Currently Reading The Amber Room: A Novel By Steve Berry see related

more than 30 days and counting

For the first time in my entire life, I find myself having a hard time finishing a book.  Is it because I haven't had the chance to really sit down and enjoy it?  Because the book if from a great author and the storyline is one of great interest to me...Russian and German history.  The Amber Room has been one of the "mysteries" that not a lot of people have heard of.  In any case, I had expected to devour the book in one sitting just like any other Steve Berry book.  And yet I find myself struggling to finish it.

It's actually getting annoying...and worrying.  Maybe it's because I'm busier now than I was some months ago? 

I will finish this book before I leave in two weeks.  I know I can. 

Currently Reading The Broker By John Grisham see related

Got back last week from my month-long trip and yes, I finally got around to finishing the 2 books I started reading some time ago...Good Morning Darkness by Ruth Francisco and The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman.  Both are great reads...unique stories with unexpected twists at the end. 

My current read is from one of the authors I regularly follow but most often than not, don't make the effort of buying the book.  Anyway, for this title I did spend more than 300 bucks for it and let me tell you, at the first quarter of the book I'm already a little dismayed.

It's annoying how people make it sound like the Philippines is such a dangerous place to live in, much less visit.  This book mentioned something about a busload of Danish tourists being kidnapped and I resent that sort of implication.  My country is just like any other country in this world; people get cheated, killed, screwed over and all that.  So maybe I'm a little touchy about it.  It's just that such bad publicity affects our tourism industry and that's not good. 

Currently Reading The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime By Jasper Fforde see related

under the weather

     I've been feeling under the weather for the past few days due to the flu.  I'm now afflicted with a really bad cough that rattles my bones and makes my lungs wheeze out for a breath of fresh air.  So I haven't gotten around to getting through the current book I'm reading.  But so far, I like what I've read.  I never realized how much crime was being committed in nursery rhymes.  Anyway I'll talk about this book more when I've actually finished it...hopefully, by the end of the week.

Currently Reading If You Could See Me Now By Cecelia Ahern see related

My invisible friend

     So I started reading this new novel by Cecelia Ahern, If You Could See Me Now.  First off, I own and read all of her three books and I'll probably go on buying her other novels when they come out.  I have to admit that the author intrigued me at first more than her stories.  Mainly because she's the Ireland PM's daughter and a really really young writer to do stories that are particularly emotionally-driven.  However, each and every of her book has come out great and are really touching.  So it's really kinda difficult to categorize it as Chick Lit.

Anyway, what's intriguing about If You Could See Me Now is that it talks about kids and their imaginary friends.  I've read so many books on this that it makes it sound so commonplace and yet, admittedly, in my country I've never met kids who have imaginary friends.  And I wonder if it has something to do with the culture, the parental care given and how kids relate to other kids. I know imaginary friends are some sort of defense mechanism for most kids who have them from loneliness and isolation.  And yet it's scary because a lot of parents don't really give this serious thought.  According to my readings, when a child still has this imaginary friends beyond the age of 12, it's usually sign of personality disorder and the first thing that comes to mind is multiple personality disorder.

On a whimsical note, if I were a kid who had an imaginary friend I'd want it to be a boy. One who'd be my defender and my staunch supporter.  Hehe.  I've always been a slightly 'delicate' kid back then; had really fragile emotions. Of course, I didn't really need an imaginary friend who'd do all that for me; not when I had a real best friend who's stood up for me and always will.

Currently Reading How to Be Good By Nick Hornby see related

Nick Hornby

When I first had the good fortune to get hold of Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity" some years ago, I had the time of my life reading it. 

It was one of the most real, down-to-earth books I've read in a long while.

So currently I'm a quarter away from finishing another of his books (I finally got to this after a long list of "to read" books), How to be Good.  I started reading this from an ebook I had on my notebook while I was at the airport one early morning, waiting for my flight home. I got hooked.

It's great how he writes about people who are good, or being good, can sometimes be the people who are pompous, righteous asses. And that the people who are honest enough to say that they enjoy being selfish for their own comfort are the real ones. 

For all you out there looking for a good read, pick up any book from Nick Hornby and I guarantee you'll have a wonderful read ahead of you.