Stephen King for The Sake of Halloween

Trying Stephen King's Work Misery



My mother asked me to help her shop for groceries. I declined her request, because I was playing The Sims 3. Well, after a couple of minutes, the motherly request won. I ended up going with her.

While my mother was shopping for groceries, I went to a nearby Target store. I found a Stephen King book.

I'm not a big fan of Stephen King. He writes thriller books, and I'm not a big follower of that genre. But when I saw the price which is only $3.79 with a 25% discount of Stephen King's books, I bought one just to try it.

I had borrowed some of Stephen King's books together with some of Dean Koontz's work at the public library, but I ended up returning returning them before even starting to flip the first page, because every channel in our television was full of scary shows and documentaries that gave me all the creeps.

$3.79 was not a big pain in the pocket, so I bought the book. Why not try, right? Just for the sake of Halloween, I will try one of his works.

Even though Stephen King's works are very scary (base from what I've heard), some people are addicted to his works.


I wonder what will my reaction of his works to me. Will I be so scared that I will end up afraid of books all my life or will I be so addicted to thriller that I will become one of his biggest fans.

I am currently reading "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer. I will think whether I will start reading Misery, the book that I bought from Target, or I'll just try more books before it.


Here are the books that I've mentioned:





Title: Misery
Author: Stephen King
Price: $18.40+tax (price may be different in stores)
Format: Paperback

*Other Format*

Price: $4.49+tax (price may be different in stores) $3.50+tax (at Target)
Format: Mass Market Paperback limited edition


Title: The Host
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Price: $25.99+tax (price may be different in stores)
Format: Hardcover

This me with my own copy of Stephen King's Misery:

From Lazy Reader To Bookworm

Lazy Reading is So Yesterday

What is a lazy reader?

Are you a lazy reader? Not sure if you are? Well, here are the signs of being a lazy reader; reading is a miracle for them and they think that books are boring.


For miracle readers, the fact that they are reading the second paragraph of this blog is a miracle. If you are a miracle reader, hold your horses, my dear fella! Don't stop reading. Later on you will learn how to kill that laziness of yours towards reading. Miracle readers are people who will read if someone or something pushes them to. Such as; book report and current event report. During the process of their reading they think that what's happening is torturing them. Most of them are likely to stop the activity, for they think that the information in the material is not registering in their mind, yet only giving them a headache. Overall, miracle readers only reads if someone or something pushes them to.


The other sign that a person is a lazy reader is they think that books are boring. If you ask a lazy reader why do they think reading is boring, they might say that books are just full or words that are very dull to look at. Some are likely to answer that they can just watch the movie adaptation of books. Movie adaptations take only a couple of hours to finish than reading it in a book. For lazy readers books are boring, and their reasons could go on and on forever.


Lazy readers think that reading is a miracle for them. They also think that books are just dull. But it's not too late for them to change their views. All they need is a reason why they should read.



Why are you ought to read?

There are reasons to the magic of fun of reading that are invisible to the eyes of lazy readers. The reasons are books are one of the great way to escape, movies can't portrait the wonders of a book even if Hollywood will spend thousands and thousands of dollars making it, and books can give a warm, fuzzy feeling when you finish it.


Because of problems, some us wish that we could just disappear in this world and go somewhere or sometimes we just want to be somebody else. Meaning, we want to escape. Books can provide a great escape. When you read, a book can take you to a place that you haven't imagined before. For example; When I was reading Eragon by Christopher Paolini, a fantasy book about dragons, I felt like I was no longer here on LA but on the magic world of Alagaesia. Christopher's Descriptive prowess took me somewhere else. A book can also turn you into another person. Books have different kind of style, and it depends on the POV (Point Of View) or who is telling the story. A perfect example is first point of view; a character inside the story is the narrator. Meaning, you can see what the character see, you can feel what the character feels, and so on. For example; When I was reading Daniel X by James Patterson which is a sci-fi book written in first point of view, I felt Daniel's power to create anything. The glow of his hands became the glow of my hands and the injury that was inflicted by his enemies became my wounds. If you want a great escape, just go to your nearest bookstore or library.


After watching a movie adaptation of a book, if you ask your friend how was the movie, you might get the answer "The book is a million times better." Why? Because movies just can't beat the power of the humans' imagination. A book is a product of the author's wildest imagination in a bind form. Just think back to the best dreams you have had. Aren't those dreams the sweetest? Those dreams are the product of your imagination coming from your brain. Movies are also a product of imagination, but CGIs (Computer Generated Images), directors, and other things used to create a movie will limit the wildest imagination of the author. Unlike books, words can exceed the limit, cause' they don't use CGIs, directors, and other things. But they use the human brain to run the story which is as wide as the endless galaxy.


Imagine you are walking around your former school. You pass by every room which you have studied your courses. In every room, memories of school trials gradually goes back to you. But it is all over now. You graduated! Isn't that a wonderful feeling? Don't you want that feeling to go back to you? Well, you can with books. When you finish a book, every time you look at that book that you finish which you fall in love to, you will get that warm fuzzy feeling. I am the evidence of that statement. I feel that kind of warmth every time I look on the books that I have finished reading. What more, if you are looking in a pile of books that you finish?


Books can take you away to this "sometimes" cruel world, it can never be upstaged by Hollywood with the movies which has a million dollar flashy effects, and it gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling. Those are the reasons why you are ought to read. But is it too late for you to start reading? It is never too late.


How to Kill the Lazy Reading Habits and Be Reborn as a Fanatic of Reading

Are you ready to start being a reader? It is never too late. It's very easy to kill a lazy reading habit if you just follow this simple tips: Be a choosy buyer/borrower of books and do the 1-chapter-per habit.


Being a choosy buyer/borrower of books is nothing to be ashamed of. The very first book that you will choose to read is very important, for it will be your stepping stone to the reading world. Think of your genre; romance, fantasy, mystery, comedy, and so on. For me, I suggest you start reading books for kids which are for 12yrs old and above. Books for kids are nothing to be ashamed of. I read books for kids too, and they are wonderful. Be sure to think of it carefully. Choose a best seller book. Ask a friend for suggestions who likes the genre that you have chosen. If you can't find a friend who can give you suggestions, bookstore salesclerks are willing to give you suggestions (Salesclerks know what books are the current hit now) or your friendly local librarian will do too.

After you have chosen your book, do the 1-chapter-per habit. How to do this? It is very simple. First, read 1 chapter a day. Set your time that you will read on that specific time. Never ever ditch your responsibility if you want to change your habit. My warning is that it is normal for a book to be kind of slow and boring in the first 3 or 4 chapters. The author is just introducing the characters and giving you hint about what's going to be the characters' problem. Ba patient. Remember that it is a virtue. After that, if you get used to it, after your read one chapter for a day, give yourself at least 3-4hrs of break, then go back and read the next chapter. After awhile, you will find yourself enjoying the book and unstoppable.

Reading is fun, but laziness to do this is an enemy that forbid us to experience the fun of reading. However, if you become a choosy buyer/borrower and you do the 1-chapter-per habit, that enemy that forbids you from reading will be eliminated. A new you will be born. A you who is a good reader.


Note: Here are the books that I have mentioned in this blog entry. You might like it, so here they are.

Title: Eragon
Author: Christopher Paolini
Price: $10.95+tax (price may be different in stores)
Format: Paperback




Title: The Dangerous Days of Daniel X
Author: James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge
Price: $7.99+tax (Price may be different in stores)
Format: Paperback
Note: This is my favorite book (I'm just sharing ^^). Look for my bn account for my book review about it and other book reviews

The hardest thing to do...

Forgiveness.Is it easy?



It was a usual facebooking night for me: looking for notifications, replying to friends who posted on my wall, and watching videos that were posted by my friends on faceboook. I happened to bump into this video; it strummed my heartstrings. Check it out. I'm the kind of person who holds grudges when a person hurts me so bad. Metaphorically speaking, my emotions are like sensitive skin. When you hurt it, it will leave a scar. Every time I see the scar, I will remember the face of the person who did that wound to me. On the other hand, I will let what happened to die, yet the grudge on me will remain alive. To make it clear, past is past, but don't expect me to say "hi", "good morning", "how are you", and so on when we happen to cross our paths. This video, however, is pushing me to change my ways. The big question is "HOW?" According to Mary Karen Read, "When deep injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive. Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future". Absolutely, it does enlarge the future, but what are the ways to forgive? In my case, a scar is a scar. Even time can't heal scars. Can forgiveness heal scars? Furthermore, as we can see in the video, the father gave multiple stab of sins to his son that left his son wounded. People in the real world will label the father "murderer", "killer", and other offensive label that we can think of. Some people might tend to say "That kind of person is not welcome to the kingdom of God. He will burn to hell!". But in the video, who is the son, who is a victim of a ruthless happenings done by his father, not to forgive his father? The son is only a human. A human who can forgive the person who injured him badly. It means that God who is the beginning of everything can also forgive. It means that no matter how big the sin that you have done, God will welcome you in his kingdom with open arms, as well as our family. Logically speaking, who are we not to forgive?

"To err is human; to forgive is divine."
-- Alexander Pope
Note: I'm sorry everyone if all I gave in this entry were questions. This topic could go on forever. We have different point of view towards this topic; and this is my point of view. Thank you for reading and God bless everyone.

Everyone seems to like it but me

Why do they like it?



Everyone seems to like the book that I'm reading now--The Art of Racing in The Rain by Garth Stein. I bought this book because every sales clerk in Borders kept recommending this book to me. I got curious; I asked myself "Everyone seems to like it. This must be an amazing book". Not to mention, this book had a special corner in Borders.

What is this book all about?

The art of racing in the rain is a story of a dog, whose name is Enzo, who believes that he will be reincarnated as a human in his next life, yet he needs to be ready and be a good dog in his current life. Enzo witness all the trials of his family that will challenge his dog body and human soul.  

Now that I'm reading the book, I've noticed that I keep on yawning from time to time? Why is this happening? Amazing books don't make their readers yawn, do they? Well, the amazing book that the town keeps talking about has flaws. First flaw is the zig-zag flow of the story. The other flaw is it's lack of cliff hangers.

We all know what a zig-zag is. A zig-zag goes up, down, up, down, and up. Just like the flow of the story of the book "The Art of Racing in The Rain by Garth Stein. why is it like a zig-zag? Well, I just can't see where the story is going. I have different opinions towards the different chapters. Such as; chapters1-5--extremely boring (which is understandable, cause' we are still knowing the characters and such and such), chapters6-9 getting good. Chapters10-15 I feel like throwing the book and just go to sleep. Chapters 16-17 getting better. Chapters 18-22 back to the boring world. You see how the chapters go boring-good-boring-good. It's like a zig-zag, eh?

Can you still remember the time when you ask your sister to stop reading Twilight for awhile, so you could eat dinner? Your sister would answer "I'mma just finish this chapter". After a couple of minute, she's still not on the dinner table. You went back to her room to call her, and you found her reading another chapter. You're sister was super hooked by the book. Why? Because a cliff hanger kept her from reading and reading.

What is a cliff hanger?

A cliff hanger is a scenario at the end of a chapter that will make the reader curious. A good cliff hanger will always make its reader turn the page. For a better understanding. Let's use this example: A man entered a burning house to save a little kid. An explosion happened inside. And that's the end of the chapter. Now, you will ask "what happened? Is the man still alive or just the kid or both of them are dead?". To seek the answer for your question, you will turn to the next page.

I believe that Garth Stein can make a good cliff hanger. However, I didn't find them in The Art if Racing in The Rain. The chapters end without nothing to expect. For example; Denny, one of the main character, let Enzo, the character dog, rode the race car. Enzo experienced the pleasure of riding a race car. He felt the velocity of every turn. His thirst for speed was quenched. And then they went home. END OF CHAPTER. Eh? What's gonna happen next? If you're the reader, does it form a question inside your head about what's gonna happen next?

Right now, I am currently reading the book. I can feel, however, that I will give this book a 2.5 out of 5 stars for the review because of its zig-zag flow and lack of cliff hangers.

Now, why do everyone likes it? Ask for me, I don't know. If you wanna know why everyone likes it, maybe you should try reading it. All of this are my opinion. After all, we like different genres. Everyone has their opinion.

note: The chapters that I've given to illustrate to zig-zag flow of the story are just guesses. I forgot what are the interesting chapters and what are not.



Title: The Art of Racing in The Rain
Author: Garth Stein
Price: $14.99+tax (price may be different in other stores)
Format: Paperback

Loveable puzzles--Rebus Puzzle

TheRebus Puzzles


When you hear "puzzle", what comes into your mind first? You might be thinking about the very famous sudoku, our daddies' favorite--crossword, or the traditional jigsaw. Well, these puzzles are starting to get boring and brain bleeding, which kills all the fun. But not anymore. The Puzzle that will make everyone love is here--Rebus Puzzle.

Rebus Puzzles are puzzles that are made of pictures. Random pictures that are put together in a certain kind of manner.

the main goal of rebus puzzle is to guess what is the picture trying to say. Because many possibilities are possible, this puzzle is good playing with friends and of course with the family. I personally call the Rebus puzzle the laugh out loud game, because you might hear some funny guesses to the other players.

Every position, sizes, colors, and etc that's inside the puzzle is important, because it will change the meaning of the puzzle.

Even though it is hard sometimes to play, my friends and my classmates never get grumpy or bored. This game is perfect to everyone especially when on the road or just want to kill time with friends.

Check out these examples of Rebus puzzle

(check answers below)

Answers

1. Space invaders --Notice that the picture said "va ders". There is a space inside the word vaders. That's why the answer is SPACE INvaders.

2. Water --The picture itself has given a clue already. Notice the water inside the fonts. Furthermore, the reason why the answer is water because the picture begins with H and ends with O. Simplifying it, H to O. In chemistry water is H2O, right?

If you enjoy Rebus puzzle, this book is perfect for you:

Price: $13.50 (tax not included)
Format: Paperback
Note: Price may be different at store. Bring extra money to avoid hassles.