I Book Scavenged Over the Weekend

As if I didn't have more than enough books on my to-read stack, I went to my favorite second-hand bookstore branch over the weekend. This time I got 9 books for Php420 and I'm not sure when I'm going to read them but they're really nice to look at ... especially those bright, colorful chick lit pieces I never thought I'd buy. I don't have anything against chick lit, I just didn't grow up reading them so I never bothered but Rainbow Rowell happened. 

November book loot

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. I was actually really looking for this. Saw it on Goodreads when browsing recommendations based on the last chick lit that I read ... and loved. This is the most expensive buy among the loot but Php180 isn't bad. At all. And it's yellow.

Dark Paradise by Tami Hoag. The last Tami Hoag mystery thriller piece that I was looking for. Now my collection is complete ... until she releases a new one. Funny thing, the first copy I saw of this cost Php105 and it was so battered I though twice about buying it. Then I came across this one and the tag said Php15 so ... yeah. Lol.

Man of Her Dreams by Tami Hoag. Php55. She started as a romance writer, you know?

The Safe House by Nicci French. Php40. I read a couple books by Nicci French back in college (after watching Killing Me Softly!) and I remember liking them so there.

Sula by Toni Morrison. It's a Nobel Prize winner, it's Toni Morrison and it cost only Php5. The selling factor, however, was the fact that it had doodles.

Adam by Ted Dekker. I keep seeing this on Goodreads and the shops so I said I'll read his books someday. I just held off from buying since most of the stuff I saw are part of a series and I didn't want to start a new one since it's too much commitment (heh) but this is a stand alone and cost only Php25.

Mr. Sebastin and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace ... the guy who wrote Big Fish!!! Php25.

The Self-Preservation Society by Kate Harrison. Php25. It's blue.
















Up To No Good by Victoria Corby. Php50. It's green.

Blacklands by Belinda Bauer

Kids are very impressionable. Their future and the length of their childhood depends on how they are raised or how susceptible they are to the elements around them.

In summary, this book started out as a psychological ... thriller (?) and ended as a crime novel. The story and events all fit but I read between the lines a lot so ... heh. I find it disturbing that a kid can read through a serial killer's letters and get his hidden messages so easy. I just keep telling myself that he is obsessed about the issue so he did a lot of research which is how anyone is like, no matter what age, when obsessing about something. It's just that their correspondence is like a recipe for a serial killer in the making. He doesn't seem to be a victim but a protege. The fact that they understand each other means they think alike. Here's a kid that's so disturbed about how not "normal" his family is so he finds answers and he thinks he will find them through the root of all the bitterness of the adults in his family. From the beginning, the author built an image of a kid who grew up too fast. But then halfway through the book he forgot about all of his troubles because someone significant came back into their lives which goes to show somewhere in his troubled personality, there's a kid just craving for normalcy and everything that comes with it. And then the crime novel began. Which is how crime novels usually are. For something so dark I liked that the ending gave me some sort of closure.

This part made me cry

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

I know this has nothing to do with corpses and vampires and the victorian era and their dark lolita fashion sense or any of those other romanticized stereotypes but shouldn't this book be filed under goth? Because it's so ... morose (look who's stereotyping). The aura it exudes is so ... I don't know ... <insert-morose-synonym-here?>. It's just so sulky and disturbing. 

Makes me feel normal to know I wasn't the only kid who ever thought about this dystopian fantasy lol

This is one of the most disturbing books I've ever read and not even in a morbid way because Donna Tartt's prose is far from that. It's mostly because the story and emotions the book stirs is morally complex. And I think that's the best kind of disturbing. Like, here's a kid who wants justice for his brother's tragic death so she goes around town investigating and somehow firmly believes she's found the culprit. Only, this person is not it. Now she sets off to make his life miserable (more than it already is) so since then, every major misfortune that happens to his family is related to what this girl did ... no matter how remotely because her plans don't exactly work the way she wanted them to. BUT we feel sorry for the kid and not the family (it was that way for me up to a certain point, anyway). Maybe because she's a kid? Maybe because the Ratliff's are a bunch of hoodlums? Look how at how Harriet reacts to Odum's kids. Like they're way beneath her.

But here's the thing. Notice that the differences between the Dufresnes's and the Ratliff's also made them similar. The Ratliff brothers were "lucky" they had a "doting" grandmother but then her "words of wisdom" aren't exactly words of wisdom. Their dad beat them and made them grow tough and thick skinned. Now, Harriet and Allison practically grew up unsupervised. Their mother has issues and left them to the maid who only really cleans and makes them meals. And not even proper ones. Sure the maid's a fixture in the house for both kids but that's because their mother is, most of the time, alone inside her head. This made them, in a way, tough and able to fend for themselves. So, clearly, both of them has dysfunctional families. Harriet just came from a society respected family tree whereas Danny was from the slums. Maybe this is me reading between the lines but I think that is the genius of The Little Friend. It discussed so many wrong things about the society without the reader realizing it. Not until we really look into it.

Finally, I get why some people say this is the biggest cock tease of a book. It didn't give us answers. The blurb at the back of the book makes it seem like a kid's adventure and it a way it is. But this is adult fiction. And it never promised a happy ending.

Harriet got her closure ... so should you

(Should be) Good Reads

Latest Loot

Today was book hunting day. A pretty successful one, too. I got eleven books for Php597 (more or less US$13). Here's a list of books I will be posting reviews of in the future ... although I can't promise exactly when.

Most interesting among the loot is Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie (English translation by Ina Rilke). This is a historical fiction set in China. I had to choose between this and a historical fiction set in Chicago, USA. This one won because 1) it's a book about bibliophiles and 2) it has doodles on it. Actually, no, not doodles. Notes about the book and specific lines. I guess the previous owner made a book report. That or s/he really does that. Whatever the reason, I thought it gives the book more value ... in a way. That and it's cute. I got this for Php115.

Doodle

Doodle

Nood- erm ... doodle

A Thin Dark Line  by Tami Hoag. I've been looking for a copy for forever. Or at least until I realized the person who borrowed will never return it. I kinda squealed inside the store when I saw it under a pile of random paperbacks. It was embarrassing but it was worth it lol. This cost me Php60.

Already read this twice before(once borrowed and the other one on ebook) without realizing (until recently) I did. Such a dork. So yeah, it's one of my favorites so I wanted it on print. Here's a review of The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Another book for Php60.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon Another one I already read and absolutely loved! But it's another one I also borrowed so I need to have it on print. Click on the book title to read my review, why doncha?! Got this for Php75 so double YAY!

Moab is my Washpot by Stephen Fry ... because I think he's funny and it's only Php25.

Blame by Michelle Huneven ... because it says on the blurb that it's "morally complex" ... and it's Php25.

Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso. I thought this would be interesting although, admittedly, I'm not big on memoirs. But we'll see. This was Php115.

Rachel's Secret by Susan Sallis ... it cost me Php10. Need I say more?

The Seventh Commandment by Lawrence Sanders. One of the authors I read in high school and one of those books I'd take from my dad's bookshelves. Yes I was a minor and this was kind of adult-ish but I thought there was pretty cool detective stuff going on in there. :p Got this for Php37.

Black Lands by Belinda Bauer ... serial murders. Gotta love 'em. Lol. Php25.

Firegirl by Tony Abbott  ... because I'm a kid-at-heart. (Haha!) And because this was a Golden Kite awardee. This was Php50.