gift idea : 1000 Places to See before You Die

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 4:07 AM


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)

 

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The Rescue

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 9:02 PM

The Rescue
Nicholas Sparks

Plot:

Denise Holton is a single mom, and her four year old son, Kyle has trouble in speaking and understanding language. During a record-breaking storm, she and Kyle met a car accident that intertwined their fate with a volunteer fireman named Taylor McAden. When Denise woke up from the accident inside her car, she found out that Kyle wasn't in the car. So Taylor and other volunteer firemen engaged in a rescue mission in a swamp and when Taylor finally found Kyle, he was shocked for Kyle enthusiastically clinged into his arms without hesitation.


Ever since they Denise and Taylor ran into each other in a store on the outskirts of town, they have been spending gays and nights together. Denise finally came to the realization that she was falling in love with Taylor McAden and Taylor sure can't deny the attraction he was feeling for Denise, but why is it that Taylor have been distant ever since the evening when they had dinner at Mitch - Taylor's Bestfriend - and Melissa's house where the topic marriage came up?


At the end, true love sure prevailed and Taylor has been able to open his heart shrouded with pain and guilt for his father's death that kept him from being happy, and faced his ultimate fear-to love someone forever.

Insight:

The first words that came out of my mouth when I finally finished the book was, WOW. This book is really great. It is yet another masterpiece written by the only author who can make me cry no matter where I am. The story is brilliant. Filled with absolute love, sincerity, rejection, acceptance and the joys of loving and being loved. Words aren't enough to express the magnificence of this novel. The best book I've ever read since The Choice. I LOVE IT. Superbe! Nicholas Sparks is a true genius.

 

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The Lucky One

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 3:33 AM

The Lucky Ones
Nicholas Sparks>br>
Plot:
U.S. marine Logan Thibault found a picture of a smiling woman buried in the sand during his tour in Iraq. Somehow, this picture brought luck to him. Helping him survive bomb explosions and deadly combats, win poker games-pretty much in everything he did at Iraq.


When 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.

After this encounter with Clayton, Thibault finally meets his destiny. He eventually found out that the girl's name is Elizabeth and where she lives. By coincidence, Elizabeth's family owns a kennel, which is in need of an employee. He grabbed the chance to get to know Elizabeth and applied. When he was hired, he got to know Elizabeth more. He found out that she has a son and an ex-husband-who incidentally, is Keith Clayton-, she lives with her grandmother, and she is falling in love with him little by little. He decided to keep the photograph as a secret.

But it's too late when Elizabeth found out about this. She was already madly in love with Thibault, that she can't turn her back on him for too long. The Lucky One shows that no matter what happens, we will all find our way to our true destiny.

Insight:
Another Nicholas Sparks masterpiece. Trully, Nicholas knows how to tug the reader's heartstrings. Two thumbs up for this one! Yay!

 

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Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults 2009

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 1:44 AM


Well, that's it for my Top Ten Best books for Young Adults Special. I hope that eventhough they were just a couple of brief descriptions about the books, you found out how the story runs in each book. I also hope that they inspired you to entertain other genres of books for young adults. Not just romances, but also life experiences. There are a lot of other books out there just waiting for us to pick them out of the bookshelves and devour in order to impart their true messages about life and lots of other stuff. xD For my fellow readers, please comment on my cBox at the left side of the page. Hope to hear from you!

 

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0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 1:41 AM

The Brothers Torres
by : Voorhees, Coert




Frankie Towers has always looked up to his older brother, Steve, and with good reason. Steve is a popular senior who always gets what he wants: girls, a soccer scholarship, and--lately--street cred. Frankie, on the other hand, spends his time shooting off fireworks with his best friend Zach, working at his parents' restaurant, and obsessing about his longtime crush, Rebecca Sanchez.




Frankie has reservations about Steve's crusade to win the respect of the local cholos. He doesn't think about them, though, until he gets into a fist fight John Dalton - the richest, preppiest kid in his New Mexican high school, and longtime nemesis of Steve. After the fight, Steve takes Frankie under his wing - and Frankie's social currency begins to rise. The cholos who used to ignore him start to recognize him; he even lands a date to Homecoming with Rebecca.




The situation with Dalton continues to simmer, and after another incident Steve is bent on retaliating. Frankie starts to think that his brother is taking this respect thing too far. He may have to choose between respecting his brother and respecting himself.




In an honest and humorous debut novel, Coert Voorhees uses a coming of age story to look at where loyalty ends and the self begins.

 

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Top Ten YA Books Special : Skim

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 1:34 AM

Skim
by : Tamaki, Mariko and Jillian Tamaki



The time is the early 1990s, the setting a girls' academy in Toronto. Enter "Skim," aka Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth.


When 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.

When Ms. Archer abruptly leaves the school, Skim has to cope with her confusion and isolation, as her best friend, Lisa, tries to pull her into "real" life by setting up a hilarious double date for the school's semi-formal.

Skim finds an unexpected ally in Katie. Suicide, depression, love, being gay or not, crushes, cliques of popular, manipulative peers — the whole gamut of tortured teen life is explored in this masterful graphic novel by cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki.

 

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Top Ten YA Books Special : Nation

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 1:30 AM

Nation
by : Terry Pratchett



Finding himself alone on a desert island when everything and everyone he knows and loved has been washed away in a huge storm, Mau is the last surviving member of his nation. He's also completely alone - or so he thinks until he finds the ghost girl.


She has no toes, wears strange lacy trousers like the grandfather bird and gives him a stick which can make fire. Daphne, sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, almost immediately regrets trying to shoot the native boy.


Thank goodness the powder was wet and the gun only produced a spark. She's certain her father, distant cousin of the Royal family, will come and rescue her but it seems, for now, all she has for company is the boy and the foul-mouthed ship's parrot.

As it happens, they are not alone for long.Other survivors start to arrive to take refuge on the island they all call the Nation and then raiders accompanied by murderous mutineers from the Sweet Judy. Together, Mau and Daphne discover some remarkable things - including how to milk a pig and why spitting in beer is a good thing - and start to forge a new Nation.

As can be expected from Terry Pratchett, the master story-teller, this new children's novel is both witty and wise, encompassing themes of death and nationhood, while being extremely funny. Mau's ancestors have something to teach us all. Mau just wishes they would shut up about it and let him get on with saving everyone's lives!

 

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Top Ten YA Books Special : Baby

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 6:15 PM

Baby
by : Monninger, Joseph

Baby is a teenager in trouble, and her last chance is a foster home with a husband and wife whose idea of fun is dogsledding.

Still, it beats going to the juvenile detention center.

Baby comes to love the dogs and takes naturally to sledding, but when her old boyfriend, Bobby, shows up, she can't stop herself from running off with him.

Life with Bobby goes bad, and Baby has to make some hard decisions.

 

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Top Ten YA Books Special : Ten Cents a Dance

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 3:28 AM

6. Ten Cents a Dance
by : Fletcher, Christine



With her mother ill, it’s up to fifteen-year-old Ruby Jacinski to support her family. But in the 1940s, the only opportunities open to a Polish-American girl from Chicago’s poor Yards is a job in one of the meat packing plants. Through a chance meeting with a local tough, Ruby lands a job as a taxi dancer and soon becomes an expert in the art of “fishing”: working her patrons for meals, cash, clothes, even jewelry. Drawn ever deeper into the world of dance halls, jazz, and the mob, Ruby gradually realizes that the only one who can save her is herself. A mesmerizing look into a little known world and era.

 

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Top Ten YA Books Special : The Hunger Games

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 3:18 AM

5. The Hunger Games
by : Collins, Suzanne


Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States.

Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated.

As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games."

The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.
When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

 

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Top Ten YA Books Special : Bog Child

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 3:13 AM

4. Bog Child
by : Dowd, Siobhan

DIGGING FOR PEAT in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds the body of a child, and it looks like she’s been murdered. As Fergus tries to make sense of the mad world around him—his brother on hunger-strike in prison, his growing feelings for Cora, his parents arguing over the Troubles, and him in it up to the neck, blackmailed into acting as courier to God knows what—a little voice comes to him in his dreams, and the mystery of the bog child unfurls.


Bog Child is an astonishing novel exploring the sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the unflinching strength of the human spirit.

 

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Top Ten YA Books Special : Mexican Whiteboy

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 3:09 AM

3. Mexican Whiteboy
by: de la Pena, Matt

DANNY’S TALL AND skinny. Even though he’s not built, his arms are long enough to give his pitch a power so fierce any college scout would sign him on the spot. A 95 mph fastball, but the boy’s not even on a team. Every time he gets up on the mound he loses it.


But at his private school, they don’t expect much else from him. Danny’s brown. Half-Mexican brown. And growing up in San Diego that close to the border means everyone else knows exactly who he is before he even opens his mouth. Before they find out he can’t speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blond hair and blue eyes, they’ve got him pegged. Danny’s convinced it’s his whiteness that sent his father back to Mexico. And that’s why he’s spending the summer with his dad’s family. Only, to find himself, he might just have to face the demons he refuses to see right in front of his face.


 

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Top Ten YA Books Special : Waiting for Normal

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 3:00 AM

Here's a little something about the number two entry in our list.
Waiting for Normal
by: 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.

 

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Top Ten YA Books Special : It's Complicated: The American Teenager

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 2:52 AM

As promised, here's the Top 10 YA Books special. Hope you enjoy. :)

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.

 

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Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults 2009

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 2:12 AM



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

 

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trip to the bookstore.ΓΌ

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 9:35 PM




I went to the bookstore last Sunday and saw that Nicholas Sparks' novel, The Lucky One has 20% discount for members so I rushed to the counter and bought it together with his other book, A Walk to Remember. Yay! Talk about booktrip! So I'm a little bankrupt right now. Ok, I only have 50 pesos in my wallet right now. LOL.

 

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Currently Reading : A Walk to Remember

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 9:29 PM


I've been reading this book for two days already and let me share a little something about another Nicholas Sparks masterpiece that I've read in the Official Nicholas Sparks Website :

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

 

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One Word Tag.

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 12:57 AM

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 :))

 

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currently reading : Summer Confidential-Sunrise

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 12:48 AM



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.

 

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The Luxe

0 comments Posted by sam.ae at 12:03 AM

The Luxe
Anna Godbersen

Plot:
Elizabeth Holland, like any other young social figure, was raised to please the people around her. Having the most beautiful face in all of Manhattan's elites, she is ruling Manhattan's social scene.

Once she discovered that their family's status is far from secure, she was forced to marry Henry Schoonmaker-a bachelor famous for breaking hearts and his recklessness-who recently had an affair with her bestfriend-slash-rival-in-the-social-scenes, Penelope Hayes and is recently captivated by her sister, Diana Holland's natural loveliness.

But, our dear protagonist isn't that innocent also. While having a secret love affair with their coachman, Will Keller, she was very consistent in ignoring her childhood friend and personal maid, Carolina Braud who has been hiding her affection for Will for a long time.

So what was the reason for Elizabeth Holland's death, just days before her birthday? How come her body was still lost under the waters of Hudson River?

Secrets, jealousy, betrayal and lies. The primary colors in the portrait of the lives of the persons ruling Manhattan's streets. Remember, the richest hides the filthiest secrets.

Insight:
Anna Godbersen's debut novel is a success. I really, really love it! The mystery behind the lives of the brightest names in the social scene of Manhattan during the 1980's is what keeps me turning the pages until the crack of dawn. Genius! One of the best books i've read.

 

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