The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

I have always wanted to read this book. Alas! Now, I have.

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Hadley Sullivan is forced to take a flight across the ocean to attend a wedding she never dreamed being a part of. To attend a wedding of her father and his new wife.

She arrives at the airport 4 minutes late and missed her plane. And so she signs up for the next one.

While waiting, she meets this cute Brit boy named Oliver who's incidentally on the same flight and seat row.

They bonded real well in the plane on the way to London. They got to know each other, their problems with their dysfunctional families.

Will they ever meet again? Why is Oliver carrying a suit with him? Is he attending a wedding too? Or worse, a funeral? Will Hadley survive the wedding since she hates her father for just leaving them for his new love?

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I'm not going to lie, I'm a real sucker for the romantic. Though I wasn't satisfied with the plot (maybe I just wanted more exaggerations or something more dramatic? Ugh. What's wrong with me?). I must say that I very much enjoyed reading this one.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I cannot believe I bought this book months ago, I mean "months ago", really. And just left it there in that corner of my shelf to perish (metaphorically, of course) and collect dust.

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As you dive into the magical universe of this novel, you'll get dazzled with every cinematic moments it will put you through.

This is a story of two people competing, two people who are put against each other. The objective of the game is endurance. Not who's better. No verdict either by their mentors, the victory lies within who remains fighting.

But, there is no actual fight. No, this novel isn't about violence.

It is about magic.

Prospero the Enchanter (stage name) or Hector Bowen, received a package. It wasn't a typical package. It was his 5-year-old daughter, Celia.

Celia got his natural talent in magic and soon Hector was up to another challenge of dueling students of his own against a student of his friend Alexander.

Hector is so sure he will win this time, why not when it's from his own flesh and blood.

Alexander went to an orphanage (though not really described as an orphanage in the book but rather an institution of some sort) and he picked a boy whose name is Marco.

The duel is set in a circus.

Le Cirque de Reves (The Circus of Dreams) is propagated by Chandresh Christophe Lefevre. Chandresh hired the perfect set of like-minded people in terms of aesthetic production.

Marco and Celia got themselves hired soon enough and soon enough as well they create tent after tent of magic full of mystique.

But how long will this battle go on? How long do people around not notice what's happening and when they do, are they safe from it? How long can Marco and Celia hold on?

Read it if you dare to be devoured completely.

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As I've said before in twitter, such sophisticated literature this book is. Very cinematic. Very passionate without it having too much graphical provocativeness. It is sensual in the classiest manner.

One thing I know about passion, be it love or hatred, if you restrain it... it gets nothing but stronger.

I love it. I love Chandresh, I think he is gay. Tsukiko is also a lesbian, I guess. Such unique characters, all very different but they seem to be treating each other like family, in a sense.

If you ask me, Mr. Barris and Tara Burgess gets married eventually.

I had fun being the reader, the one who enters Le Cirque de Reves in the book and exiting it with a card on my hand with Bailey as the captain of this beautiful dream.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

I am actually quite ashamed to say it but I am a Harry-Potter-book-series virgin! There, I said it. PHEW!

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Harry Potter, a boy whose parents are killed by a dark wizard named Voldemort is left to his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon Dursley's care.

Growing up with such horrible mother and father figures together with a spoiled bully as a cousin, Harry's life was nothing but discouraging and sad.

One day, he receives a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Rubeus Hagrid picks him up from his mean family and acquainted him better to the world of wizards.

Being already famous as the boy who survived the Dark Lord's attack, he had already made friends before entering Hogwarts.

In Hogwarts, he got into the Gryffindor House, which is what he wanted. He familiarized himself with the teachers and Albus Dumbledore, the school headmaster.

Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione involved themselves too much with the Sorcerer's Stone that has been kept hidden within Hogwarts. Someone wants to steal it and only Harry can protect it before it might be too late.

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Nothing beats a good book about a revered hero, some excellent company of characters and a lot of magic!

Ligo na u, Lapit na me by Eros S. Atalia

Sa wakas at nabasa ko na din. Kainis lang dahil hindi pala ito ang unang libro, trilogy pala at the moment ang buhay ni Karl Vladimir Lennon J. Villalobos. So kung hahangarin ko man maging historian ng fictional life nitong lalakeng 'toh, hahalughugin ko pa ang National Bookstore sa buong Metro Manila makabili lang ako ng kopya.

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Ito ang college life ni Intoy (si Karl Vladimir Lennon J. Villalobos). Nag-aaral siya sa UST at dito niya nakilala ang kauna-unahang babaeng nagpa-ibig sakaniya, si Jen (Jennifer Evangelista ayon sa movie version ni Direk Erick Salud).

May kangkangan-portion-mala-Friends with Benefits-kind of friendship sila ni Jen. Para bang Prestige card holder ka ng SM Malls, imbis na 'yung ordinary Advantage Card lang. Ginagawa nila ito pero hindi sila, may agreement na beforehand na walang inlove-an.

Biglang ginulpe-de-gulat ni Jen itong bida natin na siya ay buntis at hindi si Intoy ang ama!

Biglang nawala si Jen, hindi na nagpakita o nagparamdam. Ano ang nangyari? Basahin ang libro!

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Natuwa ako sa witty narrations ni Mr. Atalia. Nauna ata itong book niya bago ang hollywood movie ni Mila Kunis at JT. Wow ha, copyright infringement. Hehehe

Mabuhay ang contemporary Philippine literature!

BLOGS NG PINOY

Party by Tom Leveen

I cannot stress to you how good this book is. This, my friend, is my type of book! BOOKSALE has been a real sweetheart to me, got this for only 60pesos. Read it last night, slept, woke-up, read it some more, had lunch then finished it just a little while ago. It's 1:30PM right now.

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11 high school students, all going to this end of the school year party. Different reasons, different goals.

1. Beckett:

A troubled pasty girl who is rather shy and keeps to herself. She plans on going to the party to see if anyone recognizes her. She's going to the party for a last goodbye. You see, Beckett is planning on dropping her senior year and just work for a living. She's been living by herself for 5 months now. Her mother dead due to cancer, her father left earlier when her mom was still alive. This party is her last chance of redeeming her teenage life she deserved to have.

2. Morrigan:

Your typical teenage girl who is mischievous and got a lot of angst towards her parents. Except, she has deeper issues with them than the others. Her parents don't quite know how to make Morrigan feel loved and taken care of. It's the reason why she does a lot of her naughty antics, to catch their attention. This night of party is an opportunity to mess with her parents once more. She sneaked out of her bedroom through her bedroom window and had her BFF Ashley pick her up. With her parental issues and an ex-boyfriend who doesn't want to sleep with her, this night will indeed be a long one for Morrigan.

3. Tommy:

He and his group of five. They're all about brotherhood and having their backs for each other. Tommy is looking forward for the time of his life tonight. This party means everything to him but one of his bro Josh who is killing the vibe by being all depressed and stuff is making them agitated. Josh was dumped by Morrigan because he doesn't want to have sex with her yet. He wants it to be special and though he doesn't drink or smoke, he never bothered the gang with lectures about it. He's cool like that. So whatever happens, Tommy and the boys will have to look out for Josh.

4. Brent:

Skater boy, that's who Brent is. He and his best friend Max already graduated high school and this party is their last chance to see everyone before having their lives figured out either by college or work. Excited for the party, he is quite annoyed by Max's enthusiasm and decision to finally talk to his 3-year crush, Beckett. The decision was solely made after Max having his 13th cup of coffee that was free from his Lucky 13! promo card, you drink 12 cups of coffee and the last one is free. The night was rendered special and it couldn't be any more annoying to Brent for his best friend had 3 years and instead he relies it now to the last night of high school.

5. Daniel:

One of the 5. At the party, Daniel's goal was just to have a good time but the drama unfolds in front of him. His boys keeping a watchful eye on Josh, a possible catfight between Ashley and Beckett & drunk Morrigan yelling to her parents on the phone. Everything of that and more, all the while checking Ashley out.

6. Azize:

His name pronounced as ah-zeez, an Arab boy from Turkey whose family migrated to America is working his last shift at the pizzeria. He is a good student and a hard-worker. Of course, as any of the teenagers in the vicinity, his plan was to go to the party too. Being different made it hard for him to make friends with anybody but this night, he is hopeful. But then he got himself into something awful at the party, Anthony, a popular school jock attacked him for no logical reason.

7. Ryan:

Another dude from the gang of 5. Ryan is the player of the group. He sleeps with everybody, that is his reputation. After having sex with Bethany who is said to be fat, he lay in the bed naked and alone for a while. A few minutes later, Morrigan arrives throwing herself at him. He refuses with all his might but Josh enters the room and it paints a very different picture. Soon enough, Ryan is facing this dilemma with Josh.

8. Anthony:

Anthony, very good with his sport but the last few seasons were a failure. He's at this party with a clouded mind. His brother just arrived from the army, his brother was amputated. The situation made Anthony depressed. Taking swigs on the bottle of Jack Daniels his friend Morrigan brought, he then became violent. He went on and picked a fight with Azize. Blaming the Arabians for what happened to his brother. When Azize was very much injured, something in him says that he should make things right.

9. Josh:

After seeing Ryan and Morrigan in a very vulgar position, he went out and left the party. Josh who is very enraged is starting to lose control. Unusual events on the road unravel but the very point of this scenario is he just really wants to know if it's definitely over between him and her or if he still has a chance because he would do anything to have her back except have sex.

10. Max:

Max who tried to stop the fight between Anthony and Azize is now sitting a little far away from the party. Losing hope on seeing Beckett arrive at the party, a voice suddenly speaks to him while the cops and the ambulance arrived. His best friend Brent told him that 13 is an unlucky number but now he's sure that it don't work on him that way.

11. Ashley:

Blonde and cute, that's Ashley. Her night is a total hassle because she had to take care of drunken Morrigan and make sure she gets home safely and that eliminates the idea of her having fun and getting drunk herself. This night she finally have the chance to ask Beckett why she never kept in touch with her and Anthony for the past couple years.

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I just love things that intertwine. People will have the sense of familiarity as the story goes on with every character. I cannot fathom how good this book really is. I love it very much.

The characters were so genuine. I believed every bit of their tale, flaws and desires. I liked every one of them too. Wow. They all seem to be good people despite their group of friends or issues. I think maybe we are all good people in this world that are just tainted badly of our problems.

I have nothing else to say but hunt this book down and READ IT!

Suck it Up by Brian Meehl

The story is about Morning McCobb, a 16-year-old orphan who's accidentally turned into a vampire. He was then abducted by his kind and enrolled at Leaguer Academy, a vampire boarding school in the mountains managed by the President of the International Vampire League (Luther Birnam).

Upon graduation, a student is assigned to a random vampire couple living life normally in civilized society.

When Morning was about to pursue his only desire to read every comic book in the world and live boringly with his designated couple, Mr. Birnam gave him an option he can't refuse.

With his physical looks that screams geek with nerd as the big side dish, he was a potential living-life-in-the-open vampire. Luther Birnam's goal was to have a chance for the vampires to live with respect and recognition.

After Morning agreed to the idea, they went to New York City to find the sought-after publicist of the freaks, Penny Dredful.

He ended up staying with Mrs. Dredful. Penny's aspiring journalist daughter Portia who was unwelcoming to Morning found a way to enter a film school scholarship by exploiting every detail of Morning's journey in a documentary.

Will Birnam's plan work? Will Portia's evil scheme succeed? How will the Loner vampires who live by the old ways react? Will vampires ever live with humans in harmony? 

Well, only you can find out. Right?

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I wasn't really impressed by the book although in summary or book reviews, it sounds so interesting and full of awesomeness. I guess this one's really for the boy readers? I don't know.

Some might enjoy this, I'm pretty sure. But not me. Something about it is off. It's not that it's not convincing, if Twilight convinced you, anything will. It's the narration, maybe? Lack of depth of the characters or plot flaws?

Anyway, this is my first review since the last and here's to hoping the next one's my kind of book.