Hello everybody! hope things are  fantastic in your other side of the world. Well, here's my current reads for the month of May and probably till June :) proof enough that despite some outstanding reads I did this month, some books got obviously stucked in my current reading list for considerably longer time than what I usually concede. Well, besides the usual excuses, being busy, too much internet time etc, etc... I am in all honesty an emotional reader hence whether I finish a book or not depends on how I feel during that period of time and sometimes short attention span tendencies kicked in and poof I grab another book. aahahahah.

Anyways, here's why some of these books got an extended time in my TBR list... the longest being Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Okay so this book is spectacular, hands up, right hand on my heart  but despite my love for the book I feel like I need more time. The fact that I needed to have a study guides like spark notes, googling a lot and all the shebang to be able to get into the book without feeling distraught and completely lost.

Moving on... Diana Gabaldon's Dragonfly in Amber sort of got suspended due to my current contemporary fiction mania (gawd I nip them like I would a bag of  M&Ms them contemporary fiction) and judging by its dent in the spine, I am not even halfway towards finish but definitely love the book and though I haven't read as much pages like I used to, the connection is still-absolutely there. I love the characters, the setting and Jamie "And, Sassenach,your face is my heart.” oh Jamie, stop. ahahahahaha

Also I still got Fredrik Backman's 'My grandmother sends her regards and apologises' in my TBR list. I took it with me on a vacation  but never get to read it like I plan to... got too much wonderful distractions. So I never had the chance to really sink it in though I know I love it, not just because it's a Backman and yes... besides a little bit of  crush on the author (ooh blush) but I know it is a fantastic and magical read especially that I as a girl also had a very strong bond with my grandma. She lives in my heart now :)

Next is Martin Cruz Smith 'Girl in Venice' I stopped reading it because I just lost the connection -- I feel like when I was reading it I was kind of just hovering and felt so distant. I  picked it from the shop shelf because I got drawn towards Venice and I thought it was going to be an exciting read plus at the time I just finished reading Anthony Doerr's All the Lights We Cannot See-- so I was pretty much hangover at the time so I though I'd pick something on that same theme... but I think it was kind of a rebound read? I don't know... but I  decided to have  another go and see how I'd feel about it this time.

I also decided to read Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. Because I know that this book is delightful to read and I don't want to regret not reading it. I wish we were encouraged to read this back in highschool but I guess we had our own Filipino classics to study so we made a pass. But I am definitely reading this.

Then I feel like I just needed to add Roy Arundhati's 'The Ministry of Outmost Happiness' in the list because I heard many wonderful reviews about it and also the first book that I read from her. So there's my reading ramble for this week and hope you guys have a wonderful time. Till next time.

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work everyday, eats the same meal for lunch everyday and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled existence. Except, sometimes, everything...

"A boat washes up on the shore of a remote lighthouse keeper's island. It holds a dead man and a crying baby. The only two islanders, Tom and Izzy, are about to make a devastating decision. They break the rules and follow their hearts. What happen next will break yours."

This Filipino Classic was one of our required reading in high school (and now one of my favorites). It was written by Dr. Jose Rizal, a filipino writer who  wrote about the Filipino suffering caused by the oppression brought by the foreign crusader who colonized the Philippines. It was originally written in Spanish and translated to Tagalog and English (there might be other foreign translations I don't know of). This book is a political allegory represented by different characters. It is also a sequel to Noli Me Tangere which is also a must read and loved by yours truly.

El Filibusterismo is about a rich jeweller Simoun who came back to the Philippines and make friends with his enemies to accomplish his long overdue revenge towards the spanish tyranny in the Philippines. Simoun was actually (spoiler alert) Crisostomo Ibbarra in Noli Me Tangere who fell in love with Maria Clara. However fate wasn't in their favor. Ibarra ended up being hunted by the spanish soldiers and Maria Clara became a Nun. So he was force to fled to Cuba with the help of his friend Elias.


The story unfold with Simoun on a ferry cruising the Pasig river, coming back to carry out his revenge. This part reminds me of the 'Count of Monte Cristo' but this book is something more specially for me as a Filipino native. The main characters in this book includes Donya Victorian, a rich pro-Spanish Filipino native, Don Tiburcion, her husband who left her, Paulita Gomes, Isagani, Padre Sibyla, Padre Camorra, Padre Florentino, Basilio (who also made a comeback from Noli Me Tangere) and Ben-Zayb a journalist.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book....

“O, in the solitude of those mountains I feel free, free as the air, like a light blasting unharnessed through space. A thousand cities, a thousand palaces I would give just for a corner of the Philippines where far away from man I could feel truly free!”  

“Nawalan muli ng isang oras ang buhay ng bawat kabataan, saka isang bahagi ng kaniyang karangalan at paggalang sa sarili, at kapalit ang paglaki sa kalooban ng panghihina ng loob, ng paglalaho ng hilig sa pag-aaral, at pagdaramdam sa loob ng dibdib.”

“We must win when we deserve it, by elevating reason and the dignity of the individual, loving justice and the good and the great, even dying for it.” 

So there's my little book haul. Till next time.

Hello everybody! so it is time to finally wrap up my done read for January and I was a little sad to say that from what it seems like a gazillion current reads I manage to finish one. ahahahah. Well, I had to admint I was downright distracted and I was all over the place doing so many things all at once. I hardly had time to breathe. Yes, excuses, right? But I guess I had to allow some down time and let myself off even from things that I dearly love or else it will just become one of the chores and take all the essence of fun and distinction. Its not that I hate chores but you know what I mean... and when it comes to reading, I care no competition, you just got to love doing it.

So moving on, this is a fiction book and it's a narration through the perspective of Mutnedjmet also known as Egypt's Queen, great royal wife of general Horemheb. She is also known as Mutny the one with the cat's eye and sweet sister of Nefertiti  the Egyptian Queen and the great wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. What I love about this book is the story was told a different perspective other than most books I read  which were focused on Nefertiti and how she and her husband Pharoah Akhenaten revolutionize Egypt by worhipping only one god Aten also known as the sun disc. Instead it is about loyalty, love and sacrifices one has to make for their family.  This book breathes life into both women and their personal struggles, as wives, mothers and daughters. I can say that this book is everything you wanted to read. There's so much drama and political mayhem.

The story began when Thutmose died and suddently Akhenaten became Egypt's next pharoah. Through their bloodline and royal responsibilities Nefertiti was chosen to become Akhenatens wife the future queen of Egypt. She was followed to the royal courst of Egypt by her sister Mutnedjment, her step mother (Mutny's mom) and their father the great vizier Ay of Egypt. To be honest, Nefertiti as told in this book was so easy to hate. She was ambitious, manipulative and like her husband was a big time narcissist, typical first born daughters eh? LOL!  and here comes Mutny, sweet, loyal and lady in waiting to her sister. You can tell by this book that she would be willing to give up everything to please and protect her sister but would she be faithful to her sister or to the love of her life?. Would Mutny step up, claim her duties to her sister and choose a life with her  or would she choose a life of her own and follow her heart. Can she be faithful to both?

Obviously the historical aspect  is what gravitated me towards this book. But I was also introduced to many characters I become to  love and their stories all taught me something about life, determination, survival, love, loss, resilience, loyalty, the importance of family and also the price one pays for greatness.  This book not only tells about greatness  but also its struggles. One thing that really stuck out to me is that "nothing is forever...nothing last" and when it comes to life "We can't change the desert. We can only take the fastest course through it. Hoping its an Oasis won't make it so."

Overall, I rate this book five stars out of five for all expectations met. I wish theres some book out there I can read about the sweet Mutny when she was queen of Egypt although there is no historical fact that would prove her ascension, but still. Nerfertiti can never be replaced in my heart. I grew up admiring her determination and her power. But after reading this book I became obsess of wanting to read more about Mutnedjmet because her life depicts the other end of Nefertiti's life. Mutny never wanted fame, all she wanted was a simple life, tend her herb garden, live in a farm, struggled and waited to become a mother, took care of another woman's child and raise it as her own.  She is all the women I knew with such courage, patience and loyalty.

So there's my thoughts on Nefertiti by Michelle Moran. Please stay tune for more blog updates. Thanks for reading and Have a wonderful day. Till Next Time!