Movie Review: Love and Other Drugs

"Love and Other Drugs" stars Jake Gylenhaal (very HOT) and Anne Hathaway. It's a story of Maggie, a 26-year old woman diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and Jamie, a HOT pharmaceutical representative. They got together through their love for sex (ha!) and sex suddenly becomes love. Their relationship became complicated due to Maggie's disease. And you'll probably know what will happen next. Its a typical love story. The nice thing about it is the unusual start of Maggie and Jamie's relationship and the complication that Maggie's disease brings to their relationship. I loved how Maggie is shown as a strong woman, a bad ass artist and Jamie, a hot and charming med rep who hyperventilates because he loves for the first time. What I learned from this movie is that the ultimate medicine or drug for any disease is LOVE. That with LOVE you can probably defeat your sickness and have someone with you while you LIVE your life. Its the ultimate cliche love story that is best watched with that special someone while secretly having the hots for Jake Gylenhaal! :) I'll rate this 4 out of 5 kisses.

Currently reading! still!

Currently Reading

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

 Bye!

Fables: The Great Fables Crossover by Bill Willingham

Date read: January 13, 2011 - January 16, 2011

My edition: 232 pages, year 2010

Published by: DC Comics

Rating: 3 Kisses

the author:

Summary: (courtesy of Wikipedia!)

 Bigby and Beast get into a violent fight that demonstrates the influence of the dark powers present. Rose Red sinks deeper and deeper into depression. Stinky starts a religion foretelling Boy Blue's heroic return, which a returning Jack Horner takes advantage of before encountering his son, the new Jack Frost. In an interesting twist, the issues are more focused on Jack than on the other Fables. (Note: Includes Jack of Fables issues 33 to 35 and The Literals issues 1 to 3.)

the hero that the book focuses on: Jack of Fables! :)






























Favorite Quote: "It's official. Life is a farce." - Mr. Revise


Review:
Currently, this is the funniest Fables I’ve read but not the best though. A lot of Bigby and Snow White, again. I’m starting to dislike those two because every Fables book is about them. Its like when you eat chocolate everyday you get tired of it in a matter of time. I also used to be indifferent to Jack Horner but through this Fables book, I’ve grown to love him. I’m thinking of reading “Jack of Fables”. He’s really funny. a comic relief and the most unusual story hero. The Literals are also interesting. I loved seeing the different genres personified. I would love to see a second volume of “The Literals”. Over-all, it was an okay book.


My Soundtrack:
1. Let the Rain by Sara Barailles
2. If We Hold on Together by Diana Ross :)
3. She Wolf by Shakira
4. So Into You by Tamia
5. Open Arms by Gary Go

by Kurt Halsey

Currently Reading

Fables: The Great Fables Crossover

Fables: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham

Date read: January 11, 2011 - January 13, 2011

My edition: 190 pages, year 2004

Published by: DC Comics

Rating: 5 Kisses

Willingham!

A very, very brief summary:  Bluebeard hatches a plot to rid himself of Bigby and Snow by enchanting them, and the homicidal Goldilocks attempts to kill the pair. Charming decides to run for Fabletown Mayor.

Bigby and Snow White from pockymonsters in deviantart.com

Favorite Quote: "You're the woman I can't ignore." - Bigby

Review:

 Again, a job well done for Bill Willingham and his artist crew. The story became better. getting you hooked and leaving your mouth open because everything is just so JUICY! The illustrations are simply the best. I did prefer Lan Medina’s work than of Mark Buckingham though but still both are very impressive. Although. some may be rooting for Bigby and Snow White romance but I just can’t imagine it. Maybe because I’m still an old romantic who believes in prince charmings and beautiful girls living happily ever after. I did love it that the prince have a “SLIGHT” change of heart. For a time, I really believed that he had change. Maybe it means that no more frolicking with other girls! :) If you’ve read the first two volumes, you would definitely LOVE this, more than the first 2.

Soundtrack:

1. Wait for You by Eliott Yamin

2. Never Underestimate a Girl by Vanessa Hudgens

3. She Got Her Own by Ne-Yo

4. Run to You by Whitney Houston

5. Bad Romance by Lady Gaga

See yah!

Currently Reading

Currently reading: Storybook Love (Fables, Vol. 3)

Bigby, the reformed wolf

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Book #2 for the 2011 Quantity Challenge

Date read: January 2, 2011 - January 11, 2011

My edition: 607 pages, year 1997

Published by: Vintage International

Rating: 5 Kisses

  Murakami :)

Summary: http://www.murakami.ch/hm/bibliography/bibliography_wind_up_bird.html

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is many things: the story of a marriage that mysteriously collapses; a jeremiad against the superficiality of contemporary politics; an investigation of painfully suppressed memories of war; a bildungsroman about a compassionate young man's search for his own identity as well as that of his nation.

Nobody knows what the wind-up bird looks like, one of the many riddles in the story that would just want you to read much more.

Favorite Quote: "Once it has taken root in your heart, hatred is the most difficult thing on the world to shake off." - Creta Kano

Review:

Murakami is a genius. He manages to create a different, dream-like labyrinth that is anchored in our world. Everything felt surreal like a Salvador Dali painting. Everything felt like dream-like sequences but you're not asleep. At times "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" feels like "Inception" wherein you're in dream world and you can bend reality. However, some things are too VAGUE or OPEN-ENDED, wherein you just have to use your imagination. A lot of unanswered mysteries that you just like to unfold. I want to go down a well and go to that hotel just to unravel the mysteries that can't put me to sleep at night. Only several authors can make me lay awake at night, I hate it and I love it at the same time. :)

Here is a story that names are not that important. But even if the character's names are hard to remember (because Japanese names are used) they're gonna stick to you even in your sleep. Murakami reminds me of Butch Dalisay (a Filipino writer) not because they have writing style (they don't) but because they're both obsessed with personal histories. They use several chapters/paragraphs just to show where a certain character came from even if its a minor character. And coincidentally, I love HISTORY, hehe.

He also reminds me of Gabriel Garcia-Marquez and Isabelle Allende, both are writers of magic realism. But Murakami's novels have a different kind of magic. I always loved magic realism books.

I also love the way Murakami embedded history in this book specifically the Russian-Japanese war. This war, in a way, was close to Pinoy's heart because for a brief time we have been occupied by the Japanese. The Japanese were cruel to us. But through Murakami's book you would see the war through Japanese eyes. The soldiers were demoralized and tired of it too. I'm not offering some sympathy but I can say "quits na kami". If you love historical fiction, romance and magic you'll surely love this.

Check this out: The opening of Haruki Murakami's novel 'The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle' set to Rossini's 'The Thieving Magpie'.

My soundtrack:

1. The Thieving Magpie by Rossini

2. Come Fly with Me by Frank Sinatra

3. Near to You by A Fine Frenzy

4. Whisper by A Fine Frenzy

5. Breathe Again by Sara Barailles

6. Come Back When You Can by Barcelona

off to read a book! see yah!

Currently Reading

Milflores de Boracay

I know this is a book blog but I want to share with you the great bed & breakfast we stayed at during our Boracay trip last October, 2010.

Milflores de Boracay is located at Station 1, Balabag, Boracay. I chose to stay here because it was #2 in b&bs in Boracay according to Trip Advisor. And I was not disappointed! The rooms are very spacious, 30 square meters with 2 queen size beds, good for 4 people! 

For a big room, it really has cheap rates (see the picture above). We only paid P4,600 for a 3 days and 2 nights stay. 

Another thing I look for when looking for a hotel is the bathroom and I got to say the bathroom was really nice and clean! I would stay there forever! :)

The staff were courteous and very friendly. When it was raining, we weren't able to go to the beach and look for a place to eat. Its a good thing Yellow Cab delivers, so we ate at the hotel and they even served us, bringing us water and utensils. They have uber fast service :)

The location was also very good, it was near station 2 and station 1! :) So if you're going to Boracay stay here at Milflore de Boracay.

Here's there rates:

 Contact them through:
http://www.milflores.net/

telefax: (036) 288 3363  
cel: 0922 880 0762 / 63  
email: promo2300@yahoo.com

Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

Book #1 for the 2011 Quantity Challenge!

Date read: December 29, 2010 - January 2, 2010
My Edition: 337 pages, year 2005
Published by: Penguin Books
Rating: 5 kisses


Summary: http://www.suemonkkidd.com/MermaidChair/default.aspx
Inside the abbey of a Benedictine monastery on Egret Island, just off the coast of South Carolina, resides a beautiful and mysterious chair ornately carved with mermaids and dedicated to a saint, who, legend claims, was a mermaid before her conversion.

When Jessie is summoned home to the island to cope with her eccentric mother’s seemingly inexplicable act of violence, she is living a conventional life with her husband, Hugh, a life “molded to the smallest space possible.” Jessie loves Hugh, but once on the island, she finds herself drawn to Brother Thomas, a monk who is soon to take his final vows.

Amid a rich community of unforgettable island women and the exotic beauty of marshlands, tidal creeks and majestic egrets, Jessie grapples with the tension of desire and the struggle to deny it, with a freedom that feels overwhelmingly right and the immutable force of home and marriage. Is the power of the mermaid chair only a myth? Or will it alter the course of Jessie’s life? What transpires will unlock the roots of her mother’s tormented past, but most of all, allow Jessie to make a marriage unto herself.

Where does the yearning for soul-mated love come from? When it comes to love, what are the pulls inside a woman between the ordinary and the sublime? The Mermaid Chair is a vividly imagined novel about mermaids and saints, about the passions of the spirit and the ecstasies of the body, brilliantly illuminating the awakening of a woman to her own deepest self.

Haha! Joke

The Mermaid Chair: 


Favorite Quote: "Falling in love was the oldest, most ruthless catalyst on earth."


Review:
This book is in the middle of an almost favorite to favorite book. I just loved how it was written and the story itself was really really good. It made me cry (which gave it an additional kiss!) and thought me a lot about change, love, forgiveness and also about SELF-DISCOVERY. This is a woman's book, a mommy book and I loved it (even though I used to hate mommy books since its so hard to relate to cause mommies, generally, don't have time for reading!). However, it was hard for me to accept that the woman is having an affair with a Benedictine MONK. I'm a Catholic and was educated in a Benedictine school. I'm not usually conservative when it comes to stories and plots but it was really hard to swallow. What I do is pretend that Whit was a fisherman and not a monk. It was just to weird for me, but its a good book nonetheless. If you have an open-mind, you might love it.


And it was made into a made-for-TV movie starring Kim Basinger. I'll try to watch it and review but I generally stay away from movies adapted from books. They tend to suck! haha

Watch the trailer!

My soundtrack:
1. Before the Worst by The Script
2. Unfaithful by Rihanna
3.  Way Back Into Love by Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore
4. Love Me by The Cardigans
5. Tonight I Wanna Cry by Keith Urban


Stop blogging and

go go go!

100 Books Challenge

Taking up a quantity challenge and I decided to read 100 books! Last year I was able to read 75 books including children's books so now I'm deciding to challenge myself more. As of now, January 8, 2011 I have read *drum roll* 1 BOOK! haha I'll be updating on the status of my challenge soon once I've finished another book! 

My TBR pile

So here's my current to-be-read pile which is in order of reading, although this often changes especially if I acquired new books! Here it is:

1. Fables: Storybook of Love by Bill Willingham
2. Fables Crossover by Bill Willingham
3. Les Miserables (good luck!) by Victor Hugo
4. Catch a Falling Star by Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo
5. The Knot
6. As Always, Jack by Emma Sweeney
7. The Ruins by Scott Smith
8. Threshold by Sara Douglass
9. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophia Kinsella
10. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophia Kinsella
11. Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophia Kinsella

And here's my wishlist!

1. Harry Potter 7 by J.K. Rowling
2. Artemis Fowl: Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer
3. Charmed Thirds
4. Timbuktu by Paul Auster
5. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'engle
6. Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney
7. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
8. Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham
9. I am Number Four by Pittacus
10. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
11. Shopaholic and Sister by Sophia Kinsella
12. Shopaholic and Baby by Sophia Kinsella