Thank You & Some Hot Tamales!

Tally-ho Book Adventurers! I apologize for being M.I.A for the past few weeks. I have been caught in the tumults of life (school work) and a book I am reading which I will be reviewing very soon (hint: Santiago Gamboa). 

picture courtesy of memegenerator.net

Just want to state for the new followers: thank you for following and don't be scared to post a comment (whether good/bad). I welcome all opinions: as long as there are no insults. 

Books are a window to different worlds and universes; not everyone will like the same "trip" (OK, I don't make sense that much but bear with me >.<). So thank you again for following this blog :D

As for the hot tamales: some of you might be all too familiar with the movement that is going on online: indie self-published ebooks that have been posted on the kindle ebook section of amazon.com.

picture courtesy of Wiki Commons

So far, I have found myself confounded by 5 pages of the list of free ebooks online. I am still perusing as of this moment and have downloaded about 5 books. (And they're mine to keep *evil grin*). Oh, and for those of you who are always hesitant about hot books that are turned into movies (i.e Alex Cross, The Hunger Games): in the list of free books you will be able to find previews of those books. SOoooo, instead of buying the "hot" books you can preview them and see if you like them; if not you don't have to worry about wasting your money...cause its FREE!

And on another hot tamale: I just found out last week: the film adaptation for Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl is expected for release on February of next year. For those of you who are fans of the series, the date on the IMDB.com (which is where I got my source of information) says February 13 2013 as the release date (just in case you want to mark your calendar). 

I also saw the trailer and as a film adaptation: doesn't look bad. Then again, trailers can deceive people. Anywaaaays, I suggest to start recommending reading the original books (yep, it's a series alright) to your friends who are fantasy/paranormal romantics because it is a love story AND it would suck for them to see the movie and then read the book that way: the characters will be defined by the actors rather than them choosing as to how they would look like when they read the book. My professor for Film Rhetoric once said that it is better for the reader to have the power on how the characters look like in a book than defining them in appearances to the actors in the film version. Definitely agree on that.

For now, that's it folks

Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

"Why Be the Sheep When You Can Be the Wolf?"

picture courtesy of compassbookratings.com

Good Afternoon fellow book pirates! Just came through with a finished reading on a book that came out this summer.

Taking place in medieval Britain, the story centers on a girl named Ismae who escapes an arranged marriage by the hands of fate. Turns out she is destined to be the handmaiden of Death since the "mistake" of her birth and is sent to a convent in which she is trained to be an assassin.

However, as it may, things aren't always cut and dry when there are politics at hand, romance, and traitors in the midst of a potential war. What will Ismae do?

This is a unique story because its not your everyday medieval novel. I mean, the main character is trained to be an assassin which is a bit antagonistic. She is definitely not girly and kind of awkward when it comes to interacting with hot guys. And what I also like about this book is that the romance (yes there is romance) isn't the main focus of the novel. There is action and almost a textual game of Clues because when reading it, it isn't exactly clear who is the traitor in the group of people surrounding the duchess. I'd say its a great book for the beginning of the series but I think some of the supporting characters could have had a little bit more spotlight to add more mystery or something else. Otherwise, I recommend as a train read.


Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Stray (First Fall Book Review)

courtesy of rachelvincent.com

Hope you all are having a good week. The fall season has started and its time to collect some of those books for the time in between work and school.

And talking about books, today I finally finished an awesome adventurous one I was reading ebook style:

Written in first person narrative, Stray by Rachel Vincent is centered on Faythe, a girl doing her years in graduate school to escape her family life. Independent and stubborn, Faythe has spent her years in college studying and annoyed at the bodyguards her father sends to protect her. Being the only female daughter who is a werecat, she has always been a great concern of her parents. And as human girls start to appear dead within werecat territory, worry starts to bubble even more.

The concept of a “werecat” was interesting to find in this book since werewolves have been one of the famous fantasy archetypes along with the vampire. Here, werecats are very similar to werewolves in behavioral aspects but have different elements of stealth. For example, in this book werecats are impervious to silver.

I also found the main character, Faythe, to be a little too stubborn and crazy in the beginning but as the story progresses it becomes apparent the reason why she is that way and why she avoids her family. There is suspense in this book in which there are twists and unsuspected turns along with adventure and romance. And even the romance itself is intense and less sweet than your usual conventional one.

Finishing this book, I find myself highly intrigued and waiting for the next one since this book is the first in the series. However, I do have to say that this book was really graphic in the violence content and there were some scenes that I actually had to take a 2-day break before continuing reading. I definitely recommend to read this book for those of you who are shape-shifter fans and like some good suspenseful action. 

Beware: this book requires a certain tolerance to violence.

Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Last Seen Leaving (book review)

courtesy of kgbbar.com

Hope you all are enjoying these last days of summer.

As usual I have a book review here for you. I love mysteries and this one is in that category. Now please do not get mad at me when you finish this review just because I said I love mysteries.

At some point we end up finding ourselves with a book that leaves us speechless. This one most definitely left that impression on me.

Written in third person by Kelly Braffet, Last Seen Leaving is about a girl who disappears after an accident and a short time later is searched by her mother who has never been the same since the death of her husband.

I remember Kelly Braffet from reading Jack and Josie, so when I picked this book I figured maybe this would be disturbing. Man, was I wrong.

 This book was all over the place with the characters and the setting. There was a lot of flashbacks going on along with unnecessary focus to things happening in the background of whatever character the narrative was focusing on.

I have read a lot of books using a past and present tense in their narrative and still be able to keep a composure in how the story flowed. This novel only flowed well in the switch of focus on the main characters. What kept me reading this book is the concept of the mother finding the daughter but that didn't even happen (sorry to spoil that small detail). So I am still questioning what is the point of this book? If it isn't about the mother finding the daughter then what is it truly about? Is it about growing up and finding home? Or is it just a story of 2 aimless characters?

If you don't like confusion, I suggest NOT to pick up this book because you will either A. get annoyed and/or B. throw the book across the room or even C. look at the book with a question mark above your head just like I did.

For the first time on this blog, I am going to say this book is one of the bad apples.

Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

City of Bones (update!!!)

picture courtesy of  http://cassandraclare.tumblr.com/

So, while I am reading a few books and classes in between, I have just stumbled upon some crazy news: City of Bones has started filming and the cast is set. The official website is up, so you guys can check out the full cast on the website along with their character and a small blurb of information on the character.

And for those who want confirmation, here is a list of who is playing who:

Characters--------- Actors who will be playing them

1. Clary------- Lily Collins 
2. Jace---------Jamie Campbell-Bower
3. Simon-------Robert Sheehan
4. Alec---------Kevin Zegers
5. Isabelle------Jemima West
6. Magnus------Godfrey Gao
7. Jocelyn-------Lena Headey
8. Luke----------Aidan Turner
9. Hodge--------Jared Harris
10. Valentine----Jonathan Rhys Meyers

You can check out the whole cast on the highlighted link: (city of bones)

I am highly interested how this movie is going to turn out. According to a FAQ On Cassandra Clare's main website/blog, they might make another one if this first movie is successful.

I really do hope that this film won't mess up the book too much but still be creative on how they interpret the book. OF COURSE, nothing is perfect and assuming that this movie will be the best book-into-film that has ever been released is a little too much to expect. However, other's might think otherwise and that means all these people contributing & working towards the release of this movie should work their ass off to make it the best work they have done (my opinion) anyway. 

Molly Ringwald's an Author?!

picture courtesy of luckystarfashion.com

The 80's was one of the best (in my opinion) eras of film. It brought The Terminator, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink along with other memorable 80's movies. It sort of added to the boom of culture at the time (yes, I am quite a fan).

And if you don't know some of the movie stars of that time, you might recognize them in some of the TV shows going on now. Now I know you might think, how is this relevant to books?

Just recently I found out that Molly Ringwald, who is well known for her roles in The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles has been writing books.

picture courtesy of the Llama Butchers

And her most recent book came out the 14th of this month!

It's titled When it Happens To You and it is a collection of stories "about the particular challenges, joys, and disappointments of adult relationships (goodreads.com)." 

picture courtesy of goodreads.com

The book has themes like cheating, family issues, and not being able to have children. So far, it has gotten a lot of good reviews (and it hasn't even been a month since this book's out!). There are a few, as usual, who didn't like the book but I am actually tempted to read it. If any of you are reading it please don't hesitate to send me your review. I will edit it for purposes of fitting in the blog and whatnot but I will post it with your name and your picture. You can send me your review at elysha45@gmail.com. Otherwise...









Til Next Blog post,
Miss Bobo

We always Want a Perfect Picture (Book Review)

picture courtesy of readerstore.com)

Having romantic relationships is something that happens every now and then throughout the seasons. It is nothing rare. However being in one can be a roller coaster ride. The whole having expectations to later be broken by the reality of finally seeing all the dimensions of that person; well that is nerve racking.

Reading Picture Perfect by Leila Sales brought me to that whole concept. Written in first person narrative, Picture Perfect is about a girl named Chelsea Glaser who is dealing with a bad break up and ends up working again at the same place she worked every other summer with her best friend, Fiona, to try to deal with it. But as life tends to be a total biotch, Chelsea ends up seeing her ex-boyfriend there and finds out that he will be working there for the summer too. From then on it gets crazy.

I really liked this book for it's witty humor and realistic characters. You have the main character who is someone who believes in the happily ever afters and dealing with the reality of not having it, which is a lot of girls nowadays. Meanwhile, her best friend is the opposite. There is good humor and "uh-oh" moments that took me by surprise. The romantic parts aren't cheesy and the whole adventure part in between was good to keep my interest going.

I personally think this book is really good to read after dealing with a break up; otherwise, it's a great book: try it anyway.


Til Next Blog Post,
Miss Bobo