In My Mailbox (9): Enders and Dust

\ by

Thought I’d do a quick post before I hit the sack again. Today I ran another 10 kilometer race, and my knees are killing me. I was slower by almost ten minutes from my personal record, but that’s probably because I didn’t have enough sleep (then again, I never had enough sleep before a race), and because there was just something wrong about how the entire event was organized. I’ll rant post about it in my personal blog sometime this week. :)

This week is a pretty small stash, but I did get a lot of awesome emails and did a lot of orders so there should be a pretty sizable stash next week. I’ve been very good with resisting to buy, too, especially after I’ve spotted a bunch of new books that I am interested in getting. I just keep on reminding myself three things:

  1. I still have a lot waiting to be read
  2. I have to save money for NaNoWriMo ML duties
  3. I’ll be packing up my books soon to move because we’ll be having our house renovated, and adding a bunch of books on the shelf will just make it hard to move out.

I’ve been a good girl, yes? :) So, just two books this week!

  1. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. Everyone has been recommending this book to me, but for some reason I can’t find a copy. So one day, I posted it on a wish list in our Goodreads group, and one of my new friends there kindly sent me a copy. Thanks Monique! :) I am not a sci-fi reader so normally I wouldn’t get Ender’s Game, but when people who don’t normally read sci-fi say this is good…well I’ve got to find out why for myself, too.What’s funny though, is now that I have it, I saw two copies of the book in National Bookstore. What up, world. :))
  2. Dust City by Robert Paul Weston. After posting this on as my Want Books entry a little over a week ago, I saw a copy of it in Fully Booked Eastwood the following weekend. I wasn’t supposed to get it, but I had it reserved so I can mull over it the next day if I will get it. Well, of course, I ended up getting it. And true to what Chelle said in her review, the cover is pretty:You’d actually have to touch it to see how nice it is. :)

Oh, the books behind the two books I featured this week are old books I haven’t read yet. You’re seeing the foot of my Mt. TBR. :P

I also got some pretty awesome emails this week! The best one is probably when Dee of e-Volving books told me I won her 100+ Follower contest! This is my first time to win a book contest that I actually really wanted to join, and the $15 from Book Depository sponsored by Book Quoter is a really awesome prize. :) I’ll post about the books once they get here, of course.

And finally, I received the One Lovely Blog Award (my second one!) from Kate of Literary Explorations. Thank you! :)

I should hit the sack now if I want to catch up on lost sleep and help my poor aching legs recover. I hope you all had a great weekend (long weekend for us in the Philippines!), and I leave you with the note that Monique wrote on the wrapping of the book she sent me:

Have a great week everyone! :)

Posted in: Squee! \ Tagged: , , , , ,

In My Mailbox (7)

\ by

Another week has gone by and it’s time for another In My Mailbox post! In My Mailbox is a weekly book meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren, where bloggers post about what books received that week, be it via  mailbox, library or store.

Contrary to last week’s major stash, this week is pretty…small. :) I was a good girl this week, and my wallet is no longer that mad at me. *beams*

Bought:

  1. Grace by Elizabeth Scott (Fully Booked). I am not really the biggest fan of Elizabeth Scott, but after reading Stealing Heaven, I’ve decided to give her a chance. I WoW-ed this book after Adele’s rave review, and when I saw it at Fully Booked, I had it reserved immediately. This one will be for my YA-D2 reading challenge. :)
  2. The New World by Patrick Ness (Amazon Kindle Store – free). Much thanks to Aaron for the heads up for this novella. I don’t have to explain about why I want to get this book, too, right? :) I finished reading it last night and it did not disappoint. Review to follow soon. Review is up! :D If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download the PDF here.
  3. Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness (Fully Booked). I don’t have to explain why I am very excited about this book, right? I’m so glad it went out in paperback this week, and I am so glad I can read all books straight after the other. :)

For review:

  • To Kill a Warlock and Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble by HP Mallory (via Smashwords). The author sent me an email asking if I wanted to review her books, and…well, right now I don’t say no to free books. I don’t know when I’ll be able to read this, but these books seem to be right up my alley. Let’s see if my view of paranormal romance change with these. :)

Other stuff:

I also received the One Lovely Blog Award from Grace of Fiction Spark. Thank you so much! :)

That’s pretty much it. See, I told you I was nice to my wallet this week. What’s in your mailbox this week?

Posted in: Squee! \ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Versatile Blogger Award

\ by

When I was still new to the web design business, one of the things that everyone who has a personal website gives away and pines for are awards. I remember having an entire page full of awards for my site, and yeah, I was proud of it. Looking back, I realize that all those awards are just for hits and hits and hits, but then…that’s the website business, right?

Or not. Okay, I didn’t mean to be down with that — awards are fun. It’s just been a long time since I received one, so it was just kind of surprising. :)

Wait, I received two.

Thanks to Grace and Honey for giving One More Page the Versatile Blogger Award! If my blog had a face, it would be smiling like this: =D

The Rules for the award are:

  1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
  2. Share 7 things about yourself.
  3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (In no particular order…)
  4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.

Seven things about me:

  1. I name my gadgets. I feel like naming them helps me take care of them better, so I started naming them after I got my first laptop. My first laptop was named Ginger, and my first iPod was named Sam. My current gadgets are: Aslan (Macbook), Teo (office laptop), Macy (iPod Touch), Elyon (cellphone), Cornelia (cellphone), Wes (hard drive), Ashley (camera). The next gadget that comes in will be named Astrid after Rampant by Diana Peterfreund.
  2. My first love of genre is really chick lit. I love those fluffy books, but I realize that not all chick lit are fun to read (maybe more to this on a later post). Right now my favorite genre is young adult, because I get to live my teenage years all over again. Ha.
  3. I love Christian fiction. I love it when faith is written in stories I read. I don’t like preachy stuff of course (who does?), so I’m also picky with the Christian stuff I read. I admit that my faith and values influences how I rate the books (and I promise to post about this next time), so what others may like very much may not work out with me best because of something that goes against my beliefs or values.
  4. I have been a National Novel Writing Month participant since 2004. I’ve won since 2005, and I always, always love November because it gives me an excuse to be creative and to write as much as I can, even if it doesn’t always make sense. I’m also the Municipal Liaison for the Philippines, and I think I have the best bunch of novelists in the world. :)
  5. I like to run and dance. I don’t know if they like me back, but I enjoy it. I was never sporty, so I make use of the gym to get my exercise. It’s a blessing that running is such a low maintenance and not-so-competitive sport, so I can enjoy it without worrying if I will win.
  6. My dream car is a Honda Jazz. I want it pink, but not the light pink shade they have now. More like metallic pink. (Yes I love pink). There’s nothing wrong with having a dream car even if I don’t really drive, right? :P
  7. I think my body clock is perpetually screwed up. I have a rotating shift at work, which means I rotate shifts every two weeks for some client needs. I go from day shift to mid shift so I never have a permanent sleeping time it’s kind of hard to choose a time to sleep. I try to sleep before midnight when I’m on day shift, but I fail at it. Mid shift means sleeping at 2-3am. Now you know why I need coffee to be productive and cheerful.

I give this award to:

  1. Blooey of Bookmarked! – I don’t know if she got this award yet, but Blooey is one of the first book blogs I followed. I always trust her taste in books, and I am always amazed by her speed in reading and her talent at finding gems in the bargain bins. If there’s a real book lover out there, it’s Blooey. :)
  2. Chachic of Chachic’s Book Nook – It’s nice to know that there are other Filipino book bloggers who do the same memes as I do. Plus if it weren’t for Chachic, I wouldn’t have joined the Filipino Goodreads group! I like how thoughtful Chachic’s reviews are, and I trust her taste in YA fiction. I think you may have received this award multiple times now, and that is a testament of how people see your blog. :D
  3. Aldrin of The Polysyllabic Spree – Aldrin reads serious books. By serious, I mean books that I wouldn’t give a second glance to because I’m fluffy by nature. :P He’s one of the few guy book bloggers I’ve encountered, and even if I don’t really read the same books as he does, I like reading his reviews because they’re always so well-written. One of these days I’ll pick up one of the books you reviewed to see if I’d like it, too.
  4. Aaron of It’s the G World – This isn’t exactly a book blog, but he posts about books, so it could pass, right? Aaron is one of my new friends from the Filipino Goodreads community, and for the short time we’ve known each other, he’s like a younger brother to me. (Naks!) Aaron is nice, despite his villainous persona (Mighty Evil Overlord!), and he’s a firm believer of happy endings (did I get that right?), and I totally trust his taste on books. :P
  5. Lucy of Lucy Loves Fully Booked – I must give recognition to Lucy, Fully Booked’s resident blogger! I am a Fully Booked Fan, and it’s nice to know that they have started a blog, too, and I think it’s very helpful to connect to the local book blogging community to promote reading.
  6. Reggie of The Undercover Book Lover (Not Really) – At first I thought Reggie wasn’t from the Philippines, up until Honey listed her as a Filipino book blogger and when I saw one of her posts with a link to Children’s Hour. I emailed her, and she emailed back and I was totally psyched to know she is in the Philippines. I love her blog because there’s so many things to read about there, and she has the coolest contests. :D Plus, she owns International Book Tours, which help spread more reading love. If that is not a book lover, then I do not know what is. :P
  7. Ruby of The Fickle Fan – Ruby is my college schoolmate, and I was surprised to learn that she blogs about books, too! Her blog is not only about books, but movies, music and her travels.
  8. Forever Young Adult – I don’t know if they’ll notice this award since they’re really cool (they’re like the coolest kid in school :P), but I can’t not give this award to one of the most entertaining YA blogs I’ve read for the longest time. If you want honest and funny book reviews for YA books, go to them!
  9. Angie of Angieville – I found out about her blog from other book blogger friends and I love her reviews. Her reviews are always thoughtful, like she always takes the time to write about them, unlike how I do sometimes when I’m lazy.
  10. Alayne of The Crowded Leaf – I don’t really know Alayne, and I don’t think we have the same taste in books, either. But she’s always commenting on my Teaser Tuesday and Waiting on Wednesday posts, and she always had something nice to say. She deserves to be recognized.

Like the two girls who gave me the award, I don’t think I can get to 15 bloggers. But I hope you do drop by those 10 I listed above. It’s always nice to know that there are people all over the country and the world who share the same passion for books. :)

Thank you once again, Grace and Honey, for the award! :)

Posted in: Site Stuff, Squee! \ Tagged: , ,