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?

Shoot That Book: How to Save a Life

Shoot That Book combines my passion for books and my tendency to become trigger happy with a camera. My lack of photography skills is compensated by my enthusiasm. Basically, I like taking pictures of books.

Shoot That Book nail polish edition is back! I always take advantage of cheaper nail salon rates whenever I’m in Manila. Everything is much more expensive in Singapore so I’ve never gotten a haircut or had my nails done here. I went to a nail salon with my friend and she said she was getting a colored French tip and it looked nice so I got the same thing. Incidentally, the colors that I picked matched the cover of a book that I recently received: How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr.

This book reminds me of The Fray song that has the same title. Wonder if it fits the story? My nail polish posts are easy – I just choose a book that has a cover that matches the colors of the nail polish that I have on. I wanted to highlight a blogger who does amazing nail art. Mandee is the girl behind The Bookish Manicurist and she does beautiful artwork with her nails. What’s even better is she matches her nails to the covers of the books that she reads. I love all of the nail art that she’s posted because they all look so pretty and nail art based on books – what’s not to like? You have to drop by her blog to check it out. I wish I was half as good as she is when it comes to painting nails.

Book Haul: MNL to SIN Stash Part 4

Happy Labor Day, everyone! May 1 is a holiday both in Manila and Singapore. I took advantage of that fact, claimed two vacation days and flew to Manila for the weekend. I got back in Singapore this morning. I had a great time in Manila and I always feel like the time I spend there is never enough – I guess that’s usually the case when you only get to see friends and family once in a while. Anyway, I wanted to share with all of you the books that I’ve acquired the past few days.

Right before I left for my flight to Manila, I saw a package waiting for me in our mailbox. It contained a signed copy of Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco Stork. My blogging buddy Holly is good friends with Francisco and through that connection, I’ve started exchanging emails with him some time ago. He is such a kind and amazing person that it comes as no surprise that I’ve enjoyed talking to him about random things, not just about books and writing. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I’ve never read any of his books. That’s going to change soon! I’ve heard nothing but good things about Marcelo in the Real World so I’m pretty excited to read it. I’d like to thank Francisco for being generous enough to send me a copy of it.

During the weekend, I had dinner with a good friend and she mentioned that she hasn’t given me a gift for my birthday yet and that we should drop by Fully Booked so I can pick something. No arguments from my end!

My favorite branch of Fully Booked – several floors of bookish goodness.

She ended up getting How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr, a washi tape roll featuring sea creatures and plain old scotch tape for me. She couldn’t resist adding the scotch tape to the mix, saying that “it’s a classic” compared to washi tape.

Now this isn’t book-related but most of you seem to enjoy seeing my washi tape rolls so I wanted to show these as well. I asked some of my friends to order washi tape rolls from Hey Kessy and Bee Happy Crafts and we had a washi swap (my friend made the washi-covered clips):

More rolls to add to my collection! Which one is your favorite?

Pretty cute, aren’t they? When I have some free time, I’m going to try and make washi postcards. Moving back to books, I’ve noticed that lately, I’ve been reading more contemporary than fantasy novels so I grabbed these three titles from my own bookshelf to bring back with me to Singapore:

Rebel by R.J. Anderson
Arrow by R.J. Anderson
Elfland by Freda Warrington

I now have way too many unread books in my bookshelf here in the flat. Which is why I only grabbed three books from my bookshelf even though I could have fit more in my luggage. I found it a bit surprising that I didn’t end up buying books even though I visited several bookstores. But then again, I haven’t even read all of the books that I brought from my last trip home.

I got a book in Yosemite for my six-year-old godson and he liked it so much that he gave me a card to thank me:

When I got back to the flat, I also had a Hawaii postcard waiting for me:

What about you, got any interesting books, postcards or washi tape lately? Hope you’re having a good week so far. The great thing about this week is I only have to go to the office for two days. By the way, I’m planning to change my blog header soon so watch out for that.

The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding

Thank you so much to my friend Maggie of Young Adult Anonymous for giving me a signed copy of Amy Spalding’s debut novel, The Reece Malcolm List. I kept hearing good things about this contemporary YA novel so I was pretty excited to read it.

Here’s the summary from Goodreads:

Things I know about Reece Malcolm:

1. She graduated from New York University.
2. She lives in or near Los Angeles.
3. Since her first novel was released, she’s been on the New York Times bestseller list every week.
4. She likes strong coffee and bourbon.
5. She’s my mother.

Devan knows very little about Reece Malcolm, until the day her father dies and she’s shipped off to live with the mother she’s never met. All she has is a list of notebook entries that doesn’t add up to much.

L.A. offers a whole new world to Devan—a performing arts school allows her to pursue her passion for show choir and musicals, a new circle of friends helps to draw her out of her shell, and an intriguing boy opens up possibilities for her first love.

But then the Reece Malcolm list gets a surprising new entry. Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything?

I felt like I read this book at just the right time. I just came back from L.A. when I read this more than a month ago and I was able to appreciate all the references to L.A. in the book. I got excited whenever I recognized any of the places or things mentioned – like having a burger from In N Out, which is something that I always make a point of having whenever I visit L.A. I’m a fan of musicals although I’m not as into the whole thing as Devan is – I mean I would like to be but I obviously don’t have her talent. I just enjoy watching musicals and I try to watch as many as I can. I wish I was more familiar with Merrily We Roll Along because that was the musical featured in the book. I probably would have appreciated Devan’s rehearsals more if I’ve seen Merrily We Roll Along on stage or if I knew the songs. I also love having karaoke sessions (we call it videoke back home in Manila) with my friends though because I like to sing even if I’m all heart and no talent. So I could totally relate to the karaoke scene in the book, I find it interesting that for a seriously talented singer like Devan, a fun karaoke session lets her unwind.

I liked reading about the characters and how Devan slowly got to know them – her theater friends, her love interests, her mom and even her mom’s boyfriend. There were interesting characters and dynamics within the novel. I really, really enjoyed reading this book and I felt like I would have fallen in love with it if it just had a little more emotional depth. I felt like there was enough room to draw upon the characters’ feelings – maybe more grief or anger from Devan over all the bad things that have happened in her life. I guess I was expecting something like that since her father passed away and she suddenly has to move in with a mom she has never met. I think that this novel is a very good debut and I’m definitely curious about Amy Spalding’s next book – it’s just that I wanted more than the overall lighthearted tone presented in The Reece Malcolm List. If you’re a fan of contemporary YA, then you should definitely check this one out. I’m not surprised that I’ve seen so many rave reviews for it because it’s a really fun read.

Other reviews:
Young Adult Anonymous
Good Books and Good Wine
The Allure of Books

Book Haul: Kinokuniya Part 2

Kinokuniya was having a sale last weekend and since my flatmates are members, I went with them to see if I could take advantage of the 20% discount. I know I keep harping on how expensive books are here and I usually rather buy copies in Manila for UK or US editions that are also available there. So when bookstores have sales here, I usually aim for books that I can’t get back home or through Book Depository like Aussie titles. Most of the ones I wanted were out of stock but it made me happy that Paper Chains by Nicola Moriarty was there.

I’ve been wanting to read Nicola Moriarty’s books for a while now and I’m glad I will finally be able to try her writing. I got an extra copy to swap with my friend Maggie of Young Adult Anonymous, I know she’s a fan of Aussie fiction as well.

I was walking around the bookstore, trying to decide what else to get and I was just thinking that it would be great if I could find books similar to Laura Florand’s since I enjoy reading her books so much. Lo and behold, The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan pops up! I knew it was a sign that I should grab a copy. It’s rare for me to buy a book just based on the cover and synopsis because I usually rely on reviews from fellow book bloggers. Let’s see if this lives up to my expectations.

That’s a French-themed postcard made out of washi tape right beside the book. What about the rest of you, have you bought or borrowed any books lately?

Of Postcards and Washi Tape

What is it with retail therapy? I don’t know why it’s so much fun, at least for me, to go shopping. Even if I don’t have a goal in mind, I still end up buying stuff that I WANT but don’t really NEED. One thing I’ve noticed about my purchasing behavior is that I tend to obsess about other things when I don’t shop for books. I’ve given up on the idea of limiting my book purchases a long time ago. I mean I don’t usually get crazy when it comes to buying books (yeah, right) but I let myself indulge from time to time. It’s such a comfort to have books around even if I feel like I don’t have enough time to read all of them. But since books are so expensive here in Singapore, I’d rather not buy unless I’m ordering online to take advantage of more affordable prices. Or I’d wait and then just buy books the next time I fly home to Manila.

With food, I’ve also given up on feeling guilty whenever I eat something that I want to eat. I believe that food is a necessity and if you can afford to buy food that you’re interested in or eat out when you feel like it, then go ahead and do it. I usually want to eat something good during the weekends, especially when I’m out with friends because that’s my way of unwinding and relaxing. Or there are times when I feel like hanging out somewhere to read instead of just heading back to the flat. Special occasions like birthdays are also good excuses to treat yourself.

So basically I don’t say no to food and books. I also have a hard time saying no to clothes on sale (because clothing is a necessity as well, right?) What I’ve realized about myself is that I tend to compensate in other things now that I don’t get to buy books as often as I’d like. Let’s take my fondness for postcards as an example. I think we can pretty much agree that in today’s digital age, getting a little something in the mail has become a novelty. It’s always nice when you feel like someone was thinking of you and was generous enough to send snail mail. It breaks the monotony of only seeing bills in the mailbox. What’s funny is that I’ve become so engrossed about postcards to the point that I even started my Postcard Love feature here on my blog. To be fair, more than half of my postcard buddies are fellow book bloggers. It’s a reasonable assumption that blogging buddies would enjoy seeing postcard-related posts. Plus, I like postcards with book-themed designs more than anything else. So it’s still somewhat related to book blogging. Singapore also makes it easy to collect postcards because so many stores here sell postcards with cute designs. Even free postcards here usually look nice.

Postcard sets I’ve collected since moving to Singapore

I just find it funny that whenever I see a postcard set that I like, I’m always tempted to get two sets – one for sending and one for keeping. I keep thinking that some of these postcards will look great when they’re framed, but who knows when I’ll have a place of my own to put up things like that? Anyway, another thing that I’ve been obsessing about recently is washi tape! Some of you may be wondering what washi tape is – basically, it’s masking tape that has prints and patterns that make it ideal for crafts. It originated from Japan, which probably explains why it’s not as cheap as one would expect. I like decorating the postcards that I send out – either by using stamps or stickers. Now, I mostly just use washi tape because I’ve started collecting rolls of it ever since a friend gave me some for Christmas last year.

My current washi tape collection

Talking about postcards and washi tape is my way of leading up to this question – what do you spend your money on when you’re not buying books? If you have extra cash to spare and you don’t feel like buying any books (or books are super expensive where you are), what do you buy? Or maybe I should be asking what your other hobbies are aside from reading?

Postcards decorated with washi tape

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?