Wow, the last time I did a T13 was on May 7th, over 3 months ago!! I had no idea it was so long ago! Time really flies, doesn’t it?

So anyway, since I’d been MIA so long on T13, I thought the most appropriate T13 for me today, after not doing one for so long, is:

13 Reasons why I’ve been MIA on T13:

1. Planning my wedding guest list, not as easy as I thought it would be!
2. Preparing and taking our pre-wedding photographs. Still have a lot to do and prepare for, before the second shoot.
3. Writing and recording our new and old original songs. Also planning for the homemade music videos. =)
4. Studying Chinese! I’ve been learning Chinese on my own, and reading Chinese comic books to help me learn. That’s another reason why there’ve been less book reviews here, I’ve been reading less English books.
5. Studying for my double degree in Holistic Nutrition and Natural Health. So interesting, but the projects are time-consuming.
6. Preparing our documents and other necessary information for our immigration application to Canada.
7. Learning and practicing new songs, and performing at weddings and other events.
8. Working on our upcoming site for our music and other related info.
9. There’s been a lot of babies popping out from our friends and relatives, so I’ve been busy crocheting baby stuff for them too!
10. Oh, I recently started writing snail mail to new penpals. Haven’t had a penpal since I was 12, and really loving having things in the mail to look forward to.
11. Started playing badminton again, because I realized I’m sedentary most of the time and need some exercise to keep fit.
12. Ok, ok! I’ll admit it! I’d been twittering a lot too. =P
13. And I’m just plain terrible at time management. =(

I’ll try to do better with T13s, because honestly, I’ve missed it so much! I miss visiting everyone’s T13s and coming up with ideas for my own. It’s too much fun for me to stop, so I’m back, and I’ll be as regular as I possibly can!

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

This book is one of my favorite books. I haven’t done an official “poll” yet, but I would venture to say that it might be in my top 10 list of favorite books!

The first time I read this book was the year the movie came out, in 2002. I read the book before I knew the movie was coming out, and I fell in love with the book. (I hated the movie, by the way, it’s so meaningless compared to the book!)

This is a huge book, over 1000 pages, and this was the only book I’d ever devoured so intensely which was more than 350 pages long! I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat for most of the book, and even more towards the later part of the book.

There were so many twists and surprises in the story, and so much pain and anguish, but with a sort of sadism, we can’t help but watch all this happen with glee and a “Well, it serves them right!” attitude even while we are also saying “Oh, no! Oh my gosh! Oh, those poor things!”

If you haven’t read this yet, I’m jealous! You’ll get to read it and savor it the first time, because honestly, the first time’s the best. After that, the book’s still good, but since you already know what’s going to happen, it loses a lot of its shock-factor.

This is the third time I’m reading the book again, after about 5 years, and it’s great because I’ve forgotten much of it and can enjoy it over again, but still… nothing beats the first time.

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kid

I’ve read The Secret Life of Bees, and I loved it, and I’m a little fascinated with mermaids and mermaid stories too, so any book with “mermaid” in the title is bound to catch my attention.

While this book isn’t really about mermaids, it has a very interesting mermaid myth that features quite prominently in it.

What the book is about, is a 42-year old married woman, Jessie, who feels discontented with her life and finds a great reason to leave her husband and her home for the island she grew up in, when her mother deliberately cuts off her own finger.

There she falls in love with a monk, Brother Thomas, who hasn’t taken his final vows and who falls in love with her.

So what do you expect happens after that? What could happen after that? I pretty much expected the ending, which is to say, it is quite predictable, but in this instance and with this book, I’d say that it’s not the destination but the journey that matters. It certainly seems that way, for both the reader and for Jessie.

It is the journey that allows Jessie to grow and learn, and see things she’d never really seen before. Many things happen along the way, and she finds out things about her own past that she never expected, but in the end, things work out for the best.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read, but not an amazingly good one. What I enjoyed most was the descriptions of the mermaid chair and the myth. Well, what can I say, I do have a fascination with mermaid stories.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the back cover blurb:

Kidnappers storm an international gathering hosted by a poor Latin American country to promote foreign trade. Unfortunately their intended target, the President, has stayed home to watch his favorite soap.

The takeover settles into a siege, bringing together an unlikely assortment of hostages, including a beautiful American opera diva, a Japanese CEO who is her biggest fan and his unassuming translator. Two couples, complete opposites, fall in love, and a horrific imprisonment is transformed into an unexpected heaven on earth.

My review:

If I had to use one word, it would be “poignant”. Since luckily enough, I can use more than one word, it is a beautiful, profound, and ironic story about how a terrible situation can turn into a magical one.

Most importantly, it’s a story about people, about human nature, about how monsters can turn into angels when you get to know them and understand why they do the things they do. It’s about love, the kind of love that happens only when there are no expectations, no demands, no fear about what others may think.

There is so much to think about in this book, so much to ponder upon, so much to rejoice for and to grieve for. I am still in awe over this book, and it has won a place in my top favorite books of all time. I’m sure, many years from now, I will still love it as much as I love it now.

Master by Colette Gale

I’d previously read Unmasqued by Colette Gale, which was an erotica novel based on The Phantom of the Opera.

I had also purchased this book, which is an erotic novel based on The Count of Monte Cristo, which is one of my all-time favorite books.

I loved Unmasqued, but I must say that while Master was a good read, it could not compare with the original story.

Of course, I’m well aware that writing a better book than the original wasn’t Gale’s purpose at all, so all in all, I’d say she did a very good job with this book.

The only other erotic novel I’d ever read was written by Gale too, so I might not have a basis for comparison, but what I like about her books is that they’re not written solely for the sake of the sex scenes. The storylines are well outlined and told.

If nothing else, this book made me nostalgic to read The Count of Monte Cristo again. I had read The Count of Monte Cristo twice before, and the last time was a while ago, so Gale’s Master was a great reminder of how amazing the book was.

Moony from The Book Lover was kind enough to award me the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you so much! =)

 

I’d like to pass it on to some wonderful people with really great blogs! They are:

 

Stacy

Kaila

Ms Ulat Buku

Whew! It took a while to get this new layout right, there were so many bugs and I had to do it over four times!!

I got bored of the old layout, and especially the white background. I couldn't stand all that white anymore, so I looked all over for one that suited my purpose and made sure it wasn't white!

I hope you all like this one. =)

Anyway, I know I've been a bit slow on updating my reviews lately, I blame it on the old layout, I was just so sick of it! =P

I'll do better now that I've got a new look, I promise! =)

I've still got some things I need to work on... links, for one, because the old one was outdated, and I haven't linked to some of my new favorite book blogs. Please be patient with that.

Another thing is that I've changed my commenting system to Disqus, so unfortunately all the old comments were deleted! =(

I'm going to see if I can log in to my old commenting system account and manually enter some of the more recent entries. It's a shame if the old comments are lost because there were some really great ones.

So anyway, lots to do, and many books to review too! Talk later! =)

(PS. Ok, fine, there's some white in the layout, but at least it's not the whole background! =P )