A Raconteur’s Story

I've been very busy with school works for the past week and I'm currently still in the midst of finishing school projects. But one thing's for sure, I did read all the books included on my first reading list—that's why I'm bringing you a new one to read with me.

*THIS POST WAS UPDATED ON 9/25/15

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1. The Girl With All The Gifts (M.R. Carey)

This is probably my very first anticipated book ever. I have been wondering about this book since I started my reading list. I was so stoked to see it on stands in my local bookstore and I immediately picked this book up. This is a Science Fiction novel set in an apocalyptic world full of zombies. (That is indeed, all I know about this novel haha!)

UPDATE: This has been my MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS out of all the books that I have previously bought this year and I'm happy to say that this one, didn't fail me at all.

First of all, I liked that the author kept a reasonable amount of characters and the way the relationship between the reader and the characters grew is extremely superb! Carey made a very well-paced book and the manner of writing just takes my breath away.

The thing that I hate about it though, is how smart Caroline thinks and speaks. My fear (whilst reading this book) is to be left alone without a dictionary by my side and the ending. I wanted more out of it. It seems to be abruptly finished but the main context was still, amazing.

This follows a girl named Melanie along with 3 other people who was with her whilst surviving the apocalyptic universe. I don't really want to spoil much about this one, so I'm just going to leave it at that.

PS. I HATE THE CASTING OF THIS MOVIE!! HDSNXEUIF

I was thinking of Halle Berry as Justineau but heck, the people casted was oddly FAR FROM WHAT THE BOOK DESCRIBED THEM TO BE. I hope they change it. I really hope they do. lol. {4.5/5}

2. Girl Online (Z. Sugg & S. Curham)

I've read reviews of this one. I thought that this was something to really look forward to, so I was previously contemplating on buying the physical copy of this book but thankfully, I stopped myself. The reviews said that this book was kind of a cliché. I instantly remembered Gossip Girl when I read the synopsis that said—"Penny has a secret.

Under the alias, GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever."

UPDATE: I'm incredibly proud of Zoe for making this book go globally-known but I was still dumbfounded by the news that this was ghostwritten. I don't know what to believe in this case but let's just dive into my thoughts about this book, shall we?

This is about a girl named Penny; who runs an anonymous blog called Girl Online. She has a wonderful gay best friend who is living right next door. An opportunity came up in their family business and she and her family went to New York to plan an event. She then met this guy named Noah and fell for him during her stay in Brooklyn and when she got back to England, a huge wave of problems faced her way. (I was about to add spoilers but, uhhh.) This book is a mix of every cliché thing that you could ever think of. a) mean girls way of serving vengeance; b) long distance relationships (that we all know that never lasted long); c) Christmas in New York; d) best friend who conveniently lives right next door; e) a popular guy not noticing you at first (but ends up liking you when you already have someone); f) a regina george; g) nosy twins who had a change of heart; h) totally predictable; i) guys in chevy trucks; j) recording songs for someone and giving it to them as a gift; k) gossip girl–esque plot & there's probably more.

The way of writing kind of bores me at but this book, this book, is a very light read. I managed to read this in less than a day and I'm proud of it haha! If you're looking for a book to read after those psychological thriller ones, go ahead and read Girl Online. :) {2/5}

3. We Were Liars (E. Lockhart)

Another anticipated book! I'm excited for this one right here and I can't even contain myself. I have previously read E. Lockhart's short stories and I do hope that this one is slightly better than the last. I literally have nothing to talk about this book. (And you shouldn't search things about this one because you would probably get spoiled.)

UPDATE: I have been anticipating this book for a while now and I'm incredibly sad to tell you that I didn't enjoy the way towards the end of the book. This book is terrifyingly real. It consists of problems that are currently happening in this modern world of ours. It highlights the manner of living of a greedy man and how people just think about money.

Let's talk about the plot first.

This book made me think—a lot. I certainly have no idea about 85% of what's going on throughout the whole book and the author did a great job with it. Her writing consists of metaphors and little odd things that makes you re-read the line once again. I quote from page 5; "My father put a last suitecase into the backseat of the Mercedes (he was leaving Mummy with only the Saab), and started the engine.

Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn and I fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage and down into a flower bed."—WTF right? Lockhart's going Flynn on me for a second there.

There are several clues from the 1-4 parts of the book that only made sense in the 5th part. I hardly even noticed the crumbles of the possible plot twists. We all know that the protagonist isn't the most reliable source ever; and hence the name of the book—too. I don't know what to believe in and I don't understand why this book made it hard for me to see the rainbow after the rain.

The protagonist is also suffering from selective amnesia. She tends to remember some of the memories that had happened in the course of the whole book through the help of the Liars—a group of 4. 3 Sinclairs and a guy named Gat—the representation of Heathcliff in this story. (Refer to Wuthering Heights) Everything happened every summer in the Sinclair's private island in Massachusetts, USA.

I want to stop there because I don't want to spoil you just yet. If you haven't read the book, stop here. Continue on if you have. Every information here is reliable—or maybe I'm lying?...jk

- SPOILERS -

The ending.

The word "funeral" made me step back a little bit from the book. I don't even realize that things would've end this way. Out of every word said in this book, the 5th part, "Truth"; made the most sense to me. I thought that Gat hit her hard on the skull during the night she was found halfway underwater. I thought that Liberty (and other children) were the one's dead and they killed their own grandma off—and I'm also pretty sure that you guys don't understand what I'm saying right now. But I am, also surprised with the ending.

My favorite out of all the characters is definitely Johnny. He was funny all throughout the book and his appearance made everything seem a little bit better than usual. I picture Gat as Avan (from Victorious) while reading this book and he is just the one and only character that I would imagine looking like in person. Lol!

This has been the longest book review I've ever done so far and it's all worth it. And did you enjoy the book? Or it was just, 'okay'? :) {2.5/5}

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"What? You're stopping with 3 books?!" Nope. I'm not done yet; Let me introduce—

I was huge Potterhead when I was 11. I failed to finish the whole series, so I'm going to challenge myself into finishing the whole series whilst reading other books.

For the first part of the side quest, I will be reading—

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J.K. Rowling)

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)

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To wrap everything up, reading the Potterhead Side Quest is still optional :) This is a little book club of ours and I'll be glad to hear that you guys are reading stuff as well.

I updated the previous Reading List! I have included my reviews in there, so It would be easier for you to see my thoughts about those books. Thank you so much for reading my post and I'll see you on the next one! :)

Find me on Goodreads!

As I said on my previous blog post, our Summative Tests are currently rolling. I always-always forget to think about a new blog post for these past few weeks and I'm almost failing my schedule. But of course, I wouldn't let that happen. I love what I'm doing and I love my readers so I don't want to let you down with a hiatus.

I gotta warn you, though. This is another list of things. I don't know why, but lists are my favorite kind of posts. Its simple and very informative. I thought that you guys might be too done with these type of things (probably yes) but still;

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1. Collect what you already know

File them up and skim through them!

2. List the things that you don't know

Its important to know what you don't know. It's basically a signal for development! Research on the things that you need to research and take down notes.

3. Ask questions

There are some things that you might not be able to understand in the internet and/or the teacher has different method on solving the problem (in math). Don't be afraid to approach teachers/other students whenever you don't understand things. They won't bite.

Approaching a teacher was one of my worst fears when I was still a kid. I literally think that they would shout at me for not listening in class(—but I do, listen. It's just I don't really understand the topic; that's all.) But it's actually the other way around! Teachers like questions. So get up from your sit, talk to the teacher and ace your test! :)

4. Ready your materials

You'll need a pen and all sorts of things in order to study. Highlighter, check!; Pen, check!; A pencil and eraser, check!; Calculator, check!— These things are simple. But they are fairly important. You can also get bright colored materials so that you won't get bored with studying! D-I-Y things ahead of time before studying :)

5. Create a reviewer

This will be your ultimate life-saver. I write important things (from my lecture notes, seat works, projects) down on a separate notebook and study that whenever I need to. Mobility at its finest. I usually go everywhere whenever I'm studying so, a notebook that has everything down will make things a lot more easier. If you're too lazy to write everything down, then just type things on MS Word, print it out and highlight important details. But if you have another way of studying, so then be it. You should pick your preferences for you to study effectively if I do say so myself. But if you need a new option, well then; there you go!

6. Re-read seat works, workbooks, quizzes and essays

The teacher will probably make up questions similar to the past ones, so study all the outputs that were given to you before.

7. Study in advance

Ugh. We all hate studying. But we need to study. This step is important. You wouldn't want to be the person who crams at 2 am because their tests are in a couple of hours.

Study hard in advanced, and study / skim when the date of the yet is finally nearing.

8. Stay inspired

You might have a crush and you want him to make him notice you; By being on top, he'll surely see you. (Effects may vary...lol!) But kidding aside, yes. Staying inspired / happy will make your study journey a bit more easier than you not having goals as a student.

For your crush to notice you isn't the only goal for you to study. You can think about your future, in order to ell your parents, so that teachers will be happy, so that you will be happy.

9. Stay Organized

A clean working space is the way to go. It makes you remember the things that you need to be doing rather than procrastinating all-day.

10. Be in a study-ready environment

If you prefer a cafe, or a quiet bedroom, its your choice to make. This will greatly affect your movement while studying, so choose wisely. :)

Hello readers! :) I have been thinking about posting a "chilled-out" type of blog post (in order to incorporate with the cold weather and gloomy skies) so I hope that this covers it. This will be a long chatty post... I'm just warning you hehe.

I have been sick these past few days and I don't know when my recurring colds will finally get tired of coming back. I have had a few amounts of "payong fails" {umbrella-related fails} this week. My umbrella just keeps on failing me HAHA. It would usually not cooperate whenever I'm trying to open it.

Planning. Planning. Planning.

That's what I do for a living. lol. No way, but I do hope that my job is just to plan things for someone. (But unfortunately, life doesn't work that way.) Me and my friends made some impromptu surprises for a mutual friend. It successfully turned out not-so-great. But hey, it worked! :D

I'm also making a gift for someone dearly close to me. I'm current working on it, but I'll make sure to share it with you once its done.

I have been reminiscing a lot. I usually let those thoughts run all over my head for quite a while now. I miss those weekend trips to Laguna, 3 AM thoughts spilled over twitter dm's from me to someone, looking out for the ones you love, panicking over missing a plane flight, not getting lost in Shinjuku, shooting in Diliman, and a lot more. I want to make more memories this school year in order to reminisce on what had happened on the next few years and I hope that I can lead myself into doing that in the near future.

I miss Japan. I wonder why. I just felt like I have this instant connection with the place. I actually wanted to go back there in 2016 so let's see how that goes. :) I've been watching youtubers who are currently residing in Japan and I fell in love with Tokyo all over again.

I can't wait to take a newer set of purikura-printed photos {photo booth-printed photos} and doodling on them. I have Asian-eyes so that makes it a little bit more bigger than the usual hehe :)

I also remembered my love for tea and tuna spread. (A perfect combination with a pandesal ❤) {A type of bread found in the Philippines; Pictured above} I don't know why, but tea is basically a must-have for me whenever I am feeling lost. It rejuvenates me in a way; I can't explain it, but it does.

I actually finished a whole box of Green Tea in a short period of time. I usually drink tea every single day. Sometimes, twice. But I heard that that's not good for me.

My love for huskies finally went back. I was laughing at my dog, Caspar (pictured above) for doing such crazy things and him being so jealous whenever I get too close to other dogs. His ear is kind of yellowish in the photo because he has an ear infection going on (at the time) but is now feeling well than usual, so don't worry.

I also heard some stories about dogs being given away because they are not nice to people anymore. Our chow-chow, Choco is a very well-rounded dog. Chow-chow's are famous for being a deadly dog and sometimes, people won't even touch Choco because of their fears over-ruling them. I do believe that the attitude of your dogs depend on how you raised them since they were puppies. If you payed a lot of attention to them, they won't be growing up into someone you wouldn't want to live with.

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How are you guys? It felt like I haven't talked to you guys for 3 weeks! My mind is tripping me. HAHAHA. I was actually thinking about doing a post just getting to know all of you. The "I would give out a questionnaire and you'll answer it through the comments" type of post; but I'm scared that no one will be taking the time to actually answer them. Same goes for an #AskAra I wouldn't know it you guys are interested with that. But if you are, go ahead and send me a question on Tumblr to be answered in a video (Include your Twitter usernames if you want to ;) )

I wanted to add a portion of this thing in my post because I just didn't want people to focus on me, alone. I want to know more about you guys and how are you doing, what do you do in your free time, and etc. etc. So please, let me know that you read my blog x

Second, I wanted you guys to also reflect on things. As a normal person, I would still get scolded by my parents for my wrong-doings. I would hate them for a short period of time and then, I'll think. Think about something that hit me hard a few years ago...

I lost a loved one and I was completely torn by it. I mentally slapped myself for not giving enough time to be with that person. For not taking the time to appreciate him/her when she was still alive. I remember saying sorry to his/her deathbed and thanking him/her for all the learnings that he/she thought me. I remember the pain rushing through me while sitting down the floor across the doors of the MICU ward... Guys, we'll never know someone's last good-bye. So remember that you have to seize every single day and I also want you to thank and be nice to people because of that matter.

I don't want to go deeper than what I really intend to. So I'm gonna leave it this way.

Thank you guys for reading this post. :) I'll promise you that the next post will be much more uplifting than this. hehe :) I love you guys and keep on doing what you want to do. ❤