Around the world, continent-by-continent, here is the best the world has to offer: 1,000 places guaranteed to give travelers the shivers. Sacred ruins, grand hotels, wildlife preserves, hilltop villages, snack shacks, castles, festivals, reefs, restaurants, cathedrals, hidden islands, opera houses, museums, and more. Each entry tells exactly why it’s essential to visit. Then come the nuts and bolts: addresses, websites, phone and fax numbers, best times to visit.
Stop dreaming and get going!
I saw and have heard about this book of Patricia Schultz a couple of months ago, and I liked its theme. I've been hoping to buy a copy for my mom because I know that she loves to travel, but I can't afford it yet (It's a bit expensive. :D). This book is a great gift to your parents, because when we move out of the house and build our own lives, they tend to get lonely. So, why not give them this book and during their anniversary, why not give them a trip to one of the places in the book as a gift? I'm sure they'll love it! (They're nuts if they don't. LOL)
The Lucky OnesWhen he finally got home from the war, he went to a walking expeditioin from Colorado to Hampton-the place where the girl in the photograph lives-in search of his destiny.
Sometime during his trip, he crossed paths with Keith Clayton, a childish sherrif who takes nothing seriously, when he catches him taking pictures of naked coeds. Clayton, from then on, swore that he would someday find this man who not only stole the camera he used in taking pictures of the coeds, but also busted the tires of his patrol car.
Insight:
Another Nicholas Sparks masterpiece. Trully, Nicholas knows how to tug the reader's heartstrings. Two thumbs up for this one! Yay!
SkimWhen her classmate Katie Matthews is dumped by her boyfriend, who then kills himself, the entire school goes into mourning overdrive. It's a weird time to fall in love, but Skim does just that after secret meetings with her neo-hippie English teacher, Ms. Archer.
Nation
Baby
5. The Hunger Games
3. Mexican Whiteboy
Waiting for Normalby: Conner, Leslie
Addie is waiting for normal.
But Addie's mom has an all-or-nothing approach to life: a food fiesta or an empty pantry, jubilation or gloom, her way or no way.
All or nothing never adds up to normal.
All or nothing can't bring you all to home, which is exactly where Addie longs to be, with her half sisters, every day.
In spite of life's twists and turns, Addie remains optimistic. Someday, maybe, she'll find normal.
Leslie Connor has created an inspiring novel about one girl's giant spirit. waiting for normal is a heartwarming gem.
Top Ten YA Books Special : It's Complicated: The American Teenager
0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 2:52 AM
It's Complicated : The American Teenager
by: Bowman, Robin
Robin Bowman’s five-year journey into the heart of teenage America created a series of 414 “collaborative portraits,” wherein she shares her discoveries of a generation now coming of age. In searing and intimate photographs, presented alongside the young people’s voices of passion, pride, embarrassment, lust, pain, bewilderment, anxiety, joy, uncertainty, and rage, the book charts the coming of age of the largest generation in America—77 million strong—in every region of the country and every socioeconomic group: from a Texas debutante to teenage gang members in New York City, from a drag queen in Georgia to a coal miner in West Virginia.
Bowman’s intimate photographs ask us to reconcile preconceived ideas and stereotypes of teenagers with the diversity of individuals in the portraits. This book and the traveling exhibition it accompanies are about the inside lives of these kids and how they see their reality in their own voices.
*So this means this book is more on photography? Hmm. I think it's good to explore another way of perceiving messages from people other than words. Maybe photographs are good message transmitters too? It's up to you.
As I was randomly surfing the net, I stumbled at the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) website and found out that The Best Books for Young Adults committee of YALSA each year selects and annotates a list of significant adult and young adult books. It is a general list of fiction and nonfiction titles selected for their proven or potential appeal to the personal reading tastes of the young adult. I viewed the top 10 list and decided to let you guys know the must have books this 2009.
1. It's Complicated: The American Teenager
by : Bowman, Robin
ISBN : 978-1-884167-69-0
2. Waiting for Normal
by : Conner, Leslie
3. Mexican WhiteBoy
by : de la Pena, Matt
ISBN : 978-0-385-73310-6
4. Bog Child
by : Dowd, Siobhan
ISBN : 978-0-385-75169-8
5. The Hunger Games
by : Collins, Suzanne
ISBN : 978-0-439-02348-1
6. Ten Cents a Dance.
by : Fletcher, Christine
ISBN : 978-1-59990-164-0
7. Baby
by : Monninger, Joseph.
ISBN : 978-1-59078-502-7
8. Nation
by : Pratchett, Terry.
ISBN : 978-0-06-143302-3
9. Skim
by : Tamaki, Mariko and Jillian Tamaki
ISBN : 978-0-88899-753-1
10. The Brothers Torres
by : Voorhees, Coert
ISBN : 978-1-4231-0304-2
Don't worry, I won't let you rush in to a bookstore and buy a book without knowing anything about it! You deserve more that that. :) So I'll make a Top 10 YA Books special, where every day, I will post something about these books so that you'll know if the story jives with your taste for stories. So stay tuned!
* http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/bestbooksya/09topten.cfm
Background information on A Walk to Remember
by Nicholas Sparks(from a speech given in Berlin, Germany for Heyne Verlag, 2000)
". . . I'm often asked which novel is my favorite, but that's a question I can't really answer. It's like trying to choose between my children and all I can say is that I like them all for different reasons.
I can say however, that A Walk to Remember was my favorite novel to write. I enjoyed the process of capturing the voice of a smart-alecky 17-year-old kid, and found him to be fun to write. Likewise with Jamie Sullivan. There was something intrinsically sweet about her character that gradually seemed to take over the book. It was also the only novel that made me cry while writing.
A Walk to Remember was inspired by my sister.
In many ways, Jamie Sullivan was my younger sister. Like Jamie, my sister was sweet. Like Jamie, my sister had tremendously strong faith. Like Jamie, my sister loved church. Like Jamie, my sister wasn't popular at school. Like Jamie, my sister was always cheerful. Like Jamie, all my sister wanted in life was to get married.
And like Jamie, my sister got cancer.
Like Jamie, my sister met someone. And like Landon, there was a long period of time when this fellow couldn't imagine himself marrying a girl like her. And yet, in the end, he couldn't help himself. Even when he knew she was sick, even when he knew that she might not make it, this man asked my sister to marry him.
It was just about the sweetest thing that's ever been done for anyone, and I suppose I wrote this novel not only so that you could get to know my sister, but so that you would know what a wonderful thing it was that her husband once did for her.
Sadly, my sister died in June (2000). She was thirty-three years old. . ."
This novel has a lot of sentimental value than I thought. I'm almost finished so stay keep viewing my site for updates.
* http://www.nicholassparks.com/Novels/AWalkToRemember/BackInfo.html
Rule: Copy and change the answers and pass it on. Be sure to tag the person who sent it to you!
1. Where is your cell phone? lost. LOL
2. Your hair? midlength
3. Your mother? loving
4. Your father? hardworking
5. Your favorite food? siomai
6. Your dream last night? forgot
7. Your favorite drink? juice
8. Your dream/goal? executive
9. What room you are in? bedroom
10. Your hobby? reading
11. Your fear? loss
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? US
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren’t? expressive
15. Muffins? craving
16. Wish list item? books!
17. Where you grew up? philippines
18. Last thing you did? study
19. What are you wearing? casual
20. Your TV? sony
21. Your pets? dogs
22. Friends? fantastic
23. Your life? content
24. Your mood? nervous
25. Missing someone? dad
26. Car? green
27. Something you’re not wearing? jewelry
28. Your favorite store? bookstore
29. Your favorite color? yellow
30. When is the last time you laughed? earlier
31. Last time you cried? june
32. Who will resend this? friends
33. One place that I go to over and over? malls
34. One person who emails me regularly? friendster
35. My favorite place to eat? home
Thank you Full Time Mom for this tag. It was fun answering it! I'd like to share this tag with my friends ... Aneuk Nanggroe and MNG15 :))
At last, I've been able to finish reading The Luxe, and now I'm reading this book, Summer Confidential:Sunrise by Melissa J. Morgan. Let me show you a glimpse of this novel.
What could be more fun than a coed water-sports camp in Hawaii?
a. nothing
b. they have cute boys there, right?
c. anything that doesn’t involve water sports or boys
Cassie Hamilton is a professional surfer who also happens to be a total hottie. So why in the world is she so nervous about being a counselor-in-training at Camp Ohana this summer? She’s never been a genius in the social department, but that’s only part of it…Cassie has a deep dark secret. And if it ever got out, her summer, not to mention her life, would be completely ruined.
The Luxe
I'm not usually an i-love-novels-about-scandalous-elite-life type of reader before. To be honest, The Gossip Girl series didn't captivate me(although I love the TV series, i never bought the books). When I've read the glimpse of Anna Godbersen's The Luxe, I said to myself, "Why not give it a try?", I was urged to buy the book because it's not about the lives of the scandalous lives of the elites in Manhattan nowadays-coz it's too common already-but during the 1800's, and The Luxe didn't fail me. I absolutely fell in love with the story, and I'm sure to buy the sequel to this book.
So I did a little research about the brilliant author of the The Luxe Series but unfortunately, there is only a few information so I patched together the data that I've been able to find and here it is. I hope this short biography will help.
Anna Godbersen was born in Berkeley, California in 1980. She was educated at Barnard College in Manhattan, and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
She is the author of the The Luxe series, with The Luxe, the first book in the series,(her debut novel) which was published on 23 November 2007 by Harper Collins. It was followed by Rumors, and a third, Envy, was released in January 2009. A fourth book called Splendor, which concludes The Luxe series, will be published on October 27, 2009.
Anna Godbersen is the former literary editor's assistant at Esquire. She wrote weekly book reviews for the magazine's website and has written for The New York Times Book Review and The Chattahoochee Review, where she is a contributing editor.
Another book in my wishlist is The End of Forever by Lurlene McDaniel. The part of the glimpse that i've read that caught my eye was :
"Lurlene McDaniel explores the complexities not only of accepting unexpected
loss, but also of moving on to live and love again."
I'll let you read the whole preview so that just maybe, it would interest you to purchase a copy.
For sisters Amy and Erin, the night of their high school drama group’s cast party starts out as fun.
But their lives come crashing down when Amy takes the car to get more food and has a horrible accident. Now Amy lies somewhere between life and death.
Erin and her parents must find the courage to accept Amy’s life-support system will never bring her back. Can Amy’s dying become hope for someone else’s living?
The doctors assure Erin Bennett and her parents that they can’t find a physical cause for her headaches. But the throbbing, violent pain is so intense that Erin knows she needs help. Even landing the lead in the senior musical opposite David Devlin doesn’t give her much pleasure.
The headaches started just after the death of Erin’s younger sister, Amy. Erin thought her grieving was over. A therapist begins to help her deal with her pain, but what is it about David that triggers Erin’s violent reaction?
In these companion novels, now together in one volume, Lurlene McDaniel explores the complexities not only of accepting unexpected loss, but also of moving on to live and love again.
Anna Godbersen has finished the concluding novel to her The Luxe series, Splendor, and will be published this October 27, 2009. I hope it would be released here in the Philippines soon after it will be relesed at the States. :(
Another Anna Godbersen novel to devour, and I can't wait to get a copy and devour every page rich of controversy about Manhattan's elite who's lives we all would die to live. Another novel in The Luxe sequel, Envy.
Jealous whispers. Old rivalries. New betrayals. Two months after Elizabeth Holland's dramatic homecoming, Manhattan eagerly awaits her return to the pinnacle of society. When Elizabeth refuses to rejoin her sister Diana's side, however, those watching New York's favorite family begin to suspect that all is not as it seems behind the stately doors of No. 17 Gramercy Park South. Farther uptown, Henry and Penelope Schoonmaker are the city's most celebrated couple. But despite the glittering diamond ring on Penelope's finger, the newlyweds share little more than scorn for each other. And while the newspapers call Penelope's social-climbing best friend, Carolina Broad, an heiress, her fortune—and her fame—are anything but secure, especially now that one of society's darlings is slipping tales to the eager press. In this next thrilling installment of Anna Godbersen's bestselling Luxe series, Manhattan's most envied residents appear to have everything they desire: Wealth. Beauty. Happiness. But sometimes the most practiced smiles hide the most scandalous secrets…
Just remember, the richest among us hides the most comtroversial secrets.
What a tiring week this is! I haven't been able to sneak a little reading. Ugh. This sucks. I feel so behind in my reading. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be able to finish The Luxe this weekend. So let me just give you a sneak peek to it's sequel, Rumors.
After bidding good-bye to New York's brightest star, Elizabeth Holland, rumors continue to fly about her untimely demise.All eyes are on those closest to the dearly departed: her mischievous sister, Diana, now the family's only hope for redemption; New York's most notorious cad, Henry Schoon-maker, the flame Elizabeth never extinguished; the seductive Penelope Hayes, poised to claim all that her best friend left behind—including Henry; even Elizabeth's scheming former maid, Lina Broud, who discovers that while money matters and breeding counts, gossip is the new currency. As old friends become rivals, Manhattan's most dazzling socialites find their futures threatened by whispers from the past. In this delicious sequel to The Luxe, nothing is more dangerous than a scandal…or more precious than a secret.
I haven't seen this book yet in my favorite bookstore, so I'll just have to wait until they sell a copy. I can't wait! :D
Let me share a little something that I have found out about my favorite author.
Nicholas Charles Sparks was born in Omaha, Nebraska on December 31, 1965, the second son of Patrick Michael and Jill Emma Marie (Thoene) Sparks. His siblings are Michael Earl Sparks, and Danielle Sparks . As a child, he lived in Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Grand Island, Nebraska, finally settling in Fair Oaks, California at the age of eight. His father was a professor, his mother a homemaker, then optometrist's assistant. He lived in Fair Oaks through high school, graduated valedictorian in 1984, and received a full track scholarship to the University of Notre Dame.
After breaking the Notre Dame school record as part of a relay team in 1985 as a freshman, he was injured and spent the summer recovering. During that summer, he wrote his first novel, though it was never published. He majored in Business Finance and graduated with high honors in 1988.
He and his wife Catherine, who met on spring break in 1988, were married in July, 1989. While living in Sacramento, he wrote his second novel that same year, though again, it wasn't published. He worked a variety of jobs over the next three years, including real estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products by phone, and started his own small manufacturing business which struggled from the beginning. In 1990, he collaborated on a book with Billy Mills, the Olympic Gold Medallist and it was published by Feather Publishing before later being picked up by Random House. (It was recently reissued by Hay House Books.) Though it received scant publicity, sales topped 50,000 copies in the first year of release.
He began selling pharmaceuticals and moved from Sacramento, California to North Carolina in 1992. In 1994, at the age of 28, he wrote The Notebook over a period of six months. In October, 1995, rights to The Notebook were sold to Warner Books. It was published in October, 1996, and he followed that with Message in a Bottle (1998), A Walk to Remember (1999), The Rescue (2000), A Bend in the Road (2001), and Nights in Rodanthe (2002), The Guardian (2003),
The Wedding (2003), Three Weeks with my Brother (2004), True Believer (2005) and At First Sight (2005) all with Warner Books. All were domestic and international best sellers and were translated into more than 35 languages. The movie version of Message in a Bottle was released in 1999, A Walk to Remember was released in 2002, and The Notebook was released in 2004. The average domestic box office gross per film was $56 million with another $100
million in DVD sales making the novels by Nicholas Sparks one of the most successfully franchises in Hollywood.
The film rights to Nights in Rodanthe, True Believer and At First Sight have been sold, and Nicholas Sparks has written the screenplay for The Guardian, though he has not offered it for sale at this point.
He now has five children: Miles, Ryan, Landon, Lexie, and Savannah. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and children.
His ancestry is German, Czech, English, and Irish, he's 5'10" and weighs 180 lbs. He is an avid athlete who runs daily, lifts weights regularly, and competes in Tae Kwon Do. He attends church regularly and reads approximately 125 books a year. He contributes to a variety of local and national charities, and is a major contributor to the Creative Writing Program (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame, where he provides scholarships, internships, and a fellowship annually.
To Mr. Nicholas Sparks: I hope you continue to write books that will change people throughout the world. I wish you would touch the hearts of more people.
The #1 best selling author, Nicholas Sparks has a new novel, The Last Song, to be released this September 8, 2009.
Seventeen year old Veronica "Ronnie" Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alientated from her parents, especially her father...until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie's father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church.
The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story of love on many levels--first love, love between parents and children -- that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that love can break our hearts...and heal them.
My favorite author has created another masterpiece to capture the hearts of people around the world. Hopefully, it will be released soon here in the Philippines. I can't wait to read it!
Still, I haven't been able to finish The Luxe, so let me tell something i've read about the second book in my wishlist: A Song for Summer by Eva Ibbotson.
Eighteen-year-old Ellen never expected the Hallendorf school to be, well, quite so unusual. After all, her life back in England with her suffragette mother and liberated aunts certainly couldn’t be called normal. But buried deep in the beautiful Austrian countryside, Ellen discovers an eccentric world occupied by wild children and even wilder teachers, experimental dancers and a tortoise on wheels. And then there is the particularly intriguing, enigmatic, and very handsome Marek, part-time gardener and fencing teacher. Ellen is instantly attracted to the mysterious gardener, but Hitler’s Reich is already threatening their peaceful world. Only when she discovers Marek’s true identity and his dangerous mission does Ellen realize the depth of her feelings for him—and the danger their newfound love faces in the shadow of war.
I've only read about this book in a website, and i'm very much intrigued with this story because i can feel that there are a lot of secrets to be revealed. I haven't seen this book in my favorite bookshop yet, but i'll keep looking.
Yay! I finally got the chance to buy one of the books in my wishllist! The Luxe by Anna Godbersen. I've already seen this at Natinal Bookstore for the past few months, but never got the chance to read the plot at the back because i've been focusing on other books. So when I visited the National Bookstore website, I read the glimpse to the story and I've been intrigued, because i never thought that the people of Manhattan during the 1980's were scandalous too. Keep reading for updates!
The ChoiceGabby Holland and Travis Parker were neighbors in a small-town at North Carolina. Their story began when Gabby’s coolie, Molly, got pregnant and accused Travis’ boxer, Moby to be responsible for it. While her boyfriend, Kevin, was out of town, Gabby has been spending time with Travis and his friends. As the weekend passed by, Gabby and Travis found themselves falling for each other and when Kevin arrived home, Gabby chose Travis over Kevin.
Insight:
I REALLY love this book. The story is very touching, and I'm sure can warm the hearts of the readers. A real tearjerker. Whoever won't cry while reading this book is a stone. The best Nicholas Sparks book i have read yet.
I Heart You, You Haunt Me"I dare you." Ava said to her boyfriend, Jackson during their End-of-School Party. Jackson's eyes lit up and he made his way to the top of the waterfalls and prepared to jump.
Jackson didn't even pop his head out of the water, nor screamed for help. Just the deadly silence. A moment later, deafening screams of shock and hysteria filled the place, but three words drowned them all out in Ava's head. I killed Jackson. Well, there goes her world - and maybe, her sanity too.
Jackson was back. Ava was certain she isn't crazy, but everything felt so real - Jackson's face flashing beside her in her bathroom mirror, the feeling of his hand brushing her cheek, his soft whispers, turning on of the cd player, all accompanied by the sudden drop of temperature. Everytime she felt his presence, towing her out of her big ocean of guilt, Ava kept feeling happy and relieved. Soon, she was ditching everything to stay at home and be with Jackson, but the outside world is calling for her. Her family and friends, are begging for her to come out, have fun, bond and just be happy. As she steps out of her world into the sea of love and concern of the ones dear to her, she discovers that there is life after an unfathomable loss after all, setting free of Jackson with her guilt, and sending them to the place of eternal happiness.
The story is uniquely wonderful, and the cover is really interesting. Lisa Schroeder succeeded in her first verse novel. I fell in love with the story and its characters right away, and soon, I was hungry for more, ardently flipping through the pages. It teaches us that not even death can keep us from loving the ones we've left behind and wanting what's best for them. Three thumbs up for this one.xD
