Literary Adventures for October 2008

I have been really busy with work this month. It was the end of the semester so I spent my time making tests/assessments for my students. We also had a United Nations Day Program which you could read in my other blog. The preparations and practices were tiring so I just slept whenever I got home. Of course, I had book shopping sprees but not as much as I had last month. So the following are the books that I acquired this month:

October 11, 2008 (National Book Store, SM Fairview)

Writing Stories by David L. Harrison (P212.25)

I bought this book because I plan to write a children's book and have it published some day. Hopefully, it would happen.

I also bought the book, The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown (P50.00) but I don't have a picture of it because the book is missing. My study table is a mess right now so it might be buried there or it's with my 5-year-old niece, Raevin. She is now an excellent reader because she does not only read the words in books, she comprehends the stories. Of course, the books she reads are appropriate to her age. Anyway, the book is just around and it will appear soon. To continue...

October 18, 2008 (National Book Store, SM Fairview)

My World by Margaret Wise Brown (P87.25)

The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger (P175.00)

I was reading The Catcher in the Rye last Sunday in our dining room while eating cereals (at around 8 in the evening). My Dad was beside me writing some thing when he noticed what I was reading. He told me that he did a book analysis of that book when he was in high school. I thought of my own book analysis experience in high school and remembered only one. Then it occurred to me that the reason why I only remembered only one was because I only did one book analysis in my four-year stay in high school. Crap. What were my teachers thinking?

Okay. So we studied the lives of William Shakespeare and other dead writers, but we never wrote an analysis of their works. Well, we analyzed some poems, but not real books. Not even works of modern literature writers. The only book analysis/report I did was actually crap, too. Haha. We were required to write an analysis on a science fiction book. Since I wasn't a fan of sci-fi, I wasn't that excited. The first book I chose was an adventure by Han Solo of Star Wars. I didn't get past page 1 so I proposed another book to my teacher. The book I chose was Channel X by Francine Pascal. It is one of the Thriller Edition in the Sweet Valley University series. Yes, Sweet Valley - the fictional world of the blonde twins, Elizabeth and Jessica. The story was sort-of sci-fi so it passed. I know it would have been better if I worked on a real sci-fi. But it would have been even better if we were required to write book analyses. Oh well.

October 18, 2008 (Booksale, SM Fairview)

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (P70.00)

Corduroy by Don Freeman (P40.00)

October 29, 2008 (National Book Store, TriNoma)

A School Of Fish (Coloring Storybook) by Marcus Pfister (P71.25)

This book appealed to me mainly because it's a coloring book. I'm in my mid-twenties but I still adore coloring books and bringing the pictures to life.

Si Pagong At Si Matsing by Danilo Consumido (P61.75)

Sampung Magkakaibigan by Kristine Canon (P61.75)

These last books I bought are books that I plan to read to my Nursery students during story telling time this coming semester. I bought them from NBS but I forgot to have my receipt stamp for the passes in the upcoming NBS Children's Reading Fair. So I have to buy books again. But that's not going to be a problem. I love to shop for books! And read them, as well.

So there goes my book adventures this month. I'm in the middle of reading The Catcher in the Rye and The Lovely Bones. Hopefully, I'll finish them before I go back to work on November 6.

Back to reading...

The Claiming Of Sleeping Beauty (Anne Rice)

* From bestselling author Anne Rice, writing as A.N. Roquleaure. In the traditional folktale of 'Sleeping Beauty,' the spell cast upon the lovely young princess and everyone in her castle can only be broken by the kiss of a Prince. It is an ancient story, one that originally emerged from and still deeply disturbs the mind's unconscious. Now Anne Rice's retelling of the Beauty story probes the unspoken implications of this lush, suggestive tale by exploring its undeniable connection to sexual desire. Here the Prince reawakens Beauty, not with a kiss, but with sexual initiation. His reward for ending the hundred years of enchantment is Beauty's complete and total enslavement to him…as Anne Rice explores the world of erotic yearning and fantasy in a classic that becomes, with her skillful pen, a compelling experience. - from Barnes & Noble

My cousin gave me more than 1,000 ebooks yesterday. The Sleeping Beauty series by Anne Rice is one of them. A few years ago, another cousin of mine told me that this series by Anne Rice is very intriguing. It is an erotica. Intriguing, alright. So when I was browsing through the ebooks this afternoon, I decided to read it.

Wrong move. I couldn't believe that I wasted time reading an utterly boring book. I know that this book was written decades ago but if you're one of those people who haven't read it yet, I suggest that you're better off reading some thing else. The story is so dull I didn't bother finishing it. There are two more books (coz it's a trilogy) but I wouldn't waste time reading them. It may be an erotica, but all the characters did was spank the butts of the sex slaves. Page after page, that's all I ever read. I guess this is not a good work by Anne Rice (in my opinion, anyway).

I might as well stop now so as not to repeat myself like Anne Rice did in this book. Seriously. What a dull book.

Rating: 1/5

The 4th NBS Children's Reading Fair

The timing is just right. Just when I'm into children's literature now, I received an e-mail from National Book Store about the Laking National updates. One of the upcoming events in National Book Store is the Children's Reading Fair. Here is the information about it:


4th NBS Children’s Reading Fair

Reading is a surefire way for kids and parents to establish a special bond. The one-on-one communication in reading not just enhances kids’ emotional and mental development; it also encourages their imagination to travel to a world unlike any other.

That is why National Book Store, together with Enfakid and SM North EDSA, is celebrating Children's Reading Month this October with the Children’s Reading Fair.

Join the culminating event on November 16, 2008. Click here for more details… http://www.nbsstores.com/promotions.asp?article_id=127


I am definitely looking forward to this event. I also might as well stock up on children's books while they are on sale. :)

Fully Booked, Rockwell Sale

S A L E

20% OFF

on regular items*

ROCKWELL STORE ONLY

October 17-19, 2008

Store Hours

Friday & Saturday: 10am - 1130pm Sunday: 10am - 1030pm

* except local and consigned items

(N coded items)

I received an e-mail from Fully Booked about this sale. Hmm...

Four Blondes (Candace Bushnell)

* Four Blondes tells the stories of four women caught at crossroads in their lives, facing choices and realizations that will redefine them forever. A beautiful B-list model finagles rent-free summerhouses in the Hamptons from her wealthy lovers, until she discovers that she can get a man for the summer but she can't get what she wants. A high-powered magazine columnist's floundering marriage to a literary journalist is thrown into crisis when her husband spends a wild night on the town with his movie star friend. A self-styled Cinderella whose royal husband was one of the world's most eligible bachelors records her descent into paranoia as she attempts to re-create her self and her world. A writer who fears her time for finding a husband is running out travels to London in search for the kind of love and devotion she can't find in Manhattan - and gets far more than she bargained for.

This book contains four stories about four blondes. All of them are forgettable.

I somehow have a high expectation with this since it was written by the creator of Sex and the City. I thought I would enjoy reading it. But I got really disappointed. It is not witty and funny. The stories seem pointless and are very uninteresting.

If you're totally bored and want to read something, go read the back label of a cereal box instead of this book. Spare yourself from disappointment.

Rating: 1/5