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.

Home For The Weekend

After the first week of my acting residency in Cebu, I flew home for the weekend, the primary reason being Iron Man 3.

My high school batchmates planned to watch IM3 together, and I am not one to turn down any chance to see Robert Downey Jr. The movie turned out to be pretty good; much better than the second one anyway. But nothing trumps an origin story, I think. Plus the music in this film was severely lacking and completely deviated from Ramin Djawadi's original musical concept for the first Iron Man. I think that was the only problem I really had with the movie: it didn't have any of the sass shown in Iron Man. The finale was spectacular however.

But the real happy news was when I went to Fully Booked and out of boredom rather than expectation, I asked if they had The Elite (sequel to The Selection by Kiera Cass) yet. Imagine my shock when they actually said the shipment finally arrived. And so I was directed to a cardboard box, and I grabbed my own copy literally hot off the presses.

Then today I spent my morning lolling about Fully Booked at The Fort, and once again, out of sheer boredom, made my way to the biography section, where two books immediately caught my eye.

I am beyond excited to read both these books about two very different daughters of monarchs. This is the first biography I've found about Anastasia that focused solely on her. As for Marie Therese, I've been curious about her since I watched Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, when Kirsten Dunst whispers to her newborn daughter, "Oh, you were not what was desired, but that makes you no less dear to me. A boy would have been the Son of France, but you, Marie Therese, shall be mine." That tender scene is one of the reasons I decided a while back that I would give my firstborn daughter the middle name Therese (the other reason is that I want to name one of my children after my mother). I've never read that much about Marie Antoinette's daughter, especially what happened to her after the revolution.

So now I'm well equipped, book-wise for my second week in Cebu.

49-Day Book Challenge: Day 17, Genre You Rarely Read (But Wish You Did?)

Easy. Classics and biographies.

I wish I was able to read biographies the way I do YA books, but the writing's obviously more sophisticated and flowery, so it takes more time for me to struggle through a chapter. I'm getting better at though; like they say, practice makes perfect.

Classics are a whole other matter. I've tried again and again to get into reading them, but I always end up caving and running back to YA with my tail between my legs. I don't know, they just don't hold my attention the way modern books do. Though lately, my determination to finish a classic has been strengthened by one awesome English teacher, Ms. Ng. Her love for Jane Austen & F. Scott Fitzgerald is totally infectious. Now I've decided to tackle The Great Gatsby. I love the time period it's set in; in fact, the YA book I'm reading now is set in the Jazz Age as well, so you might say I'm prepping for it.

Next question on the list is a tough one to answer: Favorite biography. Decisions, decisions.

49-Day Book Challenge: Day 16, Favorite Genre

I, obviously, cannot pick just one. And so, I'm going to share the Best of the Best--Books that embody my two favorite genres.

***Harry Potter will not have a mention, because, as I've told to anybody who will listen, HP isn't simply a book series for me, it's a part of life. Okay. Cheesy part's over.

***I was going to include Dystopian as one of my favorite genres as well, but let's face it: Everyone loves dystopian books nowadays (The Hunger Games, Divergent, etc.) No new news there.

Favorite Genre #1: Fantasy & Fairytale Retellings

Princesses, fictional kingdoms, knights, dragons, oh my. My love for this genre stems from my childhood overexposure to Disney films. I remember growing up watching Sleeping Beauty everyday, knowing Part of Your World down pat, and having one of those castle playsets, complete with a dungeon for the baddies. The best yaya in the world, Ate Rose, loves telling this little anecdote: When I would play my little Disney figurines and the castle, all the Disney villain figurines would mysteriously vanish. My yaya would help clean up my mess, but she wouldn't be able to find them. Finally she would ask me, "Have you seen Maleficient?", and I would promptly reply, "I sent them down to the dungeon." When my yaya opened the latch to the dungeon, lo and behold, Maleficient and her posse all came tumbling out.

Now that I'm a little too old for playing castle, my love for other worlds translated into reading. The number one fantasy series on my list would definitely be Tamora Pierce's Tortall Series.

I remember discovering Tortall in seventh grade, when I was dealing with Post-Potter depression. My friend Tuesday was reading a Tortall book, and she pushed me to try it out. At first I said, "NO. There will never be any other fantasy book that I read. Harry Potter is it for me." She quipped, "That's not what J.K. Rowling would want you to do," And so I grudgingly bought the first book.

The Tortall Math: 4 Alanna books + 4 Daine books + 4 Kel books + 2 Aly books + 3 Beka books= a sweeping saga that spans generations. Tamora Pierce started the series back in the 1980's, and hasn't come up for air since. I have no idea why this series is so underrated, it's got everything: magic, swordfights, knife fights, fistfights, unrequited love, forbidden love, love between two girls, love between two boys, love between a transvestite and a man, dragons, hurroks (half horse, half hawk--think Buckbeak's distant cousin), spidrens (half spiders, half humans), more magic, family drama, princess, castles, all races (from the Japan-inspired Yamani Islands, to the Northern Europe-inspired Scanra), and most importantly, awesome plots.

I could go on and on about Tamora Pierce, I really could. But that's left to say is, get your hands on a Tortall book and your life will never be the same.

-Runner-up for best fantasy books would be Jessica Day George's 12 Princesses novels. They don't take themselves too seriously, but they've still got a solid plot.

Favorite Genre # 2: Historical Fiction & Royal Biographies

You could say my love for one inspired my love for the other. I started off in the historical genre by reading this absolutely beautiful series called The Royal Diaries.

They're fictional accounts of historical princesses' lives. They were perfect for little 7th-grade Salve, just beginning to read past the usual chick-lit fare. That jumpstarted my love for historical fiction.

After growing out of the Diaries, I moved on to Carolyn Meyer's Young Royals books. She's written about the Tudors, Marie Antoinette, Cleopatra, and Mary, Queen of Scots. She is an excellent writer, and I'm just beside myself waiting for her next book, this time about Queen Victoria (one of my favorite royals).

Then, about 3 years ago, I decided to make the jump from fiction to non-fiction. I was at a summer program at Oxford University at the time, and I remember the exact day I picked up my first royal biography. It was raining, and classes were finished, so for lack of something to do, I bought myself a Cornish pasty and went to the bookstore. There was a display table stacked with books about on royal women, and I picked up Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria by Julia Gelardi (who, coincidence of coincidences, turned out to be a Filipina!)

It chronicles the lives of Queen Sophia of Greece, Queen Maud of Norway, Queen Ena of Spain, Queen Marie of Romania, and Empress Alexandra of Russia. I immediately fell in love with the five women, their families, and the time period they lived in. You know sometimes, the Tudor era sometimes seems a bit far-off, and it's difficult for me to place myself in their shoes. But to read about queens whose grandchildren are still alive today? It makes me feel closer to them somehow.

Ever since, I've read biographies about Queen Victoria (the author of which I was able to meet at Oxford), Catherine the Great, the Romanov women, and mother-daughter royal tag teams.

That's pretty much it for my favorite genres. Of course, I love other genres: I've been reading more chick lit (Jen Calonita for the win!) and supernatural romances lately, and of course there's always at least 3 dystopian books on my list of books to read. But for some reason, these two genres are closer to my heart.

49-Day Book Challenge: Day 15, What Will Inspire You To Recommend A Book?

That's a toughie. The originality of the plot, I suppose. And how much the book pulls you in--sometimes you're just way too aware that it's a story made up by an author, you know? Instead of believing fully in the world the novel is set in. A novel with a great sense of humor ranks high on my list too.

That's pretty much it. I guess the plain answer is, I'd recommend the book if it was good, no duh.

49-Day Book Challenge: Day 14, What is Your Favorite Language To Read In?

English, obviously. I wish I could give a more cultured answer, like Latin or French, but I'm barely making it reading old-timey English or the English in those biographies that was 500 words per sentence.