dec book challenge

HURRAH! I MADE MY GOAL! *CHEERS FOR MYSELF*

I was pretty confident when December rolled in because i only needed 8 more books to achieve my goal. However, since I had a lot of work to complete and lots of xmas parties and dinners to attend and shopping to do, I thought i would miss my target. Another reason is that the books i've started reading didn't interest me, i think i started about 4 or 5 books and could barely make it through 1/4 of the stories. I guess i was in a holiday mood and not into much seriousness. So I decided to choose light but great reads to cap off a great year!

93. Catherine Mann - The Rich Man's Fake Fiancee
4 stars. just an average TN romance. what i did like about this is that this kickstarted my monthly reading habit. for the first 2 weeks of the month, ive been reading uninteresting (or maybe im not in the mood) novels but after reading this, i suddenly started bringing and reading my kindle everywhere again.

94. Elizabeth Chandler - I Do
4 1/2 stars. ever since i got my kindle, i've stopped reading paperback and hardbound books (my bookshelf has been feeling neglected!) but a few days ago, i couldn't sleep and wanted a feel good romance and so i remembered this old Love Stories novel (i've been searching for this for years and when i found it in sulit.com.ph, i bought it immediately). beautiful story! high school romances are really something worth remembering no?

95. Kate Brian - Fake Boyfriend
4 stars. great teen romance. i finished this in one seating. the only reason i did not give this a 4 1/2 stars is because i thought the romance felt too fast and too rushed. i thought giving them more chances to show how the feelings developed would have given this more heart. also, the plot was a bit ridiculous. if i was the friend, i would be hurt if they set me up with a fake boyfriend even with good intentions. and actually getting a guy that's basically a stranger to play a boyfriend? kinda scary in reality. but then sometimes that's how love works.

96. Jen Calonita - Sleepaway Girls
4 1/2 stars. sometimes i miss those days when i used to be a girl scout. it would have been fun to go camping again (though in high school, camping was pretty nerve wracking and had a little bit of peer pressure). and unfortunately, there really are no hot guys at camp, just a bunch of nerdy goody goody girls and boy scouts with a little power tripping and lots of kissing ass with the teachers.

97. Elizabeth Chandler - Love at First Click
4 1/2 stars. i can't help it. she is really just one of my fave YA authors! this is one of her newer novels. ive been wanting to read this but the version i got was in .lrf format and when i tried to convert it to doc or text, it totally sucked. finally i found the pdf version and i love it!!! another great story. though the ending is a bit "bitin" and hoped there was an epilogue with the sisters talking about jared / flynn. it is kinda icky when you think of sisters swapping boyfriends.. it's like gossip girl or 90210.

98. Catherine Clark - Picture Perfect
3 stars. the plot is what made me want to read this book but was disappointed that it wasn't really what i expected the book to be. spencer was so arrogant and annoying, i couldn't understand how she liked him! i and adam was so underrated i wasn't sure why he was in the story - but i liked his personality and i would have preferred him over spencer. the story dragged and i didn't really see much character development all throughout the story. and i didn't feel a single romantic vibe coming from spencer the whole time so i was surprised when at the last chapter, he suddenly confessed to liking the girl too.

99. Lisa Kleypas - Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor
4 1/2 stars. This book did not seem like a typical Lisa Kleypas novel but i love it all the same. i think this was meant to be a holiday novel. i'm eager to read the stories of Alex and Sean.

100. Rachel Hawkins - Hex Hall
4 1/2 stars. Whoa! Great great novel! at first i thought it was a bit like Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy but it was more like a cross between Gemma Doyle and Melissa Dela Cruz's Blue Bloods novel, except that there were only 2 vampires and the heroine is a witch / demon. i just love Sophie and Archer -- starcrossed lovers like Jack and Schuyler. I never did get to finish Libba Bray's trilogy (book 1 was kinda creepy and too complex that i didn't bother finishing books 2-3). Cant wait for Book 2!! side note: these types of novels should be made into a tv series or movie and not crappy stories like the Twilight Saga (though i still heart Edward Cullen)

Looking forward to a fantastic year of book reading in 2011!

xmas in hk

the last time my family and i ever had an overseas vacation together was when i was in 6th grade. we went to hk with my cousins and aunts. i can't even remember the things we did then. i've been going back to hk practically every year since i moved to D Bank but mostly for just 1 or 2 days training so never really had the chance to explore hk as an adult. so im really excited that for xmas my family will all be spending our holidays in hk and macau.

year of movies

4 interests that keep me up all and all night: music, movies, tv and books. for the past few months i've been blogging about my itunes list, my 100 book challenge and tv review.. so this time i thought i'd take a little time to blog about movies. i love movies. drama, foreign language, horror, romance, comedy, science fiction, classics, practically anything that sounds interesting. last year, i think i got to watch every single big movie released because i had my movie buddy L with me but ever since she moved to SG to study, my movie habits have reduced to 1 or 2 movies a month. for older movies, i catch up via my xtreamer filled with HD movies. and for classic movies, i turn on TCM on tv.

here's a rundown of the movies i've watched this year (as far as i can recall) and in no certain order:
1. leap year - watched this in the airplane, i love amy adams
2. tooth fairy - watched this in the airplane, i'll watch anything by the rock
3. when in rome - watched this in the airplane, stupid story but josh duhamel's so hot!
4. dear john - the book was better but the ending of the movie is what i wanted!
5. percy jackson and the lightning thief - percy is so cute! like a cross between chase crawford / zac efron
6. valentine's day - watched this in the airplane, nice all star cast movie. but hate that mcdreamy is mc-cheater!
7. shutter island - love love love!
8. alice in wonderland - in 3D
9. the bounty hunter - i dont really like gerard butler
10.  diary of a wimpy kid - so cute, i read all of the rest of the books!
11. clash of the titans - serious version of percy jackson
12. date night - i like mark wahlberg!
13. the joneses - interesting movie! kinda like the truman show
14. iron man 2 - i dont know why people love this but it sucked. all flash no substance. now i know why i did not watch iron man.
15. sex and the city 2 - the only reason to watch this is to be with my girl friends! i wish we will all be together even when we're old!
16. the karate kid - surprisingly, jaden smith is a pretty good actor!
17. knight and day - dont care what people say about tom cruise, he's still the man!
18. twilight saga eclipse: yawn yawn yawn
19. despicable me - watched in the plane.. so cute!!
20. inception - whoa! amazing thrilling and confusing movie!
21. dinner for schmucks - watched in the plane. i love paul rudd.
22. vampires suck - makes fun in twilight in a cheesy but still funny way
23. going the distance - cute romcom but lacked a little something
24. the town - gritty movie! love it!
25. life as we know it - nice and realistic movie. josh duhamel's hot!
26. harry potter and the deathly hollows - nice, better than last year's half blood prince
27. unstoppable - cool nonstop action
28. borat - it's so shockingly gross that i couldnt help but watch it
29. princess and the frog - its been a long time since disney came out with a nice fairy tale. love the songs!
30. bandslam - nice high school flick
31. mirrors - scary movie!!!
32. i live my life - movie starring joan crawford.. she was sooo good!

[k-drama review] you're beautiful

after the disaster that was boys over flowers (korean version), i thought i was so over idol dramas (i am too old to be giggling over teen romance), but then comes you're beautiful..and i love it! this is wayyy better than the boring BOF (only lee minho carried the show). this show was written by the Hong Sisters, who also made my kdrama faves such as Fantasy Couple and My Girl.

Title: You're Beautiful 미남이시네요
TV Station: SBS
Episodes: 16
Broadcast Period: Oct 27 to Nov 26, 2009
Story: A story about the behind-the-scenes life of an idol group. Jang Geun Suk and Lee Hong Ki are in search of a new member for their idol group. However at the last minute, the member suffers an injury and his twin sister has to step in disguised as him.


Characters:
Park Shin-hye as Go Mi-nam and Go Mi-nyu: she's so adorable as Go Mi-nam! she looks so much like a young Yun Eun Hye in Coffee Prince.

Jang Geun Suk as Hwang Tae Kyung: i've never seen him in his older dramas and i've never bothered to watch him. I've always thought he looked too girly and thin.. but he was so good in this drama that i became an instant fan! i hate his arrogant smirks but i melted at how much he loves Mi-nam.

Jung Yong Hwa as Kang Shin Woo: i was sooo disappointed with this character! he was no match at all for Tae Kyung and he's such a torpe that it was his fault Minam couldnt even see him as a man. i think it would have been better if the Hong Sisters made Shin Woo more aggressive and competitive, it would have made the story fun and his character less pathetic and boring.

Lee Hongki as Jeremy: his character was so childish and stupid with a immature crush on Minam, i thought they just added him in the cast as comic relief. But i did love that bus scene with Minam where he heartbreakingly cries - first sign of his maturity.

Uee as Yoo He Yi: for some reason, i dont find her pretty. her eyes are so big and her face and expressions are so ugly.. but i loved her character. though she's a bit bitchy and mean, she played it so well and i can't help but look forward to her downfall everytime she's on screen.

FAvorite Scenes:
anything with Minam and TaeKyung. their chemistry is just so good! and Minam's clumsiness and TaeKyung's awesomeness is so much fun to watch!

 there's always the drunk-accidental kiss scene

minam ridiculously gets zapped by the pepper spray and falls onto the sleeping taekyung

and the kisses

and all those times minam would turn her nose up like a pig's to suppress her feelings for taekyung

and taekyung creating the pig rabbit

the reunion and the end

ANJELL together

comments:

the story mainly focused on the relationship between tae kyung and minam, with a little sideplots on minam not getting discovered, heyi's obsessive crush on taekyung, shinwoo's one-sided love and taekyung's mom. i think the story about taekyung's mom was required to build up the angsty character or taekyung but it was a bit dragging that i was fast forwarding their scenes. the songs were a bit repetitive but nice, esp the summery song, lovely day sung by shin-hye. i love their house!! it looks so much fun! the comic scenese are ridiculously corny but funny. the love, anger and heartbreak between taekyung and minam felt so real that i couldnt help but cry with them. i think i will give this series a 7.5 out of 10. too bad i lost my copy of this show. maybe when i have some free time i will redownload and rewatch this again!