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Star Girl



Book: Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli 


"celebration of nonconformity"


Synopsis: Stargirl. From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of “Stargirl, Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’s heart with just one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. At first. 

Then they turn on her. Stargirl is suddenly shunned for everything that makes her different, and Leo, panicked and desperate with love, urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her: normal. [via Amazon]

Book Notes: Last i remember reading this was back in high school (yes, it does seem quite distant right about now). It was one of my favourites, and i know they all say never judge a book by its cover, but it was the cover the originally attracted me to the book. I remember this because while i was clearing out my shelves, i realized, wrapped in plastic Love, Star Girl was buried behind newer books, forgotten and still in its pristine condition.

I figured best to take a trip down memory lane, and remember the beauty of what attracted me to the original one. While i was reading i kept thinking, wow if this were a movie that luna lovegood girl from the potter movies would be perfect, and perhaps that was the character that started to form in my imagination. She was a brave teenager. High school is a bitch, and mean girls do exist. It all seems so far a way now, but delete the school setting, and it made me realize that Stargirl was a representation of everything we're too afraid to do—LIVE. 

To be alive is so muddled with the whateverness of the life we live in. We give excuses and we conform because its easier to blend in rather than the odd one out. But deep down i know theres a Stargirl in all of us, we just need to rediscover that aspect of ourselves. We just need to have more happy wagon rocks.

Book Quotes: 

"Whose affection do you value more, hers or the others?"

"She was bendable light: she shone around every corner of my day."

"Will i ever see her again?... Big country. Small world. Who knows?"



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When Beauty Tamed the Beast

Book: When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James


"If she decides to be very wicked indeed, what price that she have to pay for taming his wild heart?"


Synopsis: After Prince Augustus Frederick reneges on his promise to marry her, Linnet Thrynne faces social ruin since everyone—based partly on her mother’s scandalous past and partly on Linnet’s ill-fated decision to wear a ball gown that gives the impression she is pregnant—now believes Linnet is a hussy of the first degree. Fortunately, Linnet’s aunt, Lady Etheridge, comes up with a solution. Rumor has it that Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant, is in the market for a wife. The irascible nobleman’s only requirement is that his bride-to-be be a woman “more beautiful than the sun and the moon,” a condition Linnet easily meets. Linnet is certain once the beastly Piers meets her, he will fall under her spell. But immediately after encountering the cranky doctor, Linnet realizes the intractable, intelligent, and altogether intriguing Piers is not exactly the husband for whom she bargained. With equal measures of superbly nuanced characters, sexy passion, and scintillating wit, James deftly fashions a fairy-tale-perfect romance. [via Amazon]


Book Notes: such a guilty pleasure to get so involved and immersed in this unreal world of historical fiction. dukes that must be tamed, heroines as beautiful as goddesses, rippling muscles, ample bossoms, and the underlying theme of loathe and passion creating one highly dramatic and dysfunctional relationship. its the ultimate cliche and its everything you expect it to be. its a romance novel.


although it was a far cry from anything beauty and the beast related... like don't go there. thats my favourite fairy tale... although as my friend pointed out months back, that its actually the original gold digger tale, but that is a story for another time. 


Just get past the first few chapters because it was quite agonizing having to read pages and pages of silly descriptions about Linnet,  but once the two finally meet the chemistry flowed quite naturally. although not one of the most memorable reads, its still definitely one of the better set of historical romance novels out there.

Book Quotes: 


"Don't tell me you're going to try for virgin birth, my love. I can't imagine that it worked very well back in Jerusalem. Every time the bishop talks about it at Christmastime, I can't help thinking that the poor girl must have had a miserable time trying to get people to believer her."

"To hope was to put himself at risk. In all likelihood, his hopes would turn to dust, to rejection and pain. He hadn't dared such a foolish emotion in years. But hope billowed from some secret place in his heart all the same."

"She's like my other half." Piers said savagely, keeping his head down. "My other bloody half, like some sort of joke that Plato made up. Like nothing I ever wanted, and then, there she was."


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The Time of My Life

Book: The Time of My Life by Cecelia Ahern 


"What happens when you stop paying attention to your life?"


Synopsis: Lying on Lucy Silchester’s carpet one day when she returns from work is a gold envelope. Inside is an invitation – to a meeting with Life. Her life. It turns out she's been ignoring it and it needs to meet with her face to face.It sounds peculiar, but Lucy’s read about this in a magazine. Anyway, she can’t make the date: she’s much too busy despising her job, skipping out on her friends friends and avoiding her family. But Lucy’s life isn’t what it seems. Some of the choices she’s made – and stories she’s told – aren’t what they seem either. From the moment she meets the man who introduces himself as her life, her stubborn half-truths are going to be revealed in all their glory – unless Lucy learns to tell the truth about what really matters to her. Lucy Silchester has an appointment with her life – and she’s going to have to keep it.


Book Notes: This book has been on my bedstand for quite a while, and one lazy evening after trash talking at the TV for not having anything good on, i decided to give this book a chance and get back into reading. Definitely an Ahern book is always a good choice to jump start your reading worms, and there was just something about this book that made me feel like - this was the best time to have read this.


With a life that seems to always be moving on the fast lane, i have to admit its so easy to completely neglect other aspect of myself. 2011 was completely unbalanced for me-from love, career, family, friends- it was a just one big snowball of a mess and i felt myself rolling into 2012 completely burnt out with life. cranky, stressed out, and busy being busy. it was pathetic, and i felt my life to be utterly depressing and completely lost in my work persona that i felt like i had no other character but that.


then this book came along, and in some strangely elemental way, i felt as if the universe was reminding me about something ive lost along the way. It was one of Ahern's finest novels that leaves much to the interpretation of the reader. Its a beautiful reminder for everyone to never neglect their lives, leave the past behind, get past the persona you've begun to hide behind and to just let go and enjoy. Lessons ive forgotten, ideals i thought ive lost... sometimes we just all need to be reminded.


So cheers to starting this 2012 right. So far, its been one great adventure!

Quotable Quotes:


"These are very acceptable things in modern society. You're sick; you go to the doctor, you get antibiotics. You're depressed; you talk to a therapist, they might give you anti-depressants. Youre greys show; you get your colour done. But with your life you make a few bad decisions, get unlucky a few times, whatever, but you have to keep going, right? Nobody can see the underneath part of who you are, and if you can't see it- if an x-ray and a camera can;t take a picture of you- in this day and age the belief is, its not there. But i am here. I'm the other part of you. the x-ray to your life. A mirror is held up to your face, and im the reflection, i show how youre hurting, how youre unhappy. its all reflected on me. Make sense?"

"You started lying to other people, and because you lied to them you made it a lot easier to lie to yourself."

"Sometimes wrong numbers are the right numbers."

"How else do you think life happens? A series of coincidences and occurrences have to happen somehow. Our lives all crash and collide and you think there's no reason or rhyme to it? If there wasn't any reason for it all, what would be the point? Why do you think anything happens at all? There is an outcome, repercussions and occurrences to everybody you meet and everything you say."

"Life has a way of getting what it wants when it really knows what it wants."

"That you're not reckless, you're just sad."

"Thats a lazy dream, Lucy, If you have a dream you want to at least be able to try to achieve it in some way. Something that is seemingly beyond your grasp but that you know that with a bit of hard work you could possibly achieve. Walking to your local newsagent to buy a lottery ticket is not inspiring. Dreams should make you think, If i had the guts to do it and didnt care what anybody though, this is what i'd really do."

"Im angry because not only are you not happy where you are, but you can't even think of where youd rather be... No wonder youre stuck in a rut."

"Its nobodys fault. its not my fault. i didnt do anything wrong, i know that now. its just the way it is. sometimes things just dont work. you and me, we worked for the amount of time that we worked, and then we didnt anymore. we cant go back, and frankly, i cant see what we can be. ive changed."





2012 Book List

2012 Book List



1. Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohen and David Levithan*
2. The Time of My Life by Cecelia Ahern
3. When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James*
4. Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli**
5. Something Wonderful by Judith McNaught*
6. Love, Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli
7. Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James*
8. Fifty Shades Darker by EL James*
9. Fifty Shades Freed by EL James*
10. Dear Miss Lonely Hearts by Nathanael West
11. An American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
12. Devlin Diary by Christi Philips
13. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
14. Freedom Fries and Cafe Creme by Jocelyn Rapinac
15. Emma by Jane Austen*
16. Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught






*Kindle Copy
Did not finish
**Re-reading
Favourites


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