Zmeyette's Book #1: Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh

I have decided to post an entry (not necessarily a review) for every book that I finish, as part of my 2011 reading challenge. I can't guarantee that this will be strictly followed, but hey, I'll try. 


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When I decided on having my own 2011 reading challenge, I had already started reading Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian. Naturally, I thought it was the first book that I will finish this 2011. But then, of course, sometimes life just doesn't work that way, and things don't always go according to plan. Which, in my case was when my good friend Ana reminded me that Nalini Singh's Archangel's Consort is released this week. Thus, I got myself a copy, and then since coincidentally, I felt as if I had a lot of free time that day, I started reading it. And didn't stop until I finished the whole book .

The cover is awesome, isn't it?

Archangel's Consort is the last (I think) of three books in the Guild Hunter series, of which Elena Deveraux is the heroine. A lot of time has passed since I finished the last two books, so my memory was quite sketchy when it came to the story and especially the details of the series. Some came back in the course of reading the third book, but then overall it was not the most pleasant reading experience when you feel as if an event should mean more but you don't know or remember how exactly it does. This is why I'll have to read all three books again, just so I could really understand it. It's just that I couldn't help myself from finishing that book, and then, before I knew it, it was over.

This is why I am only posting an entry on the circumstances surrounding this 'steal' of the spot of the first book I finished this 2011, and not really giving away a lot of opinions or thoughts on the story. Because I'm not satisfied yet with my reading of the book. I know the third book, but I want proper closure from the trilogy. And that calls for a reread.

Just to give you an idea about the book, though, (since it's a bit cruel to not say anything about the book, not to mention totally unhelpful), as I've mentioned Elena Deveraux is the heroine of the story, and she is a vampire hunter. It sounds run-of-the-mill, but really, that job description is quite an understatement for her and for the story. The society in which the setting is set is really different, albeit the place is just New York. What is the difference? Aside from the vampires, which you can already glean from Elena's job title, there are angels in this story. And they're not  you're usual angels either, as they can be very, and I mean very, ruthless. Especially the archangels. One such example is Raphael, who is the archangel of New York. He's one unique character as well. It's also not your usual love story, and the relationship of these characters is something I like about this series.

I'm feeling a bit guilty for having neglected my The Historian so I'm actually reading it as of this moment, and hope to finish it soon (which might be unlikely since I'm only just about halfway done with the book). What I'm happy about is that at last, the ice has been broken, so to speak, and I've finally really started towards my goal of reading 50 books (at the very least) this year! Hopefully I can read more over the course of the year.

How about you? Do you have your own book challenge? If yes, how goes it?

Happy Belly Laugh Day!

Laugh out loud!

According to my Journal, today is Belly Laugh Day! I don't know what that day actually entails, but according to said journal:

"Smile, throw your arms in the air and laugh out loud! It really is the most freeing thing."

And what do you know, my friends and I, without even knowing it, actually celebrated said event. So much laughter, and yes, I am referring to aforementioned belly laughs, the kind that actually drove us to tears. Even though there's sadness and fatigue and stress all around us, it's nice to be able to laugh and just be with friends. It really is quite freeing. 

Anyway, I hope that you had a nice dose of laughter today! After all, they do say it's the best medicine. 

Cheers! 

The Week That Was

I have no idea what to write about tonight. I was not able to think much on what I could write about, unlike last week. And I am not really feeling at my best tonight, what with everything that has happened this week.

During my college days, we'd have what we call "hell week(s)." Not that it doesn't apply to me anymore, because, if anything, it got even worse, with every single day being a challenge. So I would probably just say that it has now been taken to a whole new level, and the hell week I used to have in college is just an ordinary week here in law school. Or something even worse.

Then again, at some point you settle into a routine or something of the sort, and after that you get to distinguish certain points in time where things look to be worse than the ordinary week you go through.

This is one of those weeks.

I had my midterms in one of my subjects yesterday, and it had a lot of effect on the past week. With the tension starting to run high, a week that started out with happy surprises eventually went downhill. Really down the hill. At some point, relationships got strained, and people (including me, especially me), became on edge. And then the suspense was broken, which was, in a way, a relief in itself, but then it puts you face-to-face with a very ugly reality: the oh-so-possible chance of failing. Afterwards, it was just very tiring. Even now, I feel so fatigued.

And of course, there are those sad events and moments that are just...sad.

I wish I could write something upbeat and fun and random right now. But with everything that I went through and  felt this week, I just could not find it in me. Maybe next time.

My first hell week of 2011. Hello there.

I'm off to find something fun and silly to do, and maybe next time I'll write about better, happier, and sillier things.

At any rate, I hope you had a fun week. To better weeks, and to beating all those hellish ones. Fight!

Zmeyette's 2011 Reading Challenge! Fight!

The new year comes with a lot of "new" stuff--to most of us, it's a fresh start, and a chance to try new things, have new experiences, grab new opportunities, and get new achievements.

I am no different. First of all, hello new site design! I'm not good at visual creative stuff, but I found myself tinkering with the design of my blog until I used up so much time playing around with it that I just decided to go ahead and apply the design to my blog. It's a bit dark, but I really don't have time to do anything about it now without sacrificing other things I have to do. At any rate, I am liking the new look and feel of the blog.

Another thing, and this is what I'd like to share right now, is a challenge that I decided to take on this 2011. It started sometime during the holidays as I was looking through my Tumblr dashboard. One of the posts pertained to a challenge to read 50 books this 2011, and after looking at it for a bit, I was in.

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved reading books. Whenever I read a book, I am transported into a different world, and this experience is something I always enjoy. This is why I tend to look a bit crazy when I read, because I am so absorbed in my reading and it affects me so much that if I read something funny, I really laugh out loud; sometimes, when the events are too much for me, I really have to take a break from reading. I'm that affected. And yes, sometimes my family thinks I'm crazy. I think they just got used to it over time. 

Nevertheless, even if I really like to read, that doesn't mean I can boast of a lot of books that I have read. I do read a lot, but then I don't own a lot of books, so it's hard for me to keep track of the books I've read. I've only just really started to collect books when I was in college because I get just enough to get by before that. And then, by that time, of course, I was already addicted to the internet, and a whole lot of other things also keep me from really reading a lot. 

That is why sometimes I think I'm just someone posing as a bookworm. And the thought makes me sad. However, I really can't deny that reading is something I really enjoy, an experience I find to be amazing. Because of this, and because I have also decided to live my life as fully as I can from this year on, I decided to commit to this challenge. It's not as if I have to be pressured or stressed by this challenge, because according to what I read in that post, it's supposed to be fun--and it's also not a strict challenge, which means that rereads and all type of books are included (um, law books, anyone?). And really, if this was a stressful challenge, people will lose the whole point of it all, which is to enjoy reading, and reading more. 

The next issue, then, is how to keep track of the books that I will finish this year. To solve this, I dedicated a page of my beloved Journal  to serve as the record of my finished books. But sometime this week, as I was looking up my online accounts (aka procrastinating, sorry!), I stumbled upon my neglected Goodreads account. And, what a cool twist of fate, they also have a 2011 Reading Challenge!

Zmeyette's Goodreads Reading Challenge! Fight!

Goodreads' 2011 Reading Challenge is a bit different, but still ties up well with the Tumblr reading challenge that I committed myself to. In Goodreads' challenge, the user can set the goal he/she wants for 2011, and this goal can be changed at any time. What I absolutely loved about this, however, is that it gives me the perfect tool to track the books I have read. Motivation, too. This is because Goodreads has a widget that shows me how far along I am in accomplishing the challenge (see above picture). To update this, I only have to set the date I finished reading a book, and in so doing the widget will be updated. This also serves as motivation for me, because I just can't stand the "You have read 0 books toward your goal of 50 books" message staring at me from the widget. Hence, I posted this widget in my blog so I will get really motivated (and so I will not forget). 

I am really having fun with this as of the moment, and so now I will continue reading so I can finally update the blasted widget. Why don't you try this too? There's no need to go to a website or set a really strict and formal goal, but it's fun to take on a challenge once in a while. Go make your own 2011 Reading Challenge! Good luck!

Starting the Year Organized

'Tis the new year, and at this point in time people will have gone back to reality from the happy holidays. Students to school, yuppies to work, and so on.... This is a whole new year where there are new opportunities to grab, new (and not-so-new) tasks to complete, and of course, dreams to continue chasing.

Yes, amidst all of the baggage from last year, the new year can still look to be a blank canvas, or a hodgepodge of tasks and events that seem to be all over the place. So, what to do to erase the fear that comes from the newness of the year, and from the mess of the previous year that spills over to the next?

Why, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to get a planner, no?

Okay, okay, maybe this post is just because this is the first time I actually bought my planner before the year began. I was a disaster with planners, actually. I started using (or trying to use) a planner during my high school years, I think around my junior year, mainly so I can keep track of my extracurricular activities, so I can submit them for the extra points they're supposed to be for. Needless to say, being in high school, and a pretty disorganized and forgetful person, the planner was not of much use, and served more as a journal than as a planner.

During my college years, I trudged on with my attempts at planning out my activities, instead of mentally going over my activities for the following day and being surprised at one thing or another I am supposed to do. I guess the point where the planner started to be somewhat of real use to me was when I got my Powerbooks planner. It wasn't really a planner, I think, but a reader's journal, but being a booklover, I fell in love with the theme of it. I guess that's where my planner preferences also started. The major flaw of that journal was that it did not indicate the dates, so I had to fill them in, and worse, it only had twenty-eight days per month! I had to cram the 29th - 30th/31st days of the month in the notes page. But on the whole, I was satisfied with it.

Source: spot.ph

My 2010 planner was one I really loved. And one I used more often, too! (Can you taste the feeling of self-accomplishment in that line?) At this time, I now used more effort in finding my planner, although I think I got to buy the planner around the middle of January already. But it was okay, because I really fell in love with this planner. Even now that I'm supposed to be done using it, I still can't help but gush about it. Anyway, aforementioned beloved planner is the Navi 2010 planner. There were a number of planners on the market, but I fell for the Navi because it had adequate space, I loved the color of its pages, and it was simple enough for me. Yes, my preferences in planners were already in full swing around this time, and I was quite picky in choosing. I guess that's why I ended up buying it quite late. I still wasn't the best at using a planner for planning instead of recording past events, but it did help me in my thesis, and therefore in graduating, although with the onslaught of law school, I ended up not using it for around two months. Then I reunited with it and ended my 2010 happily with it. Oh, and I also loved the quotes that it had for every week. Very inspiring.

My beloved Navi <3

And so we're now back to 2011. The year is looking to be hopeful, adventurous, and stressful already, and I'm glad I was able to find a planner (well, it says it's a journal, but it's pretty much the same to me) while it was still 2010. So, what did I buy? I bought FreeSpeech Publication's "this Journal will actually change someone's life!!! 2011."

Last year, it was one of my options for my 2010 planner. However, that year's edition somehow looked too dark for me, and the lighter tones and the interesting quips of the Navi 2010 planner won me over. This year, though, it was the Navi planner that didn't work for me, and the Journal was the one that got to me. I actually looked for the Navi 2011 first, but then, compared to the Journal's being too dark for me last year, the Navi was actually too light for me. The light brown pages of the Navi 2010 planner which I loved so much was nowhere to be found in the 2011 edition. The pages were white, and the art was just too bright for me. So I looked for another one, and then I saw this lovely dark green journal. At first I was hesitant about it, but now I just love it. I'm gonna miss the weekly quotes, though.

I still have a monthly calendar which is where I put all the birthdays that I keep track of, although the difference with my Navi is that it has this feature at the beginning of every month, whereas in my Navi it was all in the beginning of the planner, before the weekly planner.

Although admittedly, I am going to miss my Navi quotes, my new Journal has lots of fun trivia, especially about important events all over the world, from national holidays--hey, my birthday is actually Random Acts of Kindness Day! Isn't it awesome?

Just disregard whatever random stuff you can see written on my journal. :P

Also, it has different kinds of writing spaces (strategy notes, stuff, and doodle pages) that give me somewhere to write all my fleeting thoughts. My previous practice was to stick post-its in my planner for whatever random stuff that I have to note but is not actually a planner entry (at least in my books), and I think I'll still do that, but with these features, I can foresee that I'll be doing that less often. Also, I love the mood chart that it has, it gives me a way of keeping track of my days, and prompts me to look back on my day and determine how the day actually turned out for me. I think it's a really cool feature. 

There are other features that I wasn't able to take pictures of, such as different lists and information for every month (like "10 Places I Want to Travel Before 2012), quarterly check-up pages, and a really cute feature where you give coupons to people, for example, to a movie date with you! I think this is a substitute to the coupons that come with other planners (like my Navi), and while it makes the price (I think it's 720 pesos at Fully Booked) quite expensive, considering the lack of treats that come with it, I still say it's a good planner for me, since its features encourage me to use it constantly. 

A good planner, of course is nothing without the right mindset and attitude, so more than having an awesome planner, I am looking forward to a more active, organized, responsible, and fun self this 2011. 

Cheers to an awesome new year!