Jack (none the) Reacher

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I was house visiting a dear friend in Sydney, she prepared my bed in their spare room - the office/library, when I noticed a book by Lee Child.  I have watched Jack Reacher the movie.  Which was not great, to be honest.  I knew my friend had impeccable taste in books (she's my friend, after all), so I was curious why she had the book when the movie sucked (sorry to those who love Tom Cruise, oh btw, Happy Birthday!).  R, my friend, said the book's lovely.  So I got curious and the minute I was able to sit down, I scoured the internet to find a copy.  And I did and downloaded all books into my Kindle…. And the rest as they say is history….

Since September of 2013 to June of 2014, I only had time for Jack Reacher.   I read all the books, one after the other.  Sometimes I forget when the one book starts and the other ends, I couldn’t tell the beginning from the end.  It was a wondrous experience, like listening to someone tell a story while drinking red wine and munching on cheese (or coke and chips if you’re me).  There were a few stories that I hurried over, just so I would know the ending.  There were stories that I had to finish, even with just 2 hours of sleep, because I was so into it.

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I was raving of it to my friend, who liked adventures and spy novels, and he asked me why I liked it so much.  Jack Reacher is like McGyver.  If you’re an 80s kid, you’d know him.  Jack is also like Jason Borne, although less dramatic and taller.  Jack is also like Iron Man, but less showboating.  Jack is also like Dexter but without the serial killer gene.  He can also be Christian Grey, but without the twisted lovemaking moves.  Oh and he could be Manny Pacquiao, with all KOs he’s given.  So basically, he’s like this DIY kind of guy, who believes in justice, knows how to fight and hide his kill (more like kills really).  Who wouldn’t love him, right?

Go ahead and try reading Jack Reacher.  But don’t watch the movie. #sorryI’mNotSorry

Fifty + +

Heard about the book Fifty Shades of Grey from my bestie.  She still lives in Cagayan de Oro and comes to Manila once in a while, and when she does, we always make it a point to catch up.  And one of our favorite topics is books, specifically, what we were each reading.  She has the most interesting reading list even way back in High School - from science fiction, fantasy stuff and thrillers.  I was more into love stories (Sweet Dreams), then adult love stories.  It was only in college that I started reading into science fiction, fantasy, action books.  But I still read a lot of chick lits to satisfy my chick soul. :D

She introduced me to Fifty Shades of Grey.  Googled the book the minute I got home.  Found a lot of people blogging, tweeting and talking about it.  So I downloaded the trilogy that very same night, and I've been shackled since the flipped on the first page :P

Christian Grey is so easy to like and then love haha!  Of course it turned out to be a love story, but a cute one nonetheless.  My college friend calls it Mommy-porn, which I must agree that it is.  I'm not the only one who's enjoyed it too.  The hubby has been very happy since I've read the books haha

There are talks of a movie in the making.  I'm sure the movie's going to be changed coz if they follow the books up to the very minute details, it's going to be edited a lot.  And I saw somewhere in twitter that it's going to be Matt Bomer of the White Collar fame to play Christian Grey.  I think he can totally pull if off too.  Although in my head, I somehow imagined Christian Grey as Ian Somelholder or Ryan Gosling.

Laters, baby :D

Recent book love

Picture taken from Melissa De La Cruz's official website

I read mostly fiction - lots of books which bring me to places and times I've never been to.  My favorite books are Lord of the Rings, lots of Jane Austen books, Harry Potter.  In high school, we were required to read the classics - Anna Karenina, Brothers Karamazov, Pride & Prejudice, among others. 

I also enjoyed John Grisham, back in the days when I was dreaming of becoming a lawyer, and way before the books became movies.  I used to read Nicholas Sparks too, but felt his books to me too emotional for me.

In college, I devoured Judith McNaught & Jude Deveraux.  After college, I went through the Asian female authors like Amy Tan.  Chick lits are another favorite - the Shopaholic series, the two books of Kristin Gore.  And who could not love Paulo Coelho and Gabriel Garcia Marques?

I used to buy a lot of books - and not from the discounted shelves.  But now, I mostly buy from the sales or discounted racks.  I'd rather buy the new titles for my little one.  And that's where I found Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz.  I couldn't put it down, had to sleep at 3am on a week day!  I enjoyed it a lot.  I didn't have time to hunt for her other books on a real book store after reading the Blue Bloods... you know, life took over.  So I was super elated when E, an office mate, showed me a link of online books and I found 3 more books of Melissa!  I read Masquerade, Revelations and The Van Alen Legacy in 2 days, resting only for sleep, meals and a bit of work LOL  Loved the books and can't wait to get copies of the last 2 books in the series.