“You don’t read, you don’t understand. You don’t know what it’s like to live in different worlds, to travel on great adventures through the galaxy with people you know better than you know your own family. To live and die with them. These are my friends, my best friends in the world.”
—Atticus Shaffer
Sorry if this one’s a little bit rusty. I haven’t written a review for so long. And truthfully, I missed it. Haha.
I have been one to judge books based on their covers ever since the YA genre started spouting tons of vampire/werewolf/*insert-other-mythical-creatures-here* crap. Every time I go into a bookstore, I find, to my disappointment, another goth-themed cover. If not those kinds, I see books with lovey-dovey covers which contain very clichéd plots. Now why am I babbling on about these stuff? Well, because this particular book that I am reviewing falls into those category, cover-wise. (please don’t stop reading)
But then, as I update myself of the vlogbrother’s video entries, I found that in one of it, Mr. John Green himself recommended this book. Of course, my opinion of it changed and I started to take a second look and finally.. bought my own copy. After a few weeks, here I am, finally gotten around reading The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight.
I have to be honest and admit that the title didn’t help in convincing me to like the book. You see, I am a non-believer of the whole love-at-first-sight magic. But then as I got past the first chapter, I find myself actually getting attached to the main character, namely Hadley Sullivan.
“It’s not the changes that will break your heart; it’s that tug of familiarity.”
And so the story began as Hadley got stuck in the airport by missing her flight that would bring her to her father’s second wedding. And so she had to book yet another flight and wait. All this hassle just because she was late by 4 minutes. Yep, only 4 minutes. But then this seemed to be a blessing in disguise for she met Oliver, also waiting to catch the same flight she recently booked.
Their meeting was fairly odd and not quite realistic to me but I guess it somehow worked for the whole of the story. Even when they’ve met for just a few hours, they felt comfortable talking to each other and sharing stuff you don’t usually do with strangers. And so goes their 24-hour-long story of witty remarks, comedic adventures and personal revelations.. all inside an airplane.
The premise of the book may look shallow at first but then reading through it revealed a lot more about the characters that just their timely acquaintance. Surprisingly, what caught me wasn’t the love story between Hadley and Oliver but the conflicted relationship Hadley has with her father. (yeah yeah, I am a sucker for characters with father issues) The book started out with Hadley having strong feeling against her father and as the story unfolds, we were allowed to peek in on Hadley’s head and her hatred. Who wouldn’t be mad of a father who leaves his family for another woman?
I know that this is not a unique story and a lot of books have already intricately depicted broken families and bitter children. But what made this book so much different from the others is that it journeyed toward a positive path of acceptance. Although even to me, Hadley forgiveness of her father’s act was to sudden and early, I felt this bit of jealousy for her having the heart and bravery to finally find peace with what she was dealt with. She wasn’t like other characters who would rather carry the hatred for as long as they can even when it wasn’t worth it. And I think that’s what I admire most about Hadley. She was honest about how she felt and she can deal with it. I, personally, don’t have the strength to do that.
Overall, I enjoyed it and I am glad that I believed Mr. John Green’s word. I think it wasn’t really much of a love-at-first-sight thing. I would say that it was an attraction-at-first-sight. A little predictable but it was fine with me. It was a perfect mix of wit, drama, craziness, and cheesiness. Nothing was too much overdone. I give it a 4/5.
I am not a very big fan of eBooks but they really do come in handy whenever I have long vacations and have limited baggage space. And so I found this website with a huge and awesome eBook collection. I just thought I needed to share this to everyone. Here are some links for good books:
Adams, Douglas - The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide To Galaxy
Asher, Jay - Thirteen Reasons Why
Asher, Jay - The Future of Us
Blake, Kendare - Anna Dressed in Blood
Blake, Kendare - Girl of Nightmares
Bradbury, Ray - Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray - Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray - The Martian Chronicles
Clare, Cassandra - City of Bones
Clare, Cassandra - City of Ashes
Clare, Cassandra - City of Glass
Clare, Cassandra - City of Fallen Angels
Clare, Cassandra - City of Lost Souls
Clare, Cassandra - Clockwork Angel
Clare, Cassandra - Clockwork Prince
Collins, Suzanne - The Hunger Games
Collins, Suzanne - Catching Fire
Collins, Suzanne - Mockingjay
Condie, Ally - Matched
Condie, Ally - Crossed
Condie, Ally - Reached
Dahl, Roald - Boy
Dahl, Roald - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Dahl, Roald - Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Dahl, Roald - Danny and the Champion of the World
Dahl, Roald - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Dahl, Roald - George’s Marvelous Medicine
Dahl, Roald - James and the Giant Peach
Dahl, Roald - Matilda
Dahl, Roald - Revolting Rhymes
Dahl, Roald - The BFG
Dahl, Roald - The Twits
Dahl, Roald - The Witches
Dashner, James - The Maze Runner
Dashner, James - The Scorch Trials
Dashner, James - The Death Cure
Dessen, Sarah - Along For The Ride
Dessen, Sarah - Dreamland
Dessen, Sarah - Keeping The Moon
Dessen, Sarah - Lock and Key
Dessen, Sarah - Someone Like You
Dessen, Sarah - This Lullaby
Dessen, Sarah - That Summer
Dessen, Sarah - The Truth About Forever
Dessen, Sarah - What Happened To Goodbye
Elkeles, Simone - Perfect Chemistry
Elkeles, Simone - Rules of Attraction
Elkeles, Simone - Chain Reaction
Flynn, Gillian - Dark Places
Flynn, Gillian - Gone Girl
Flynn, Gillian - Sharp Objects
Foer, Jonathan Safran - A Convergence of Birds
Foer, Jonathan Safran - Eating Animals
Foer, Jonathan Safran - Everything Is Illuminated
Foer, Jonathan Safran - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Foreman, Gayle - If I Stay
Foreman, Gayle - Where She Went
Foreman, Gayle - Just One Day
Green, John - Looking For Alaska
Green, John - Paper Towns
Green, John - The Fault in Our Stars
Haddon, Mark - A Spot of Bother
Haddon, Mark - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Haddon, Mark - The Red House
Han, Jenny - The Summer I Turned Pretty
Han, Jenny - It’s Not Summer Without You
Han, Jenny - We’ll Always Have Summer
Handler, Daniel - Adverbs
Handler, Daniel - Why We Broke Up
Ishiguro, Kazuo - A Pale View of Hills
Ishiguro, Kazuo - An Artist of a Floating World
Ishiguro, Kazuo - Never Let Me Go
Ishiguro, Kazuo - The Remains of the Day
Ishiguro, Kazuo - The Unconsoled
Kate, Lauren - Fallen
Kate, Lauren - Torment
Kate, Lauren - Passion
Kate, Lauren - Rapture
Kinney, Jeff - Diary of A Wimpy Kid
Kinney, Jeff - Diary of A Wimpy Kid Rodrick Rules
Kinney, Jeff - Diary of A Wimpy Kid The Last Straw
Kinney, Jeff - Diary of A Wimpy Kid Dog Days
Kinney, Jeff - Diary of A Wimpy Kid The Ugly Truth
Larsson, Stieg - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Larsson, Stieg - The Girl Who Played With Fire
Larsson, Stieg - The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest
Levithan, David - Boy Meets Boy
Levithan, David - Every Day
Levithan, David - The Lover’s Dictionary
Mitchell, David - Black Swan Green
Mitchell, David - Cloud Atlas
Mitchell, David - Ghostwritten
Mitchell, David - The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Murakami, Haruki - 1Q84
Murakami, Haruki - A Wild Sheep Chase
Murakami, Haruki - After Dark
Murakami, Haruki - Dance, Dance, Dance
Murakami, Haruki - Kafka on the Shore
Murakami, Haruki - Norwegian Wood
Murakami, Haruki - The Elephant Vanishes
Murakami, Haruki - South of the Border, West of the Sun
Murakami, Haruki - Sputnik Sweetheart
Nabokov, Vladimir - Lolita
Nicholls, David - One Day
Orwell, George - Animal Farm
Orwell, George - 1984
Palanhniuk, Chuck - Choke
Palanhniuk, Chuck - Damned
Palanhniuk, Chuck - Diary
Palanhniuk, Chuck - Fight Club
Palanhniuk, Chuck - Haunted
Palanhniuk, Chuck - Invisible Monsters
Palanhniuk, Chuck - Lullaby
Palanhniuk, Chuck - Pygmy
Palanhniuk, Chuck - Rant
Palanhniuk, Chuck - Snuff
Peters, Julie Anne - By The Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead
Peters, Julie Anne - Rage: A Love Story
Picoult, Jodi - Change of Heart
Picoult, Jodi - Lone Wolf
Picoult, Jodi - Mercy
Picoult, Jodi - My Sister’s Keeper
Picoult, Jodi - Nineteen Minutes
Picoult, Jodi - Perfect Match
Picoult, Jodi - Plain Truth
Picoult, Jodi - Salem Falls
Picoult, Jodi - Second Glance
Picoult, Jodi - Sing You Home
Picoult, Jodi - The Pact
Picoult, Jodi - The Tenth Circle
Picoult, Jodi - Vanishing Acts
Riggs, Ransom - Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Riordan, Rick - The Lightning Thief
Riordan, Rick - The Sea of Monsters
Riordan, Rick - The Titan’s Curse
Riordan, Rick - The Battle of the Labyrinth
Riordan, Rick - The Last Olympian
Riordan, Rick - The Lost Hero
Riordan, Rick - The Son of Neptune
Riordan, Rick - The Mark of Athena
Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Rowling, J.K. - The Casual Vacancy
Setterfiel, Diane - The Thirteenth Tale
Sparks, Nicholas - A Bend in the Road
Sparks, Nicholas - A Walk To Remember
Sparks, Nicholas - At First Sight
Sparks, Nicholas - Dear John
Sparks, Nicholas - Message in a Bottle
Sparks, Nicholas - Safe Haven
Sparks, Nicholas - The Guardian
Sparks, Nicholas - The Last Song
Sparks, Nicholas - The Lucky One
Sparks, Nicholas - The Notebook
Sparks, Nicholas - The Rescue
Sparks, Nicholas - The Wedding
Sparks, Nicholas - Three Weeks With My Brother
Sparks, Nicholas - True Believer
Westerfield, Scott - Uglies
Westerfield, Scott - Pretties
Westerfield, Scott - Specials
Westerfield, Scott - Extras
Zusak Markus - I Am The Messenger
Zusak, Markus - The Book Thief
If ever you do not like ePub format, you can still download it and then convert it to PDF file here.
DP changed.
It’s been a while since I last update my dashboard photo here. Forgive this, once again, spur of moment attack of vanity syndrome. My sister took this picture after I finished re-stacking my books on my new bookshelf. I liked it so much because I think it’s the one photo that depicts bits and pieces of me altogether.
I am wearing one of my book-related shirts, the well-known TFiOS word: Okay, which is on my favorite list. Also, the ever clichéd book-in-hand pose which, I admit, is not a very original way of proclaiming “I am crazed about books!”. But hey, I do love books, if it isn’t that obvious yet. I am also in front of my new books case, which tells about how I find comfort in my very own version of book haven. The half-hidden face means that I am still savoring my time in different alternate and fantasy worlds I find in my books. It somehow means that I am very much capable of backing away and fleeing to the make-believe worlds when reality is too much to bear.
I know that I this seem so exaggerated, to put meanings behind a still photo. But I just really am happy with how it came out. So again, I apologize for this somehow nonsense post which centers on humongous vanity side.
First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for my lack of book review posts recently. I’m just a bit busy since we barely have 2 months left before our internship in April. We really have a lot to do, and so the sparse free time I get is usually allotted to sleep, which I was very much deprived of. My reading has been very slow in progress for I am still more that halfway through Battle Royale. I am enjoying the book, yet I can only read it during stolen minutes or hours, while waiting for professors in between classes. Maybe after our prelims week, my schedule would be a bit free and I can somehow, catch up. I really am sorry, especially to those whom I promised a review!
I also noticed a couple of unfollowers for the past few weeks that I have not post any book review. For that, I was a little sad. But on the other hand, there was also quite a surge of new followers who are also bookworms, so it wasn’t all bad! Hello and thank you so much for finding my blog! Cheers to us! Haha.
Now, even though I have gazillions of books in my to-read pile, that does not stop me from buying more books. I admit, it really is an addiction of mine. I am a crazy book hoarder. And so a while ago, after class, I decided to roam around Booksale to look for good books. After a good half an hour of searching, I found Melody Carlson’s It’s A Green Thing and Virginia Euwer Wolff’s Make Lemonade. I was actually already okay with the two books I have in hand but then something inside me urged me to continue browsing the shelves.
It was a good thing that I listened since after about 5 minutes, I found Jennifer E. Smith’s The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight obscured behind a row of books at the bottom-most shelf. You see, ever since I’ve heard about this book from John Green’s recommendations last year, I’ve been on an endless hunt. And now my quest finally ends. I have been to numerous bookstores, in Manila, Cavite, and Las Piñas, but my efforts were fruitless. And the funny and ironic thing is, I found it a while ago in Booksale at the mall nearest to my university! Plus, I got it for only Php145 ($3.20), not even half of the original price which was Php365($8.99). Ha! Not bad at all! I am just so utterly happy right now.
WARNING: This would be a very long post consisting of pictures of all the books I own and have gathered from way back up to the end of the year.
Since the new bookshelf that my mom bought me arrived today, I just thought that it’s fitting to dust all of my books before I re-stack them. It was a very tedious job and that it took me 4 hours to finish them all. And so to start of the new year, I have all my clean books to show you, guys. (maybe, in the future, I’ll sell them or put ass giveaway. MAYBE.)
And here’s a picture of everything together:
2012 had been a good year for me bookhoard-wise. And honestly, I am very thankful for these books are the only treasures I am so emotionally attached to. And even if I don’t believe in heaven, if it really does exist, I think this would be pretty much close to that.
Pompous-Display-of-Christmas-Presents-I-Received-Tonight Master Post
I know that it seems a bit boastful in my part to show-off these stuff, but I am just so happy and thankful with everything that I received this Christmas time. I mean, I am not one who needs extravagant things. I am contented with just books or little trinkets. What’s important is that they came from people I care about. So here are the gifts I received as of 2am (yeah, some of my friends told me that they will give me their presents when classes resume on January):
Currently Reading: The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Yep! Another one, even if I haven’t finished the other two books I am also currently reading. Haha. I have been a very bad and disrespectful student by bringing this book to class this morning. Why? Well, I was only supposed to start reading the book during my free time. Turns out, I have been gravely mistaken. Once I started, I could not stop. I did not care even when my professors were lecturing about whatever topics we had for today. I was just there, at one corner of the room, secretly and silently reading the book. It was just so good, I cannot bear to stop.
Now that I’m back in my dorm, after all my classes are done, I am still reading. John Green was right that this was something Harry Potter and Narnia fans should look delve into. Lev Grossman’s The Magicians is like a Harry Potter novel for older teens. The story is set in a magical place unseen by common people. The main character learns that he is special and is now attending classes for magical craft in a school which I can describe as Hogwarts for mature teens, like a University. It was as if Quentin Coldwater’s favorite magical place from his favorite book was finally coming into reality. I am not yet finished reading the book so I cannot tell if it can somehow level with the greatness of Harry Potter.
The thing is, even though the concept of this books is loosely based on other fantasy novels, the content has its own appeal. Being a devoted Harry Potter fan and having memorized almost all the events and details in all seven books, coming by a novel with a similar theme that could still capture my interest is quite rare. So, I am very much thankful that I believed in John Green’s book recommendations, and got myself a copy. I hope to finish this book this week since we will be having our first major exams next week.
Pre-Christmas Mini Book Haul
Got the chance to buy some books a while ago after I bought groceries and dorm supplies for this week. Aside from my book addiction, I am also a pen and paper impulse buyer. And so I also purchased two cute little notebooks with unlined pages plus some color pens to go with them. I thought that I could write my favorite quotes from books, songs, or movies and somehow, make a little compilation.
Here are the books I got today:
So I have been a bit busy lately, and this is why.
I don’t know what hit me, but I felt a little bit “artsy-fartsy”. I got bored of my beige-colored walls so I decided to add on a little personal touch. And I’m glad my mom allowed me to do so.
I covered half of one of the walls in my bedroom with 4 huge black cardboard paper and put photos and quotes of of all the things that interest me. Basically, the photos I included are related to Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Sherlock, John Green, and reading. Most of them are works of people I follow here in Tumblr, and I have no intention at all of stealing their works, so credits to the brilliant people who made them. Others are my works, like the simple black and white quotes from my favorite songs or books.
So far, I have yet to print out more photos to add. I am still searching for good ones to include so I guess I’ll probably finish this “project” before this week ends. Right now, I can say that it’s 50% done. I feel very productive. Haha. Wish me luck! :D
Got this one from John Green’s tumblr post.
OMG. That mean a new edition of An Abundance of Katherines will come out. Should I buy that one? I’m really excited to see this new cover. I mean, my copy of the book is a bit battered since I bought it from a second-hand bookstore. So I guess I can buy a new one, right? Plus the cover was made by a nerdfighter! Just how awesome is that! Damn, he/she must be really lucky for his work to be chosen. Oh my, I hope that edition would be available here in the Philippines. It would really suck if it won’t.
