Ruby Loves Adventure

It's a stormy Saturday here in Manila as I type this. I was supposed to go to a book club meeting for this book but the weather is absolutely horrible and my house is slowly flooding because of the storm, I might as well just post my insights on the book as I join in an online discussion instead of a real-life one. *sigh*

Anyway, Perfume is a novel that was originally written in Germany by author Patrick Suskind. It is set in France, in the 18th century. A young boy was born with an extraordinary sense of scent. His mother, a young woman selling fish at the market, had tried to kill him, being her fifth child [none of her other children had managed to make it], by abandoning her in the fish guts after she gave birth to her.

Unfortunately, Grenouille cried, making the buyers wonder where the crying was coming from, saw that Grenouille's mother tried to kill him, and thus ended up being hanged to death by trying to abandon her baby.

Grenouille as an orphan was then sent to different nurse-maids, all of which tried to get rid of him because he was drinking more milk than the usual baby, and for some reason, Grenouille had a power to make people uneasy around him. He eventually ended up at an orphanage, and when he was old enough, was sent to a tannery.

Whilst in the orphanage, he realized of his extraordinary gift, and one day, as he was working in the tannery, he began to smell new things in the streets of France. Until a chance encounter with a virgin ended up with him trying to preserve scents, as the virgin's scent was powerful.

Grenouille learned that he had no scent of his own, so he wanted to create the most perfect scent, and decided he should become a perfumer's apprentice to learn the secrets of the trade. From a perfumer, he had learned that the ultimate perfume should have 25 notes [13 notes in the movie version], killing virgin women and eventually concocting a scent that could move the world.

Naturally Grenouille got caught. But he used his ultimate perfume to sway the minds of the people who judged him to think that he was innocent, freeing him. Eventually he went back to his native Paris, where he was eaten alive when he poured all the perfume in him. Errr. Eww.

Thoughts
I've seen the movie and it remained loyal to the book, it did have very slight differences but nevertheless it was true to form.

The book was quite graphic and gruesome. The movie was quite subdued & interesting [then again I saw the movie at a cable channel so they must have cut out all of the gruesome parts]. The guy playing Grenouille is quite cute!

As part of a question in the book club if Grenouille had a hump --> from what I know, Grenouille did not really have a hump, he always stooped and has a bad limp so it may have the impression that he has a hump?

Good book. I loved the historical aspect of it [me being very partial to historical fiction], and the very detailed descriptions of the surroundings in 18th century France.

I'd give it a 4/5 rating!

My copy was bought during the Fully Booked Sale. Quite a pricey book but then again its historical fiction as well, so worth an investment?

It's the 16th in Manila, and nearly the 16th in the West Coast of the US so it's time to announce the winner for my giveaway.




I will send you an email later tonight when I get home. Congratulations! :)

Book # 2 of the Twilight Saga. Bella is a human, while her boyfriend is a vampire.
In the first book, their relationship survived without Bella getting killed, but during her birthday party, Edward's brother, Jasper, tries to attack Bella when she gets a paper cut [she is such a klutz]. Edward was mortified, and decided that in order to protect Bella and not hurt her, his family decides to leave Forks, Washington, to move someplace else, leaving Bella and their relationship behind.

While Edward was gone, Bella finds herself attached to Jacob, a Quilleute boy who was living in the reservation. At first, Jacob was just a normal boy, until he transforms into a werewolf. Isn't Bella such a magnet for paranormal creatures?

She was getting to grips with choosing Jacob over Edward, until one day, Alice Cullen finds herself back in Forks, asking for Bella's help to get Edward back from Italy.

So who would Bella choose? Jacob or Edward? [As if it isn't obvious already]

Thoughts: [may contain spoilers]
- This book is so much better than Twilight. I loved that Jacob's character was well-defined and has a backstory on how he became a werewolf. I also loved the way Bella and Jacob's friendship was defined, and how he helped Bella move on to a life without Edward [and her stopping to be so whiny and pathetic about not being with Edward]. Jacob and Bella's little "romance" was soooo cute, it made me smile just imagining how they would look like on the big screen this November [not to mention Taylor Lautner is definitely hot].

My most favourite part of the book was about the Volturi -- a clan of ancient vampires living in Italy. They are said to be the "royal family" of campires. They are an interesting group of people, how their very strong and not to mention, unique powers made them the feared vampires as they were and how they punish the other vamps who go astray and not follow the basic vampire rules.

One thing that I didn't like was Bella "casting" Jacob off when Edward came back to Forks. Seems like Jacob was just the rebound guy. Oh, poor Jacob! [And yes, I am team Jacob, can't you see?]

I would definitely read the next book in the series, Eclipse, once I've got the time. I also cannot wait to see New Moon in the big screen in November! I'd love to see Jacob in the book screen and see how the movie compares with the book.

Overall, I'd give this book a 4/5 rating.

This is my first giveaway ever, and I'm so excited about the prize. :)

The lovely Michelle Moran has been kind enough to offer an autographed, hardbound copy of Cleopatra's Daughter, coming out in the US in August 15th, 2009.

Synopsis from her website:

The marriage of Marc Antony and Cleopatra is one of the greatest love stories of all time, a tale of unbridled passion with earth-shaking political consequences. Feared and hunted by the powers in Rome, the lovers choose to die by their own hands as the triumphant armies of Antony’s vengeful rival, Octavian, sweep into Egypt. Their three orphaned children are taken in chains to Rome, but only two—the ten-year-old twins Selene and Alexander—survive the journey. Delivered to the household of Octavian’s sister, the siblings cling to each other and to the hope that they will return one day to their rightful place on the throne of Egypt. As they come of age, they are buffeted by the personal ambitions of Octavian’s family and court, by the ever-present threat of slave rebellion, and by the longings and desires deep within their own hearts.

The fateful tale of Selene and Alexander is brought brilliantly to life in Cleopatra’s Daughter. Recounted in Selene’s youthful and engaging voice, it introduces a compelling cast of historical characters:

Octavia: the emperor Octavian’s kind and compassionate sister, abandoned by Marc Antony for Cleopatra
Livia: Octavian’s bitter and jealous wife
Marcellus: Octavian’s handsome, flirtatious nephew and heir-apparent
Tiberius: Livia’s sardonic son and Marcellus’s great rival for power
Juba: Octavian’s ever-watchful aide, whose honored position at court has far-reaching effects on the lives of the young Egyptian royals

Selene’s narrative is animated by the concerns of a young girl in any time and place —the possibility of finding love, the pull of friendship and family, and the pursuit of her unique interests and talents. While coping with the loss of both her family and her ancestral kingdom, Selene must find a path around the dangers of a foreign land. Her accounts of life in Rome are filled with historical details that vividly capture both the glories and horrors of the time. She dines with the empire’s most illustrious poets and politicians, witnesses the creation of the Pantheon, and navigates the colorful, crowded marketplaces of the city where Roman-style justice is meted out with merciless authority.

Based on meticulous research, Cleopatra’s Daughter is a fascinating portrait of Imperial Rome and of the people and events of this glorious and tumultuous period in human history. Emerging from the shadows of history, Selene, a young woman of irresistible charm and preternatural intelligence, will capture your heart.

Contest Details
- open to international readers.
- book will be shipped by author Michelle Moran from the US to the winner :)
- contest will end on September 14th, 2009, 10AM Eastern Standard Time
- winner will be announced on September 15th, to coincide with the book's release in the US
- entries will be assigned a random number and I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner

To enter:
+1 entry if you leave a comment in this post with your email address in it.
+1 entry if you become a follower of my blog
+1 entry if you were a previous follower of my blog
+2 entries if you post this giveaway on your blog.

Good luck everyone! :)

I'll be posting out book giveaways here so look out :)

Fellow bibliovore Blooey is giving away a hardbound copy of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. Check it out here

All Things Royal is giving away a book from Hever castle here

Good luck everyone!

SM North, The Block. 5pm.

The Saturdays performed 7 songs as part of their Asian tour. This was a free concert and since I looove going to concerts & I also love UK bands, I decided to go for it.

The setlist is:
1. If This Is Love
2. Keep Her
3. I Just Cant Get Enough
4. Chasing Lights
5. Issues
6. Work
7. Up


Photos: [Pls dont mind the line that is separating the photo in two, its just that the batch watermark creator I'm using is not registered yet]









Una & her guitar while preparing for Chasing Lights

Blooey of Sumthinblue.com tagged me to post a photo of my desk.
Since my desk normally contains of just piles of papers & my laptop, I decided to take a photo of what's beside my desk.

80% of the books below are in my TBR [ie Kerry Katona's "The Footballer's Wife", Katie Price's "Angel", Michael Owen's autobiography & Gary Barlow's autobiography], some are DVDs, and some are books I've read.

Guess that's about it :D Still have a backlog of posts to do and I just can't catch up! :P

Honestly, this will be the first official time that I'll be joining some reading challenges. I normally challenge myself to read so-and-so number of books per year but since I've taken the hobby of reading more seriously, I think it's time to join the challenges being hosted online [and yes, the prizes are 90% of the reason also of why I joined :P ]

First off, I've joined the Sookie Stackhouse reading challenge -- this runs from July 1, 2009-June 30, 2010.
Goal is to read the Sookie Stackhouse books. Easy enough? Not for me! I'm an ultra slow reader, in case you guys haven't noticed yet. :P I've just asked my good friend Yam to help me get some audio books to get me started. Yaay!
Here's the link:

http://bfishreads.blogspot.com/2009/06/sookie-stackhouse-reading-challenge.html

Progress:
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and Gone

Discussion:
http://bfishreads.blogspot.com/2009/07/sookie-stackhouse-reading-challenge_05.html

Second, I've joined the Harry Potter reading challenge -- this runs from August 1, 2009 to July 31, 2010. It's a good time for me to catch up on all 7 books of Harry Potter, since my friends knew that I stopped reading the series at book 3. I don't understand why I stopped in the first place as well, but hey, now's the time to re-read the series & finish off what I've started.

http://www.galleysmith.com/2009/07/22/harry-potter-reading-challenge/

I've finished downloading an audiobook of the Prisoner of Azkaban so I'll probably kick off this challenge there.

Progress:

• Sorcerer’s Stone [Finished November 4th, 2009]
• Chamber of Secrets
• Prisoner of Azkaban [Finished December 15th 2009]
• Goblet of Fire
• Order of the Pheonix
• Half-Blood Prince
• Deathly Hallows

Discussion Page:
http://www.galleysmith.com/2009/07/22/hprc-august-09/

Third challenge: the Reliquaiae Challenge
Goal is to read at least 3-6 books that revolve around the paranormal: vampires, werewolves, ghosts, witches and all sorts of fantastical beings.
Challenge runs from July 15th 2009 to January 15th 2010.

• Bite on the Neck: 3 books.
• Flying Cauldron: 4 books.
• Deadly Red Moon: 5 books.
• Haunted Nights: 6 books.

Winnie the Pooh from Hong Kong Disneyland. July 9th, 2009.
Photo by yours truly. :)

These dolls are part of the "It's A Small World" ride from HK Disneyland.
I think they are dancers of some sort from France.
Cute, huh? =)

Book #7 for the year!

I finally got to finish reading this after a looong time. Technically, it's the first time I read this [or rather, have someone read the book to me] via audiobook.
There's only a few words to tell the summary of this tale: Human girl falls in love with a vampire. Ugh. That's about it.
It didn't help that the writing was not that great, so I had to make do with an audiobook, with someone reading the book to me because I was so tempted to skip out some parts.
The only part that interested me was the back stories about the Cullens, and how they live & act in particular.
Other than that, nothing really special.

Overall rating: 2/5. I've read better books. But I'm still going to finish reading the series though.

This is a photoblog of our fifth day in Hong Kong, one of our itineraries included going over to Sha Tin, in New Town Plaza mall to visit Snoopy's World.

A brief background: it is actually the first outdoor Peanuts playground in Asia.
To go there, ride the MTR and go down in Sha Tin Station. Then a short 5 minute walk through a mall & follow the directions to Snoopy's World.


**entrance to Snoopy's World**


**Snoopy & friends camping out**


**a more close-up view of the camping**








**Snoopy and Charlie Brown boating**


**Joe Cool**




**Shroeder**


**Snoopy playing the guitar**


**Snoopy & Woodstock**


**Sally Brown**


**Psychiatric help? Ask Lucy!**