Current Book Situation

The past couple of weeks, I have noticed that I’ve been highly UNMOTIVATED to do anything. Normally, when I can’t paint I go and write and when I can’t write as well I’d go and read. But somehow, I couldn’t do any of those three. So now, aside from having no any artworks done, I also have heaps of unread books in my room.

These are some of those books I have yet to read, books I want to reread and book reviews I still have to finish. Send help. ASAP.

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TO READ:

1. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

I bought this book last month because I wanted to try reading more Classics and it was on sale. And honestly, I would have hoarded if I had the money. Almost all classics were sold under Php 100 in National Bookstore and it was so tempting but unemployed me can do nothing about it. So nganga nalang ako.

Synopsis:

Living with his sister and her husband, Pip is an orphan without any expectations. It is only when he begins to visit a rich old woman, Miss Havisham and her adopted niece that he begins to hope for something better. When it is revealed that Pip has inherited a large sum of money from a mysterious benefactor on the condition that he moves to London to become a gentleman, Pip’s adventure really begins.

2. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

Bought this book on year 2012 and haven’t got the chance to read it. I’m not sure if I’m into Hornby’s style.

Synopsis:

Annie’s put fifteen years into safe, slightly obsessive Duncan and now she’d like her money back, please. It’s time to move on. But she lives in Gooleness, the north’s answer to a question nobody asked. Is she really going to find real, proper, feel-it-down-in-your-boots love on a damp and windy seafront? Or perhaps she should follow her heart and pursue Tucker, the reclusive American rockstar, who keeps emailing her his smart advice.

But between Annie and her second chance lie a few obstacles. There’s Malcolm, the world’s most judgmental therapist, and Barnesy, the north’s most extrovert dancer. There’s what men and women will do and won’t do for love. And, of course, there’s Tucker…

3. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

I believe this has a movie version already. I actually started reading this before but that time, we went ito our hell week at work so I wasn’t able to finish this.

Synopsis:

Meet Pat. Pat has a theory: his life is a movie produced by God. And his God-given mission is to become physically fit and emotionally literate, whereupon God will ensure a happy ending for him – the return of his estranged wife, Nikki. (It might not come as a surprise to learn that Pat has spent time in a mental health facility.) The problem is, Pat’s now home, and everything feels off. No one will talk to him about Nikki; his beloved Philadelphia Eagles keeps losing; he’s being pursued by the deeply odd Tiffany; his new therapist seems to recommend adultery as a form of therapy. Plus, he’s being haunted by Kenny G!

4. The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies

One of my most recent purchases. I was so excited to read this when I got it and I finished the first 20 pages very quickly and then I just stopped. I don’t know why. I was so into it that I even researched about one of the characters already because he was based on a real person during World War II (the book is fictional though) but I just couldn’t continue.

Synopsis:

Wales, 1944. Captain Rotheram, a Jewish refugee working for British Intelligence, arrives to interrogate the infamous captive, Rudolf Hess. In a prison camp near a remote Snowdian village, a young German soldier wrestles with the shame of his surrender. And among the curious locals is seventeen-year-old Esther Evans, who longs to experience the wider world. When their paths connect, all three will come to question their deepest loyalties, as the war irrevocably alters the course of their lives.

5. Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan

This will be my introduction to Filipino contemporary literature. Borrowed it from a friend who raves about this book. There’s also a movie based on this novel that will be out soon.

Synopsis:

Payatas, a 50-acre dump in northeast Manila, is home to thousands of people who live off of what they can scavenge. It is one of the poorest neighborhoods in a city whose law enforcement is stretched thin and rife with corruption. So when the eviscerated bodies of preteen boys begin to appear in the trash heaps in the rainy summer of 1997, there is no one to seek justice on their behalf – until two Jesuit priests, forensic anthropologist Father Gus Saenz and his protégé, Father Jerome Lucero, take the matter of pretecting their flock into their own hands.

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TO-REREAD:

I really want to reread a few of my lovely books  in the hopes that they will get my groove back into reading. These are some of my comfort books. Any of you have their own comfort books?

Shunga eh. Di na nga makapagbasa gusto pa mag-ulit! Haha!

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I have reread the book and rewatched the 2005 film last May but I can’t get enough of it that I rewatched the film again just last week. I think I really need my Mr. Darcy fix. Huhu.

2. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

This is such a light read and this is my favorite Rowell book. I love Lincoln because he fell in love with Beth even before he saw her. Just. Ugh. Lincoln can have my heart!

3. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

No matter how much I hate Alcott for not letting Jo and Laurie end up together, I still love this book. 

4. If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern

This magical book have a special place in my heart. Just thinking about it gives me such good feelings. And please, my love for jinny joes was strengthened by this books. Sighs.

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PENDING BOOK REVIEWS:

I have the book reviews of these two books in my drafts for over a month already. My thoughts are all over the place and I cannot piece them altogether. In a true Augustus Waters fashion: “My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.”

1. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

A story about four suicidals who all met right before they tried kill themselves. I still don’t know how to rate this book. I like it but I don’t know how much I like it.

2. Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

I still can’t wrap my head around Jack’s condition no matter how much I try. I can’t imagine not being able to recognize faces. To those who have already read this, did you like it? Me… not so much.

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Books. And more books. I actually have more to-read up on my shelf but I’m too lazy to get them. Hee. I’m hoping to be over this slump soon.