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“My life — my real life — started when a man walked into it, a handsome stranger in a perfectly cut suit and, yes, I know how that sounds.”
When Martin grace enters the hip Philadelphia coffee shop Cornelia Brown manages, her life changes forever. Charming and debonair, the spitting image of Cary Grant, Martin sweeps Cornelia off her feet, but as it turns out, Martin Grace is more the harbringer of change than the change itself…
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, eleven-year-old Clare Hobbes must learn to fend for herself after her increasingly unstable mother has a breakdown and disappears. Taking inspiration from famous orphans (Anne Shirley, Sara Crewe, Mary Lennox, and even Harry Potter) Clare musters the courage to seek out her estranged father. When the two of them show up at Cornelia’s cafe, Cornelia and Clare form a bond as unlikely as it is deep. Together, they face difficult choices and discover that knowing hat you love and why is as real as life gets.
From first impressions, this book has an old setting type of feel. The story and the characters feel like they came from a quaint 1920’s place, but really, it’s quite modern. Perhaps it’s because of Cornelia Brown’s little cafe and the quaint cast of characters inside, or the references to old movies and Cary Grant. It may be the seemingly countryside setting and Cornelia’s uniqueness, or maybe other things inside the novel, but it had this really nice old time feel even if it’s really quite modern — especially with mentions of laptops and cellphones with memory cards and other things at the latter part of the novel.
The book talks about love in a big general sense but also in the more specific sense — from romantic love to parental love to the love between friends and family, and finding out the love of one’s life. Cornelia meets Martin Grace who she instantly likes, and a little while later Clare comes in and Cornelia loves her and Clare learns to love her as well. Then comes in Teo, who Clare loves immediately, and then there’s Cornelia’s family and Clare’s mother. There’s big love and small love but love nonetheless — and Marisa de los Santos wrote it in such a beautiful way that you get to fall in love and believe in the love that everyone has for each other in the story.
One thing I really loved in the story was Teo Sandoval, Cornelia’s brother-in-law, who showed up at the middle of the story. Teo is the lovable male character who was described so vividly that I’d love to actually see him “radiate” his emotions. Plus, Teo is actually half Filipino and the part where he and Clare cooks pansit was probably my favorite scene in the novel. :D
The novel was kind of predictable at first and before I even got to the middle of the novel, I already knew the connections of the chracters in the novel. It was kind of a downer, but the action in the novels pick up at the middle, providing a very satisfying and heartwarming ending. :)
I hear this has a sequel already — Belong to Me. Cornelia and Teo are such lovable characters that I’d love to read them again. :)
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New Yorker Gillian Chang starts her second term at posh SpencerAcademy boarding school in San Francisco prepared to focus on her studies, her faith, and her friends. She plays a dozen musical instruments and can recite the periodic table of the elements backward. She’s totally prepared for everything–except love!
She’s falling hard for Lucas Hayes, who isn’t even a senior yet and is already aiming at a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford. The problem is, she never seems to be able to measure up and be the girlfriend he wants. He’s under a lot of pressure from his parents to achieve–maybe that’s why he’s short-tempered sometimes. But even a thick-skinned girl like Gillian can only take so much.
With her heart on the line, Gillian conceals more and more from her friends. So when she’s accused of selling exam answer sheets, even her girlfriends, Lissa and Carly wonder if it’s true. Can Gillian hang on to her integrity — and her faith — when she loses her heart to Lucas?
After reading It’s All About Us, the first book in this series, I quickly dived into the second one. The Fruit of My Lipstick focuses on Gillian Chang, Lissa’s roommate, as she falls in love with the smartest guy in school, Lucas Hayes. At first I was really amused at how the two of them started, and I really thought they’d make a great pair, but then Gillian starts spending a bit too much time with Lucas and started changing herself just so she could keep her first boyfriend. She gets all defensive when her friends point out some weird things she’s doing to keep Lucas, like dropping her graphics design class and going for a personal trainer just because Lucas made a comment about other thin girls.
In the same way that I was annoyed at Lissa in the previous book for being so dense, I was annoyed at Gillian here for not listening to her friends and then saying things to hurt them in her defense. But, as far as all the series’ characters are concerned, even if I get annoyed at them, I still find myself rooting for them and hoping that they’d recover from whatever mess they’d get into.
This novel touches more serious things, like racism, academic competition, cheating and even abuse. I loved the resolution — it seemed a bit unbelievable but really hilarious, and I’m glad that the truth came out for everyone. :)
Oh, and can I say that I liked Lissa better in this book? She seemed less shallow and more likable — and possibly even more real — in this book than in her own.
If you’re going to read this book, I suggest you pick up the first book in the series as there’s lots of references made there. I am really starting to love this series, and I can’t wait for the next one which is Carly’s story. The title looks really exciting too — Be Strong and Curvaceous. I wonder if there will be a mention of diet pills there? Hm.
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Tall, blond Lissa Mansfield is used to being one of the “in” crowd–but being accepted by the popular girls at posh Spencer Academy boarding school in San Francisco is turning out to be harder than she thought. And then there’s her New-York-loudmouth roommate, Gillian Chang, who’s not just happy to be a Christian herself–she’s determined to out Lissa, too! If Lissa can just keep her faith under wraps long enough to hook Callum McCloud, the hottest guy in school, she’ll be golden.
But when Callum pressures her to go all the way with him, Lissa has to decide for herself how far is too far. How can she see that line when he’s so gorgeous and popular and she’s so dazzled? And besides, she’s too busy shopping for a Valentino and booking the hottest celeb for the Benefactors Ball. Who knew finding a place at Spencer Academy would be so complicated?
Ever since I picked up Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, I’ve been looking for her books everywhere I can check, as well as good young adult books to read. Last book fair, I chanced upon this book by Shelley Adina among all the other pocketbooks and textbooks in National Bookstore. I remember Camy reviewing one of her books, so I decided to grab it. It’s Young Adult and it’s Christian; this should be good.
Lissa is a part of the popular crowd in her old school, but when she moved to the prestigious Spencer Academy, she couldn’t even break into the popular girls’ circle without being embarrassed at some point. Then she meets her new roommate, Gillian, who turns out to be a Christian like her. A very passionate Christian, who’d do everything for her faith — something that Lissa is kind of wary of doing. And then there’s Callum McCloud, who makes Lissa’s heart skip a beat whenever he smiles at her. There’s really nothing wrong with wanting to be popular, but at the expense of her faith? What will Lissa do?
I found the book very enjoyable and relatable. The name-dropping kind of got to me a bit, especially the numerous mentions of the iPhone (maybe this is just me), although seeing a familiar name like Frank Peretti did perk me up. :D The characters feel very real too, and although I’m already getting annoyed at Lissa for being so dense, I was also rooting for her too, hoping that she’d rise in the end. I also really enjoyed Gillian’s character (can’t wait to read her story in the next book in the series) as well as Kaz, Lissa’s other best friend.
I thought Shelley would end it with Lissa getting vindicated from the predicament she got into, which would probably be very satisfying, but I’m glad that the author ended it differently. The ending made things closer to real life, which adds to the relatable factor.
I read some reviews of this book and there were a lot of comparisons with Gossip Girl. I never read any of the books in the series (although I like the show), and maybe someday I will, but I think this book has a really great potential. The characters are lovable and not preachy, and the problems of the characters are as realistic as it can be (well, not as much here in the Philippines, but in the general sense it’s sort of a universal thing). I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. :)
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Last year, Annabel was “the girl who has everything”—at least that’s the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf’s Department Store.This year, she’s the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen’s help,maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.
I picked this book on a random book splurge. I think I wasn’t in a good mood then, so I browsed around National Bookstore and waited a bit before deciding to buy it. It seemed very interesting among all the YA books I saw in the bookstore, plus I remember seeing some of my friends recommending her books…and so I bought it. The last time I bought a YA book (I think it was Private by Kate Brian), I was really disappointed, so I hoped this one won’t disappoint.
And it didn’t.
Just Listen is about Annabel, a seemingly perfect girl on the outside who needs no treatments for acne, but a lot devastated on the inside. The novel talks about her family, her friendships and her growing relationship with Owen, the music lover who always says what’s on his mind. Annabel, on the other hand, prefers to keep things inside her, especially if she thinks it would disrupt the “peace” that other people have. It’s not about keeping a reputation, but just looking out for them in a way that she could and at a cost.
The novel is very realistic, and it deals a lot about eating disorders, complicated friends and being true to yourself. I loved how I can still relate to it even if I’m way above the YA age (or not :P), how I managed to see myself in Annabel as I read the novel. While reading Just Listen, you’ll find yourself rooting for Annabel (and Owen) and hoping that things become okay with her. The flashbacks were seamless, almost like you were really looking into Annabel’s mind as she recalls them all.
This is the kind of fiction I love. It kind of reminds me of those YA/Chicklit books written by Christian authors that I buy, but this one is more mainstream and doesn’t talk of God. However, the lessons that the story has is very valuable, and this is something teens should really read.
Two things I wish that would happen (spoiler alert): I wish to know how Clarke lost her allergies and I kind of wish there’s some kind of resolution for Annabel and Sophie, other than them not talking anymore. Or at least, some kind of encounter. But then I guess that part is left open to interpretation and possible spin offs. :)
If only there were more Dessen books available in Manila! I found one in BookSale, which I will hunt down soon, and then I’ll look for some during the Book Fair. :D If all else fails, I’ll ask my dad to get me her books. I’m definitely a fan. :D
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In her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want — husband, country home, successful career — but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she felt consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and of what she found in their place. Following a divorce and a crushing depression, Gilbert set out to exmine three different aspects of her nature, set against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence.
After almost a month of reading, I’m finally done with this one. To some that might be normal, but to me that’s kind of strange, because I’m a normally fast reader, and I really liked this book, which should have made me read even faster. But there were some distractions that stopped me — like work, and Breaking Dawn — which made me read this slower than usual. But really, I’m not complaining, as this book is probably one of the nicest, most feminine and most honest non-fiction book I’ve read among all that I own (coming very very close to Flashbang and Blue Like Jazz).
I’m not a big big reader of non-fiction, really, and the only ones I’ve read are usually by Christian authors. I picked this one up only because of what a friend posted in her blog, and I’m a sucker for quotable quotes/passages in books (hence, this post). Eat, Pray, Love was like a chicklit non-fiction. It was both light and deep at the same time, often very funny as the author makes fun of herself a lot, and a lot touching as Ms. Gilbert opens up her life and heart and thoughts during her year of traveling (and even going back to her childhood) to the reader.
In a way I think that even if she wrote from her own experience, there’s a general common thread in her experiences and realizations that run through all of us, especially for women. I honestly couldn’t relate to her experiences as being a divorced woman, but I can sort of relate with her feeling lost, feeling sad, needing peace badly, and even being broken hearted (in some sense, that is). Ms. Gilbert managed to touch on what I think are universal themes in a woman’s (and maybe even in a man’s) life.
Each section of the book is a gem in its own. I loved her food adventures in Italy (EAT) and it made me want to really enjoy my food (I even managed to make my own Eat Pray Love meal, haha) and visit Rome and all other places she visited just to see it. I especially loved her reflections and learnings while she was in India (PRAY). I don’t necessarily agree with everything she believed in and talked about in that particular part of her travel, but there were a lot of stuff there that I think are also what Christians need to learn. In fact, there was this part of the book where I learned something really important that helped me make my choice a few weeks back. As for her Bali (LOVE) adventure…it’s probably my least liked one mostly because I really couldn’t relate that much on the last parts, but I have to agree that I loved the people she met there, and it thrills me to know that they really are real people, as shown in the photos here (just look at Tutti!).
The book isn’t preachy, but instead it feels like Ms. Gilbert was actually talking to you and telling you all these stories over a cup of coffee (or a bowl of pasta ;) ). It’s a comforting read — not something that you’d lose sleep over, but definitely something you’d share (or recommend or even buy instead of medical id as a gift) to everyone you know. :)
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