Last Night at Chateau Marmont by Lauren Weisberger

I started reading this when I went on vacation with my husband last November. I wasn't expecting much coz I've been disappointed before with some of Lauren Weisberger's literary works. Surprisingly, reading the first few pages of  Last Night at Chateau Marmont brought back the same level of fun as the time I read The Devil Wears Prada. So I figured, there could be hope with this new book. So I kept reading. Before I knew it, I was so engrossed with the plot that I even imagined myself as Brooke (the lead character whose name is the same as my alter ego's name... yup, my bestfriend calls me Brooke) --- the lucky groupie-who-became-the-wife-of-a-real-rockstar. I laughed, I cried, I sympathized and went crazy as the story progressed. In short, I loved the book!

When success hits you, it hits really hard.

You Can Draw by Sheila Coulson

I've been an avid customer of Reader's Digest this year. Whenever they'd send me a new catalogue of books I can choose from, I make sure that I browse it to see if anything would interest me. If before I bought books about classic stories, nature, culture and various human civilizations, my last purchase was a practical book on HOW TO DRAW. 

Being a person of many talents (yes, I used to be semi-talented when it comes to drawing and painting when I was around  9-12 years old that my school would send me to drawing competitions), I take pride in being able to learn on my own. Because I no longer have the time to go to a real school for things that I want to learn, I just try to make the most of my situation and buy books that will teach me how to do things instead.

New Graphic Novels - Batman, Superman and Justice Society of America

My husband and I added three more graphic novels to our little collection of DC and Marvel comics at home. I still have yet to read them but my husband, being a geek and all,  has finished reading each one on the day we bought them. Woah!

Every now and then, when I have some time to kill and I need a break from the other books I usually read, I'd pick up one of Peter's graphic novels and just browse at the illustrations. The only ones I've blogged about here were KINGDOM COME and BATMAN YEAR ONE. I hope to go back to the other DC and Marvel graphic novels I've read before so I can write a post about them here.

Well, for now, here are the new ones we have and hopefully I get to read them soon. Do share if you've already read them. How were they? 

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

If there is one book in the Harry Potter series that I would read over and over, it would be this 7th amazing J.K. Rowling masterpiece --- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now I know why all those years of following the young wizard's adventures, I've always had this inkling of love toward Snape... I always had a hunch of what would become  of Hermione and Ron... and why I couldn't believe Dumbledore to be dead. 

The Harry Potter series has just been an amazing, extraordinary, magical ride of unthought of witchcraft and wizardry and ending it with the Deathly Hallows has just been the most perfect way to culminate the ultimate magical tale of this generation.

Happiness in Hard Times

HAPPINESS in HARD TIMES is my 5th Andrew Matthews book. Since my college days, I have been collecting his work:  BEING HAPPY, FOLLOW YOUR HEART, MAKING FRIENDS, HAPPINESS NOW and then this. Andrew Matthews is one of those self-help gurus that I've always depended on especially when my life gets a bit harder to handle. How many times did I think about ending my life when I was still very young? Thanks to Andrew Matthews, I was able to overcome every big and small hurdle that came my way and came out a happier, better and more blessed me. I'd also like to think that his first book, Being Happy, also saved my brother from committing suicide. Yeah... we were a bunch of suicidal maniacs then.^_^

Happiness in Hard Times resonates very well with a lot of people today, especially since many have been and are still continuously beng affected by the worldwide recession that has beset the global market for a few years now. I, for one, did have a couple of lean months when I thought that things won't be back to where it should be. Even before I got a hold of his new book, I've already been practicing the principles I've learned from his books before, and now that I have a copy of this, the stories (not just by Andrew Matthews but by many of his readers and fans as well) are ever more so inspiring me to live a better and happier life no matter how hard life can get sometimes. 

Brida by Paolo Coelho

I started reading this 312-page paperback last July... 2009! I know I am a slow reader, but more so if the story is really not that interesting. I bought Brida because one - it's a Paolo Coelho book and I have loved many of his novels for years; and two - because it's a book about being a witch and I've always wanted to be one as evidenced by my love for the Wiccan ways which I share on my Wiccan Blog. Unfortunately, for me, the pace of the story in the beginning was really not that fantastic and I got bored to tears. It's only during my morning rituals (after I do my daily tarot reading, meditation and spell) that I try to read a few more pages just so I can finish this blasted book. It was only when I was reaching the last few chapters that the story became more exciting to the point that it was giving me goosebumps and hair tingles. This meant that finally, I was one with the book and it was as if I was Brida finally consummating my journey into  my real self, that of becoming a witch.

Last Night at Chateau Marmont, Dead and Loving It, One Fifth Avenue

I'm almost halfway through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows now and like I always say, I still got tons of books lined up on my bookshelf, waiting to be read. But because National Bookstore is on sale until the end of the month, I couldn't help but purchase a couple more books. Three to be exact. It would have been more had I memorized all the Mary Janice Davidson vampire books I already have. I didn't want to make a double purchase so I bought the one which I was sure I still don't have --- Dead and Loving It.