The Giver by Lois Lowry - A review

The Giver by Lois Lowry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not everything under control is perfect. And every single thing could never be under anyone's control.

A society telling us what we must become, a society deciding what's best for us, a society trying to maintain balance in everything, a society which tells us what to hold on to and what we must let go of. We aren't living in this kind of society, or are we?

Are we prisoners of other people's choices for us? Do we really think that if we make other choices (other than those they've already planned for us), we'd be making the wrong one, and we'd be taking the wrong path?

Are we trapped in this kind of world as well? Do we still feel, see, and hear things beyond what our senses can grasp? Or do we simply no longer care about these things?

I find it hard to comment about this book because I feel like the way I've understood the story was quite too shallow compared to the actual message the author was trying to impose.

But I liked the book, I liked the way I understood it (uhh, maybe), even though the ending wasn't quite clear for me. What happened to the community he has left? Was their mission successful or what? The world that holds their future and past, what does it really imply? I don't know, I can't really tell. I'm still on the process of comprehending it further. Maybe I have yet to discover what's beyond the sentences that I've read, the pages that I've turned, the experiences of the characters that I've gone through. Maybe there's still more...

Of course, there will always be something more.

View all my reviews

- E. 

Message in a Bottle - A Short Review

*Spoiler alert*

Message in a Bottle is a story about. . . Well, I suggest that you read its summary somewhere else. The blogger is too stubborn to give you a glimpse of the whole novel. But here's a short review:

Like any other Nicholas Sparks novel, it has these several "predictable" scenes. Maybe it has something to do with his style of writing or maybe it has just something to do with the way I foresee the events happening in the characters' lives. 

But I'm glad that despite this "little" disappointment I felt as I was reading the novel, I've got to learn and realize something about love. 

Garrett, despite his grief and great love for Catherine, was able to move on after years and began to love again. Theresa, despite her sadness and heartbreak after Garrett had died, was able to realize after some time that she, too, would be capable of having something beautiful too in the future. It wouldn't be easy, it would take time, but Garrett has given her hope...

We can really never live competing and comparing ourselves with the people that our "boy/girlfriends/husbands/wives" have loved before. At one point in their lives, they have let go of and moved on from them. What matters is that they love us now, and we have the hope that in the future, they still will. Both people involved in the relationship have to make it work, because the moment one has stopped trying, we'll never know when it'll be all to late... Just like what happened to Garrett and Theresa. They've taken too much time when they could have worked it out...

- E.

Jesus: Savior of the Lost, Last, and Least

Gotta Keep Reading (I Gotta Feeling)

I got my book!

Do you have yours?

What is the title?

And who’s it by?

Where is it set?

Maybe in Spain?

Is it fiction?

Or is it real?

Will it be happy?

Or maybe sad?

Let’s see what happens

By reading on

Open that book

And have a look

It’s an adventure

So keep on reading that book

The World of Books

The Joy of Books

My Passion, My Obsession

by: April Eunice L. Brillante

Passion is a very strong emotion about someone or something. It entails a feeling of enthusiasm and desire for something we love or have  just learned to love. Reading, of all other things, has been one of those which unusually excites me. Books have been one of the best companions I've had, and I'm not letting them go. Wondering why?

When I was a high school student, I was completely amused by these people who can manage to work for their academics while reading novels for their past-time activity. I'm a slow reader and I don't usually spend money to buy books other than those being required for school. I doubted my capability of understanding this other world where some people are going crazy about. I never imagined myself being so in love with books. I never thought that these sheets of paper would take me to various places where I've never been.

My passion for reading actually started when the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer has been a fad. I was driven to read her novels because of my friends' reviews about this vampire-ish series. At first, I just really want to know what the story is all about. I never knew that this would be the start of my journey as a bibliophile.

Since then, I became a fan of various authors like Nicholas Sparks, Mitch Albom, Cecelia Ahern, and Suzanne Collins. Their books have made me live through different eras for every chapter in my life. They made me experience a lot of things from various characters and stories that they talk about. They made me learn and understand myself more as well as the people around me. My life has been different since then.

To be honest, I usually freak out and feel so excited every time I'm inside a bookstore (Powerbooks and Fully Booked in particular.) I'm completely obsessed, as my boyfriend would say, but it's normal and he understands. We all have this one thing where we completely go crazy about. We all have this passion for something, that despite our busy schedule, we'd still find time for it. 

Oh, how I love not to let go of this passion. Because a time spent for doing something that we love is never a wasted one. And since the day I have learned to appreciate reading books, I know that I made the right choice of letting myself fall deeply into it. 

"Experience has taught me that people only give value to a thing if they have, at some point, been uncertain as to whether or not they'll get it." - The Winner Stands Alone, Paulo Coelho