Phew. I finally got the time to post another review. Have been absolutely busy for the past few days with training and with work.

So, I'm posting my review for Shopaholic Abroad by Sophie Kinsella.


It picks up where the previous book left off. Becky is now happily in a relationship with Luke Brandon [drool], but this time, Luke's going off to New York to expand his business and he's inviting Becky to go with him!

That means she'll have more shopping choices -- Barney's, Macy's, you name it! And just when you thought that she's trying to keep her finances in track.

Becky then goes back in her previous pattern of shopping excessively and thinking that the dollar is soo much smaller in value as compared to her pounds. She ends up in massive debt again and her relationship with Luke is on the rocks.

But all is fair in the end... I don't really want to post much on what happens in the book -- read it for yourself, I swear it is one great read [well, for me anyway] and it made me squeal in delight as I was reading the last parts of the book. *sigh*
Again, I want my own Luke Brandon.

Overall, I'll rate this book another 4/5. Biased again :P

My copy is a trade paperback which I've bought from Powerbooks some time ago. Definitely a keeper! :D

I haven't been updating much lately because I was extremely busy... have been on a training session [and still is at the moment] and it's approaching month-end so it's time to crunch the numbers once again.

For this lent, I will do a self-imposed book-buying ban.

For nearly 2 months, I shall do no book buying [still thinking if this will also include mooching] to at least trim down the Mount TBR pile.

Wish me luck! :)

Well, I wouldn't consider this book as part of my 2009 quantity challenge as I finished this when I was still in college -- sometime 2003 or early 2004. It did not have the cult chick-lit following way back then, but it certainly entertained me.


The first book in this review is the "Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella. It was first introduced to me by a high school friend and she said that it suited me well. At the time, I was a shopaholic and was deeply interested in finance. Talk about extremes.

It tells the tale of Rebecca Bloomwood, a financial journalist who just can't stop herself from shopping. She gets a thrill whenever she shops for stuff, and is so oblivious to the fact that her credit card debts are piling up and she is already running an overdraft with her bank.

Okay, very ironic, but Becky was younger, she thought that the credit card was some magical card where you just swipe it and poof! Your stuff is free.

The funniest part of the tale is whenever she gets her bills -- oh yes, there are lots and lots of them, and tries to hide them or "accidentally-on-purpose" loses them. Imagine, her biggest fantasy was that her credit card bill would be sent to someone by mistake and her bills would immediately be paid off! :P

Anyway, the part I loved the most about the book is Luke Brandon. Hmmmm.... for me, he is the quintessential British guy, the guy I tend to be attracted to the most. As I was reading the tale, I was like, "I want my own Luke Brandon." Okay. So he is just a character, but having a real-life boyfriend like that would surely make me so happy!

I'll still give the novel a 4.5/5. Okay. I might have been a wee bit impartial in giving out my overall rating because the Luke Brandon character added a bit to it and of course, it's set in London. Apologies, but I do am partial to novels written or is set in London. I just adore that place and well, I could deffo picture the stores that Sophie Kinsella was stating, even down to the tube lines :P

I'm going to watch the movie tonight, so expect some spoilers when I blog the differences and similarities of both movies! :)

Will post another review for Shopaholic Abroad soon!

My copy: a trade paperback novel bought from Powerbooks circa 2003 which I'm definitely keeping :) Oh yes, I have the British version. Hurrah!

So yesterday, I was in Greenbelt 5 at lunch time and saw that Hobbes & Landes was on sale.


I remember two weeks ago, we bought a going-away present for a colleague of ours at Hobbes and Landes and I saw this 1000 piece Tower Bridge Puzzle. I wanted to buy it badly at the time but it was out of my budget so I decided to return once there was a sale.

So, on my return yesterday, lo and behold, it was 10% off! I got this puzzle for only P630 :)

I then laid it out on the floor in my bedroom last night and my head had started spinning.

There were so many pieces, I didn't know where to start!

I found myself contented to just build the bridge together first, then the River Thames, then the skyline, and eventually the surrounding buildings/background.

As I blog this, I haven't had any significant progress yet!

Hopefully I'll get to finish it this weekend.

My Book # 2 for 2009 is Cirque du Freak book 1 by Darren Shan.


It chronicles the story of Darren Shan, a normal boy, who by a sudden twist of fate, gets an extra ticket to a freak show called Cirque du Freak. He attends the show with his best friend, Steve, not knowing that his life would change forever.

From the circus, he would cross paths with an exotic spider whose bite is so deadly it could kill people, a vampire named Mr. Creepsley and eventually, he would become a half-vampire himself.

The book is quite good, not as scary and dark as I thought it would be, but quite entertaining. I like the way the author had deviated from the vampire myths -- that they are afraid of garlic, they are immortal, and that they are afraid of crosses and holy water. Very unlike Twilight :P

The character of Darren is very strong, at a very young age, he is able to face all the things that life and his decisions throw at him.. very mature.

Since this book is part of the series, it left me wanting more. Only problem is, having 12 books in the series, looking for all the books is a wee bit difficult.

So hence, I am now on the lookout for book 2. But for the meanwhile, I shall have to make do with some of the other books from Mt TBR to be read whilst I look for it in second hand shops.

Over all, I'll give this novel a 3.5/5. It is a very entertaining and light read [well, light for those who have time to read :P ] and is worth your time.

My copy: Mass-market paperback mooched from BM.

**********************************
I've seen the rain fall in Africa
I've touched the snow of Alaska
I've felt the mist of Niagara
And now I believe.... in you....
*********************************
How far we've come
And how far to go
Rain does not fall
On one roof alone
To a different beat.
*********************************

***will post my reviews of the FOB concert & Cirque du Freak book 1 when I'm in a not-so scatterbrain mood.

Might be off to watch Fall Out Boy in a few hours. I say "might" because the tickets are still not with me yet -- they're with my friend and I'm waiting for his text message come 5pm when he leaves the office.

Have a happy hearts day & a great weekend tomorrow!

I'm off to read more, walk and play with Goofy the doggie and watch DVDs.

Tah!

Yesterday, I finally made a 5 minute trek from my office to the newly-opened Fully Booked branch in Greenbelt 5 during our lunch break.

The bookstore is huge and I found a lot of the titles that I wanted to get -- some I've only seen when I was in England but didn't get to buy since books [and everything else] is expensive there.

My head was totally reeling and I couldn't decide!

At the end, I ended up with nothing. I didn't walk out with a huge smile on my face and a huge plastic bag of books. Nada. Non. I just thought about Mount TBR in my room, my mom's room and my shelves at the basement and I realized -- "I've got to get lessons on how to speed read."

So.. I'm starting to sort through Mount TBR and hopefully I'll end up reducing the mountain to a small hill before I start acquiring some more.

I'll really miss the comfort of this Makati office. So sad that we're moving to another building in a month or so's time. *sigh*

Last Friday, I got a chance to watch "Seven Pounds" starring Will Smith & Rosario Dawson.



Below are my musings on the movie without giving away too much spoilers.

What if you made a mistake, a mistake that you cannot undo? What would you do?

This is exactly what Will Smith faced when he was involved in an accident that had killed 7 people, including his beloved wife.
Once a promising engineer, he had turned his back on his successful life, and took the identity of his sick brother, an IRS agent, to help find people that he would help... by donating his organs to those who need them the most.
His plans suddenly come to a halt when he fell in love with one of the people that he wanted to help [played by Rosario Dawson].

*****

Such a sad, sad movie. Imagine having to live with that accident on your shoulders, thinking that your mistake ended the life of others who may have had so much more potential, a future to look out to.

I personally wouldn't do what he did in the end of the movie, but hey, it's his choice.

The movie was not presented in a normal manner -- it goes backwards and forwards. Forwards in a sense that the present is presented from past to present; while the past has been presented as a flashback -- where the most recent event happened, and the initial cause of the accident has been at the end of the movie.

I would definitely give this movie a rating of 3.5/5.

You could opt to watch it on the movie cinemas, but if you could catch it on a DVD, then feel free to do so.

Personally, with the sky-rocketing prices of movie tickets, it's best to choose movies that you'd want to watch on the big screens, which, in my preference refers to those big, blockbuster action movies that you would die not to watch without the surround sound.

oooh how I want them soo badly....

**photos from temptalia.com

Got this from a second-hand bookstore today.



Trade paperback.

Wallet damage: P80.

Off to find book 2.

Tah!

Rants:

• My trip to Batanes has been cancelled. : Zest Air does not fly to that destination anymore so I've asked for a full refund of the ticket. Downside? The refund will arrive in 15-30 days! What a long time to wait! :S
• My prom dresses has been borrowed. Wonder if I'll ever see them again?
• My weekend movie/telly show marathon did not go as expected. Only got to watch "My Best Friend's Girl" but it was not really worth watching. I was bored nearly the whole time. :

*******************

Raves:

• Went to Book Sale in Festival Mall last Saturday after mass. OMG they've got lots of titles that I was interested in: David Sedaris, Ann Brashares, Arthur Golden. They're a bit pricier than the other titles available but for a very good condition trade paperback, I think it's worth it. I went home with a copy of Sophie Kinsella's "The Undomestic Goddess"
• It was sale in Festival Mall also so I got a mass-market paperback copy of a book about Rembrandt for only P50.
• Got to watch an episode of Medical Investigation. Didn't finish the entire series though.
• Got invited to one of the most awesome weddings around. It was held at Fernwood Gardens last Feb 1st. The venue was absolutely exquisite, the food was also divine. Kyla performed a few songs too. =) Loved the waterfalls, fountains, and the exotic animals [parrots, swans, koi fish].

-- till the next time :) Hopefully I'll get to post some more stuff when I get my DSL connection at home.