The Height

...of kajologan. Haha. Remember the locally-published book series I was so hooked into last Christmas holiday? Well, it's already a movie and will be shown in theaters on April 2 and I'm watching.

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I feel so jeje. Haha. Seriously, I just made my Dorota (code name for my "assistant" since feeling ko ako si Blair, yes, emoterang frog ako) read it and she liked it. Kalurks!

Anyway... inasmuch as I wanted Star Cinema to make this movie, I think okay na ako with Viva Films and am relieved that, at least, the rights didn't go to GMA Films. Although initially I thought it was a GMA production dahil medyo sinetch itech ang lead actress. In other words, hindi kilala. Pero in fernez, may dating naman si lead actress and although some were saying she's just a Kathryn Bernardo look-alike, I'd have to say I like her better. Maybe I'm being biased since I never really liked Kathryn but I watched the movie trailer and Nadine Lustre (the lead actress) acts better than her and is less conscious in front of the camera. Of course the fantards would disagree.

The characters. I think I like the casting. They all fit into the characters in the book. Well maybe when I saw the trailer first I thought mas bagay si James Reid as Chad and Andre Paras as Cross, but after seeing a few more trailers and snippets, I am okay with the casting already. Only one thing- I wish they didn't stick to the half-British characterization of Lory dahil baka hindi mapanindigan ang British accent. It might sound too contrived ba.

Ang OA ng pimples, diba??? Parang ketong naman yun eh. May pattern pa! Anuberrr. But seriously, she's a better actress than KB.

And mas cute, imho. Wait lang, I wanna look for a Kathryn Bernardo clip on YouTube to better illustrate how conscious she is and that her supposed look-alike is better and more natural at acting. I can't find any. Sorry.

I'm excited pero secret lang natin ha, haha! I'm treating Dorota to the movies- we're watching Diary ng Panget on April 2. Ang pangit ng spelling ng 'Panget." Shet.

2014 Book Challenge: Divergent

I never really liked dystopian-themed but I guess it was unfair to generalize when I've only read two books of the said theme- Delirium and Hunger Games. I know many loves the Hunger Games trilogy, but I think not liking the book that much I contribute to the fact that I saw the movie trailer before reading it and mababaw na kung mababaw ang reason but I hated the actor who portrayed Peeta. Just to clarify, I didn't hate the book. I just think it's not that good though. So anyway another dystopian-themed YA book, Divergent, is showing now on theaters and although at first I wasn't too excited to see it in the cinema but this changed my mind~

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calientito, no?

So after reading the book I was reading then, I immediately started on Divergent. Must finish the book before I watch the movie. Seriously, I do not get the point of watching the movie then reading the books where it was adapted/based from. What's the point if you already know the story.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the book. I liked it because it was engaging, it was a good story plot and of course, my favorite, it has a swoon-worthy love angle (not to mention swoon-worthy fictional crush, Four). Maybe I was expecting for it to be somewhat similar to Delirium and HG and although it was similar in a way, there were also twists that I didn't see coming such as Tris's mom's identity.

And oh, the tension between Tris and Four- giddiness to the max. Ever since that moment in training when Four held Tris to steady her, omgeezers, I am a fangirl. I'm super excited to see it already.

Out of dystopian societies from the three books I read, Delirium, Hunger Games and Divergent, I think I would rather belong to Divergent's dystopian world. Because I still have a choice. Only, it's limited to five factions but still, I can choose where I want to belong.

I guess I would have to give dystopian-themed books another chance- I would just have to stick to low or no expectations at all.

True dat.

Because I like Four, I'd give it five stars ☺

A New Label Category Since I Do Spend Too Much Time On The Internet

I want to start this new 'label' or category here in my blog about various interesting articles I find on the internet. Just so I could keep track of the interesting reads or trivia because I love that shizz.

Whilst I am not exactly an internet addict and can actually live without it, I'm afraid I cannot resist it. Give me an internet connection and a computer, I surely would get sucked into the wonderful world of ze internet. So without further ado~

 * Buzzfeed is buzzing with a lot of interesting and/or funny articles. I came across this one- 26 Problems Only Anxious People Will Understand- while browsing the site. Seriously, this article just described me. FML? FML. It's not funny, you guys. It is exhausting, I tell you. I do not know how to relax. Even when I'm supposedly relaxing, I tell myself to relax. But yeah, this is funny. 

* The abovementioned article was written by a Buzzfeed writer who also owns a blog and she is funneh. I already followed her on Twitter and am planning on bookmarking her blogsite. 

* Speaking of Twitterverse... As I was lulling myself to sleep by perusing the wonderful world of Twitter, I read all of Wilson Bethel's (HoD's Wade Kinsella) and John Francis Daley's (Bones's Dr. Sweets) tweets in one sitting (actually, I was lying down, hoho!) and I am hooked, I tell you. Especially Wilson Bethel's tweets very amusing.

Wilson Bethel ‏@WilsonBethel  Aug 22

My life is just like Breaking Bad... minus the meth, the sidekick, the murderous rampages, and even a basic understanding of chemistry...

Wilson Bethel ‏@WilsonBethel  Jun 28

I'm making a film called "Twitter: The Movie". It's tough to cast. There are 140 characters.

He's funny. Amirite?

* Running a business is hard work, you guys. It may seem easy but having a business means working 24/7. Okay, I work whenever I want to, I don't have a boss, I can watch a movie whenever. BUT you never get to fully escape it. Maya-maya someone will send you a text or call you in the middle of the movie you're watching and if it's something bad or a problem, you will never get to enjoy that movie. Or that lunch with friends. So anyway, I like to read about successful people and how they were able to make it big, their habits. I also want to make it big someday ☺ Here's another article- 42 Successful People Share The Best Advice They Ever Received. Hope I can follow their advice. First thing I need to work on: Self-discipline nang bonggang-bongga.

* I came across this list on 9Gag- 20 Life Pleasures That Are Completely Underrated. I strongly agree with #1, 8, 15, 16 and 17.

So that's it for today. Wasn't able to spend (excessive) time on the internet, had to do grown-up stuff like go to the bank. And on that note, just wanted to say I already opened a TITF account! Yeyeyey! One down.

2014 Book Challenge: If We Kiss

I'm on a roll! I just finished another book today, also a book from the list, If We Kiss by Rachel Vail. It's really good to have a list to follow so I get to read books that I may have not chosen as it's not as popular as the other ones. I had If We Kiss in my library for quite some time now but I chose to read the books that were most recommended by my Goodreads friends.

It was a cute story and I liked it very much. Obviously. I was able to finish the book in a day and a half. But of course, that was all I did- read the book (kaya mejo nag-guilt trip na naman ako).

Charlotte, Charles to her friends, a self-confessed prude, has never been kissed. That is until one morning when, without any warning, Kevin Lazarus kissed her. So she has a huge crush on Kevin and now that he was her first kiss, she sort of plans to tell her best friend, Tess. But before she gets the chance, Tess sees Kevin kissing Tess. So even if, technically, she liked him first, she kept mum to Tess about kissing Kevin.

It was a very easy read for me. I loved reading Charles's thoughts, it's so relatable. I mean, we were all teenagers once and we all have experienced the feeling of having butterflies in our stomachs. Also that love-hate relationship with the object of our obsession, yung tipong "andito siya!!!! weee!!" one moment, then "ang kapal ng mukha niya, nauna ako sa kanya dito" the next. Isa lang msasabi ko sa mga ganyang statements- Guilty. Haha.

Charles and Kevin definitely have chemistry but Kevin is sort of in a relationship with her best friend. It's complicated, in other words. In my opinion, Kevin also likes Charles but he really does, why the hell did he kiss, of all people, her best friend? He reminds me of Alex of The Trouble With Flirting. Alex likes both girls and he can't decide which of the two he likes better and wants to keep both. Maybe Kevin is like him. But before all the bukingan happened, I was rooting for him. Just like Charles, I took George for granted.

The book has a follow-up novel, Kiss Me Again, which will be much more complicated. Kids nowadays, tsk tsk. So tempted to read this right after but Divergent will be showing already theaters next week so yun muna.

2014 Book Challenge: The Trouble with Flirting

{via Goodreads}

I enjoyed this book. My expectations for this book wasn't really that high since its title is The Trouble with Flirting, ya? What I got from the title that this would be a book about, you guessed it, flirting. There were lots of flirting, actually, but not coming from our lead character, Franny.

Okay, before I proceed with my non-review...

{via Goodreads}

Are these the same people? Oo, no? As I was perusing the YA shelves of National Bookstore, napa-second look talaga ako when I saw cover of The Trouble with Flirting because I thought it was familiar. I actually thought they just changed The Kissing Booth's title. Well, hindi. Aliw lang.

So back to regular programming... what I liked about this book- a love triangle! You know how much I love love triangles, no? So anyway, Franny gets a summer job, working as her aunt's assistant in a summer acting program's wardrobe department. At first Fanny thought her summer would suck as it would mean spending lots and lots of time spent with her cranky auntie, hemming skirts and sewing on buttons. And it would doubly suck because these kids in the program are her age and she can't join in on the fun. But in the world of fiction, everything is possible. So fate permits her to meet the participants and becomes good friends with them. She even evaded some work, hanging out with friends. But then again she's working for her aunt which made playing hooky easier.

Back to the love triangle. Franny sees Julia who she used to go to school with back in middle school. Julia's twin brother, Alex, is also in the program, who just happens to be Franny's crush way back in middle grade. Isabella and Harry, best friends and equally gorgeous, are also participants in this acting program. Harry is the crush ng bayan of the program and he knows it and flirts with just about anyone. Isabella, on the other hand, has her sights set on Alex. Harry likes Franny for realzzz but Franny thinks he's just playing her like he flirts with all the other girls and she's just waiting for Alex to give her the time of day.

ang gulo ano?

So yeah, I'm just really incoherent like dut. Anyway, I initially wanted Alex for Franny. I thought she was the good guy. Franny thought so, too. But towards the end, I started to like Harry also, maybe not more than Alex, but I was thinking that Franny would definitely have a hard time choosing between the two. Although at that time, it was Alex she really, really likes and thinks that Harry isn't serious at all. Only, Harry is. And Alex is also a little conflicted.

In the end, Franny chooses Harry. What makes Harry swoon-worthy? Well maybe we presume that he is the bad boy, so to speak, and bad boys are difficult to tie down. But we find out that Harry can change (or his flirting is just that, flirting, and nothing more) and that Alex isn't really what we thought he was. Not that Alex is a bad boy, he just can't make a decision and it is possible to like two things at a time. But who's to know if Franny and Harry were able to make their LDR work? For all we know their relationship might have remained just a summer fling. Okay, I will stop being a wet blanket here.

I liked it. I give it four stars. Actually, more like 3.5 stars because it wasn't boring and I'm tired of giving every book I read three-star ratings.

2014 Book Challenge: The Book of Broken Hearts

Because I want to read everything on the list, I picked up The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler. Although I didn't really enjoy Twenty Boy Summer, the first book I read written by Ockler, I still gave it a try because it has an almost 4-star rating in Goodreads and it is on the list. By hook or by crook, I will read everything in that list.

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It was Jude Hernandez's last summer of being a kid without worries, before she starts college and assumes being an adult living by herself. Supposedly. But Jude's dad is sick with a degenerative disease of the brain- Alzheimer's, so she somehow takes on the role of an adult a few months earlier than intended. 

I loved this book (waaay better than Twenty Boy Summer) because: 

1. I sort of can relate, having four sisters (three who are older than me just like Jude) and not in the love department (Ha).

I felt warm and safe in a way I hadn't with my sisters in a long time, and nothing would be easier than to stay here. To let them figure it all out, tell me what to do. To follow their rules.

I love my sisters and I do love the fact that I have four sisters, because there's always someone to make sumbong to. Haha. Pag inis ka dun sa isa, meron kang mapagbunbuntunan nang inis. And having sisters means I can live off their wardrobe, cosmetic leftovers, mooch off their shampoo and conditioner and depend on them in the absence of our parents. I think the reason why my mental growth is stunted is because I still consider myself the 'baby' of the family. Kahit hindi naman ako bunso. Feeling bunso. Retarded pa.

2. I loved Jude's relationship with her father. I consider myself as a daddy's girl and I sort of can feel her pain. It's not that my dad is in a similar situation ( I hope not and never will that happen), but I feel her sadness when I put myself in her shoes. I often say that I hope I die earlier than my parents do cos I don't think I can go through that. I liked how Jude took care of her father and not feeling like it was a chore, she willingly did it. She understood how very limited her time with her father is, that eventually all memories of her would be erased from his mind. I think I need to watch A Moment to Remember. I need a good cry.

3. Oh this is supposed to be mainly about the Vargas boys, right? So another thing I liked about this book is that Jude wasn't too excited to ride off to the horizon with the boy. She was really tempted but her love and concern for her father stumped the need for kilig. And after reading a handful of YA novels, these teenagers tend to make decisions using their hearts (and other body parts) over their heads. I also liked how Emiliio was very understanding of the situation. Well, I may have disliked him this one time when he told Jude to stop listening to her sisters and be her own person and to come with him on his trip. She didn't and I was very glad with her decision. I thought after that Emilio was gone for good. Apparently not. In fair, patience is one of Emilio's virtue. 

So yeah it was a nice read but then again maybe there's something about Ockler's writing style I don't really like because I must have spent, like, eleven days reading it. Parang I was not too excited to read about what's going to happen next? Eh I just picked up another book right after I finished reading this and I'm already done with it. I give it three stars. 

When you're young, you think you have so much time,

and then life comes and tomorrow turns into tomorrow,

and before you know it...

Current Obsession: The Walking Dead

I think I have ADD. Just last week I was obsessing over Beauty & the Beast but this week I am gushing over and truly obsessing over The Walking Dead. The difference with BATB, I have been watching TWD since it first came out, with the exception of the second season wherein I didn't watch until the third season was starting and Fox has this TWD marathon. I guess the first season sort of bored me and I wasn't all that excited for the second one. I blame the disinterest in the lack of a romantic angle. Ha ha. Sorry naman at zombie apocalypse na nga at love story pa rin ang inaatupag ko. So anyway, ever since TWD's third season, I have been hooked but I wait for it on cable, unlike with all the other series I watch which I download. I guess the additional characters were more likable? And of course, here's my favorite character

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Daryl Dixon! Of course I watch the series for all the zombie action but I swear this guy is one of the reasons why I watch it religiously. I love love love his character. He's just quiet, he's small on talk but big on action. And he's not power-hungry, you know. I mean, if he is (like The Governor), he could easily overtake Rick and assume leadership and we know he can but he doesn't which makes him swoon-worthy all the more. 

Anyway, forgive me for thinking that Daryl and Beth might be happening. Haha. See, I told you I am dying for a romantic angle to this series. I know there was Rick-Rick's bestfriend- Lori love triangle but I hated that because I am a moralist prude and hate home-wreckers. There also was Glenn and Maggi but I don't know, hindi ako masyado kinilig sa kanila. Maybe I like Daryl + Beth because they are an unlikely pair, don't you think? 

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So I've been reading some blogs and articles about TWD (because I am that obsessed with this series right now) and looks like Daryl and Beth aren't happening in a romantic kind of way- what they have, supposedly, is a stronger platonic relationship. 

But I can settle with that. It's just that they have chemistry, y'all. And I thought I was the only one who gets kilig over them. Apparently, not. See, hindi naman ako malisyosa. Marami rin namang na-feel ang romantic potential nila. But this isn't over yet and I am super duper excited for the last two episodes, although I am very disappointed with Daryl and Beth's cut-short bonding session. I am heavily emotionally-invested on this series and I realized that on that episode when Hershel was killed. I was crying. Bawling, actually. I am saddened by the diminishing sense of humanity. That's the same reason why I stopped watching Game of Thrones after the first season. I still watch TWD because it gives me hope that there are still some good people left and I'd take them no matter how self-righteous and preachy they are (diba, Rick Grimes?) over the mean ones.

Beth and Daryl got separated last night. Initially I thought Beth got scared and left Daryl alone. But then I realized they got to the house by foot, meaning where the hell did the car come from. Just found out from TWD articles that Beth was abducted. Seriously, I can't fathom the fact that in times of distress such as an zombie apocalypse, there still are people who will take advantage of the situation, take advantage of other people. I mean, can't we just get all along and have a united front against the real enemy- the zombies.

TRUE DAT.

Whatever. I can't wait for the last two episodes. Please not too bitin. 

Cos I'm Missing You

It's a whole new month- it's already March! Just trying to multi-task here- reading, watching a Korean series, typing a contract and reading on book reviews on Goodreads. So just wanted to post something here, something I found while skimming through book reviews~

It's CHUCK & SARAH!!!

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This is the series' final episode, if I'm not mistaken. Actually, I think this is the last scene of the final episode. Gaaahd, I loved that series and I miss it so so so much. Kahit nakatilod, alam kong si Chuck Bartowski yan sa kulot pa lang ng buhok.