Infernal Devices trilogy. The first installment is Clockwork Angel (click here to see my review for the book) and the last one is Clockwork Princess.

[Book Review]: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Image Source: Goodreads

Book Title: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Purchased
Genre: Dystopian Young Adult
Year: 2012
Page Count: 327
ISBN: 9780062059949
Add to your Goodreads shelf.
My rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself--and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

In the country of Illea, people are distinguished by castes which each one has their own rights and obligations. A higher number of caste you are born into, a lower your position in the society. When the palace announces the Selection for every young lady of Illea to win the place as Prince Maxon's mate, America Singer is forced to participate by her mother. Being a family of a Caste Five, the Singer family is sure that the Selection would absolutely lift their social status if America was ever selected.

Torned among the unwillingness to participate, determination to help her family and being heartbroken by her secret lover, America reluctantly comes to the palace when she is entitled for the Selection. When she accidentally bumps into Prince Maxon in the night before even the other Selected girls are entitled to officially meet him, America begins her cordial relationship with the Prince. She then volunteers to help Prince Maxon selects the girls as she is certain she has no romantic feeling toward him. But would she really never fall into the prince's charm?

The Selection is the first book of The Selection series. The next book are The Elite and The One. The fourth installment, The Heir, will be released on summer 2015. Kiera Cass also published two companion novellas for the series; The Prince and The Guard. To read my review for The Elite, please click here.

I am a completely sucker for romance. That is my first confession. So when I read the blurb of this book from the internet, I was immediately interested and wanted to get my hands so much onto it.

I'm fairly entertained by the author's means of remaking the typical romance plot, and also appreciate the relationship development between America and Maxon. Even though I am a bit irked at America's former involvement with Aspen, but the author does not really explain from their first romantic journey until the recent stage, so I guess that is still acceptable.

The book makes me dying to get to the second installment as I really want to know Aspen's secret and how America eventually is selected to be The One. If you have the relish for romance novel, I guess this series is worth to try :)

[Random Post]: Liebster Award

So, Steph from I Am Simply A Book Drunkard, nominated me for Liebster Award. My blog is only a month old, so I'm truly honored to receive such nomination. Let's check out what we should do about this ;)

The basic rules:

1. Link and thank the blogger who nominated you

2. Answer the question they asked

3. Pick 11 other bloggers with no more than 200 followers to nominate

4. Ask them 11 questions and let them know you nominated them

Questions from Steph:

1. What’s your favorite song?

I can't answer this question. I'm a music enthusiast, there are just too many songs I love to list. But currently I'm addicted to Sam Smith's cover for How Will I Know. Make sure to check it out on YouTube, guys!

2. What’s the craziest thing you’ve done?

Err, I'm not sure. Perhaps last week I tried too much adrenaline-driving attractions at Universal Studios Theme Park.

3. What’s your least favorite Disney movie?

George of the Jungle. They should've been more consistent; Tarzan or George?

4. Which book that you’ve read had the best plot twist?

Until this time, all books I read do not have that much twisted plots. They are all simple, but catchy. I always love authors who are able to do that.

5. Most memorable character is?

Atticus Finch, of course.

6. If you were a Disney princess, which one would you be?

Mia Thermopolis. Because she lives in millennium era and has access to internet and computer HAHA

7. Do you like the rain?

I love rain in one condition that I'm not outside at the time :P

8. Where is your dream house located?

I always want to live my future life in New Zealand. I don't know if it'd come true or not, but I'll try.

9. Do you like taking selfies?

Only if there's no one to see me! *this answer is so embarrassing T_T

10. Which fictional boyfriend would you pick to spend the rest of your live with?

There are nooo other perfect characters besides Noah Calhoun and Jean Valjean. They are the only male characters who could make me cry hardly.

11. Would you rather have humor or looks?

Hmm, tough one. Maybe I'll pick looks eventually :P

So there. 11 questions are done. Let me see whom I can tag for the next questions:

http://bookishlydevoted.blogspot.com/

http://aperfectioncalledbooks.blogspot.com/

http://welcome-to-zeds-thoughts.blogspot.com/

http://bagelsbooksandschmooze.blogspot.com/

http://betweenyabookends.blogspot.com/

http://bibliophilicmadness.blogspot.com/

http://bloggersbookshelf.blogspot.com/

http://bookbuddiesph.blogspot.com/

http://gregsbookhaven.blogspot.com/

http://bookcatpin.blogspot.com/

http://books-and-insomnia.blogspot.com/

Below are my questions for you.

1. What films you love the most which are adapted from books?
2. What are your favorite parts of Harry Potter?
3. Do you often relate some particular songs with the books you read?
4. Which book blog you like the most?
5. Do you have any special treatment to keep your books in good condition?
6. What inspired you to create a book blog?
7. How do you usually pick your new readings?
8. Do you like to write fictions?
9. If you were able to jump into some particular universe of a book, which one you would choose?
10. Most memorable characters?
11. Which do you prefer, a paperback or e-book?

That is all! Please do check out amazing book blogs above, fellas ;)

[Book Review]: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Image Source: Goodreads

Book Title: If I Stay

Author: Gayle Forman

Publisher: Dutton Penguin

Source: Loan

Genre: Young Adult

Year: 2009

Page Count: 321

ISBN: 9780525421030

Find it at: Official Website of Gayle Forman

Add to your Goodreads shelf.

My rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:

Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.

I sit up as much as I can.

And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.

Mia Hall is an ordinary teenager who lives a happy life with her parents and younger brother. She has a best friend, Kim Schein, who used to be her enemy. She is in a relationship with Adam Wilde, a cool guitarist of an arising band. And she is about to reach the next stage of her endeavor to have a career as a cellist.

Everything seems perfect until one morning, when the snow comes and it's seemingly good for the Hall family to take a day off and enjoy the boon. But then a truck comes out of nowhere and the accident is unavoidable. Mia then runs into a peculiar experience that while her physical body is in comatose, her spirit can actually float out and witness how her family, her boyfriend and her friends cope with her condition. Eventually Mia finds out that she can decide what is going to happen with herself. Will she stay or let go?

This novel is written in a first person narrative, which is Mia's and adapts a episodic plot, where flashbacks of Mia's daily life before the accident is alternately interpolated with the present condition.

The sequel of the book is Where She Went which was released in 2011.

The first time I turned the page and found out that the book is written in a first person narrative, I was a bit discouraged. Since the last first-person narrated book I read, ended up in a complete disaster. But Gayle Forman proves that she can handle it beautifully. She is able to show other characters' thoughts and traits from their speeches and gestures even though the main narrator is Mia, so the readers feel that they are real and human. That's what I think is the main issue with first-person narrated book. If the author cannot take advantage of it, there will be a huge failure in the whole book.

Since the theme of the story includes a comatose condition of the character, I thought it would also be a cheesy and mushy one, which I always encountered in another stories with the same plot. Instead the book gives me a dynamic journey with sadness and laughter as it recounts Mia's story.

I heard that the adapted movie will be released in no time. I can't wait to see how the director will choose to shoot the flashbacks part of Mia's story. That would be really cool, I think.

Meanwhile the second sequel book is en route. Hope it will arrive soon ;) Overall, this is one of the books I will recommend you if you like drama genre.

[Weekly Wrap Up]: 4 August 2014 - 10 August 2014

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Not much of a recap for last week.

Last Week on the Blog

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare [Book Review]

This Week on the Blog

If I Stay by Gayle Forman [Book Review]

Think there will be no more than one review for next week. I'll be off for four day summer holiday starting tomorrow with my little sister and mom :)

Book Haul for the Week

Browsed here and there and then come to conclusion to get these piles of books. I have been refraining myself to not order on last week since I wanted to take advantage of the birthday discount from Periplus, which will be applicable tomorrow. 15% off is something, right? :)

Where She Went by Gayle Forman
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier by Thad Carhart
Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hope you all enjoy the week ahead!

[Book Review]: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Image Source: Goodreads

Book Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Hardcover, Paperback, Electronic Book, Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Year: 2010
Page Count: 476
ISBN: 9781416975878
Find it at: Official Website of Cassandra Clare
Add to your Goodreads shelf.
My rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them....

Taking place in London in around 1878, Tessa Gray flees to the city in order to seek for solace and shelter from her brother, Nathaniel Gray, after their aunt passes away. Once she arrives in the dull city of London, she finds no brother comes to claim her. Instead Tessa encounters two women who declare that Nathaniel sends them to fetch her up.

However the reality hits her when apparently the two women who call themselves as the Dark Sisters deceive her. Under order from The Magister, the Dark Sisters forces Tessa into a training to bring out and maximize her unknown potential of transforming perfectly into someone only by holding their possession.

Tessa then is rescued later by the Shadowhunters; William Herondale, Jem Carstairs and Henry Branwell. They bring Tessa under the sanctuary of The London Institute. Being clueless about everything before when she is a hostage of the Dark Sisters, she then learns about what her power really is.

Will Tessa be able to control her unique power is? Will she find her brother again?

Clockwork Angel is the first book of The Infernal Devices series. The next two installments are Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess.

My first sources of recommendations for books are my friends and book bloggers. I was intrigued to try reading one of Cassandra Clare's works when they all were worked up about The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments series. Sometimes their recommendations did not work for me, but it does this time.

I honestly admit that I was totally clueless about what happens at the first two chapters. I did not get why Tessa is suddenly captured without any complete explanation. I even got a bit anxious and wondered if I needed to read The Mortal Instruments series first before did this one. But after doing some research on the internet, I concluded that it was safe to continue turning the pages. After some patience, everything begins to make sense.

The most favorite things from the book for me is the characters Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs. Among any other character relationship, the author seems to have done the best and real portrayal at their brotherhood. I love how the author describes that Jem is the only person whom Will treats differently from any others, even Tessa; and how Jem never fall out of temper with Will, when no one else can barely stand at him.

A few things that annoy me is that sometimes the author does not seem to be innovative at words management and there are much of phrase redundancy. I'm also a bit disappointed at the publisher since I got a few pages out of order at the end of the books. But over all I am excited to continue reading the next series for the sake of them. I'm particularly curious at Will's secret of why he left his families.

If you like fantasy genre, this book will be the one I recommend to you.

[Musing Mondays]: August 4

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme originally hosted by Should Be Reading, where one is asked to muse about one of the following each week:
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

Yesterday I paid a visit and took a look at Emma's Sunday Post. One of the books which captivated me was The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart. The cover looks beautiful and overall the book sounds like an expected story! So then I immediately browsed to and fro looking for where I could buy the book. I indeed found it on many online stores like Amazon, Book Depository and others, but the shipping charges are too high for me. While some of the others which offer the e-book, do not list my country as an available destination for purchase. I was starting to get distraught and regret why the hell I'm living in such country, I feel like a universal pariah ;_; Silly me, I momentarily forgot to check the website of a local bookshop where I've been a loyal customer AND I FOUND IT ON THEIR CATALOG! (sorry for the caps, but I'm too excited for the prospect!)

Now the only thing I have to do for the baby book to arrive, I'm so happy I can cry ;")

Personal Updates:

Spent a quality day with my baby sister today. We had dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant in town, called Thai Palace and my sister ordered pandan wrapped chicken and Carp dipped in Tom Yam Kung for us. The foods were extremely delectable and made my tummy so stuffed even though the they were much the same portion like I have everyday. Now i've been feeling like I won't want to eat for three years .___.

Today I visited a local library and got myself the books I've been dreaming of:

[Monthly Wrap Up]: July 2014

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This should have been a weekly post, but living on the 21th floor for the past few weeks didn't give me the benefit of proper internet connection.

Last Month on the Blog

This Week on the Blog

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare [Book Review]

Book Haul for the Week

This are the list of the books I ordered and been waiting to arrive:

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
The Selection by Kiera Cass
Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick
City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare

New Feature(s) on the Blog

If you take a look at the bottom of the sidebar, you will find a gadget which displays song I currently listen to or like. I have a habit of reading with music as accompaniment, even though most of the time I'll tend to sing along to the song and forget about the book on my hands lol. The song might be the hippest on the music realm, and might be just a throwback one. Do you share the same reading habit as mine? :D

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