book nook: what i did for love

what i did for love
susan elizabeth phillips

yep, it's yet another book review.

i've been trying to burn through the pile of books i borrowed from the library since i figure in a week, when i go back to school, leisure reading will have to take a back seat to anatomy textbooks, ot journals, and other school related things. ughh. (where did summer go?)

this one centres around the protagonist, georgie york - a washed up actress, recently dumped by her first husband, with a string of bad movies behind her name. basically her life isn't the greatest at the moment, and with the paparazzi coming at her from every direction now that her first husband is remarried and is having a baby with his new wife, it's at an all-time level of suck. anyway, the story is about how her and one of her past co-stars whom she hates, bramwell shepard, basically try to use each other after a stint in vegas until things eventually...um...change.

all in all this book was quite an quick and easy read although it was a little predictable which, i guess, was kind of to be expected. this book definitely doesn't make it to my list of favourites, but it's still pretty enjoyable all the same. :)

book nook: the other bolelyn girl

the other bolelyn girl
phillipa gregory

the other bolelyn girl was on my list of books i wanted to read for a while, so i was pretty thrilled when i was finally able to track down a copy.

this novel is considered to be part of the sub-genre of fiction, historical fiction, and is based on the lives of anne and mary bolelyn, the second wife and the mistress of king henry VIII. gregory creates a world rich in descriptions and good story-telling - i could visualize scenes playing out in my head while i was reading, so that was a plus. the story is set in historic england, centred around the two bolelyn girls, and written from the viewpoint of mary bolelyn (anne's younger sister in the book, but according to historians she's actually older than anne.)

it became pretty clear why hollywood chose to do a movie based on this novel; it's full of everything hollywood loves - drama, betrayal, sex, more drama, royalty, scandals, and even more drama. who would have thought people could be so incredibly sneaky, conniving, and power hungry? at times i couldn't help but put the book down briefly because there was just so much drama it became a little overwhelming sometimes, haha. at times i had to remind myself that this book (while based on historic facts) was, at it's very core, fiction.

i began reading it during a weekend away at a friend's cottage, and finished this book sometime within the next week. despite some unnecessarily graphic scenes, it was actually pretty addictive once you got into its pages. for my first venture out into historical fiction, it was quite a good read. :)

lightning, lightning, and more lightning

^ image taken from daily dose of imagery
(click the link for more awesome lightning shots.)

yesterday toronto got caught in the middle of a massive thunderstorm and, as luck would have it, we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of that storm driving home after visiting family out in the west-end. needless to say, the drive home from sauga was chaotic - lane markers were next to impossible to see, hazard lights were blinking everywhere, the road was one big puddle, and sheets of rain were pouring down so hard it felt (and looked) like someone was throwing massive buckets of water at us from all sides.

it was crazy.

the craziest part of the storm though, was the lightning. there were literally lightning bolts going off every 5 seconds which came in a variety of shapes and sizes, and i couldn't help but be mesmerized by all of them. some were streaks of light that resembled harry potter's scar, and others crawled across the sky like a network of veins, while others were just bright flashes that illuminated everything in their path and burned my retinas.

i'm sure the thunder was just as impressive and frequent as the lightning (one just doesn't happen without the other), but i think it was drowned out for the most part by the sound of the rain...and the random screaming, haha. :)

summer conference 2009: one ekklesia

this past weekend i found myself back at laurier not as a student, but as a participant of my church's summer conference. for the first time in years this conference housed members from all three congregations at our church (canto, mando, and english) and i actually really enjoyed the fact that we were all there together. the speakers were good and while i generally enjoyed their messages (despite some kinks in the method of translation), my favourite part was hearing the members of our other congregations share about their testimonies and what their congregations are doing - it was a great opportunity for me to have a more holistic view of my church and hear what about going-ons beyond the walls of the inner court. what really struck me though, was how through hearing these sharings i gained a much more realistic view of where our congregation is at...

i think my heart broke a little this weekend.

forget the reception...

...bust out the dancing during the ceremony, haha!



what a fun wedding party! unfortunately i don't think that our wedding will be quite like this one - i don't think justin and i can pull this off. let's be real here, we're asian...we can't dance. :)

thanks for the link, jen!

whirlwind weekend

friday night: harry potter and the half-blood prince
saturday: distillery district/st.lawrence's market/meandering through the streets of downtown/the old spaghetti factory/yorkville
sunday: cornerstone/lick's/markville

this weekend has left me feeling exhausted with a side of sore feet (so much walking on sat), but i had a lot of fun hanging out and meeting up with different friends at various points throughout. the best part though? spending the entire weekend with my favourite. :)

wizards vs. vampires

ahh, the infamous harry potter vs. twilight debate. with the release of the sixth harry potter movie, harry potter and the half blood prince (i am so excited for this!), there has been a lot of talk going on comparing the two franchises. it's actually a little funny how dramatic things have gotten and how, umm, passionate fans have become. for example, look at the picture someone (clearly a fan) made above: "only one can survive"? that's edward cullen in the picture not lord voldemort, silly!

anyway, since movies for both series are still being made, i feel i can only really have an objective opinion on the book series which are both finished. with that being said, i gotta say harry potter > twilight. hands down.

now don't get me wrong, i don't have anything against the twilight series and i actually thought it was alright - it just wasn't anywhere near as good as harry potter in my opinion (j.k. rowling > stephenie meyer big time.) think about it this way: in ten years i'll probably still be reading and re-reading my harry potter books and talking about how great they are meanwhile, the only thing i'll be saying about twilight is how hot robert pattinson was as a vampire in the movie, haha.

book nook: bloodsucking fiends

bloodsucking fiends: a love story
christopher moore

first was harry potter with the wizards and witches, then twilight with the vampires, then the mortal instruments with the shadowhunters/fairies/warlocks/demons/vampires/werewolves, and now bloodsucking fiends with some more vampires - hmm, i seem to be on some kind of fantasy reading kick. love this genre.

anyway, i came across this book at the library and read good things about christopher moore so i decided to give it a try. this story follows jody, a young woman in her twenties who is turned into a vampire one night. it basically takes you on her journey of discovering her new life and trying to adapt to being nocturnal while meeting interesting characters along the way. there are some funny parts and i found myself giggling at times which is always a plus. i did, however, think the ending was a little weak, but that's just my own opinion.

this book is kind of a meld of different genres: there are supernatural elements making it a little fantasy, some plot twists that make it a little mystery (to some degree), and it's a love story (see title) making it a little romance too. i guess if you're looking for an light read which is a melting pot of different genres, then this book could work for you.

generally speaking i thought it was an ok read. i didn't think it was outstanding, but i thought it was alright. overall, i'm glad i gave moore a chance...maybe i'll try reading another one of his books whenever i get around to it.

book nook: the mortal instruments

the mortal instruments
cassandra clare

this book series is a trilogy made up of three books: city of bones, city of ashes, and city of glass. considered part of the urban fantasy book genre, the story is set in modern day new york city and the plot centres around clary, a teenager and the main protagonist, who basically finds herself immersed in the world of shadowhunters, vampires, werewolves, warlocks, demons, and fairies after a series of events that happen one night and her mom disappears. the books outline her journey into that world while she tries to find and save her mom from whatever - or whoever - took her away with her best friend simon, befriends a trio of young shadowhunters (jace, isabelle, and alex), and uncovers secrets about herself and her life that she never even knew existed.

city of bones is clare's first novel and she did a great job setting up the scene for the rest of the series. the world she created was creative, the character development was good, the plot kept me interested, and her descriptions and writing style in general were really enjoyable to read. city of bones itself was full of action, suspense, romance, teenage angst (haha), and humour, and the rest of the series continued to be just as good, if not better. i'm already looking forward to reading her next series (a prequel to the mortal instruments) which is scheduled to come out sometime next year.

anyway, if you liked the twilight series then you absolutely should read this one because it is so much better (cassandra clare totally owns stephenie meyer, it's not even funny.) i definitely recommend this series to anyone looking for a short book series, easy reads, and a great story line. the mortal instruments has joined the harry potters as one of my favourite book series! :)

michael jackson (1958-2009)

still can't believe he's gone. the news of his passing was shocking although i guess to some extent it wasn't entirely a surprise since he didn't look that healthy towards the end. justin and i spent a good chunk of time yesterday flipping back and forth between news broadcasts covering the story totally speechless. we couldn't believe it...so tragic.

even though he was one wierd dude, his music was and continues to be phenomenal - you just can't help but move to his beats. his death is definitely a huge loss for the music world. so tragic.

rip mj, rip.

click here to view the greatest music video of all time.
(youtube has disabled embedding for this one.)