Unplanned Book-Buying

I went to the mall this afternoon to have my 2x2 picture taken for completion of my NMAT form. I was told that I would have to wait for 30 minutes to get the pictures. And so I decided to kill time by roaming around the mall. I haven’t take around 10 steps yet when I passed by the secondhand book shop I frequent, and of course, my feet automatically walked to that direction.

Like always, I was determined to check all the shelves for books I might want. After all, I don’t have any other shops in my mind that I wanted to go to. I was in luck for after less than 30 minutes inside Booksale, I found the two books I have been looking for for months now, which are out of stock and unavailable at Fully Booked, Powerbooks, and NBS:

• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
• Ash by Malinda Lo

Ooooh the perks of patience and perseverance in scanning all the shelves. I got them all for a total of Php230 ($4), less than the original price of just one book. Such bliss! :D

Looking For My True Love

Before you get any ideas, I would like to clarify that by “true love”, I mean books. Duh. Yeah yeah, lame, I know. But really, since I don’t have plans with anyone this Valentine’s day, I decided to spend the day with myself doing one of the things I love: book hunting.

And so 3 hours after a meticulous search, I found not only one, but 5 new loves. Got them all from Fully Booked and Powerbooks, Trinoma branch. I can truly say that my time was well spent and I didn’t care that there were so many lovey-dovey couples all around the mall, even inside my favorite bookstores.

So here are what’s included in my Valentine’s haul:

• Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk — If you don’t already know, I am a very liberated type of person and pornography and sex in literature doesn’t bother me at all as long as the are well written. And this particular book is one I wanted to read because it’s unusual and also dashed with Palahniuk’s trademark mystery theme.
• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys — I have been debating whether or not to read this book for a long time now. It’s like what happened to me with Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. This book also revolves around a certain point in history and was set in the midst of World War II. As I’ve said before, I am not a big fan of history but that didn’t stop me from loving The Book Thief. A lot of friends already recommended this to me so I finally gave in.
• The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly — Even when I am already way too old for this, I still have the tug and affinity to wondrous magical adventures found in children’s book. With that I got hooked by this especially when I learned that the story is about an  innocent young bookworm who find solace in heroes and monstrous characters of his books.
• The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells — I guess it’s time to update my collection of classic book and I am very much excited with this new addition. It has always been my dream to have the powers of invisibility that’s why I got drawn to the book in particular. I must admit that the beautiful cover also caught my attention. I am very curious to read about the best and worst possible thing a man can do with this kind of power.
• The House of The Scorpion by Nancy Farmer — This is a very intriguing sci-fi/dystopian book. The premise goes like this:Matteo Alacran was not born; he was harvested with the DNA from El Patron, lord of a country called Opium. Can a boy who was bred to guarantee another’s survival find his own purpose in life? And can he ever be free? Reading this, I immediately grabbed the book to include it in my haul. I love genetic mysteries and I just cannot resist weird characters.

Oh and also got some roses from a good friend of mine. Nothing romantic at all. I swear. :) 

Got some new babies! Well, not actual human children, okay? Haha.

Ever since Norwegian Wood and South of the Border, West of the Sun, I have been on the hunt for other Murakami books. So far, I have 4 which include the 2 books I mentioned plus Kafka on the Shore and Sputnik Sweetheart. And then last week, I finally acquired 2 more, which are the ones found in the photo. I didn’t even need to sweat because a friend of mine who manages an online bookshop reserved these books to me. He would text me when they have new books so that I can choose the ones I like before he post it on their page. Hahaha. Oh the perks. Chuck Palahniuk’s Rant also came from the said bookshop. I got the 3 books for abou 20% their original price, which was a great deal.

As for Andrea Seigel’s Like The Red Panda, it was a very very late Christmas gift from Jervis, a close friend of mine. I haven’t heard of the book before and so I looked it up on Goodreads.  Apparently, it was about a teenage girl who, at first glance, is funny, smart and cheerful. But like almost everyone, she is keeping a dark part of her which if ignored completely, might cause serious consequences. The character was in some sort of a burnout state wherein life seem to be dull and not worth living. This might be just overdramatic to some, but when someone is swallowed by this kinds of thoughts, it’s very difficult to get them out of their own heads.

So yeah, I am pretty much ecstatic because I loved the premise. If only I can read multiple books at the same time, I would. I am also very glad the I am 4 books nearer to my 1000-books-in-my-shelf-before-I-turn-25 goal.

Fantastic Cheaper Book Finds!

So as I’ve said, I would make it my life goal to own at least a thousand books. And today was a great day to start hoarding. I met two awesome new friends (twins), Brien and Roven, from Bookwars. They are two of the four founders of this online bookshop and they also came from my university. After purchasing 2 books from them, they asked me if I wanted to join them as admin for the said bookshop. I told them that I’d be honored so they said that they would have to consult with the other two first. (I hope they let me join, I love book hunting)

Anyways, Brien invited me to go with him to the secret book haven, where they buy original books for more than half the price. I won’t be telling you where, since it might affect their business. Of course, I couldn’t pass up that chance so I agreed to go. The said place was really a piece of euphoric beauty. Though the place was a bit cramped, the books there was awesome. We spent almost an hour looking for good books and here are what I got (with the price difference):

The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (A Compilation of the 5 Volumes) by Douglas Adams 

• Original Price: Php945 ($18.36)

• Bought it at: Php250 ($6.50)

A Million Suns by Beth Revis

• Original Price: Php399 ($9.99)

• Bought it at: Php200 ($5)

Things Change by Patrick Jones

• Original Price: Php395 ($7.95)

• Bought it at: Php100 ($2.50)

Skin & Other Stories by Roald Dahl

• Original Price: Php300 ($5.99)

• Bought it at: Php100 ($2.50)

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’engle

• Original Price: Php330 ($6.50)

• Bought it at: Php50 ($1.50)

And trust me, the books are in very good condition. They are still inside the original plastic packaging. Oh, I am just so happy to meet the awesome guys who showed me their “secret” happy place.

Currently Reading: The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (Unabridged Edition)

I have finished K.L. Going’s Fat Kid Rules The World just recently and I’ll be making a review for it by tomorrow. This morning, I started reading the next book up in my reading list is this compiled edition of C.S. Lewis’ classic series, The Chronicles of Narnia. 

What made this edition different is that the seven books are not chronologically arranged according to their publication date. Instead, there are presented according to Sir Lewis’ preferred order of reading. Here is how the books were organized (chronological position in the original series indicated):

• The Magician’s Nephew (Book 6)
• The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (Book 1)
• The Horse and His Boy (Book 5)
• Prince Caspian: The Return To Narnia (Book 2)
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Book 3)
• The Silver Chair (Book 4)
• The Last Battle (Book 7)

I have to admit that I haven’t read all the books in this series. Back when I was in highschool I only read the first 2 books. So now, I am hoping to finish all of them. It’s great that it is arranged this way so that the timeline does not have to jump back and forth. Right now, I am only at Chapter 5 of The Magician’s Nephew. This will be a long read, but I will make the reviews per book. Wish me luck!

Me: *browsing the shelves for a good book while holding the ones in the photo*

Random Girl: *picks up Fifty Shades Box Set at the adjacent shelf* 

Random Girl: “Hey, you look like a bookworm, too! Don’t you think this is a great series!?”

Me: *contemplating whether to pretend not to hear her or just tell the truth that I find those books sucky*

Random Girl: “I mean, Christian Grey is just so awesome!”

Me: “Sorry, I don’t read that series.”

Random Girl: *surprised* “Oh..  but you should!” *eyes the books I’m holding.*

Me: “Uhh, I tried, but that genre isn’t really my thing.”

Random Girl: “Hmm. But it’s so good. Oh well, what books are those?”

Me: “Uhh.. Running With Scissors, Down The Rabbit Hole, and One Moment, One Morning.”

Random Girl: “Ooohh. I don’t know those. Anyway, try the Fifty Shades series. I think they’re way cooler than that. Trust me.”

Me: *Oh hell no* “Uhhh.. no, thank you” *walks off immediately to the counter*

———————

Well, that was a weird experience, not to mention, irritating. Like, this is a freaking bookstore and there are a whole bunch of various books, why do you think every single person you meet would like the same one you do? I tried so hard not to be rude, but hell, mind your own business, woman. 

Anyways, this is, my November Book Haul Part 3, I guess? Hahaha. I know I’m not supposed to buy anymore, but the ever tempting shelves, once again, won over my frail will. And so I got three books (well, should have been more if it wasn’t for that girl) from Powerbooks:

• Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
• Down The Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams
• One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Rayner

Jeeeeez. I already spent half of my allowance for this week. That jar over there is my savings jar for books or whatever else. And I guess there won’t be any additional deposit this week. I am so bad at this. Hahaha.

Went to Bonifacio High Street last night to watch my friend’s football game. After that, we decided to eat at Mercato because we wanted to try different foods. It was a hell of a food trip. We ate so much and we can barely even move after indulging in such scrumptious foods. Of course, since we’re already at The Fort, I dragged my friends into Fully Booked just so I can browse for any good books. And voila! There you go! I found two book I’ve been wanting to buy for ages!

• Numbers by Rachel Ward - This book is very hard to find. I go into a bookstore and all I would see is the sequel or the last book in the trilogy. So imagine my bliss when I spotted it at the bottom of one the bookshelves there. This book intrigues me since I read the summary. The main character can see the day people die just by looking at someone’s eyes. Seems a bit like Deathnote to me.
• Every Day by David Levithan - I have been a big fan of David Levithan ever since I’ve read  Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Boy Meets Boy, an The Lover’s Dictionary. And so I just couldn’t miss out on this new novel. I guess I just wanted to know how Levithan works with a fantasy genre.   “Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl. ”

And oh, since it’s officially the start of our semestral break, I’m gonna be hiding in my cave of books and try to absorb all their precious contents for about 3 weeks. Oh, how I’ve missed going on a reading marathon.

5 books all for the price of 2!

Yup, you’ve read that right! I got all of these books for only Php580 (around $13). And despite the marked down price, these books are in very pristine conditions. I really am quite impressed with my book shopping.

Although I know that I am already drowning in my huge to-read pile at home, that had never hindered me from buying more books. And since I only have one more day of exams, I recon it’s best to have a little pre-semestral break haul. After tomorrow, I can finally have around 3 weeks to read and knock-off books from my ever growing to-read heap. Finally, some quality time with my print-on-paper friends. It’s a temporary farewell to my academic books and a wonderful hello to my fiction books. Here are what’s in the loot:

• The City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare - It’s the 5th installment of The Mortal Instrument series. I know that it has been out in the market for quite a while now, but for some reasons, I wasn’t able to buy my own copy. “Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?”
• Atonement by Ian McEwan - I fell in love with the movie adaptation of this book, which was tragic and heart-wrecking. I have this feeling that the story would be even better when read. “On a hot summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses a moment’s flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant and Cecilia’s childhood friend. But Briony’ s incomplete grasp of adult motives–together with her precocious literary gifts–brings about a crime that will change all their lives.“ 
• An Accident Waiting To Happen by Adrian White  - I only came across this book today and I was intrigued of its story as I’ve read the summary at the back. So I decided to buy it, too. “A young woman disappears. Her partner Gregory, under suspicion from the police of having done her harm, is left to care for her son Tomas from a previous relationship. The race is on for Gregory to find the woman he loves before the authorities take Tomas away. How far would you go to protect the ones you love?”
• The Pact by Jodi Picoult - I have been a fan of Jodi Picoult ever since I’ve read My Sister’s Keeper and Nineteen Minutes. I’ve been told by a few of my bookworm friends that this book is at par with My Sister’s Keeper in terms of the story line so, needless to say, I grabbed it at once. “And the Hartes and Golds must face every parent’s worst nightmare and question: do we really know our children at all?”
• Hoot by Carl Hiaasen - I know for a fact that this is a children’s book, but who says I cannot indulge in its good content? As I’ve said before, regardless of our age, we will always find that one children’s book that would strike us in a unique way. “Behind it’s lighthearted and often joking facade the book is a window into the rapid destruction of Florida wildlife in order to make room for civilization and pancake houses. This book is just a reminder that as Paper Towns spring up the animals are forced to flee or die.”