February Reading Challenge (Kind of)

After finishing my last book for the month of January, an idea just randomly popped in my head while I was deciding what book to read next. With the "Love Month" just hours away, I thought, "Why not read contemporary young adult or new adult romance books all throughout the month of February?' So, that was the plan... Contemporary and Romance books all month long.Until I decided to tweak the initial idea into another plan -  to read as many books as I can with the word "LOVE" on the title (regardless of the genre).

I know most of you probably has a February TBR List already, but if you want to join me, feel free. There are no official sign ups or anything like that. All you have to do is read a book with "Love" on the title, keep track of what you read, and share away. There are no restrictions to the challenge. Just to read as many "Love" books as you can. (Disclaimer: This was just a random last minute idea. I do not know if there has been or there is currently a reading challenge with the same idea as this one. If there was or there is, I have no intention of copying it.) 

NBS EVENTS: Victoria Aveyard Book Signing Tour

Yes, people! Your eyes are not deceiving you. National Book Store is once again bringing another beloved author to the Philippines to make a lot of Filipino fans happy. On March this year, prepare yourselves (and your wallet) for the arrival of the Red Queen author, Victoria Aveyard.

What: Victoria Aveyard Book Signing Tour

When: March 5, 2016, 1 p.m.

Where: The Gallery, Ayala Center Cebu

When: March 6, 2016, 2 p.m.

Where: National Book Store, Glorietta 1

For full details of the event and the discussion,

here's the link to the National Book Store event's page

But if you're too lazy to click and wait for another page to load, just read on.

Books of 2015 and A Look Towards 2016

Before anything else, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I know, I know... It's almost a month since 2016 started. But better late than never, right?

If you read my previous blog post, you probably know that I've been very busy last year. In fact, back in January, I already anticipated this and set my 2015 Goodreads Reading Challenge to only 30 books. Compared to my 50 last 2014, and 75 last 2013, that's not very promising. But at least I did not deprive myself of reading novels.

So, here it is - the rundown of every book I bought or read last year, and the things I would like to accomplish this 2016.

That "Random Post" explaining everything...

It is that time of the year again where we look back to the things we accomplished, paths and adventures we took, and of course, the books we have read for the past twelve months. This year has been one hell of roller coaster ride for me. It is the year of many accomplishments and a few downfalls. Nevertheless, it has been one great year. Despite the many hardships and problems encountered, I can still say I faced them proudly (although not very gracefully).

This blog post will generally be about the pressing issue the bothers me the most… my absence and the complete silence in my little blog. Yes, I was away, and I am truly and terribly sorry for not being able to post reviews or book hauls for the past few months. As I have said, many things have happened in the past couple of months (which you will know in a little while if you continue to read this blog post). I do not know how I will be able to manage reading, writing reviews, responding to comments and being up to date with all the bookish stuff while thinking of school requirements, studying for the boards and all that important life stuff that will help build your career in the future. So again, I apologize and thank everyone who came to visit the blog when I was away.

When January 2015 came, I knew I had to make a very difficult decision to leave the blog unattended for a while. I will be graduating on March, and I will be taking a professional board examination a few months after. To cut things short, I will be very busy studying and I really need to focus. Thankfully, I was able to graduate last March 2015, and I passed the Board Examination last October 2015. It took months, years even, of hard work, sleepless nights, a lot of sacrifice (Oh, the horror of not being able to read novels because of exams and recitations!), and heart-felt prayers. And now, I finally did it.

That is the main reason why I was not able to blog for several months. I was very busy, and I swear it hurts to see the blog very quiet. Also, the number of books I've read this year disappoints me (I will tell all about that in another post). However, I am back, and I am ready for another year (I think). Hopefully, my 2016 in the blogosphere will be way better than 2015.

To all those people who visited, followed, read, commented or whatever you did, thank you! May your new year be better than the last. And HELLO all the way from the Philippines.

Stacking The Shelves (10): Extended Edition

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! Hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

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Hello!

Welcome to my Stacking the Shelves post, the Extended Edition! Why "extended", you ask? Well, because I realized that it has been 364 days since I last shared my weekly/monthly book haul. I missed a lot of times to share the new books I bought and received. So now, I am sharing all the books I got from November 2014 to March 2015 (I did not get anything this April, Sad.).

Here they are...

NBS Book Signing Events (Mid 2015)

For the past years, National Book Store has been graciously bringing authors to the Philippines for book signing events and blogger forums. They have brought both Ransom Riggs and Tahereh Mafi, Veronica Rossi, Gayle Forman, Jennifer E. Smith, Jenny Han, Mitch Albom, Marie Lu and a lot more authors closer to their Filipino fans. And although it is extremely frustrating that I haven't attended any of these book signing events (not even once), there is still that exciting thought that, for a moment, we are all in the same time zone, stepping on the same land, breathing the same air, and all that cheesy stuff you say to try and convince yourself to get over that crappy feeling of not being there.

This coming June and July, four beloved authors are coming to the Philippines to meet some of their Filipino fans and grant them the privilege of having their books signed. We have National Book Store to thank for that.

So, who are we (we does not include me, probably) going to meet this coming months? Drum roll, please...

SUMMER READS: Mini Reviews

It's officially summer in the Philippines. It has been for almost a month now. And that means no school, no homework, and no annoying exams (happy dance!). And thus, more time to sleep, read and binge watch movies and television series.

I don't know about you guys,but I'm seeing "summer reads" all around, and whenever I hear that or anything similar, the first thing that comes to my mind are the contemporary/realistic young adult books. Yes, the YA Contemporaries in general - not limited to those beach reads. Although I read a wide variety of YAs every summer, I think majority of the books I have read are contemporaries. And right now, all that I have read since the last day of school are books like that.

The three most recent books I have read just a few days ago are:

Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby

Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys by Kate Brian

Aimee and the Heartthrob by Ophelia London

Three contemporary romances with three very different themes.

The NEW FACE of Jace

If you’ve been following the Shadowhunter/TMI updates for the past couple of months, I’m sure it’s not a surprise to you that Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series has been given a second chance - second chance to prove to people how insanely badass the story is and another chance to redeem itself.

As a fan of the series, I can’t tell you how both extremely excited and nervous I was when it was announced years ago that they were going to make a movie out of the books. Finally, the Shadowhunters and friends (especially the famous glittery warlock) will be personified. But as the casting went on, my excitement deflated. I was having a hard time picturing some of the characters playing their respective roles. But I tried to have faith with the people behind the movie. I convinced myself that they know what they were doing.  And the movie came out after a few months. I did not expect much, but I was still a little bummed that it was not as good as I wanted it to be. I guess it was okay. It’s not one of those movies that I would gush about for days and force my friend to watch.

Then, the news broke out that The Mortal Instruments series will be made into a television series. Well, for me, that is definitely good news. There’s a chance that the story will be closer to the books, and the story won’t be rushed because you have an entire season (and more seasons to come, hopefully) to map out the plot. Aside from that, another thing to be excited about is the new cast. Yay!

*ignore the TMI back story and fast forward to the casting news*

DOMINIC SHERWOOD will be the new JACE!!!

I am not really a fan of Dom Sherwood. You might have seen him on Vampire Academy playing Lissa’s love interest, and on Taylor Swift’s Style music video. He’s okay, but not the picture of Jace I had in mind.  There’s actually no vivid picture of Jace in my head. Hahahahaha! Anyway, after I found out about the casting, I searched for pictures and videos of him.  The pictures were “hmmm… no comment” (he’s appearance is similar to Robert Pattinson, and I don’t like Rob), but the videos I’ve seen were pretty good. Maybe it was his charm, or the British accent, or maybe even his different colored eyes. Whatever it is, there was something that told me he might play Jace well. There might be chance that he’s Jace after all.

Right now, I'm sure my Shadowhunter friends are waiting for the next casting news. *fingers crossed*

Random Note: This is my first post this 2015. I miss doing this!!!