Reading has been my past time in a long time. Growing up in the province my access to reading materials when I was a kid is very limited but I was contented with reading the short stories in my English and Filipino textbooks. In high school, I now have access to fiction books from the school library. Most of the books in the library are the classics and literary novels. These were required reading and we have to make book reports so reading them became a chore and not enjoyable. Until I found out about the Choose Your Own Adventure Books. I pretty much enjoyed those books. In college I may have forgotten reading for pleasure. Even if I had time to read, the college library does not carry fiction novels. The only time I enjoyed reading is from reading the comics collection of a friend. I remember reading issues of X-Men, X-Factor, Superman, and D.P. 7.

 

My interest in reading returned when I chanced upon a battered book when I already started working. It does not have a cover and the story is set on a world where technology is based on organic materials and not on metals. The story intrigued me and I kept on reading the book during my down time. Too bad I can’t remember the title of the story or who wrote it. This book showed me that my genre of choice is science fiction (or speculative fiction in general).

 

Since I am already working (meaning I have the means) and staying in the city (meaning I have the access), I can now buy my own reading materials. The bookstore is like a candy store! Too many books to choose from. The bookstore also introduced me to Star Trek original novels and media tie-in books in general. This is also the time that I started buying comic books, mostly from the X-Men line. And then I discovered used books stores. The books are dirt cheap. Then I started hording. I also branched to magazines by this point.

 

It came to a point that I acquire 5 but only finishing 2 then acquiring a new batch again. I realized that this a problem when I moved apartments more than 3 times now. I now have a book buying ban: buy one paperback book at most in a month. I am now shifting to electronic books and digital comics. Also a recent development, listening to audio books. I am pretty much becoming format agnostic as long as I like the story. In the next few months, I will try to unload my paperback books. (Cue Elsa, “let it go, let it go...”)

 

I have a bad habit of starting a book but not finishing it or reading multiple books at a time. Also when I read a book, I pretty much jump to another book immediately. I do not give myself enough time to reflect on the book I read. When someone asks me how I see the book, all I can say is “I liked it” or “not liked it” with no further elaboration. I would like to change that. Well, I tried it before but the only word that can describes my attempt to write reviews is “terse”. Most actually fits as a tweet.

 

How should I do it? I asked myself. I need a structure. So I made one that I hope I can follow (I might also use these guide questions as section headings).

1. Why did you pick this up?
2. What is it?
3. What is it all about? (for non-fiction)/What happened? (for fiction)
4. Did you liked it?
5. Would you recommend it?

There you go, a book review for at least 5 sentences!

 

I will also do a status update on the first 10% placing my initial impression of the book. And on the 20% mark or after 50 pages (whichever comes first), I will evaluate if I need to proceed reading. If I will DNF the book (short for did-not-finish), I will post a status update as to why and if I there is chance that I might revisit the book in the near future.

 

I now have a plan for this book blog. I hope I can stick with it. Crossing fingers.

 

Who can resist a bargain? A book bargain? Day 119 of #365project #photoaday #bookstagram... https://t.co/Lu3cB5lA2J pic.twitter.com/AcL8AQL8T6

— Eric Andrada (@icheb) April 29, 2017

 

Wow, I write more than 700 words this time! Nice!

 

BLUF: Good concept, but the relationship is overly idealistic and keeps the reader at an arm’s distance.

In hindsight…

I chose this book to fulfill the “classic romance” portion of my 2015 reading challenge. I don’t really know what a classic romance is, but most books on the classic romance list were published in the 1900s or before – something I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish – so, alas, I chose this classic.

Let’s start with the bad: The relationship held by the main characters is insanely unrealistic. Their entire relationship is without conflict and is overly endearing. This is primarily because the book doesn’t give you the opportunity to truly know the characters. Like another reviewer explained, you read about what they do, but aren’t privy to how they feel. Also, there is too much sex considering how impersonal their relationship reads. It’s not appealing.

The idea that Henry completely (and easily) drops his current relationship for Clare is hard to believe. Actually, everything surrounding that aspect of the book was hard to believe. From the ex's friend discussing and becoming friends with Clare to the suicide as a result of Henry leaving this woman. It should have been better explained.

Now with the good: Having read the reviews prior to the book, I entertained lowered expectations. So, feel free to take my review with a grain of salt.

I really enjoyed the concept behind this book as well as the execution. It didn’t bother me that the book jumped in time. Actually, I enjoyed this style and cannot imagine any other style to be as effective. As another reader so finely put it, this novel is science fiction marketed as fiction to attract more readers and, guess what? It works.

I know this sounds ridiculous but I enjoyed that there were characters in the story that knew Henry’s secret and that there was a medial research aspect entertained. It made the concept of time travel more real to me. (That said, I am able to suspend my disbelief easier than others.)

The end was heart wrenching. Truly. It was worthwhile and a large portion of why I voted three stars instead of two.

 

This book has to be one of the dullest novels I've ever read. Journalist Nick is incredibly boring, utterly self-obsessed and also rather nasty - he lusts after the girlfriend of his best friend's teenage son and then gets upset when said son calls him a pervert. Get real, Nick! He also goes on and on about local politics in his home town and honestly it isn't interesting the first time we read this. Let alone the other 99 times, sigh ...

 

The actual crime doesn't appear to happen until we are three-quarters through the novel (so that's a heck of a lot of local politics to read through, believe me ...) then there's a rare moment of interest on page 230 or thereabouts when the book finally gets going. Somewhere this author manages to make the crime dull too, and it was a huge relief when I finally reached the end.

 

Mind you, I can see why the awful Nick's ex-wife keeps her distance, though I was terribly sorry for the unfortunate Juliana who - once the teenage son's girlfriend is out of the scene - seems to be lined up to be Nick's Next Girlfriend. Lord help her! Run, Juliana, run ...

 

So, honestly, I'd give this novel a miss. You won't regret it.