What to do when a book haunts you

I can’t remember how I found out about it exactly, but the other day I found out that Jasper Fforde’s new novel is out. After almost two years from his last novel, First Among Sequels, Jasper Fforde is finally back with a new novel, Shades of Grey.

Now, I’m pretty much of a blind follower whenever I say that I love this specific author, and even if the book isn’t that stellar, the book will still find its way to my bookshelf because, well, it’s my favorite author. Then again, how can you not be even the tiniest bit curious about this book after you’ve read this blurb?

Shades of Grey by Jasper FfordePart social satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller, Shades of Grey tells of a battle against overwhelming odds. In a society where the ability to see the higher end of the color spectrum denotes a better social standing, Eddie Russet belongs to the low-level House of Red and can see his own color—but no other. The sky, the grass, and everything in between are all just shades of grey, and must be colorized by artificial means.

Eddie’s world wasn’t always like this. There’s evidence of a never-discussed disaster and now, many years later, technology is poor, news sporadic, the notion of change abhorrent, and nighttime is terrifying: no one can see in the dark. Everyone abides by a bizarre regime of rules and regulations, a system of merits and demerits, where punishment can result in permanent expulsion.

Eddie, who works for the Color Control Agency, might well have lived out his rose-tinted life without a hitch. But that changes when he becomes smitten with Jane, a Grey Nightseer from the dark, unlit side of the village. She shows Eddie that all is not well with the world he thinks is just and good. Together, they engage in dangerous revolutionary talk.

Stunningly imaginative, very funny, tightly plotted, and with sly satirical digs at our own society, this novel is for those who loved Thursday Next but want to be transported somewhere equally wild, only darker; a world where the black and white of moral standpoints have been reduced to shades of grey.

And would you look at that pretty cover?

Earlier today, I went to Fully Booked in Eastwood to see if they have a copy. The thing with Jasper Fforde’s books (and other books for that matter) is they bring out the hardbound version first and release the paperback a year later. I’m not much of a fan of hardbound books (more to that on another post), so I was ready to wait for the paperback version for this even if it meant reading it a year later.

But, surprise surprise, Fully Booked Eastwood has the paperback copy of the UK edition (pictured above). It costs Php699.00.

Now there goes my dilemma. I have a dangerously low EQ on books, especially on books from my favorite author. Case in point, a few days before Christmas, I was bored, so I went to Fully Booked and found a copy of Fire by Kristin Cashore. It was the trade paperback edition, meaning it’s a bigger copy and it couldn’t fit the normal bag I bring around. But I wanted to get the book so I ended up buying it. I was planning to buy the copy of her other book, Graceling from the same publisher so it would look prettier on my shelf, but when I saw the last copy of the book in National Bookstore in Galleria, I swiped it and now I have that copy.

See? Terribly low EQ on books.

But I digress. My dilemma was this: I wanted the book, but payday isn’t until Friday. Plus, Eastwood is going to be on sale starting Friday so I’m betting there will be a 20% discount from the book, bringing the price down to Php 550+.

But I really, really want the book. :( And Friday is so far away. :(

I was thisclose to buying it earlier (and influenced my teammate to want the book too) because I was afraid that someone else would buy the book before we do. But my wallet was screaming at me for even thinking about buying a book now that money is short, and I can’t just ignore its screams you know?

But the book was really haunting me! :(

So my teammate and I decided to ask if we can reserve the book there and get it on Friday. We talked to the Fully Booked people and normally, they only reserve for three days, but since we’re sure to get the book on Friday, they decided to hold it for us until Friday.

OMG YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Book haunting has stopped! It’s almost as good as owning the book! And my wallet is happy! :)

And I totally, totally love Fully Booked (even more than the most effective diet pills) now. ♥

Now if only I can find a copy of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

This is a whole new reason to look forward to this Friday, yes?

2010 TBR Challenge

January is the best time to set goals and join challenges, so even if I already have a personal reading challenge for 2010, I thought of joining another one. I figure it’s got no harm to join a reading challenge on top of what I have because it just adds to the books on the first one.

So here is my list for the 2010 To Be Read (TBR) Challenge. Here are the instructions for this challenge, taken from the link above:

** Pick 12 books – one for each month of the year – that you’ve been wanting to read (that have been on your “To Be Read” list) for 6 months or longer, but haven’t gotten around to.

** OPTIONAL: Create a list of 12 “Alternates” (books you could substitute for your challenge books, given that a particular one doesn’t grab you at the time)

** Then, starting January 1, read one of these books from your list each month, ending December 31. )

(Click the link above for more details and an FAQ)

This should put some structure in my picking of books, kind of like how using a posguys barcode scanner has specific instructions. :) Here’s my list:

  1. Persuasion by Jane Austen
  2. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
  3. The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
  4. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
  5. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
  6. Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light by Mother Teresa, edited by Brian Kolodjiechuk
  7. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
  8. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  9. Peter Pan by JM Barrie
  10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  11. A Room With a View by EM Forster
  12. Where Angels Fear to Tread by EM Forster

If you’ll notice, most of them are classics — how else would I get myself to read classics if I don’t put them in a challenge like this, right? ;) I haven’t got an alternate list for this one yet, but I have a feeling I’ll do the same — put classics in, if only to force myself to read them. :P

Let’s see how this will go, shall we? I’ve just started on Persuasion — I should start reading a couple of pages a day to really get into the story. :P

A Fantasy Filled 2010

If I would look through my bookshelf right now, one can’t help but notice the abundance of pinks, purples and greens on them, with titles that are, more often than not, very girly.

Yes, this is the part where I admit: I am a fluffy reader.

I don’t know how it started, but I fell in love with chick literature as I was discovering books beyond my Sweet Valley and Animorphs collection. I was enamored with empowered women who get into various scrapes and situations and emerge triumphant in the end. It came to a point that whenever I go to the bookstore, I always look for these brightly colored books, and ignore everything else.

Because of this love for “fluffy” literature, I end up writing more fluff than the usual. My three works in progress for NaNoWriMo (2006, 2008 and 2009) are all of the chick lit genre, and my fellow writers know about my love for all things fluff. I even have chick lit writing manuals at home, to help me write.

However, sometime in 2009, I suddenly felt tired of writing my story. I read through some of the synopsis of my other friends who were writing fantasy and felt a certain kind of envy for those with stories that are, quite literally, out of this world.

But that was the thing: I don’t read fantasy novels as much as other people do. The Lord of the Rings? Just watched the movie, no interest in reading the books. The Chronicles of Narnia? I have the books but haven’t started reading it. I read Harry Potter, but it was easy reading despite its fantasy genre. Give me other fantasy stories and I’ll just give you a blank look. Sorry, I don’t read it.

So in 2010, I decided to change my writing habits and venture into a new genre, to spice up my writing life. I decided (and declared, so I’m accountable to it) that I will be writing a fantasy novel for NaNoWriMo 2010.

Now here comes the big but: I don’t know how to write one.

Sure, it’s pretty much imagination and anyone can write a fantasy story…but I don’t know how fantasy novels usually go. If I try to write my story now, I’d probably end up writing it like how I write my chick lit ones. So how to prepare?

Read fantasy novels.

So as a part of my 2010 reading goals, I decided to read at least 20 fantasy novels for the year. 20 should be a good number, nothing too overwhelming, and I’ll be able to get a few ideas on how these stories are written so I could write mine. I can read more, of course, but I don’t want to burden myself…plus I still need my fluffy book fix. ;)

I already finished two fantasy novels (review to follow soon!), and I’ve got…about three more in my list. I look forward to adding more to my to be read pile, and discover new worlds in pages that I have yet to crack.

Care to recommend a fantasy novel my way? :)

Reading Challenges

Books (c/o sxc.hu)When the year 2007 ended, I made a big realization: I hardly read books for that entire year. It sank in during National Novel Writing Month of 2007, where I had a hard time writing my story because I had a hard time finding the words, and the only thing different for that year was I hardly made a dent on any of my to-be-read pile.

I think the main reason why I didn’t read as much then was because of work…oh, and maybe laziness. So, I figured, as 2008 came, that I will set a reading goal to motivate myself.

I set out to read 50 books in 2008. I also added a reviewing resolution, to review half of the books I’ve read. I didn’t reach my goal to read 50 books, mainly because I got lazy again by the middle of the year. I managed to review a lot of them, though.

In 2009, I set out to reach the 50 book challenge again, and this time I was determined to meet my goal. And I did — I think I managed to reach the 50 goal by mid-2009, but I didn’t stop reading then. I read up to 70 books last year, the highest number of books I’ve read in a year.

In 2010, I thought of bringing it up a notch. So, my 2010 reading challenge is:

Read 100 books within the year.

I managed to reach 70 last year, why not add 30 more? :) I think it’s pretty doable, and I don’t think I’ll be having my nose buried inside a book for the entire year.

I also had to add a bit of specification on this challenge, to prepare myself for National Novel Writing Month 2010:

Read 20 fantasy books.

Believe me, I don’t read fantasy books as much as I should. I’m more of a chicklit book lover…but let’s put that in another post.

And another specification:

Read 10 classic books.

I hardly read classic books too, and again…that will be for another post. :P

So one more time, my reading goal for 2010:

Read 100 books, 20 of which should be fantasy, and 10 should be classics.

So what about you? What are your reading goals for 2010?

Wait, one more page!

I’ll sleep now…but wait, just one more page…

Okay I’ll start doing ______, but after I finish reading one more page…

I can’t possibly stop reading this now…maybe one more page…

Yep, it’s always been my excuse, which is probably why I end up procrastinating most of the time, or sleep late, or be late at some things. I always just have to read one more page before I close the book…before I know it, I have read one more and more…and I totally forgot the thing I was supposed to do after reading that page.

Oh wait, let me introduce myself.

Hi, I’m Tina. :) I’m 23 years old as of this post, and I work at a multinational company as a web specialist. I also own a couple more websites/blogs, with my personal blog, Refine Me, being the oldest among all. I like cats, stars, nice pens and notebooks, going on trips with friends…and what else? Oh, yeah, of course, I like to read.

My love affair with books started when I first saw a Sweet Valley Kids book from my Grade 3 classmate and got curious about it. After finishing my first Sweet Valley book, I started acquiring more…and more…and before I knew it, the bookstore became my type of candy store.

Suffice to say, I love books. I’ve been meaning to start a book blog for a while, but I never started it because I put whatever blogging about books I have on my main blog. However, after much thinking, I realized that sometimes my main blog gets occupied by more book reviews than normal posts. In 2010, I wanted to have some sort of division for my personal blog and the books…so here, a book blog. :)

What to expect here? Other than my book reviews (looking for cleanse smart reviews? No, not here), I’ll talk about book sales, book releases, reading tips and anything and everything related to reading. :) I’m hoping I won’t abandon this blog anytime soon (haha I tend to do that), and I hope I’ll be able to entertain you, visitors, with my reading antics.

Here we go, are you ready? Wait, let me just finish one more page…