The Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge runs from Jan 1 until March 31, 2009.

 

The goal is to read three(3) books that:

 

have a food name in the title / be about cooking/eating / have a place name in
the title / be about one (or more) person's travel experience / be about a
specific culture / be by an author whose ethnicity is other than your own

 

More information and sign-ups here.

 

My books:

 

 

1. The Antioxidant Miracle by Lester Packer, PH.D. & Carol Colman (2/25/09)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (2/27/09)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't manage to finish three books in the above mentioned criteria, except I've read plenty by authors whose ethnicity are different from my own. Since almost every book I read is by authors who are different ethnically from me, I decided that I wouldn't include that in my personal challenge.

 

So I failed this challenge. =( But I'll do better next time! =)

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!
  

My Teaser:

 

 

   

"I was up on my knees, halfway to my feet, and scrambling for the door before I finished thinking this, even though I knew you couldn't run away from a vampire. I had forgotten that I was chained to the wall." ~p. 26,

Robin McKinley's Sunshine

 

I had forgotten I had this book, I'd bought it so long ago, but if I knew it was this good, I wouldn't have waited so long to read it!

 

This is about Sunshine, who went to the lake one day for a walk. She was captured by a group of vampires, and brought to a house in the woods. Chained and unable to escape, they left her as a bait for another vampire, their gang leader's enemy.

 

As the night wore on, and the vampire still hasn't killed her, even though he looked emaciated and was very hungry, she found out that he needed her help more than she realized.

 

All I can say it, what an amazing book! I loved it! And it's another book to add to my favorite list. 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 Teasers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley

 

I believe most people have read or at least know of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind, and I'm sure some know about Alexandra Ripley's wonderful sequel, entitled Scarlett.

 

Now I know that as with most sequels written by someone other than the original author, you'd have people either absolutely loving it, or absolutely hating it.

 

Fortunately for me, I'm one of the former. I love Alexandra Ripley's Scarlett, and in fact, I love Scarlett more than GWTW! (*ducks*)

 

Of course, I fell in love with Scarlett in GWTW, I love her strength of character, her selfishness and how manipulative she was, how she did whatever she could to ensure a better life for herself...

 

I mean, which of us haven't done that or wanted to do that at least once in our lives. The truth is, I would manipulate others in a heartbeat if it meant my own survival. I love that she was so terribly flawed as a human, and don't forget she was so young, only a teen when the war started and she got married and then had to take care of her family.

 

In Ripley's Scarlett, she's still the same strong character, with a terrible temper and still as manipulative as ever. But she grows up. She's not as selfish as she once was, or as childish, and she definitely learns, the hard way, that she can't always get what she wants. But she grows up and learn to let things be. She's still terribly flawed, but what I love about Ripley's Scarlett, is that she allows Scarlett room for improvement.

 

Just as we all grow up and see the folly of our ways in our younger years, Scarlett grows up too. We don't become perfect overnight, and neither does Scarlett, but we all improve, or at least, we try to. And Scarlett really does try.

 

I've read Scarlett probably about five or six times now, but I always enjoy it every time I re-read it. So much so that this time, I finished reading this 884-page book in 2 days! I can't help it, it's one of my 'favoritest' book in the world!

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

 

I finished this last week, but hadn't had the time to review it until now. I had also just finished Kinsella's Can You Keep a Secret and I enjoyed it so much I thought I'd read this too.

 

I haven't read any of the Shopaholic series, but I've enjoyed the two Kinsella books that I have read.

 

This one is about a high-powered lawyer named Samantha, who makes a huge mistake and runs away from all the pressure. As she's walking blindly, not knowing where she is, she knocks on a door to ask for directions and is mistaken for a domestic helper.

 

Somehow through misunderstandings and miscommunication, Samantha ends up becoming their maid, and in fact, enjoying it!

 

Ultimately though, her past mistake catches up with her, and she has to face it no matter how hard it is.

 

Love the concept, love the humor, I think Kinsella's hilarious, and I really want to read her other non-Shopaholic book, Remember Me?, but I promised DH I wouldn't buy another book until I was done with what I already have. Hmm... wish me luck on that.

I missed last week's Thursday 13, but I had very, very good reasons for it! Really! In fact, I have 13! (Actually, more than 13, but we'll stick to 13...=D)

 

13 Reasons why I missed last week's TT:

 

1. Lone and I had our pre-wedding photo shoot (it's a cultural thing) last Thursday, and it was really exhausting, but great fun! We didn't even have the time to eat lunch, and went hungry the whole day until we finished at 7pm.

 

2. Before Thursday, we were busy shopping for props and coming up with ideas for the shoot, so that we wouldn't have a photo shoot that looked exactly the same like the millions of other couples who have pre-wedding photo shoots.

 

3. We had to go to a few different places, because we couldn't find a witch's hat, and we couldn't decide on the type of masks we wanted.

 

4. We found a couple of really simple but cool masks in the end, but I had to crochet a witch's hat on my own because we couldn't find one, and we ended up not even using the hat in our shoot.

 

5. I couldn't come up with an idea for a short and easy TT, so I thought I'd just miss it for one week.

 

6. I'm actually still busy trying to catch up with all the things I missed last week, for studies and etc, that's why I'm cheating with a short and easy TT this week too.

 

7. On Sunday, we got to see the pictures we took for the photo shoot in digital format, and they were great! They're not ready for the public yet, and they won't be for about a month, because our photographer has to go to Europe for another photo shoot and will only be back a month later. But I promise I'll show them off when they're ready! (As if you could stop me! LOL!)

 

8. We also had to prepare for a last minute gig last Sunday, we had only a week to prepare for it, learning new songs and such, which wouldn't have been difficult if it didn't just happen that we had that photo shoot thing going on too.

 

9. It was a great show though, and we had fun, and I'd do it again in a minute.

 

10. The funny thing was, all through the week, the gig held more importance to me than our pre-wedding photo shoot. But then again, it's not funny if you know me, and in fact, Lone and I haven't even begun our wedding preparations yet. We're both not really into the whole 'our friends and family expects it of you' thing, but what can you do...

 

11. So we decided, if we had to do it just because everyone else is doing it and everyone expects us to do it, fine, we'll do it. But we'll do it our way.

 

12. Not to mention, last week was very stressful in more ways than one, because of some drama and problems with some people in my life whom I won't mention.

 

13. I'd love nothing more than to complain about them until I'm satisfied, but people who read my blog know people who know them, etc. and I don't want more drama because of that.

 

It was a really, really, extremely busy week! And I'm still trying to catch up on a lot of things. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon!

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!
  

My Teaser:

 

   

"Oh my God. It's him. The same dark eyes. The same lines etched around them. The stubble's gone, but it's definitely him. It's the man from the plane." ~p. 72,

Sophie Kinsella's Can You Keep a Secret?

 

I just finished this book by Sophie Kinsella. I've never read her Shopaholic series because I'm wary of series, but I decided to try this one because it was a stand-alone book, and I love the premise.

 

It's about Emma who sits next to a stranger on a plane and tells him all her secrets. Secrets about her boyfriend, about how she lied in her resume, about her weight, about her colleagues, and other really juicy secrets.

 

Of course, after the flight she expects to never see him again, but of course she does! And it turns out he's her boss!

 

This is a really fun read, and I finished it in one sitting. I think I'm finally out of my reading funk and can go back to heavy books! 
 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 Teasers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Casey by Lori Foster

 

This is the fifth book of the Buckhorn series, but I've never read the first four. It's quite a sweet and simple love story.

 

I got this in a mail a couple of days ago, from a Bookcrosser, along with some other books, and I'd been reading a lot of really heavy books lately and just needed a light and easy romance.

 

I'm short on romance and chick-lit at the moment, and I promised myself I wouldn't buy anymore, so I've been going through some really bad withdrawal symptoms! Some days I actually don't feel like reading at all, because all other books feel so daunting!

 

Anyway, this book is about Casey and Emma. Emma is a childhood friend of Casey, and they'd shared a special history before she ran away from their town because of family problems, leaving Casey worried and devastated.

 

Eight years later, Emma's father is sick in the hospital and she decides to come back to visit him. Of course, she bumps into Casey, and they pick up where they left off. Obviously, there are a lot of obstacles in the way, not least of which are Emma's family problems, Casey's host of female latch-ons, and their past history together.

 

All's well that ends well, however, and they find a way to resolve their problems.

 

All I can say is, I really needed this book! It wasn't the best romance, or even the most enjoyable, and in fact, although it wasn't bad, it wasn't very good either. But I really needed it! And I need more! I'm considering breaking down and buying some chick-lit soon!

Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee

 

I've been a huge fan of Tanith Lee ever since I read White as Snow, so I ordered this book from Amazon.com. The thing is, I had the book Drinking Sapphire Wine, and it included Don't Bite the Sun, but I hadn't read the book, and I didn't realize it was the same book.

 

I found it really curious that she titled the second part of the book Drinking Sapphire Wine, remembering that I had a book by the same name written by her. So I compared both books, and it turned out they were exactly the same!

 

It turned out that Biting the Sun is actually two books in one, Don't Bite the Sun, and Drinking Sapphire Wine.

 

Anyway, it was an amazing book (or books)! Tanith Lee creates a whole other world, Four BEE, where hedonism rules, and everyone can commit suicide and come back in a different body of their own design everyday.

 

They can get married, for a minute, a day, or a year, to whomever they choose. They can choose to have a female or a male body, or alternating between either as they wish.

 

The main character of the story is pre-dominantly female, though we never actually find out her name. She's tired with life in Four BEE, feeling that everything they do is meaningless and boring, and hating that the Quasi-Robots and the machines are doing everything for them, effectively rendering them useless.

 

Eventually, she rebels and find another way of life for herself and some other people, though of course, the process isn't immediately easy. I loved the story, and I love the whole concept of being able to commit suicide and coming back in another body, though of course, it wouldn't be such a great idea in reality. Tanith Lee works the concept well in the book though, and I'm an even bigger fan of hers now!

This week I'm featuring 13 of my favorite female characters from novels, in no particular order, and just coz I love them:

 

 

1. Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell Strong, beautiful, selfish brat who knows what she wants and is willing to do anything to get it too. She's not the most lovable person, but she's definitely one of the most human, and someone I can definitely relate to.
2. Aurianne from The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie She is one of my favorite female characters of all time. She's intelligent, and she has many amazing talents. She's someone I really respect, even though she's only a fictional character. She's someone I've always hoped I'd grow up to be, amazing talents and all. Except that I really hope I don't need to be a warrior and fight anyone...
3. Arya from A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin She's only one of the main characters, but she's also one of the most interesting. She's only a child, but a spunky and intelligent one, and I always enjoy reading the parts told in her point of view.
4. Judy Abbott from Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster She writes wonderful letters, and she's got a great sense of humor. How can you not love someone with a great sense of humor? She's real and sincere, and she's the kind of person you fall in love with just by reading her words on paper.
5. Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery Hot-tempered, sensitive, dramatic, but so lovable, kind-hearted, and someone you'd just love to be friends with. She gets into all sorts of trouble and then always find ways to make things right again. She's a staunch and loyal friend who'll be there for you no matter what.
6. Ayla from Earth's Children series by Jean M. Auel A beautiful woman who's gone through so much; losing her parents and abused by one of the men in the clan who found her, she's strong nevertheless, and ingenious. She's also talented in the mystery arts, and she gains the respect of everyone she meets just by being who she is.
7. Sati from Sati by Christopher Pike A mysterious woman who comes out of nowhere, she's a one of a kind. She's simple and easygoing, and very, very wise, and she claims to be a god. Perhaps she really is, she's definitely someone who'd make a wonderful god, or goddess, if you prefer.
8. Kiki Strike from Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller Another mysterious girl who comes out of nowhere and disappears as she wills. She's the best person to go on adventures with, because she always knows what to do and she's always prepared. She's someone I'd love to know more about.
9. Mary from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett She's contrary, and not very nice to begin with, but you start to love her as she grows into a wonderful little lady who brightens up everybody's day.
10. Momo from Momo by Michael Ende Momo is a quiet little girl, but a very special one. She solves your problems just by listening to them, and she's astute enough to know that something is wrong, when nobody else realize that anything is amiss. Momo reminds us that the little things are the most important, and the most valuable things are free.
11. Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen She's proud, but not too proud that she couldn't admit that she was wrong, a quality that we all should have. She's headstrong and stubborn, but just as vulnerable and susceptible to falling in love as the rest of us.
12. Alosha from Alosha by Christopher Pike She's just a girl, but she's no ordinary girl. There's something magical about her, and so extraordinary that she's the only one who can save the world. She's what every adventurous girl wishes she could be.
13. Jo March from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott   How can I describe Jo March? She's a strong, beautiful, ambitious girl who's loyal and loving and would do anything for her family and loved ones. She stays true to her beliefs, and she goes for her dreams, even though it's not always easy to do so.

   

Who are your favorite fictional female characters?

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!
  

My Teaser:

 

   

"All at once, someone grabbed me by my hair in an agonizing vice. I swore at them vigorously, until I realized it wasn't a someone after all." ~p. 64, Tanith Lee's Biting the Sun

 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 Teasers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

The Third Eye by Lois Duncan

 

This was one of my favorite books as a teen, and of course, I became a Lois Duncan fan after that.

 

As I said, I needed light and easy reads, and this was another book I finished in one sitting. It's a re-read, but the last time I read it was years ago, and it was amazing revisiting one of the best books in my teen years.

 

I've always been interested in the paranormal, so books about being able to see the future always intrigue me.

 

This book is about Karen, who's supposedly a normal teen girl, but she's got the gift of being able to 'see' things. She found out about it when one of the kids she was babysitting went missing, and she found him just by 'knowing'.

 

Later, when babies were kidnapped from the daycare center where she worked, one of the babies happened to be the nephew of the police officer who worked on the previous missing child case involving her. He enlisted her help in looking for the babies, and although Karen's gift was new and frightening to her, she decided to help.

 

It's a really simple book, and easy to read. To be honest, re-reading it again as an adult lets me see some flaws in the book that I never noticed as a teen, but once a book has wormed its way into your heart, it's there to stay, no matter the flaws.

 

I believe years from now I will still be enjoying this book, and maybe my children and my grandchildren in the future will love it too.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

 

I've read this once before, and I've watched the movie starring Anne Hathaway too, but it was a long time ago, and something just made me feel like re-reading this book again.

 

Perhaps it's because I have been reading a lot of heavy books lately, and I desperately needed a light and fun read.

 

I'm not allowed to buy any new books until I've read the ones I already have, but I have few light and easy chick-lit, and reading heavy book after heavy book is taking its toll on me!

 

Thankfully, I've got this book on hand, although it's a re-read, but whatever saves my life, right?

 

Ella, who's under a spell to be obedient and do everything that's asked of her, falls in love with the Prince, and worries that she'll bring his doom if someone orders her to kill him. She has to find a way to break the spell, and avoid her ugly stepsisters' commands in the meantime.

 

This was a fun and funny read, and just exactly what I needed! I finished this book in one afternoon, and I was just happy that I could leave my other responsibilities aside for a while and immerse myself in Ella's world. I'd always preferred the book to the movie, and now after re-reading it again, I'm sure I definitely prefer the book to the movie.

This week's TT idea came up because I was thinking about my childhood reading memories and how I spent hours and hours reading.

 

Reading is such a big part of my life, but of course, no one ever took a picture of me when I was reading to capture the memory. Or perhaps it was because I was always asked to put the book down whenever someone wanted to take a picture.

 

But it gave me the idea of looking for pictures of girls reading.

 

Originally, I wanted real photos of real little girls reading, but then I found these, and there were so many which I liked that I just thought I'd share.

 

So here are 13 pictures of reading girls! Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!
  

My Teaser:

 

I'm still reading this book from last week, been reading other books in between so I'm still near the beginning.

 

"Candle tried to remember what she had seen of the domingon when it was played by its maker. She had swooned, for music or love or both, and in her exhilaration, maybe she'd overlooked an aspect of the instrument's construction." ~p. 61, Gregory Maguire's Son of a Witch

 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 Teasers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

The Heart of Wicca by Ellen Cannon Reed

 

This book is in my Reading Dangerously challenge. I chose it because it was about something most of us don't usually know about.

 

A lot of us have misconceptions about Wicca, thinking it to be a frivolous religion where young teenagers call themselves witches and cast spells. Most of us have this idea because of various shows and movies about "Wicca", which of course, doesn't portray Wicca accurately at all.

 

Personally, although I think of myself as a spiritual person, I'm not so much religious. I don't like following rules, preferring to go my own way most of the time, but still I enjoy studying about religions, their history, and how they work.

 

What I really liked about this book is that it dispels all misconceptions about Wicca. Instead of being frivolous and "fluffy", Wicca is in fact, a much harder path to follow. It involves a lot of study, and I mean a LOT! On topics such as mythology, deities, herbalism, astrology, and more.

 

I must say I'm intrigued! I enjoy studying, and I'm interested in all the above topics. I'll probably study them on my own, a little by little.

 

There is also much more to Wicca than just studying though, but all these are Mysteries that cannot be told and only can be experienced. I understand what they mean, because I have experienced a few of these Mysteries myself, it would be wonderful if I could learn more, of course.

 

Well, spirituality is a lifelong study, and I'm sure I'll learn more as I go. In the meantime, I highly recommend this book to anyone who's interested in learning what Wicca is really about.