And I Go Back To The 90's All The Time

Okay. Enough Taylor Swift pun-titles.

Just kidding. I've got a million more where that came from.

One thing I realized today was that 3 of my favorite series were all published in the 90's/early 2000s. Then the more I thought about it, I realized that the same 3 were the only series I reread, multiple times, for fun.

Every now and then (mostly during the scorching Manila summers), I hit a lull, reading-wise and I start turning to familiar, comfortable reads. Sometimes I just miss them so much that I just pick em up, even though I'm the midst of a violent tug-of-war by at least 5 books, all vying for my attention. And those familiar reads are, in no particular order: J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books (no duh), Tamora Pierce's Immortals Quartet, and Meg Cabot's The Mediator series.

To be honest, I haven't read the entire series as many times as people think. I've gone over each book at the least, twice, at the most, five. That being said, there are some passages that are permanently marked in mind: The time Harry got a lemon lolly at the zoo, Ginny's valentine to Harry, Fred and George promising a toilet seat to Molly, Harry's adorable "Wangoballwimme?" to Cho Chang...

I can't stop fangirling over Tamora Pierce's books. I feel like one day, I'll just have to plop down and post a 100-paragraph post on the awesomeness that is her Tortall Saga. What I love the most about it is how it stretches over generations (The first series has Alanna as the protagonist, and the third is narrated by her daughter, Aly) The Immortals Quartet is just 1/5 of the Tortall story, but it's my favorite, because of two words: Numair & Daine. They are my OTP. I shipped them even before I knew what OTP (One True Pair). I remember back in my freshman year of high school, when I was reading the last book for the first time, being so overpowered by a case of kilig-giggles, that I had to stop reading, because I was in the middle of the Reedley lobby. 

Possibly the most-read out of all three. Fun fact: The Mediator is part of the reason I dislike Twilight. It's actually a very petty reason, but when you're in 7th-grade, these things matter. The last book of the Mediator series (which was published before Twilight) was also named Twilight, and I just so happened to be reading it when Twilight-mania arrived. I pooh-poohed the new Twilight, saying my Twilight was better. And there it is, for the world to know: the trigger that sent Salve Villarosa into a manic hate-frenzy toward sparkly vampires.

The Mediator is about a girl, Suze, who can see ghosts. And it's her duty to send them on to the next spiritual stage: heaven, hell, purgatory, the next life, what have you. The books are hilarious and sweet, and 13 years after the first book's publication, still pop-culturally relevant.

I've yet to find a new addition to these legendary books, but with the new bundle of books I've lugged home, here's hoping.

A Little Piece of Childhood

I'm usually very stingy when it comes to praising books. "Too mushy. Too cliche. Too much a rip-off of that other book. IF I READ ABOUT ONE MORE GOSHDARNED LOVE TRIANGLE I WILL START BOYCOTTING YA FICTION." So what I love is when an unassuming book creeps on me, bites me on the ankle and turns out to be an excellent book.

That being said, the latest ankle-biting book I've read has gone above and beyond excellent.

 When I picked this up a few days ago, I merely gave it a cursory glance and mind-yawned at the thought of another Alex Flinn fairy-tale retelling. True, she had written A Kiss In Time, which is possibly the most adorable modern take on Sleeping Beauty out there, but she had also written Beastly, which was in and of itself, well, truly beastly. So though I've seen new Alex Flinn books published the past few years, none of them ever found themselves in my hands.

But, I am a sucker for Rapunzel, and so, for lack of another book to read, I purchased Towering.

Boy, was I in for a surprise.

The story takes a unique turn on the fairytale retelling route, as it starts out more macabre than magical. I'm talking small town up in the boonies, no cell service, long-missing kids, ghost of one the aforementioned kids crawling through the bedroom window, and your good ol' spinster old lady who lives by herself. So obviously with all this, you'd wonder how the story would ever get back to a blonde girl in a tower.

But it does. I can't say much because it'll spoil the whole story, but it is truly an amazing modern retelling. It's witty. It's mysterious. It's romantic. It's one of the few modern fairytales that teeters right on the edge of this world and another.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I saw that my Disney calendar was flipped to today's date, and today's picture just so happened to be one of my favorite scenes in Disney history:

The Hunchback of Notre Dame probably has the most underrated score of all time. Up till the 1998 Oscars, every Disney film of the 90's has been nominated for Best Score (mostly due to the talent of one Alan Menken). Then, mysteriously, HoND was released with nary a nomination its way. Out There should've been nominated for Best Song, at least. Tom Hulce's voice is angelical; I was so disappointed to learn that he had retired from the business. But anyway, this frame of Quasimodo standing on the balcony, belting his lungs out, probably ranks #2 on my favorite Disney scenes ever (1st would be Hercules belting his lungs out in front of a glorious sunset, and 3rd would obviously be the lantern scene from Tangled). 

Back to the topic of books though, I'm afraid I've only added to my to-read pile, rather than actually....reading them. I'm actually running out of places for them. Maybe I should go and find myself a nice tower.