Top Ten Books When You Need Something Light and Fun

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is such a good one. I love light and fun reads because I feel like they come in handy whenever I feel like a book slump is about to occur. Or when I want to cleanse my reading palate after reading a dense fantasy novel or an emotionally heavy book. I don’t have to be in a certain mood to read books like the ones I’ve included here, I can just pick them up whenever I want to read something that’s easy to get into. In no particular order, here are my top ten light reads:

I Do and At First Sight by Elizabeth Chandler – Bantam’s Love Stories series was the YA series to follow back when I was a teen. These two by Elizabeth Chandler are my favorites. I can’t even remember the number of times I’ve reread these.

Fairy Tale Fail by Mina V. Esguerra – I feel like I’m a broken record because I keep saying this but Mina is my favorite Filipino chick lit author. I could relate to her novels because they’re about young Filipino women and her books are set in the Philippines.

Something About You by Julie James – All of Julie James’ romances are filled with a healthy dose of humor, which is why I enjoy reading them. Something About You is the first in her FBI/US Attorney series and my favorite so far. There’s just something about main characters who keep bickering to hide their attraction.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – Such a swoon-worthy novel set in one of the most romantic cities in the world. Really enjoyed the tension between Anna and Etienne.

The Chocolate Thief by Laura Florand – Another novel set in Paris! But adult contemporary romance instead of YA. Couldn’t help but feel good whenever I read Laura Florand’s novels – I’m a fan of how she combines romance with delicious food.

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen – This one might not be considered light because the main characters have to deal with some pretty serious issues but there’s something magical about the writing that makes it so much fun to read.

A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson – The first Eva Ibbotson novel that I ever read and it’s still one of my favorites. I love the fairy tale feel of this historical fiction novel.

Silent Blade by Ilona Andrews – I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this since I’m not a sci-fi girl. I didn’t get confused by the details of the sci-fi setting and I really liked the romance

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley – I could relate to Harry’s thirst for adventure and I loved living vicariously through her (and all other strong female characters I admire).

The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner – I know, I know. A book riddled with political intrigue isn’t usually considered light fare but I’ve reread this book so many times that it has just become a comfort read. Plus, Gen is always good for some laughs.

I’ve noticed that most of my picks for light reads are contemporary novels and that ALL of them have some kind of romance in them. It sure looks like I enjoy a well-written love story in my feel good reads. Do you agree with some of my choices? What are some of your own favorite light reads?

Top Ten Tuesday: Auto-Buy Authors

Look at me, participating in Top Ten Tuesday two weeks in a row. This week’s topic is “Top Ten Tuesday REWIND – pick a past topic you missed or one you want to revisit!” I was bummed when I missed Top Ten Tuesday when the topic was Auto-Buy Authors because I wanted to talk about authors I love. So I’m glad that I get to revisit this topic today. Looking through my list of favorite books, I realize that while I have fallen in love with so many novels, there are only a couple of authors who are auto-buy and auto-read for me. Regardless of what genre they write, these are authors that I get ridiculously excited about. I’ll count down the days, months or even YEARS (I’m looking at you, MWT) until their next novel is released. I’ll pre-order their books and get jealous of other readers who manage to get advance copies. Some are authors I’ve loved for years while others are new discoveries. Here they are, in no particular order:

Megan Whalen Turner

Elizabeth Wein

Robin McKinley

Melina Marchetta

Laini Taylor

Ilona Andrews

Julie James

Sarah Addison Allen

Mina V. Esguerra

Laura Florand

There you have it, folks. My auto-buy authors. I may not have read all of their books, like Robin McKinley’s Deerskin or Laini Taylor’s Days of Blood and Starlight, but I’ve read most of them. And I fully intend to read ALL of their books when I get the chance.

What about you, who are your auto-buy authors? Do we have similar authors in our lists?

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books I Read Before I Was A Blogger

I’ve been wanting to participate in Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) for a while now but I keep forgetting about it. I only remember when I see tweets from other bloggers and by that time, it’s already Wednesday in my side of the world. Fortunately, I looked up the topic ahead of this week so now I get to put up my first ever Top Ten Tuesday post! Most of the books that I read nowadays are recommendations from trusted book bloggers and friends. Because there are so many reading choices out there, I rarely read books just based on the cover and synopsis. Back before I started blogging, that’s how I found out about books though. In no particular order, here are some of my favorites before I started my blog in 2010:

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale – I can still remember seeing the pretty cover, illustrated by Alison Jay, and thinking that the book looks like something that I’d enjoy reading even if I wasn’t that familiar with the original Goose Girl story. My instincts were right, I fell in love with The Goose Girl and it’s still one of my favorite fairy tale retellings. It was an added bonus that I discovered other favorite titles through Shannon Hale’s recommendations in her blog.

The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner – My love for MWT’s books knows no bounds, I even organized a Queen’s Thief Week to celebrate her work. I’m always curious whenever a review mentions writing or characters similar to MWT’s (although more often than not, I get disappointed because my expectations are so high). I’m so glad Shannon Hale featured MWT on her blog because that’s how I discovered this amazing series. Before my blog, I usually got ideas of what to read from Sounis, the LiveJournal community for MWT fans. I was pretty active there back when I was still using LiveJournal.

Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith – Another title that I discovered through Shannon Hale’s blog! During the time I discovered Crown Duel, I was starting to realize that I have a thing for fantasy novels and it definitely fit the bill. I also loved how nice and friendly Sherwood is to her fans, she’s quite active in the Athanarel LiveJournal community (another source of excellent recommendations before I started my blog). I was lucky enough to meet her in person when we had a Sounis/Athanarel meet up back in 2009:

I Do and At First Sight by Elizabeth Chandler – I’ve talked about the Love Stories series several times here on the blog. That was the series that I closely followed as a teenage girl and Elizabeth Chandler’s I Do and At First Sight are my favorites. I can even remember the number of times I’ve reread these books. They’re out of print titles, otherwise I’d probably get duplicates because my copies are so battered.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman – I remember borrowing a copy of this from a college friend and I knew after finishing that I had to get my own copy. I got a paperback that I let my friends borrow and also a graphic novel edition because the artwork by Charles Vess is just lovely.

His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman – I read this trilogy back in college, based on the recommendation of a classmate. It was during finals week and I was supposed to be studying instead of reading for pleasure but I couldn’t help it, the series was just too good to put down.

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling – I found out about this series in high school. It was my mom who got me started on Harry Potter, she got me copies of the first four books that were out then. After that, I eagerly waited for the release date of books five to seven. I had to watch the movies in cinemas as soon as they were shown too. I followed this series from high school to college up until I started working. I really am part of the Harry Potter generation, it was a part of my life for so many years.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis – This series is one of my childhood favorites. I discovered it because some of the titles were available in my grade school library. Unfortunately, they didn’t have all of the books in the series. I only got to read the entire series when I ordered copies online when I was in high school (bookstores in Manila didn’t have such great stocks back then). I get the feeling that I can read the Narnia books as an adult and I would love them just as much as I did when I was a kid.

A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson – Here’s another title that I found interesting because of the cover and title. I checked the premise at the back and thought that the book looked like something I’d enjoy reading. I was right. This was my first taste of Eva Ibbotson’s writing and she quickly became a favorite author after I finished reading this.

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley – I love kick ass heroines in fantasy novels and Harry is one of my favorites. I’m a fan of girls who take matters into their own hands, instead of waiting to be saved or rescued by someone else. Each of Robin McKinley’s novels has a heroine like that, which is why she’s an auto-read author for me.

I guess I cheated because I included trilogies and series in my list but I couldn’t really help it, there are just way too many good books out there. I had a hard enough time narrowing down my list. What about you, what are some of your favorite books that you read before you started your blog? How did you discover them?

One Book, Two Book, Three Book, Four… And Five

Found this meme through Angie, Janice and Nomes and since I don’t have any posts lined up for today, I thought I’d do this quick meme to let you guys know what I’ve been reading lately. I promise I’ll come up with reviews soon. I’m still experiencing a vacation hangover and I’d rather be lazy than do anything productive.

1. Book I am currently reading: The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry, which I won in an ebook contest held by MangoJuiced. I’ve been wanting to read this for a while so thank you, MangoJuiced, for giving me a copy. I’m only 20% in but I’m liking it so far. I’m reading this on the Kindle Boyfriend. Even though I left Kindle Boyfriend at home during the weekend (didn’t want to risk it getting damaged at the beach), I didn’t start on anything else while I was away so I can just continue reading this one.

2. Last book I finished: The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope – I bought my copy of this back in 2007 and I finally got to read it! I’m hoping to review it in this week’s Retro Friday meme.

3. Next book I want to read: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, which was my most recent Want Books pick. Read these reviews from Angie and Holly and you’d understand why I can’t wait to read this book.

4. Last book I bought: Wonderstuck by Brian Selznick – I couldn’t help but grab a copy when I saw it in a local bookstore. I know this one will be a quick and enjoyable read because of all the illustrations mixed in with the text and I’m hoping to read it soon.

5. Last book I was given: Same answer as number 1.

What about the rest of you, what are you reading lately? If you answered the same meme, feel free to leave a link in the comments section.

Waiting on Wednesday: Seer of Sevenwaters

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. WoW posts are about books that you can’t wait to get your hands on.

I haven’t done a Waiting on Wednesday post in a while because it’s similar to my Want Books meme. However, since I just finished reading the first four books in the incredible Sevenwaters series by Juliet Marillier, I decided to post about the next book in the series – Seer of Sevenwaters, due out in December 7.

Here’s the summary from Goodreads:

The young seer Sibeal is visiting an island of elite warriors, prior to making her final pledge as a druid. It’s there she finds Felix, a survivor of a Viking shipwreck, who’s lost his memory. The scholarly Felix and Sibeal form a natural bond. He could even be her soul mate, but Sibeal’s vocation is her true calling, and her heart must answer.

As Felix fully regains his memory, Sibeal has a runic divination showing her that Felix must go on a perilous mission — and that she will join him. The rough waters and the sea creatures they will face are no match for Sibeal’s own inner turmoil. She must choose between the two things that tug at her soul — her spirituality and a chance at love…

Although it’s part of a series, I don’t think readers need to start with the others before reading this one but then again, why miss out on the amazing books that come before this? Let me convince you further, check out my review of Daughter of the Forest, the first in the Sevenwaters series and a retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale entitled Six Swans.

What about you, what book are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Blog Hoppin’

I’m doing the Book Blogger Hop this Friday, which is an event hosted over at Crazy-for-Books. You can sign up for this week’s hop over here. This is only the second time that I’ve tried this. I enjoyed browsing through other people’s blogs the last time so I decided to give it a try again.

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and find new book-related blogs that we may be missing out on! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed!

This week, we’re supposed to let other bloggers know what book are we dying to get (past, present or future). It’s funny because I actually have a meme here in my blog for this kind of thing, please check my Want Books meme to see books that are in my wishlist. Anyone can participate in that meme by the way, I do a post every week with a roundup at the end. Sorry for that little bit of self-promotion, just wanted to mention it.

In keeping with the spirit of the Book Blogger Hop, one book that I’m eagerly anticipating is the fifth Kate Daniels, Magic Slays by the amazing Ilona Andrews. I love the Kate Daniels books and they are the books that convinced me that I could learn to love the urban fantasy genre as much as I love the epic fantasy genre.

Please leave a comment if you’re here because of the hop and you’d like me to check your post regarding this week’s hop, leave a link as well. If anyone is interested in following this blog, check out the follow buttons in my sidebar and this post. Happy Hopping!

Life in Book Titles

I found out about this meme from Holly of Book Harbinger, who found out about it from Michelle of See Michelle Read. It’s actually pretty hard to answer! Try it and you’ll find out.

Using only books you have read this year (2010), cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title. It’s a lot harder than you think!

*Describe Yourself: Beastly by Alex Flinn (I hope not but it was too hilarious not to use)

*How do you feel: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

*Describe where you currently live: Summer in the City by Elizabeth Chandler

*If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

*Your favorite form of transportation: Archangel by Sharon Shinn

*Your best friend is: Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

*You and your friends are: A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner

*What’s the weather like: Mistwood by Leah Cypess

*Favorite time of day: Charlie All Night by Jennifer Crusie

*What is life like to you: Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James

*Your fear: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

*Thought for the Day: Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

*How I would like to die: Valiant by Holly Black

*My soul’s present condition: Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

What about you, what are your answers to this meme? I think it would be fun to see other people’s life in book titles.

Waiting on Wednesday: Matched

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. WoW posts are about books that you can’t wait to get your hands on.

Yay, it’s Wednesday again, which marks the middle of the week! I’m really looking forward to the end of the week because a long weekend is coming up. We’re celebrating the Independence Day of the Philippines. Also, I signed up for my first ever Bloggiesta and I’m excited for that. I already made a to-do list, which hopefully I’ll be able to accomplish.

Anyway, to get back on topic, my WoW pick for today is Matched by Ally Condie due out on November 30. I know this book has gotten a lot of buzz in the blogosphere and several book bloggers were able to grab ARCs at BEA. You guys are so lucky! Here’s the summary from Goodreads:

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one… until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow — between perfection and passion.

Matched is a story for right now and storytelling with the resonance of a classic.

Sounds interesting, right? I think it’s kind of similar to the world of The Giver by Lois Lowry, which was one of my favorites as a kid. What’s your WoW pick for this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Ring of Solomon

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. WoW posts are about books that you can’t wait to get your hands on. I know I do my WoW posts ahead of other people because of the time difference. It’s Wednesday morning here in Manila while it’s still Tuesday night for most other bloggers. Anyway, my WoW post for today is The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud, due out November 9 of this year. The Bartimaeus Trilogy is in my list of favorites and I think Bartimaeus is a hilarious narrator so it’s good to know that there’s another book coming out. It’s set in the same world but is more of a companion novel to the trilogy rather than part of the series. I’ve recommended the trilogy to a couple of friends so I know that others will look forward to this too.

Here’s the summary from Goodreads:

Bartimaeus, everyone’s favorite (wise-cracking) djinni, is back in book four of this best-selling series. As alluded to in the footnotes throughout the series, Bartimaeus has served hundreds of magicians during his 5,010 year career. Now, for the first time, fans will go back in time with the djinni, to Jerusalem and the court of King Solomon in 950s BC. Only in this adventure, it seems the great Bartimaeus has finally met his match. He’ll have to contend with an unpleasant master and his sinister servant, and runs into just a “spot” of trouble with King Solomon’s magic ring…

What’s your WoW pick this week?

Reading Habits Meme

It’s Monday morning and the start of another week! As usual, I’m feeling lazy. I wasn’t able to read during the weekend so I thought I’d just post a meme instead. I got this meme from The Serpentine Library and thought I should give it a try.

1. Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snacks:
I don’t usually snack while I read because I find it hard to hold a book on one hand and hold food on the other. What I usually do is take breaks from reading to grab a snack.

2. What is your favourite drink while reading
Again, I don’t usually eat/drink while reading but when I do take a break, I guess I mostly drink cold water since it’s the height of summer and it’s really hot lately. I also like iced tea. My favorite is Pokka Jasmine Green Tea and I just recently discovered that Arizona iced tea is really good.

3. Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
Marking books, the horror! Even while I was in school, I never liked marking books. My classmates would always highlight their school books and write notes in the margins but I never did that. The only thing I write in books is my name. And a couple of years back, I started writing the date when I bought the book just to give me an idea of when I first discovered it.

4. How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
Like I said earlier, I don’t like marking books so I also don’t dog-ear or lay the book flat. I’m very careful when handling books and that’s why I’m picky when it comes to lending my books. I use bookmarks when I need to keep my place in a book. I have a couple of bookmarks lying around in my bedside table because people give me those as gifts. Sometimes when I don’t have a bookmark within reach, I use receipts because those are made out of thin paper and they won’t damage the book when you use them.

5. Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
Fiction! I rarely read non-fiction.

6. Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I always try to read until the end of the chapter just so I don’t feel like I’m right in the middle of the story when I stop. But when I’m reading a good book, I always say “just one more chapter and then I’ll stop” and I end up finishing the book.

7. Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
No, I’ve never done that. When I get to an irritating part, I just stop reading and then think to myself “ARGH! This is so frustrating!” and then I go back and read a couple more pages and if I really can’t stand it, I just stop. Or skim until I reach the end so I have a vague idea of what happens.

8. If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
If I’m near a computer, I look it up in an online dictionary. Otherwise, I use context clues to figure out what it means and if I still remember it by the time I’m in front of a computer, I look it up.

9. What are you currently reading?
I’m currently reading