The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch

And yet another treasure found from BOOKSALE! Can you ever believe my luck?

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Jakob Kuisl is the official hangman of Schongau (a town in Bavaria). There has been a sudden commotion in Schongau. A boy has been found dead and incidentally has the witch's mark on him!

The town goes berserk as rumors of witchcraft spread.

Martha Stechlin, a midwife who brought Jakob's children to being, is the main suspect. She was immediately held in captive and due for stating a confession that would determine whether she will be burned at stake.

Meanwhile, Johann Lechner (court clerk) is provoked to act upon the matter swiftly for he does not want things to get out of hand as it did seventy years ago. Half of the women of Schongau were burned at stake seventy years ago, everyone was accused of being a witch.

The hangman strongly believes that Martha is innocent. Although he understands what the court clerk's intentions are, he couldn't help but meddle in the case.

Together with his daughter Magdalena's swain (Simon Fronwieser, the town physician's son), Jakob delves in deeper in this medieval mystery crime!

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I like it as much as I didn't like it. I have mixed feelings about this international bestseller. The prolonged agony of reading this book is tiresome. It was all too much but all too little. I don't really know what I want from this, really. It's just that, though I've enjoyed the medieval feel of it and having to encounter words such as doublet, tankard & wench, I needed something more emotional. The title as well is a little too misleading. Halfway through, I was thinking 'ooh, Magdalena is the witch! She is!'.

It's not a disappointment. It was still worthwhile.

She's Dating the Gangster by Bianca B. Bernardino

This was recommended to me by Tanny!

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Athena Dizon just arrived from Korea and recently got enrolled in Southwell High School.

Kenji, Southwell's very own gangster-looking bad boy heartthrob, meets Athena.

Coincidentally, Kenji's ex-girlfriend (whom he is not over yet) is named Athena 'Abigail' Tizon.

Somehow Kenji manages to persuade Athena into helping him get Abigail back. Unfortunately, the two develops feelings for each other.

Will Athena date this gangster for real? Join in the bandwagon and read on!

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A one-hit Wattpad success this is! She's Dating the Gangster is a crossbreed among Meteor Garden/Boys over Flowers, Romeo & Juliet and A Walk to Remember. We had our generic falling-for-the-bad-boy hate-love relationship plunged into a fast-paced whirlwind of events. It was all too unbelievable for a 144-page book but the charm and the pull of the story was evident.

This book is a total hit with the Pinoy youth. I just hope the production companies are smart enough to recognize this and buy the movie rights already... and fast!

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Only an author with the name of "rainbow" can make such a marvelous love story like Eleanor & Park.

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Eleanor, an eccentric and chubby redhead encounters a Korean boy named Park in the school bus.

Although their first impressions of each other were negative, their friendship improves while the story progresses. They easily became fond of each other despite the conflicting circumstances they are in.

Soon enough, they are falling in love!

Now why is Eleanor reluctant of their blooming relationship?

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The ending is just... I have no words for it! I was impatient because I had to read 58 chapters of Eleanor & Park, it was that long. I want to finish it fast, I want to know what happens in the end immediately. I almost gave up but something told me it would be worth the eye stress.

And I tell you, it was well worth every eye cramp! I could live another 58 chapters for that ending. Those endings make my life meaningful.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

It was early 2012 when I first read The Finishing School by Gail Godwin. According to some of the people from the Goodreads community, The Finishing School is a complete rip-off of Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

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Miss Jean Brodie, a sophisticated and cultured teacher of Marcia Blaine school, has decided to consume her prime years to prepare her chosen girls into becoming the creme de la creme.

Marcia Blaine is a conservative Scottish school for girls. Miss Mackay, the headmistress, has made it clear several times that she does not approve of Miss Brodie's unconventional methods of teaching.

Miss Jean Brodie and her set of girls faces the trials that befalls them. But the joyful years won't stay for long because soon, one of Miss Brodie's precious girls will betray her.

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While I've enjoyed reading The Finishing School, I cannot blame people if they think the book's concept was borrowed. There may be numerous similarities between the two novels but I dare announce, they are not at all the same.

There are many sociological/philosophical subjects tackled in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Subjects like Calvinism was deeply discussed. What I hated about the novel is how flat the narration was. I couldn't quite point a finger on it. Was it the sequence or the pace of the story that made it bland? I wasn't completely overcome with emotion when major points of the plot was revealed. You just know it when you should have.

What I love about this book is Miss Brodie and Sandy. The multi-faceted Miss Brodie, a hypocritical and delusional woman, is a kind of character that is hard to execute in a novel. Together with another conflicting personality like Sandy who is insightful and high on morals, I would say that this is definitely a story worth reading.

Lastly, I have watched the incredible movie adaptation in Alan95Haitch's Youtube channel. Maggie Smith and Pamela Franklin was a perfect match!

Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer

A truly amazing novel. I saw this one at Powerbooks but ignored it. Afterwards, I read in a blog somewhere how great this book is. I returned for it but the employees couldn't find it. Alas! We were ready to give up and leave. Then miraculously, they've found it! One of the employees even joked, "Hope was really here!"

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Hope Yancey, whose mom is elsewhere the majority of her life, has hit another dead end. She and her lifelong partner Aunt Addie are forced to move from Brooklyn, New York to Mulhoney, Wisconsin.

Now the waitress/chef duo, challenging as it may seem to be, is ready to face the next chapter of their lives!

They are set to work at "Welcome Stairways", a diner owned by mayoral candidate/cancer stricken G.T. Stoop.

Meanwhile, Hope's (whose name used to be Tulip) relationship with the good-looking cook Braverman is escalating.

Will G.T. Stoop win the elections? Will Hope find her real father? Will Hope & Braverman take it to the next level? What about Aunt Addie? Doesn't she deserve a love life too?

Don't lose hope, find it all out in Hope Was Here!

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One of my favorite lines in the book:

Addie never promised that life would be easy, but she did promise that if I hung around with her the food would be good.

I've read so many blogs who praised Joan Bauer so much for her writing. Now I join the cult! This book is so refreshingly witty and humorous without trying too hard. It is sincere to its genre. Joan knows how to use her characters so well, the dialogues bounces off the page. This one's a contemporary classic. Hope Was Here is just something that won't go old with the readers. No wonder after ten years, they took pride in re-releasing the book with this artsy diner-themed cover.

There's a reason why I came back for this book. Whatever it might be, I am convinced that it has somehow to do with 'hope' and holding on. I'm glad I held on. This is one of the best I've read this year.

When my beloved YA authors tweet/retweet me...

This is actually a long overdue blog post but don't fret my friends for now I am finally sharing with you my Twitter interactions with these fantastic authors!

Gigi Amateau (author of Claiming Georgia Tate) is following me on Twitter!

On December 2012, Tom Leveen (author of Party and Zero) retweeted, tweeted and followed me on Twitter! I think that was very cool of him. I am a big fan of Party! Also, Jennifer Wolf tweeted me back!

Lucy Christopher (renowned author of Stolen) tweeted and retweeted me!

Tara Altebrando, author of The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life, tweeted me!

Jodi Lynn Anderson (author of Peaches) favorited a photo I tweeted!

And lastly, not in a million years would I ever think that THE Elizabeth Scott will respond to me. She's the author of Love You Hate You Miss You, the very first book I reviewed for this blog.

This is just a compilation for memory's sake. I really would not like to come off as someone who's bragging about this little recognition that I got. Although, I am very overwhelmed that these authors who I dream to become like one day shows how much they care.

Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend by Cassie Mae (A.K.A. Becca Ann)

I was looking for a good book to read and this popped out of nowhere. Since I saw the good reviews it got from Goodreads, I pursued it.

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Brody has always been in love with the girlfriend (Quynn) of his douchebag of an older brother Gabe. Now that Gabe and Quynn has broken up, Brody is getting ready to take over his brother.

The confusion begins soon after Brody notices his sign-language class partner, Haylie. Though Haylie is fat, she has a great personality that Brody can't help but fall for.

Haylie is known to be a matchmaking savant among her friends so she convinces Brody to let her help him out with him and Quynn.

Suddenly, Brody is torn between the girl he always had a crush on and the girl who makes him laugh.

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There are parts when Brody's narration got too annoying (maybe guys really think highly and obsessively of the girl they like this way... or not) but I've got to give it to Cassie/Becca for creating such an entertaining, if not yet too cliche, read.

This is the kind of book fat girls would want to read (I am a fat girl myself). Maybe not just even the fat girls, all the girls with insecurities and low self-esteem out there would find this book gosh darn awesomesauce!

The author got it right. She got the kind of boy we all wish is out there.

Suddenly Royal by Nichole Chase

The story was a generic of The Princess Diaries.

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Samantha Rousseau is happy living her simple life. Though there are struggles to be dealt with, she's contented with getting by.

Prince Alex D'Lysanal together with his aunt arrives from their kingdom Lilaria.

Her whole life will be heading to a different direction upon having dinner with the royals of Lilaria.

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Goodreads readers rated this book 4.08 out of 5 stars. I bluntly disagree.

Reasons why I think it's too pretentious:

• It didn't convince me that there is such a place called Lilaria.
• Samantha's "I can't be a princess. I don't want the fame and the wealth and the responsibility and oh the prince, I can't be in love with him!" character is beyond exaggerated. (Wake up girly! you're being too unrealistic, everyone wants to be a princess)
•  The romance was fake. It was too fast, too made-up. No one will fall in love just like that, it was all lust. I hope the author just built the romance up with brilliant dialogue.
• The love-making part went graphic.

The Bermuda Triangle by Charles Berlitz

My Dutch neighbor Brother Lou (Laurence is his real name though) is lending me his Charles Berlitz book collection. It's very generous of him, indeed.

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A well-researched book about the mystery and controversy of the 'Bermuda Triangle', Charles Berlitz has made a terrific job at this extensive collection of cases in his book The Bermuda Triangle.

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While I was engrossed by reading this, I sort of knew which conclusion it would led me to believe. Berlitz of course, was never biased in his narrations. Be that as it may, the most convincing factor why people are being taken away is 'alien abduction'.

Either that or it's the ancient Atlantean's crystal power outlet buried beneath the waters!