Getting Back Into Writing (and Book Reviewing)
It's 2:19 in the morning as I'm writing this blog entry. It has nothing to do with books.. no wait. It is, a little.
Listen to me ruminating my creative writing prowess at dawn, thanks to a Starbucks Cafe Latte grande. I have to wake up in 1 hour and 30 minutes for Simbang Gabi (a Catholic tradition in the Philippines wherein we go to mass at 4:00AM for nine consecutive mornings before December 25th), but I had this strong urge to whip up Blogger and have a go at this post!
I am very optimistic about blogging now because I also regained my excitement in reading! For several months, I was very lazy to pick up a new book. It was too long before I realize that the books I had on hand (the rest are kept like treasures in huge plastic containers under the bed) were mostly NA and contemporary romances. I didn't just need a good book. I needed a different genre.
This blog is not as updated as I would have liked. Whatever free time I had this year was spent sleeping, watching movies, eating and playing with my dogs--basically, things that don't require much thinking. These have always been my ways to de-stress after long days of at work. Now that I'm on my Christmas break, I want to get started on reviving this blog. I may say the same thing every year for 5 years now, but the difference I think is that in 2017, I may actually be able to do this!
I made a big decision two months ago, one that would free up my time for a good month or so. I plan to spend that time resting and rediscovering my passions. One of them, I dearly hope, is writing. I pray I haven't lost the magic of it after years of being technical and monotonous, thanks to the nature of my work.
Reading and Reviewing will Commence with YA
I am very optimistic about blogging now because I also regained my excitement in reading! For several months, I was very lazy to pick up a new book. It was too long before I realize that the books I had on hand (the rest are kept like treasures in huge plastic containers under the bed) were mostly NA and contemporary romances. I didn't just need a good book. I needed a different genre.
Hence, I picked up The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani. I bought these at MIBF last September 2015. Boy, I feel so stupid for waiting this long to read this trilogy. The books were so good! The main characters are kids, so there were moments that annoyed me so much; halfway through each book though, these characters would begin to act, think and speak like adults whom I can relate to. The author did this so smoothly that I would not notice the maturity shift right away, neither did it feel like the characters deviated from their nature. It rather felt like a natural growth.
Of course, from the series title itself, the story is fantastic and exciting. By the second half of book 3, I decided to skip sleep and just finish reading because I. Could. Not. Wait. Another. Day.
I should definitely write a separate blog post for the review!
Since this series got me so pumped, I'm sticking to this genre for the time being. Next up is Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. I purposefully didn't watch the movie because I haven't read the books yet. Friends have read, loved, and recommended this series. Plus, the book blurbs have long intrigued me. I hope to finish these two books before the Christmas vacation ends. My family have so many bonding activities planned, there will be little time left for me to read.
Now I gotta end this blog post because it's now 2:45! I'm down to one hour and 15 minutes of sleep. Lordy, wish me luck!
