Yearly Archives: 2009

Booked

Sweethearts (Sara Zarr)

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Rating: [rate 4.0]

Sweethearts by Sara ZarrAs children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts. They were also one another’s only friend. So when Cameron disappears without warning, Jennifer thinks she’s lost the only person who will ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she’s popular, happy, and dating, everything “Jennifer” couldn’t be—but she still can’t shake the memory of her long-lost friend.

When Cameron suddenly reappears, they are both confronted with memories of their shared past and the drastically different paths their lives have taken.

From the National Book Award nominated author of Story of a Girl, Sweethearts is a story about the power of memory, the bond of friendship, and the quiet resilience of our childhood hearts.

At first I thought this was going to be another YA novel with high school problems between new friends and an old friend showing up, an image to protect and a happily-ever-after in the end, but as I read through the novel, it wasn’t anything like that. It was set in a high school, and there were new friends versus the old one, but oh, there was so much more things into the story that when I initially expected.

First off, Jennifer/Jenna was bullied back in elementary because of her speech problem and her weight. In the midst of all these, she found a friend in Cameron Quick, who was as much as a loner as she is. They had a lot of good times together, except for her ninth birthday at Cameron’s house, which continues to haunt her even as she grew up. Then Cameron disappears and everyone told her that he was dead. It was then Jennifer decided that her old self would be buried with Cameron, and she emerges as Jenna. Then Cameron returns and Jenna is forced to face her past, face her present and finally own up to who she really was and how important Cameron is to her.

The book has a haunting feeling, like there was a past that they all couldn’t run away from. Some of the characters were annoying (example Ethan, Jenna’s boyfriend), but they felt like real people as the story goes on. The conflict that Jenna goes through inside felt real and raw, and I wanted so much for her to choose Cameron and for them to conquer their past. There was just the right amount of angst in the book, and it’s not even the shallow angst but the kind that stems from a troubled past.

And like I mentioned in the first paragraph, the book doesn’t have the typical happy ending. It was sad, but poignant, and the ending certainly illustrated that love and friendship between two people can survive the distance and time and can change a person in more ways than one. :)

I finish this review off with my favorite quote in the book:

Because love, love is never finished. It circles and circles, the memories out of order and not always complete.

Booked

The Book of Luke (Jenny O'Connell)

Rating: [rate 2.0]

The Book of Luke (Jenny O'Connell)Emily Abbott has always been considered the Girl Most Likely to Be Nice — but lately being nice hasn’t done her any good. Her parents have decided to move the family from Chicago back to their hometown of Boston in the middle of Emily’s senior year. Only Emily’s first real boyfriend, Sean, is in Chicago, and so is her shot at class valedictorian and early admission to the Ivy League. What’s a nice girl to do?

Then Sean dumps Emily on moving day and her father announces he’s staying behind in Chicago “to tie up loose ends,” and Emily decides that what a nice girl needs to do is to stop being nice.

She reconnects with her best friends in Boston, Josie and Lucy, only to discover that they too have been on the receiving end of some glaring Guy Don’ts. So when the girls have to come up with something to put in the senior class time capsule, they know exactly what to do. They’ll create a not-so-nice reference guide for future generations of guys — an instruction book that teaches them the right way to treat girls.

But when her friends draft Emily to test out their tips on Luke Preston — the hottest, most popular guy in school, who just broke up with Josie by email — Emily soon finds that Luke is the trickiest of test subjects . . . and that even a nice girl like Emily has a few things to learn about love.

(Spoilers in the review)

I was curious about this book because Amazon recommended it to me while I was checking out Sarah Dessen books on the website. I’ve been on the lookout for YA fiction for a while now and this seemed quite interesting so I picked it up.

The premise is quite interesting: Super nice girl Emily’s life is torn apart when she learns that she has to move back to Boston in the middle of her senior year in Chicago. She’s “super nice” because she’s supposed to be, being the daughter of the etiquette queen. When things go all wrong for her, she decides she’s done being nice.

Emily and her friends take the hottest guy in school, Luke, who is also a jerk who broke up with Emily’s friend Josie through email, as their guinea pig for their school time capsule contribution, which is a list of do’s and don’ts for guys. After that, things went downhill: obviously Emily would fall for Luke as she tests their theories on him, and he would find out about all of it. I’m surprised I managed to read it all until the end, which frankly, was getting a lot boring.

The Emily character was interesting at first, but somewhere along the way she became flat and uninteresting. She decided not to be nice because being nice didn’t make things work out for her, yes, but I kind of expected her to be more mature and all, being an intelligent high school senior running for valedictorian and wanting to go into Brown. Somehow being un-nice wasn’t for “revenge” on her family isn’t that believable. Luke was a bit more interesting than she is, because he had this weird vibe all throughout the book. Josie and Lucy were the stereotype friends, and honestly, there were too little interesting characters in the background. Oh, and the sex in the story didn’t really help the plot, except to probably make things worse for Emily and Josie in the end.

It would have been in an interesting book, but it fell short on the character and plot development factor. I’d have to agree with what one reviewer said, though. Despite the characters being slightly flat, the scenes between Luke and Emily were well-written. I just kind of wish there was something more about their characters.

Big, Fun and Scary Things, Dear Diary

First Work Week of 2009

The first work week is over — yay. Just as how I used to feel back when I was in school, the first week always felt like it lasted forever. It wasn’t bad, really, just tiring, and it takes some time for me to get my bearings especially with other things that I have set out to do this year. I know it’s bound to get busier, but I just need to take it one day at a time. Deep breaths. Heh. I swear, I have to stop thinking about my to-do list so I won’t get stressed. :P

Oh, but a little Big, Fun and Scary Things to do for 2009 update first:

  • Wordplay‘s still ongoing and I just finished writing #9. I end up using my NaNoWriMo 2008 characters so much, which is good because I get to see them in other situations. It’s also bad because I can’t seem to get them out of the situations I’ve put them in back when I was still writing the novel. Hm.
  • I finished reading my second (e)book for the year, That Summer by Sarah Dessen. I’d review all the ebooks I read, but I’d really rather review them when I have the actual book in my hand, which I am planning to buy, especially if it’s Sarah Dessen. 48 more books to go!
  • I’ll be off to Batangas on January 24, so yay! It’s not really a new location to travel to, but I haven’t been to the resort. :P Haha this should be fun. I want to schedule s trip somewhere up North this year though, other than Baguio. Maybe Ilocos? :)
  • Cors and I checked out the boxing gym near the office and the price is pretty good. We just have to figure out a boxing schedule. :) I’ve been watching what I am eating and although it’s not really a diet, I’m eating less rice in the day, more fiber in the morning and generally less sweets. Now I need to get moving — literally — if I want to shed some of these flabs off so I won’t have to wear corsets when I need to have a figure. :P
  • And finally, I’ve been discussing stuff with my dad and I’m seriously thinking of getting an MBA. It’s funny how I am thinking about that now, especially since I did not want to have anything to do with business related courses back in college, but now I’m actually thinking about it. I think that it would really be interesting and useful and fun, especially if I plan to stay longer where I am (and actually get to climb the corporate ladder…erm haha I never thought I’d say that heh). But let’s see. :)
  • I’ll be meeting up with an old friend in a couple of weeks and I can’t wait. Must plan stuff with other friends too, and visit the alma mater to see the new faces of YFC. :D
  • Oh and finally, for the past week, I’ve been at work as early as eight in the morning and the latest I’ve been at work was last Wednesday when I had a meeting. I get restless when I stay longer than 8 hours already, plus I’ve managed to go home with the sun still out for the past week. Miracle. Haha, I hope I can keep this up. :)

I think that pretty much sums it up for now. :) Now it’s Friday, but I’m feeling sleepy already, and we have a wedding to go to tomorrow. Happy weekend everyone!

In His Steps

Perfect Love

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One of my favorite verses about love is on today’s first reading:

There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear, for fear has to do with punishment; those who fear do not know perfect love. (1 John 4:18)

Sometimes, when I think of love (especially the romantic one) objectively (which is how I think of it, more often than not, heh), it’s very easy to see it all in a straight line — I’d do this, I’d do that, I won’t do that he did and I will never do what she it. You know, like linear motion. But when I hear and read stories from other people about love, I realize yet again that it’s not always black and white. If anything, it’s full of gray areas. Crossroads. Both roads seem the right thing to do, but which is really the most loving thing?

You know how people often wonder how you’d know if you love another person? Well, I think that verse up there is really the answer. I remember back in college, when we would have these kinds of discussion, we’d often bring up what St. Paul said to the Corinthians:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

We’d often say that when you can replace all instances of “love” there with your name (unless of course, your name is Love), that’s, well, love. But that verse only describes what love is and love makes us do, which I know once a person loves someone, they’re really willing to do all these, no matter how difficult it is. But how about when you’re not sure if you love the person already?

I think I may be going in circles there but hear me out a bit. How would you know if it is love? Maybe when you don’t feel any fear, just as what the verse states. Maybe it’s when you think of the future with that person and although it’s very uncertain, you feel secure, knowing that you’ll have someone. When you think about jumping and making a risk, you feel afraid but you still do it anyway, knowing everything will be all right in the end. Maybe it’s when you’re secure with yourself and in the person, knowing that no matter what happens, no matter how you look, no matter how chaotic everything else around is, even if the world is ending, the person will still be there, loving you.

It’s a tall order. And more often than not, people fail. But that’s why we just have to keep on trying, right?

Bringing it closer to home and in a non-romantic way, perfect love is there when:

  • a mother calls to console their scared daughter about her upcoming thesis defense, and tell her that it will be okay no matter what the outcome is.
  • a father tells his tired and worn out sophomore teen that they will finish the project on time, even if he is very tired himself.
  • a brother takes the time to cook for his sick sister and make her drink her medicines even if she feels like she’s getting worse.
  • a brother goes out of his way to meet his sister at a mall and bring her laptop to the service center to have the adapter fixed, and then drop his sister off to the dorm on commute just to make sure she gets back safe.
  • friends listen to another friend who finally takes a step away from a destructive habit and promises no judgment.

Perfect love drives out fear. And God is love. Ergo, God drives out fear. :) Comforting, isn’t it?

Wherever you are, whatever you are going through right now, may you find peace in God’s love. :)

Big, Fun and Scary Things, Dear Diary

Oh, Saturday

So it was a lazy Saturday for me, which kind of made up for the fact that I was out almost all day yesterday. I still feel like I wasted this day a lot, but then again, who knows when I’ll be able to have a relaxing (not to mention very chilly) Saturday holiday again?

Anyway. What have I been doing since yesterday?

  • Worked on wordplay entries. I knew writing a piece for 365 days is crazy and difficult, but the first day felt like pulling teeth. The next two days were easier, but I have a feeling it’s only because I was doing it at an earlier time. I wonder how it’d be once I get back to work. I’m thinking I should set some rules on this, like how many excuses I am allowed to have, and how many misses…I don’t want to feel like I’m cheating myself though. So it won’t be 365 pieces anymore. Hm. Let’s see how long I can hold out. :p Oh, and if anything, I have no idea what to write about tomorrow.
  • Watched Baler with Happy yesterday. :) It’s a loooong movie, but it’s pretty good. I’m no movie expert, but I enjoyed it. I still prefer romantic comedies and animation, though. I got to watch Bolt that night when I got home, so that’s 2 movies out of the 25 I told myself I’d watch this year. I want to watch Dayo.
  • Again, yesterday was a day out with my parents and Happy. My parents and I heard mass at Megamall (love their Atrium!), then ate at Eat and Go (I might write a review sometime, if I feel like it haha) and then shopped. I love shopping with my parents, I get so many free stuff. Then Happy and I watched a movie, ate at Yogurbud, talked about Chuck ♥ and dinner at Amici. Great day. :)
  • Today, I stayed home and watched The 4400 all day. I’m on Season 3 already, and it’s starting to get really interesting. I just have to stop spoiling myself with Wikipedia entries. :P

Tomorrow’s the last day of vacation, and somehow I still don’t feel like going to work on Monday. I know everyone’s saying the same thing on Plurk, so I really echo your sympathies. Heh. I found it really weird that last year I was looking forward to going to work, and now I just want to stay at home and be on vacation, even if I’d end up watching TV and reading most of the time. Maybe it’s because I feel the incoming stress? Bleh. Think positively.

Tomorrow there’s a high school reunion (which I heard that there might be some fishy stuff that might happen, hmm) and I’m planning to go, provided my other friends go too. Hm, now I think I might have something for wordplay tomorrow. :P

Hm. And I want to go to Tagaytay before this chilly weather disappears.

Anyway, it’s getting late and I should start sleeping already if I want to change my body clock. Haha. One more episode of The 4400 before I sleep. :D Enjoy the last day of vacation everyone!

Big, Fun and Scary Things

Big, Fun and Scary Things to do for 2009

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HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I spent the first day of 2008 in Ortigas, where we watched Manila being covered in smoke from all the fireworks as 12 midnight approached. My parents and I headed to the condo’s roof top to watch the fireworks at midnight and the people who were with us were singing Auld Lang Syne as we stood in the slight drizzle.

Yes, that’s me trying to be descriptive. I suck, I know.

Anyway, as with what I did last year and as with what I posted yesterday, it’s time again to set goals and resolutions for 2009! I’m naming this one the Big, Fun and Scary Things to do for 2009. I’m using this post to make it official because this year I intend to join the worldwide challenge (click that link to know more!) that Chris Baty, NaNoWriMo founder started two years ago. Nothing like having an entire group of people doing the same thing to motivate me to actually do these things. :P

  • Write a piece of fiction everyday for 2009. I figured at the end of 2008 that I really missed writing, and I felt that I can only be better at writing if I practice. So to help me with that, I have started wordplay, my writing blog for this purpose. It’s proving to be a difficult challenge already — I’ve been trying to write my first piece in the past hour and it feels like pulling teeth. T_T
  • Lose at least 3 inches and/or 20 pounds. Ah yes, the weight loss goal. I figure to support this, I’ve got to be more drastic: I’ll be writing down what I eat everyday in my planner, and will be really serious with my boxing/exercise. Cors! Game?
  • Finish my 2008 Novel. I really want to do this, I swear. This is one novel that I knew I should finish. And besides, I promised Julie. Now if only I can finish that outline…
  • 100 Nanowrimo winners for our region in 2009! Last year, I wanted to increase the participation of the region. This year I want to get 100 winners for the region. :D We can do this, right?
  • Read 50 books in 2009. I managed to reach 44 last year, and I think I would have been able to reach 50 if I didn’t stop reading in the middle of the year. This year, I swear I’ll get that number. I also added a twist to this goal: 25 books should be books I’ve never read before, and 5 should be classics. :D
  • Watch 25 movies in 2009. I’m not much of a movie watcher, so most of the time I feel left out when people talk about movies. This year, let’s try to change that. :D Fireproof movie seems interesting; I wonder if this will be shown here.
  • Travel. This is a given. :P I’m eying Baguio this February (the last time I’ve been there was when I was 12!), another beach place in the summer and hopefully Hong Kong within the year. :)
  • Bake a double layer cake and/or apple pie. Self-explanatory. :D
  • Drive by myself. Again, for the nth time. I swear, I should do that this year.
  • Submit a written work somewhere. I’m not so sure how I’d do this, but I’m going to try. I hope this gives me courage to enroll in writing classes. And speaking of…
  • Enroll in some classes — either writing or anything web related or even something entirely new.
  • Prepare for graduate school application. I’m seriously considering going back to school (see previous bullet), so I’m going to start scouting this year. I can start by the next school year, God willing, but if not, I can start preparing this year.

My dad told me yesterday that these were goals and not New Year’s Resolutions, but I told him having goals seem easier and I can form my resolutions around them. But just for kicks (and for old time’s sake), here are my 2009 resolutions (which might be the resolution of other people too haha):

  • Pray more. 2008 was a rollercoaster for my spiritual life and I know 2009 will e the same, but still, I’d like to revive my prayer life again. I just have to keep on trying no matter how hard it is. This includes the first Wednesday and Friday masses and confession.
  • Go to work early and leave work early. I was known as the office girl last year because of all my commitments at work. This year though, I’m going to cut back on that. I enjoyed them, yes, but this year, I’m putting myself first. I’m going to stop going to work at 10 and start going to work at 8, so I can go home at 5 and have enough time to work on my other goals and to-do’s outside of work. I need to start taking care of myself again, you know. I will only stay at work for more than 8 hours if I absolutely have to, otherwise, I’m out of there.
  • Take care of myself more. This is quite ambiguous, but I figured I’d have to start taking care of myself because…well, I need to. Which means, more time for myself, my family and the things I love to do. Yes, this involves pampering and shopping. :P
  • Be healthier. This supports my second bullet up there. I swear, I’ll do better this time.
  • Keep in touch/get back in touch with old friends. I’ve mentioned this a lot of times: I suck at keeping in touch. This year I’m going to try (yet again) to catch up with old friends (so friends, let’s go out!).
  • Better time management. With all these commitments and, I’ve definitely learned that I need to manage my time more wisely!

I think that’s it? Goal-setting has always inspired me, and I find it really fun (yet intimidating) to do. But I love the feeling of being new, regardless of how much I accomplished last year. The important thing is that we try, no matter how many times we fail. After all, He makes all things new. :)

Happy 2009 everyone! May this year bring more blessings and make all of us the persons we want to be. :) *cheers*