Back in January of this year, I joined the Goodreads Reading Challenge because part of my resolutions for the New Year is to read more books. I love reading but I haven’t been reading so much the past couple of years. I thought joining the challenge would motivate me to read more.

Some of the books I’ve read recently:

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This is a classic and not a book I’d normally read but one of my fellow book club members suggested it as part of our Book of the Month.

I found this to be an interesting read. It’s about a society where books are not allowed. Firemen burned the books in the story and even the people who refuse to leave their books behind.

I can’t imagine a world without books. While I enjoy watching TV and movies, I find that reading books is a good way to let your imagination flow.

The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan. My friend Mai told me about this book but I didn’t get
around to reading it ’til it became a book of the month of the book club. I have to say I’m amazed at how David Levithan wrote this book. It’s not your usual way of story telling.

My favorite word from this novel:

Abstraction, n. 
Love is one kind of abstraction. And then there are those nights when I sleep alone, when I curl into a pillow that isn’t you, when I hear the tiptoe sounds that aren’t yours. It’s not as if I can conjure you there completely. I must embrace the idea of you instead.

Losing It by Cora Carmarck. I loved this book. This is about a girl who was still a virgin in College and was set out to lose her virginity. She ends up hooking up with a hot English guy in a bar. But she couldn’t push through with it and leaves him hanging high and dry only to realize that her almost one night stand was her one of her College professors and she’d end up falling in love with him.

This is a tamer version of Fifty Shades of Grey. Very cute story. I read this in one sitting because it was such a kakakilig story! I think I’ll read more of Cora’s books.

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith. Cute story about two teenagers who lived in two very different places and accidentally met and got to talking because of a wrong sent email. Very You Got Mail story, remember that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan romcom movie?

For me, this is What Happy Looks Likes: 


Having a good conversation with friends/date over coffee
Morning talks with Mark, my cousin before leaving for work
Finding mom in the living room watching her favorite teleserye and sitting right beside her after a long day at work
Weekends and days when I get off work early.
Great movies.
Sunny days.
Swings.
Drinking good coffee with cream in the morning.
Ice creams on a really hot day. Sleeping in on rainy days. Curling up with a good book.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. This is another cute young adult love story from Jennifer Smith. It’s about two teenagers who met at the airport and spent the whole flight getting to know each other and yes ended up falling in love.

While it’s a feel good book, I honestly don’t believe in love at first sight. Maybe lust at first sight! But love? I believe love takes time. I think you gotta know what makes the person tick first!

How about you? Do you believe in love at first sight?

The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom. Oh this book made me cry! It’s a nice novel that reminded me about how precious time is. I know a lot of us take time for granted. Some of us even want time to fly by! And sometimes we ask that time stop. We forget to just live in the moment.

I pledged to read 12 books this year. But now that I joined a book club, I’m thinking I should increase the number of books I pledge to read because I’m already halfway to finishing this challenge and it’s only June!