The Bibliophilism

[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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Caffeinated Book Reviewer

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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Caffeinated Book Reviewer

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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