Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James

Lately I’ve been really in the mood to read a lot of chick lit. Even though I’m still in the middle of 1984 by George Orwell and Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman, I wanted to read something light and funny like I’ve Got Your Number. Plus, this book came to my possession after a friend gave me an ebook collection as a gift. All I had to do was transfer a copy to my phone and voila! I could go anywhere and have a book in my pocket. I have been looking for recommendations from Goodreads as well, and most of my friends have been marking Practice Makes Perfect as a to-read book. I have heard of Julie James, but I never got around to reading her books, and I suppose now is a good time to start as any. Anyhoo. On with the review.

I’ve Got Your Number: A Novel by Sophie Kinsella

I know it’s been ages since I last wrote something, and it’s been about a month since I last finished a book! I’ve been swamped in college stuff (still am) and this weekend is the most time I’ve had to myself in a while, so I instantly picked up this book the moment I saw it. I wanted to read something light and funny to contrast the depressing schoolwork I’ve had to deal with, and seeing as how I’ve always liked Sophie Kinsella’s witty writing style with the humor and attitude we could all relate to, I decided to read I’ve Got Your Number. This book has been on my radar since last December, when I heard that Sophie’s going to publish a new book. I even called up local bookstores in excitement, only to find out that they’re all releasing the book on February 14, Valentine’s Day. I totally forgot about it until I happened to walk by a Fully Booked store and it was on display! And once I started, I couldn’t put it down.

Poppy Wyatt is engaged to the man of her dreams – the famous academic Magnus Tavish, with his heartbreaking good looks and abundance of sex appeal – and he’s given her the perfect engagement ring, a family heirloom, to boot. Everything is going as planned, until Poppy loses the ring. In addition to that, her phone gets stolen. How could everything go so horribly wrong? But then she spies a phone in the bin – and it still works! Finders keepers. Poppy can now give out a new number in case the ring is found. All is well… until she meets the phone’s owner, Sam Roxton, who does NOT appreciate her going through all his messages. Poppy really needs the phone, though, so she strikes up a deal with the stoic businessman: she gets to keep the phone while the ring is missing, and she forwards all his text messages and emails to him on his other phone. Easy peasy. But as Poppy and Sam enter each other’s lives with a constant stream of text messages and email, with wedding preparations and strategic ways of making sure Magnus and his parents never find out about the ring, Poppy finds that out that though her life as she knows it could be destroyed, she is not alone; An unexpected person will come and help fix it.

The Night Circus

Admit it, these are awesome book covers. I put them all here because I love them all!

I have never been to the circus. I know, it’s really sad. I have heard so much about it, but the circus is still something of an enigma to me. There are stories of trapeze swingers and fire eaters, and it really saddens me how I’ve never witnessed any of those, which was why I was particularly drawn to this new book, which was released just September of last year. Aside from my lack of circus experience as the reason for picking this up, I also liked the echoes of the movie The Prestige that were eminent in the synopsis at the back cover. I am sucker for stories like that, so I eagerly devoured this as well.

“The circus arrives without warning.”

This is the opening line of Erin Morgenstern’s debut novel “The Night Circus”, and you’ve got to admit, that line’s really strong. It feels like the type of line people would say first as they grapple about how to describe this novel. I finished this book the other day but I couldn’t bring myself to write a review since I had a Lit midterm yesterday. Now that I got that out of the way, I can finally spazz about how much I loved this book! I have heard nothing but good reviews about this book, and I must say, I was not disappointed. In fact, I liked it so much I’m planning to have the UK HB edition delivered (because it’s so pretty and totally worth it). Before I explain why I love this book so much, though, let me give you a little preview.

City Lights (1931): Where Actions REALLY Speak Louder Than Words

Even though “talkies”, or talking motion pictures, began in 1927, not all the filmmakers embraced it. Charlie Chaplin still managed to make three silent movies: The Circus (1928), Modern Times (1936), and this movie, City Lights (1931). This is the first Charlie Chaplin movie I have watched so I really can’t judge, but from most of the people I know who have watched his movies, this was the best. After watching the movie, I had no trouble believing them.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millenium #1)

The sexy UK edition cover

It’s really hard trying to type something that makes sense when you’ve been reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for majority of the night. I didn’t have the wisdom to take notes, which I really should have, but now just means I have to write this review before my brain leaks out of my ears. Below are some random thoughts I had that I wrote at different times of the day, trying to piece together remnants of a review.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a book I’ve been meaning to read for a long time now. I’ve seen it being recommended in various book clubs, and now there’s a Hollywood remake. I really hate watching movies before I read the book, and the premise seemed interesting, so I decided to borrow it from the library for the Christmas break and finish it before it shows in the local cinema. I opened the book with high expectations, which was fueled by the puzzling prologue. However, as the first hundred pages passed, I still couldn’t see what was so good about the novel. The next hundred pages passed, and no, not it either. And then I hit the next hundred pages.

Castle of the Sky aka Tenko no Shiro Rapyuta (1986)

Putting the Japanese poster because it looks cooler if you can't understand a thing (unless you read Japanese, but it's still cool)

This is the third Hayao Miyazaki film I’ve watched, the rest being Whisper of the Heart aka (1995) and Spirited Away aka Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (2001 – oh, and this won an Academy Award, by the way). By then I’ve become a fan because of the wonderful quality of the films. I know I’ve given nothing but positive reviews since the beginning of this blog, but I really have to say, this movie is quality. I don’t remember enjoying an animated adventure film this much, because for some reason, I felt like a kid again when I watched it. Watching old movies does have that effect, but now I felt it more so, probably because of the anime that used to show up in television when I was a kid.

Castle in the Sky begins

The Tempest: How I Stopped Worrying and Loved the Play

I love reading classics, but that doesn’t mean I always read them. I have never been fond in particular of Shakespeare’s plays. Sure, reading them made you sound smart and sophisticated, but I always had a hard time understanding Shakespearean language in the past. More often than not, when I read Shakespeare (I actually just read Much Ado About Nothing and Macbeth for school, and Romeo and Juliet, but I already knew the story – everyone did – so it was easier to understand), I usually consulted the modern version. This confession on my part might make scholars cringe, but I won’t deny it – reading the modern version made my life easier.

This time, however, I decided to take the plunge and read The Tempest in the original text. During the first few pages, I stumbled along with No Fear Shakespeare open in my browser, which annoyed me because I already planned out my schedule for today. If I wanted to finish in my allotted time frame (3 1/2 hours, or until dinner) I should quit constantly stopping to reread everything in modern-day format and just force my brain to understand everything.

Batman: Year One (2011)

Batman: Year One is an animated film released by DC and Warner Brothers Animation last year (gosh, it still feels weird saying that). It chronicles the transition of Bruce Wayne to Batman, and how Jim Gordon’s adjustments in his newly inhabited detective position in the Gotham Police Department. The movie is based on the four-part comic book series of the same name by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli (see previous post). It was co-directed by Sam Liu and Lauren Montgomery, with the voices of Bryan Cranston, Ben McKenzie, Eliza Dushku, Jon Polito, Alex Rocco, Katee Sackhoff, and Jeff Bennet as Jim Gordon, Batman/Bruce Wayne, Selina, Commissioner Loeb, Falcone, Det. Essen, and Alfred the butler, respectively.

Batman: Year One

The front cover of Batman: Year One. I love how creepy and awesome it looks!

I’m relatively new to comic book reading because of the scarcity of comic book stores here in the Philippines, but I got an opportunity to read this because I knew someone who had a copy and shared it with me. I really like this comic book because I always wondered how Batman started out. I mean, I knew how movie-wise, but really reading them on the actual comics they were based on is a whole other experience. There is also an animated movie of the same name released just this year. I haven’t watched it yet, but I heard it is faithful to the comic book.