From Twinkle, with Love is a young adult book by Sandhya Menon. It is really a thick one and it took me three weeks maybe before I finished it, since I tend to be a polygamist reader sometimes. I bought this one from the nationwide National Book Store Sale last year. It is a hardbound book and got it for only 195 pesos.
Sandhya Menon generously offers us a sweet love story and an inspiring journey of pursuing your dreams and finding your voice in a world where you feel like the invisible ones. It has multiracial characters which make it relevant and revolting all at the same time. The main characters Twinkle and Sahil are a dynamic couple with all their insecurities in life who took a chance of showing their true self to the ones who matter to them the most.
There is no single character in this story whom I didn't like. They are just all so lovable and likable, even the bad ones at the beginning of the book. They make the story so welcoming and relevant. They are not just minor characters, they are pieces of a puzzle that perfectly fit the picture. I like how Menon intended to put these individuals together to create a diverse culture in a single plot.
It is told from such a personal point of view which makes it more heartfelt and sincere. Even though I think I am a little too old to read young adult books, I still enjoy this book, maybe it's just my age that is getting old. haha.
That's it, From Twinkle, with Love
And here's another reminder to boost that courage and confidence you always have in and through Him.
So always trust the Lord
because he is forever
our mighty rock.
~Isaiah 26:4
I wonder if you still remember what I mentioned from my previous blog about my NBS 99 Sale. I thought that would be the last set of books I would buy this year, but 8.8 Shopee Sale came and Pandayan Bookshop joined. The discounted prices of the books are such a steal and I was also eyeing the books since the other month, but they were out of stock. So Pandayan Bookshop refilled their stocks and I couldn't resist the offer. haha.
I would like to try the books written by Marcelo Santos III, so there I got two books by him for 50 pesos each. My interest to try Santos' books brought out the "marupok" in me, and here I thought it is only in love that people can be "marupok" so I was wrong, so, so wrong. And just to justify my purchase, since August is the month of Pambansang Wika in the Philippines, it can be a gesture of my support to the works of the Filipino authors, since all my purchases are written in our national language and again written by Filipinos. Salute!
I am excited to read them especially Mahal mo siya, Mahal ka ba? and Para sa Hopeless Romantic, but I still have a book to finish the ones from the other book sale events I willingly got myself into. I don't want to leave them unread, please, for the love of books.
So, this time I will not say that this will be my last haul for this year. I'm a little embarrassed that I wasn't able to keep it. Let's just enjoy our books and read them haha
Ramona forever and ever!
This is my second book from Beverly Cleary and I got this one from the NBS 99 Sale recently. I first encountered Ramona from the movie adaptation "Ramona and Beezus" and it was a good feel movie. Selena Gomez was there so I kinda like to watch the movie, but looking back it is a film worthy of a rewatch just by seeing the trailer it takes me to that blissful and refreshing happy childhood I had.
Ramona Forever is one of the eight books in the Ramona Quimby Series and as I read some information from Wikipedia about the children's book novel series, it amazes me that Cleary takes me back to the year 1955, which was a long long time ago and it shows me a glimpse of what it was like way, way back then. I intend to read the whole series and am frugal as I am, I look for 2nd handbook shops or during book sales for the other installments of the novel.
The Family Quimby just brings a lot of fun in the world. I like how Cleary shows the reality of life in this series in the lives of ordinary people like the Quimby's. Her simple, clear, and straight-to-the-point narratives engage readers like me into Ramona's thoughts and feelings. It is a heartwarming story even for the not-so-children anymore. In my early 30s, it still wells my heart and it has taught and reminded me with life lessons about the importance of family with good and proper communication. Roberto and Dorothy as parents are portraying such a good job in dealing with the antics of their daughters. It appears to me that they and the rest of the Quimby family along with their friends and neighborhoods live a modest life while living it to the fullest and making the most of it.
This is such a good feel book I would never regret getting my hands on and a legacy left behind by Beverly Cleary. And as always, I was reminded of this verse by the upbringing of the Quimby sisters by their Quimby parents. Quimby, Quimby!
Train up a child in the way he should go,
[a]And when he is old he will not depart from it.
~Proverbs 22:6 New King James Version
A Walk in the Clouds, according to Wikipedia, is a 1995 American movie remake of the 1945 Italian film Four Steps in the Clouds. I was unaware of its existence not until a friend recommended watching it. I got interested since Keannu Reeves is the male lead, who doesn't like Reeves. I mean if there are some, I know that most people know him and like him a bit if not much. I am more familiar with the Constantine movie series since I am inclined with plots about angels and demons, but romance movies starring him, not one bit interested before.
I took a chance on this movie which deals with a lot of chances in life as well as wrong choices and decisions. It was a roller coaster ride love story of Sgt. Paul Sutton (who was then tied with Betty) and Victoria Aragon (a graduate student who got pregnant by her professor) at the end of World War II.
The story filled me with mixed feelings. I wanted to root for the male and female leads, sincerely and in full force, but I was quite concerned by their circumstances. They both had committed and uncommitted relationships with different persons and naturally they should end up with the person they fell in love with the first time. I was being inflexible while I watched the movie. I thought their relationship was wrong. Sutton should stay with his cheating wife and Aragon should find that bastard professor and let him marry her, only if I was the writer of that story, but I was not.
I learned a lot from the film like how everything could all go wrong with one single lie and only a few things that could go right, and one thing that I regretted the most was the farm of grapes got burned. Sayang! At the end of the movie, I was more concerned with the grapes and how they would rebuild the vineyard, which would take them a lot of time, effort, and hard work.
A Walk in the Clouds reminded me of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV). There is a season for everything under the heavens and there is the one and the only divine being who is in control of everything He allows to happen. Be joyful and hopeful in every season. Rejoice and hope in the season where you at right now.
A Time for Everything1 There is a time for everything,and a season for every activity under the heavens:2 a time to be born and a time to die,a time to plant and a time to uproot,3 a time to kill and a time to heal,a time to tear down and a time to build,4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,a time to mourn and a time to dance,5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,6 a time to search and a time to give up,a time to keep and a time to throw away,7 a time to tear and a time to mend,a time to be silent and a time to speak,8 a time to love and a time to hate,a time for war and a time for peace.
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