Category: musing

Oh, hello there book blog! I missed you. So we’re now in 2015 and since it’s the start of the year, here’s a mandatory post on setting my reading goals for the year.
But before that, let me recall what happened to my last year’s reading goals and challenge.

Let me start with the good news. As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, I am really glad that I was able to finish my challenge of reading 40 books. (okay, I also have to admit that I cheated a little because my original goal was to read 50 books in 2014, haha!). Regardless, goodreads says I have completed my reading challenge so it’s still accomplishment, right?!

The bad news is, I wasn’t able to achieve the goals I’ve set during the last quarter of 2014. But I think it’s okay and I don’t regret it at all. Maybe because I’ve already settled in my heart that reading is NOT the MOST essential thing in my life. It’s just the icing on the cake so forget about that unfulfilled goals.

So for this year, I’d like to set a lower goal of reading 30 books  because I know can re-adjust once I’ve completed it.

So there, happy new year friends!

Today is the first day of the last month of the year. It’s the time of the year again when people here in our country become more stressed because of the Christmas rush. As for me, December is usually my most favorite month of the year, simply because I really love Christmas celebration.

However, I don’t know why but unlike the previous years, I don’t feel excited about Christmas this time. I know I should not feel this way because it’s the birth of our Savior we’re celebrating right?
But because of a number of new and unfamiliar experiences of frustrations and disappointments I had this year, I just simply want this year to end so that I can start anew next year.

One of the new and unfamiliar things that I’ve experienced this year (though I’m not sure if it’s the most accurate word to use) is betrayal. As someone who is a SanPhleg by personality type, it is really easy for me to get along with all kinds of people. I know when to act prim and proper or when to act giddy and crazy according to the type of people I’m spending time with. I can be quiet, loud, crazy, and even mean, specially when I’m with my closest friends. Because I can be patient, friendly and nice with everyone, it’s also easy for me to trust people and accept them for who they are without judgment.

This year is a year of testing of my character though because God has brought me into a situation where my patience and love for other people were tested. God has shown me the other side of this broken world and introduced me to people who are now,  to my own definition, unloveable simply because they’ve hurt me. These people are the people who I thought will never do anything wrong to me but they did,  so I felt betrayed. And because of this feeling of betrayal, it’s really hard for me to trust and love them again. But as a follower of Christ, I know that I am called to love. I know that the proper response to people who have hurt me is to love them still because love covers a multitude of sin. How to do this, however, is really a struggle for me.

Whenever I need guidance and affirmation whether I’m loving people the right way or not, I always go back to the Biblical definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13. The description of Apostle Paul   on love in this passage has become my checklist.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

What strikes me the most from this passage is the truth that love Keeps No Record of Wrong. As a representative of Christ, it is rightful to really forgive those who have hurt me and forget what they’ve done. Honestly, I really don’t know how to do this. I know that it’s really beyond my capacity.
So dear friends, because I want to end this year right, please help me by praying for me to overcome my struggle. Please pray that God will help me forget all the hurt and enable me to have a renewed relationship with the people I’ve hurt and hurt me. Pray for me also to become more open with my feelings, online and offline alike so that I would be able to avoid misunderstanding.

Thank you.

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
•Describe one of your reading habits.
* Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

So today I’ve completed my reading goal for 2014. Actually, my original target was to read at least 50 books this year. But because I was having difficulty in catching up with my challenge, I lowered my target to 40. Now that my interest for reading is back, I was able to complete my target way ahead of schedule. I would still read more books this year though.

So there, it’s another reason to celebrate!

Title: Unlimiting God: Increasing Your Capacity to Experience the Divine
Author: Richard Blackaby
Date of Publication: January 2008
My Rating: ★★★★★

Summary:

People have their limits. Some choose to ignore them.
God’s power and love have no limits. So why do Christians put limits on their relationship with Him? We could be pursuing greater knowledge, experiencing deeper intimacy, and abiding in freer joy… and yet we routinely settle for mediocrity in our spiritual lives.

But if you are ready to explode your self-imposed limits, Dr. Richard Blackaby can guide you through powerful and passionate insights revealed in this new book.

By contrasting mediocrity with the spirituality of the great “heroes of the faith,” Dr. Blackaby shows you that you need not settle for less than God intends for you. God can do extraordinary things through ordinary people like you…but only when you allow Him to enlarge your spiritual capacity and overcome your self-imposed limits.

“I hope this book inspires you to aim for a new level of walking with God. I want you to reach heights in your spiritual life that you never dreamed were possible, to experience God working through your life in a powerful new dimension, to hear words from God that will dramatically change your life and your world. I want to help you blow past any limitations you have set for yourself in your Christian life.” —Dr. Richard Blackaby

My thoughts:

Another timely and relevant book to my life. An inspiration to really increase my faith and stretch myself beyond my limits. It also provides practical tips on how to apply in my life the lesson that God is currently working on my life.

One of the lessons that I believe God is teaching me (and perhaps challenging me) lately is to apply in my life the truth and principles of the parable of the new wine  and new wineskins (Matt 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37-39). The parable says ‘no one pours an old wine into new wineskins,  otherwise the wineskins will burst and be ruined’.

This book has basically articulated the meaning of these passages to my life.

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week… • Describe one of your reading habits. • Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s). • What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! • Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it. • Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us! • Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

It’s been a while since I made a Musing Monday post so I’ll do it today, for a change. Because I can’t think of anything to post, I’ll just share to you my reading habits (or the lack thereof). As someone who was blessed with an adventurous spirit, I can say that I don’t have any unique or consistent reading habit. I do make reading lists from time to time to motivate myself to read more but most of the time, I don’t stick to it because my reading preference changes from time to time, depending on my mood. But maybe, to give you a little background of what kind of reader I am based on this infographic. I took some serious evaluation of my reading practices and this is the result: So based from this photo, I have identified myself as a cross-bred reader mutt which means:

• I’m a grown-up who loves to read children’s book
• I love using my highlighter or post-its when reading
• I jump from one book to another when reading 🙂

So there. How about you? What are your reading habits? Have a fun week ahead!

Do you think we have enough diversity in the books that we read? Are our choices enough to satisfy our different tastes? Are our writers able to present the variety of people, culture, lifestyle, interests and so on? How diverse are your reading interests, and are you able to find enough books to satisfy your reading needs? Do you think we need more diverse books?

Before I answer this question, allow me to shoutout, friends!!
I can’t believe I was finally able to reach this far in this weekly meme! So, yay! #achievementUnlocked!

*Okay, let me now answer the question/s.*

Do you think we have enough diversity in the books that we read?
Diversity? In terms of reader’s access to a number of selections of books here in our country, I believe yes. This is very evident in the growing number of bookstores here in our country. However, most of these selections are foreign books so in terms of diversity in the local scene, I don’t think that we have enough selections to satisfy all the Filipino reader’s taste. Or maybe, if there’s enough, it’s not widely promoted.

As to my reading preference, I have a very diverse taste when it comes to my reading preference and I’m glad that our local bookstores are still able to meet my reading needs. 😀

Hello everyone! I’m Cary and welcome to my stop in the Book Tour of Fall Like Rain by Ana Tejano. 

Book Information:

Title: Fall Like Rain
Author: Ana Tejano
Date of Publication: September 29, 2014
Book Links:
Goodreads
Smashwords
Amazon
Paperback order form

Summary:

Rain De Castro has been in love with her best friend, Mark Velasco, for almost the entire time she has known him, but she’s clearly in the friend zone because he’s happily in a relationship. Or so she thought, until the news of his break-up reaches her. Now that Mark’s single again, she decides that it’s time to get out of the zone. But when her cousin Lissa comes into the picture and sets her eyes on Mark, Rain feels troubled when he gets a little too friendly with her. Rain is determined to fight for what she feels this time, but is it worth the effort if it’s a losing battle from the start? Will she back off to give way for her best friend’s happiness, even if it means losing him to someone else again?

My Review:

As one of the privileged people who got to read this book in its unedited glory last year, I’m really, really happy that this final version has improved a lot and turned out to be a fantastic read for me.

The story of Rain and Mark is the kind of love story that I’ve always been dreaming. I believe that  great love stories  always starts with great friendship as the foundation. So falling in love with your guy best friend, like in the case of Rain, is not anymore surprising. I love this book because this is the kind of love story I and maybe most girls, can easily relate to . The struggle of Rain is real, especially for the conservative type who still believe that guys should always do the first move. I’m also a sucker for nice and decent guys so Mark’s character suits me (plus, I like his name, hihi! :D). But just what the author pointed out in the story, “the problem with nice and friendly guys is that it’s hard to tell if they liked you or not without their saying it outright”. So I understand Rain’s dilemma but I like how the author ended the story.

I think I have to stop here because I know I can’t rave about this book without giving too much spoilers. If you want some refreshing story of friendship and love, I believe this book is for you. 😀

P.S. Because I can’t get over with the book, I made my own playlist. It’s more of a friendzone playlist, actually. You may want to listen to them while reading to give you more *feels*, haha!

Here it is:

• Friend of Mine by Odette Quesada
• You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift
• Migraine by Moonstar 88
• Why Can’t It Be by Nina
• Friendster by Moonstar 88
• The Art of Letting Go by Mikaila

My Rating: ★★★★

Author Bio:

Ana Tejano has been in love with words and writing ever since she met Elizabeth Wakefield when she was in Grade 3. She has contributed several non-fiction pieces in print and online publications, and has been blogging for years. When she’s not writing, she works as a marketing lead for a multinational company by day, manages a book club, and serves in her church community in every other time that she doesn’t spend reading or sleeping. She lives in Metro Manila and is also known by another name in her other circles (but it’s not a secret identity, really).

Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Wattpad

Want a copy of her book? Click the link below to get a chance to win a copy!!!

Rafflecopter giveaway

Fanfiction is pretty popular, no doubt about it, but it has been received with mixed feelings by many authors and writers. Some don’t mind it, and even welcome readers who give their own spin on their work. Some writers don’t like it at all, to the point that they contact fanfiction authors to take their work down. Others use it as a jump-off point for their own writing.

How about you? What is your take on fanfiction? Do you read fanfiction, and if you do, what kind of fanfiction do you read? Do you write fanfiction, and why? Or are you against fanfiction? Enlighten us.

I first learned about fanfiction during my first appearance to TFG meet up. Honestly, although I heard a lot about it, I’m not sure if I have ever read a product of fanfiction.
My take? Hmm, maybe I’ll give fanfiction a try first. But personally, I don’t have anything against fanfiction writers. I believe that their works are still products of their own imagination. I mean, even though they first got the idea from other authors, they still have to work on the details of the plot, the character and even the conversation, right? And they say imitation is the highest form of flattery so if I am an author and someone wrote a fanfiction based from my work, I think I will be honored, haha!

But for now, because of this question, I think I need to go and check out some fanfic websites.
Happy weekend!

As a reader, have you ever thought about writing a book? What kind of books/stories do you want to write? Or are you now a published author, and what compelled you to go fulfil this dream? How was your journey from reader to writer? How did you go about getting your book out there?

Hello! I know that it’s Monday. But because I was in a deserted island last friday, I wasn’t able to publish this Filipino Friday post. I’ve always known that writing is my weakness so I have accepted long time ago that writing is not for me. But recently, I’ve learned that never say never because writing, just like any other skills, can be learned and developed through constant practice. Thanks to the inspiration of the so many ordinary people that I know who were able to publish their own book. So, have I ever thought of becoming a writer or publishing my own book? Yes, I’m now considering or maybe dreaming about it. But it’s more of an inspirational book because I know that I’m not the creative type. What made me change my mind about my writing stint? About two years ago, I’ve written a review of my favorite book and one of the readers in Goodreads commented and asked me if I’ve ever thought of writing a book. Of course I was surprised and I answered no because I know that I’m not a writer. But then recently, I’ve learned that a college friend of mine became one of the contributors in a Christian book by sharing her testimony. So I realized that if she was able to do that, why can’t I? We have the same God who enables people to accomplish great things for Him. Though I know that I don’t have that much stories to tell yet, I’m now hoping that someday, if God will permit it, I will be able to share my story to other people through my book. :))