Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

I have come to anticipate so much about this book since it hit the public long time ago, and it puzzled me how book lover societies and folks came to love this novel— I was puzzled but maybe not until I’ve read it for myself..

Dan Brown, I must say, is a very good writer in his own right. The pace, the way he describe simple to complex things, the way he give twists and turns to his novel, the way he put faith and doubt in mid shift, the way he made people understand about physics, science, and symbology, and the way he put thrill to every turning page of his novel were really a blast.

I can’t seem to put this book down, and after I’ve finished it, I was so happy to have read a piece of Dan Brown.


I still remember the line of Miss Vittoria Vetra, “My mind says I cannot understand God, and my heart says, I was never meant to…”

For One More Day by Mitch Albom

Okay, I finally got a copy of this book, but unfortunately, when I went home, it only took me 30 minutes to finish reading the rest of it. Naaahh.. I’m not that fast-reader, but Mitch Albom’s book hooked me right between the shelves of Powerbooks and when I started reading it, I couldn’t seem to put it down. But since I still got the nerve to stop and buy a copy of it instead of reading it free of charge, here I am, doing this blog. :)

For those who happened to readThe Five People You Meet in Heaven maybe you all know how Mitch Albom could make you wishful, or how he could make you have a closer look at how you spend your everyday life. This time, he did it again. This time, he hit me harder.

Maybe somehow I wanted to be like Chick Benetto, who had the chance to be with his departed Mom even For One More Day. Maybe, it will be a good break from all the screwing up I did since she left. Somehow, as I read through these pages, I can’t help but feel the same nostalgia that Chick felt when he saw his mom — the way she was, the smell of her cooking, the way she prepared the table, the way she made everything simple and sweet. I guess, like him, I’d be willing to embrace the insanity of having my mom back when I perfectly know she’s gone.

But then again, this book reminded me of how much my mother loved me in those short span of time we had together. This book reminded me of her words of wisdom, her comforting presence and strong motivation. It also reminded me the times she stood up for me, and the number of times I failed her. But most of all, it reminded me how motherly love never fails, always understands, is unwavering, and pure, and most of all — irreplaceable.

There are some kinds of love we took for granted while growing up. There are some things we always leave unnoticed. There are some moments that we just slip away never knowing if it would be our last. But I guess, our mother’s love is never one of them. A time with our mom or our family should never be our last priority. Because no matter how we much we wanted to be like Chick, who had the chance to talk to our dearly departed when life gets too tough, in life, there are no second chances, no guarantees, nothing permanent.

At the end, having a one more day with Chick’s Mom didn’t fix his everything. I would be very happy if he happened to get his wife back, or reconciled with his father. But no. He only got to be a loving father again to his daughter, and live another day to tell his story. I guess that’s also how crazy life could be. Sooner or later you will realize all your mistake but it’s too late to start all over again. But God is faithful, He still gives us a life ahead to learn more, and live a better life.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

“One could not count the moons

that shimmer on her roofs,

or the thousand splendid suns

that hide behind her walls.”

There is no better way to jump start a year for a book lover like me, than to spend it with a good book. So on the third day of January, I went to our company’s mini library to search for the first novel to welcome another year of good read. So there I found Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. And after just three days of reading it, I said to myself… “how about that for a good start!”

A Thousand Splendid Suns is about Afghanistan as told through the story of two different women and how their fate intertwine in the middle of love and war. It’s about their dreams, their realities, their struggles and their own share of happy endings.

While I’m reading it, I realized how thankful I am to be born in my country, and in my time, where women is treated with utmost equality and respect. It gives me this realization, though, that it’s not always the same with other countries, specially on the other side of the globe.

But in the middle of those pages I celebrated with them the struggle and the pain of being a woman. I rejoiced with them the gift of wisdom and strength that only women possess.

Khaled Hosseini did a great job after his bestselling novel Kite Runner. Wonderfully written, vivid and nostalgic.

Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers

This book is definitely an easy read. (I actually read it while I’m inside a bookstore. oohh. My apologies to its author.)

Anyway, it’s about a single mom and her 15 year old daughter and their exchange of short notes posted on their refrigerator door. Every page contains their notes about anything from list of must buys, to Claire’s attempt to tell her mom her love stories, to Claire’s hours and hours of waiting for her so busy doctor mom, her sleepovers with her classmates and, at the last pages of their notes, Claire’s feelings for her dying mother.

This book actually made me all tear jerky while I’m burying myself between the shelves of that bookstore. Geeeezz.. I know this is just a third grader book, but I am really soft when it comes to a mother and daughter relationship. It just showed me the sad reality of an american lifestyle, where a working mom barely sees her children. And being so close to my mom, I feel pity for those who didn’t have the chance to have an intimate moment with the first woman who loved them.

“the hand that rocks the cradle, rocks the world”. Indeed.

The family that reads together...

I grew up in a family of book lovers, where shelves are commonly filled with novels from different authors and every person in the family enjoys his or her own kind of genre. My sister used to keep his copies of Reader's Digest condensed classic novels, my brother owns a whole line of war novels, court room drama and detective stories. My mom kept her bible and filled it with underlines, notes and reflections. As a result, or partly because I didn't have my own money to buy myself a book, I read a little of all those different genres and considered it just as lovely.

So from children's graphic bible stories, to weekly newspapers, romance pocketbooks, to inspirational and even self help, I've lived with so much books as a growing up might need more than textbooks.

Tonight is a particularly different night. As we are all feeling tired of attending to our own endeavor this weekend, and having so little time to catch up, we chose to actually keep our quiet and enjoy the little noise as pages turned and books are read under not so good lighting.

I am currently enjoying "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott, something I bought yesterday to fill in the gaps of being alone sometimes, and partly to satisfy my craving for a good read.

Kuya bam is reading one of his collections of James Patterson's Alex Cross. He was even bragging about being able to read three books this month, lucky him!

Kuya zan, the eldest in our house is reading Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith, after finishing his Five People You Meet in Heaven the other day. It's a long overdue read, actually, for he is the busiest among us. It's good that he can still Have a little time to read, though. It's a great stress reliever, and a simple way to live a life without having to spend so much.

The family that reads together, learns together.

If you're a book lover yourself, why not try to influence your family into reading too. Who knows, you might be able to swap and lend each your collections. Save you a lot of good deal, isn't it? :)

Date a Girl Who Reads (By Rose Marie Urquico)

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

Growing Old. Still Reading.

While I was waiting on queue at the ladies room at Mcdonald’s earlier this afternoon. a lady behind me said, “parehas tayo anak… ano yan? John Grisham?..” And caught off guard I said while waving the book I held, “yeah.. Runaway Jury..”. Then in my delight, she rummaged her bag while haughtily saying, “akala mo ikaw lang aaahh…” and brought out her Grisham’s The Appeal.

Too bad I haven’t read The Appeal yet, it would be a good topic for a brief conversation if I did, so I just recited the ones I already read. The Firm. The Client. A Painted House. The Pelican Brief. And she shortly said, “hindi maganda yun..” on the last book I mentioned. I wondered why.

Unfortunately, my turn to use the ladies room came and for that short while I really can’t help but smile despite of myself. I figured it would be wonderful to have someone to talk to about books and novels. I also wonder what books she already read and which she would recommend. But suddenly I realized that definitely that was the place and time to have a book lovers’ bonding. She seemed warm and smart, typical of a professional woman at 40s I guess.

To keep the story short, I haven’t had the chance to talk to her again. But that brief encounter really made my day. And I honestly wish I had more time or we met at different circumstances.

I guess it just really made me feel wonderful to have met a woman like her to at least have time to read novels, John Grisham’s for that matter. She also gave me this wishful thinking that I someday I would be like her, buzzing around with a handy paperback on my bag and reading whenever possible. That would be a very good idea about getting old. :)

My Mom's Heritage: A Cook Book

I guess this must be one of my mom’s greatest pamana — her favorite cookbook. She bought it way back in 2003 and actually has a lot of folds and creases in its pages. There’s nothing really exceptional about this book, the recipes are mostly common. But I guess this will be a companion in my early years of being the woman of the house. Right now I have a limited knowledge about cooking and i’m really getting tired of cooking adobo, sinigang, nilaga, and tinola. So I wish this can help me have a different food served on our table.

Following recipe from a cookbook or even from the internet is never easy. And you can’t actually get the exact result even when you follow it step by step. I tried to cook sweet and sour pork chop from a recipe I found on line, but the recipe is in my opinion, a little inaccurate. Good thing I was able to salvage the food and somehow turned out to be delicious. Basic kitchen knowledge is still the most important tool in the kitchen.

I don’t dream to become a chef, just probably good enough to serve my family someday. If that’s the case, I know I still have a long long way to go.