Overbooked Reader

I've finally accomplished a major reading milestone in my reading life, finishing  1Q84 by Haruki Murakami in its entirety. I bought a hardback copy of the book when the day it first came out in Fully Booked years ago, but I never got past part two of the three-part novel. With over 1,000 pages, it's really long Murakami book! 1Q84  is set in a fictional year where the letter "Q" represents a question mark. The people living in this parallel 1984 world bare witness to the phenomenon of their being two moons in the night sky. The story's two protagonists: the aspiring novelist Tengo and the gym instructor/assassin-for-hire Aomame both live in the year 1Q84 .  Tengo's story begins when he ghostwrites Air Chrysalis , a novella about mythical creatures called "The Little People." The brainchild of a young girl named Fuka Eri, the novel becomes a huge bestseller. Meanwhile, Aomame is given her toughest assignment yet, to murder the leader of

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas is one of the best young adult fantasy novels I've ever read. Similar to Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games and Garth Nix's Sabriel , Maas's novel features a strong young female protagonist. Betrayed and imprisoned, the feared assassin Calaena Sandorthien is given an unexpected chance at freedom. Defeat twenty-three other deadly killers in a competition, and she will be allowed to serve as the King's Champion. Then, she can earn her freedom after four years of service.  Unaware of her true identity, her fellow competitors believer her to be nothing more than a petty jewel thief. Her plan is to remain inconspicuous by pretending to be mediocre and only revealing her true strength at the very end.  However, complications arise when her fellow competitors begin dying one by one. Their bodies are torn to shreds; their brains are sucked dry. A supernatural evil seems to dwell in the castle, but how can that be when all forms of

Queen of Sorcery is book two of The Belgariad series written by David Eddings. You can click on the link to read my review of book one, the  Pawn of Prophecy . The second book picks up shortly after the first one ended, with Garion using his innate sleuthing skills to foil the plans of yet another group of enemy spies. As Garion and his companions continue on their quest to find the stolen orb of power, the young boy begins to discover more about his powers of sorcery, and, his destiny. The more he learns, the greater his desire to go home to the farm where he grew up and live a normal life. However, fate has different plans for him, plans more dangerous and earthshaking than he could ever imagine. My Thoughts: Queen of Sorcery introduces interesting new characters, including Princess Ce'Nadra, who is also a wood nymph. There are lots of hints suggesting  that she'll end up marrying Garion in the future, their seeming incompatibility aside. The book also reveals m

I'd first like to thank my friend Thomas for recommending me this book. Without him, I might have never known about fantasy novelist David Eddings nor read any of his books. Now I'm reading my third David Eddings book! Pawn of Prophecy is the first book of The Belgariad  series written by David Eddings. The novel begins with the story of a powerful orb, stolen by the evil god Torak. His theft had fueled a world-ravaging war between gods and men, until Belgarath the Sorcerer managed to retake and hide the orb. After being defeated in battle, Torak is asleep, but not dead. The story of Torak and Belgarath, which happened lifetimes ago, is now remembered only through the fantastic tales of traveling storytellers, like Mister Wolf, who sometimes visits the small farm where our protagonist Garion and his Aunt Pol live.  Just a young boy, Garion doesn't know these stories are true, and that someone has stolen the orb and may be trying to wake Torak. He

If you've read my review of Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, you'll know I absolutely loved the fantasy novel. I initially wanted to postpone reading The Well of Ascension , book two of the Mistborn series, so I could take a breather from the awesomeness of the first book. But I couldn't resist! I finishing reading the second book over the weekend. I did the bulk of my reading on Valentine's Day afternoon in Starbucks 515 Shaw, which is like my second home. Thus, the Heart's Day greeting sticker on my cup of coffee. Book two begins shortly after book one ends, with Vin killing The Lord Ruler and overthrowing The Final Empire. As the new king of Luthadel, Ellend quickly sets up his parliamentary government. He gives equal power and representation to the noblemen, the merchants, and the skaa (former slaves), in hopes of building an empire where everyone is equal. However, things seem to be turning out for the worse than for the better for the

I was really surprised to see on my Facebook feed one day, an announcement that The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami had just been released in Fully Booked. I had no idea that Murakami was releasing a new book, much less a short story. And there I was thinking I was in the know about what was happening regarding one of my favorite authors. Being a loyal Murakamist, I drove to the Fully Booked branch in Power Plant Mall after work and bought myself a copy of the book.  The Strange Library is also a library book. "For internal use only," reads the book's spine. The book also sports a different design, with flaps at the bottom and top featuring colored illustrations, as can be seen in the photograph below. These flaps can be folded inwards, so they don't detract from the reading process. Several other illustrations can be found throughout the book. The text in the book is in a larger, 'typewriter' font, which lends it an old-school feel. The boo

Soulless is the first novel in the Parasol Protectorate series written by Gail Carriger. It's a Victorian era, somewhat steampunk take on the vampire-werewolf-fantasy romance genre. It features a steamship, automatons, carriages, tea, parasols, and treacle tart. Really charming stuff. The novel introduces readers to the preternatural , a human with no soul, but with the ability to suck the power out of supernatural beings like vampires and werewolves. All that's required is the preternatural's touch. Once the preternatural lets go or loses bodily contact, the supernatural regains its powers. Alexia Tarabotti, the story's main protagonist, is a preternatural. She is also a spinster, somewhat ostracized from Victorian society because of her being unmarried and a bit uncouth.The story begins with her being rudely attacked by a vampire, whom she accidentally kills. This gets Alexia into all kinds of trouble: with the (annoying yet adorable) werewolf alpha Lord M

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling was a book series I grew up with, during my grade school and high school years. I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on paperback, after one of my bookish aunts recommended I read it. Then, I bought books two through seven on hardback, each day they were released in the local book stores. The new books were always launched during the eve or right in the middle of my final exams, so I ended up reading about The Boy Who Lived instead of studying for school. Fortunately, my grades were still good enough for me to get accepted in the Ateneo de Manila University, for college. I remember being awestruck when I first read about Harry Potter. I kept daydreaming and dreaming about what Hogwarts house the Sorting Hat would put me in (I was hoping to get placed in Gryffindor), and what want would choose me in Ollivanders (as long as it had a phoenix feather). I wanted so much for Quidditch to be real, and I wanted my very own Nimbus 2000. It too

In Mistborn: The Final Empire , the first novel in the Mistborn trilogy written by Brandon Sanderson, The Lord Ruler controls the Final Empire, a kingdom wrought with slavery and political strife. This kingdom is a land where constant ashfalls have blackened the color and greenery of life, leaving everything covered in soot, and where the mist rules over the night. It's been lifetimes since the last skaa (slave) rebellion rose up against the Lord Ruler and the noble families who support him. He crushed this rebellion easily, like he did those that came before it. Many believe the Lord Ruler is invincible, that he is a god. Slowly, the common people have lost hope. All they seem to know now is work and death. They live to work until they die. However, a new rebellion is brewing. Kelsier, formerly the best thief guild leader in the kingdom, now one of the most powerful Mistborn Allomancers of all time, is gathering his most trusted men for a new contract--perhaps an imposs

I'm torn about my review for  Mr. Mercedes . On one hand, it's a thrilling mystery read. On the other hand, it's a thrilling mystery read. I love Stephen King stories because they are full of horror, the paranormal and the supernatural. They are scary. Haunting. The stuff of nightmares. Even daymares! (Yes, it's a real word. I checked the dictionary.) Mr. Mercedes is disturbing in a psychological kind of way. But I've seen plenty of that on my favorite crime television series like Criminal Minds and Law and Order . I won't go so far as saying that King's book is just a text version of a TV crime drama--it's much better than that. It's just that the novel wasn't what I wanted or expected from the king of horror. Goodreads members, however, loved the novel. They voted Mr. Mercedes  as the best mystery and thriller book, in the Goodreads Choice Awards 2014 . King's book won over The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J.K R

I just joined the Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge last week, but the rules state that I have to post an update every last Sunday of the month. Luckily, the first two books I read this year both feature fantastic fiction. Recommended to me by my friend JJ, The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie was a very fun and exciting read. I gave the trilogy's third book, Last Argument of Kings , a 5 out of 5 rating last January 7 because of its nonstop action, epic plot twists, and unforgettable characters.  On January 20, I posted a book review on Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 2 , a fiction anthology given to me as a Christmas gift last year. I enjoyed most of the stories in the collection. I found some of them so amazing that I gave the book an epic rating as well. I'm now a huge fan of the anthology series and have since bought Philippine Speculative Fiction volumes 1 and 3 to 9. I have to get much more reading done, if I want to reach my goal of re

Only now am I discovering the wonder of book blogger-hosted reading challenges. Today, I've joined two challenges: the Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge 2015 and the Re-Read Challenge 2015 . Source: So Obsessed With This year's Re-Read Challenge is hosted by book blogs Belle of the Literati  and So Obsessed With . "No book is worth reading that isn't worth re-reading," reads a quote from Susan Sontag that absolutely agree with. Every time I read a book I find epic or amazing, I always feel compelled to read it again. This is why I've found myself re-reading favorite books like Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami and Carrie by Stephen King. My goal for this challenge is to re-read 24 books that I've read in the past. I'm only committing to two books per month because I've already committed to reading 30 books for the Flights of Fantasy Challenge , and I'm a slow reader. Completing these two challenges alone will require me to read

I was browsing through my Twitter feed today when I stumbled upon this Tweet from book blogger Chachic of Chachic's Book Nook : Thank you for the rain of comments on my blog, @alexalovesbooks ! Will reply to all of them later. :) — Chachic (@chachictweets) January 23, 2015 Curious, I visited Alexa's Twitter page, and found out she had a blog called Alexa Loves Books . I also recognized her, from her profile photo, as one of my batch mates from the Ateneo de Manila University. I recalled we were classmates in one of my Communication electives, and confirmed that she actually is a graduate of AB Communication from the Ateneo. Source: Alexa Loves Books As I scrolled down her profile page, I noticed on her left sidebar a 'challenge' section, where there was a button for Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge 2015 , hosted by book blogs Alexa Loves Books and Hello, Chelly . I love reading fantasy novels and I want to read as many of them as I can this 20

Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 2 , edited by Dean Francis Alfar, is an anthology of 19 short stories written by established and debuting Filipino authors. Theirs are stories of speculative fiction, which Alfar describes as "the literature of the fantastic" in his introduction to the compilation. He also describes these stories as being told from "the Filipino perspective, the Filipino point of view, the Filipino lens," making them different from speculative fiction written by foreigners. I'm a fan of fantasy and science fiction stories, so I was eager to read such stories written by Filipinos. As a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed the anthology. Some stories I enjoyed more than others, but all of them were great reads, for various reasons. I loved the stories so much, that I bought the remaining eight volumes of Philippine Speculative Fiction. I found a paperback copy of Volume 6, but had to buy electronic copies of the rest. I can't wait to read t

Last Argument of Kings is the third book in The First Law trilogy by British fantasy writer Joe Abercrombie. An action-packed, fast-paced read, the novel concludes the stories of Logen Ninefingers, Superior Glokta, Jezal dan Luthar, and their many companions in a satisfying yet utterly unexpected way. The Union will soon fight a war on two fronts, as it attacks the barbarians in the north, and defends against the Gurkish from the south. The heart of the Union is practically defenseless against the Gurkish army and the Eaters, but can their army make it back from the north in time? And can they defeat Bethod and his Northmen, before they retreat? What I liked: This novel is chock-full of surprises, some more surprising than others. I expected Jezal to end up becoming King of the Union because there were plenty of hints leading towards. Bayaz's magically helping Jezal win the fencing competition. The wizard's helping Jezal pacify the farmer rebellion, without Je