Configuring feeds and publishing

I am configuring feeds and publishing to social networks, Twitter and Facebook. I will be auto-posting updates in this blog to my Twitter @addictedtoread account and to my Facebook page Addicted to Reading.

I hope it will all work out fine. It's all linked to one another so I hope I get it right.

;)

Finally a personalized domain!

I tried personalizing the domain in this blog several hours ago before I went to bed but I failed. So what I did was I let the domain configuration propagate first and hit the sack as soon as I saved the zone file.

And just a few minutes ago, I was able to hook up a personal domain of mine to this blog...

Welcome to www.AddictedtoReading.info!!!

Finally!

Now I need to configure feeds and all.

;)

Addicted to Reading

That's me!

This is just a little something that I wrote a while back about myself relating to my addiction to reading...

I started reading when I was at a very young age. I started with Bible stories and whatever books I got my hands on. Mom and dad couldn't afford pricey children's books back then so I had to make do with what's available. I remember I even had this period when all I would read were encyclopedia!

Then in high school I learned of the colorful world of romance novels. There were Sweet Dreams, Sweet Valley High, and the numerous historical and contemporary romance novels like Mills & Boon, Jude Deveraux, Johanna Lindsey, Judith McNaught and so many others. From there I progressed to the mystery/suspense/thriller genre and let's just stay I learned early on that I will always be addicted to reading.

Here are some more random facts about me...

- I love fiction and am partial to the young adult and mystery/suspense/thriller genre.
- I like pastel colors.
- I am a hopeless romantic.
- I used to read one historical romance novel a day. The first novel I bought was actually one.
- I also write novels but for my eyes only. Haha!

I can't think of anything else to share so I will just add to this as I continue blogging here.

;)

Keeping Her In The Light

Keeping Her In The Light by Nicole Fuentes is a psychological thriller novella written by a 16-year-old Filipino student. It is about a woman named Allie who was kidnapped by a serial killer who suffers from a multiple personality disorder. The kidnapper wants to try out if the Stockholm Syndrome is true and he uses Allie as a subject. Allie had gone through a very tragic experience wherein her parents and younger brother were all shot in front of her before their crazed neighbor shot himself sparing Allie.

The plot was very intriguing so I was lured to buy the book. And boy did I regret it!

This is possibly one of the blah books I've read in my life! It was so annoying! It was too trying hard to be good and by that the author thought putting in big words would make it a great novel. After a few pages I thought of chucking it out the window but I thought might as well give it a chance and finish it. And I did!

The story is about a woman kidnapped by a serial killer. She was used as an experiment of the said killer on Stockholm Syndrome, which is the ability of a captive to feel sympathy for the captor.

I have a beef with the victim in the story. She wasn't exhibiting the normal reactions of a victim. She wasn't afraid. She's too normal for want of a better word. I'll be very detailed about this beef I have with the victim...

1. When she woke up, she was 'supposedly' afraid. She was able to find the switch to the light and saw the gory scene of her captor's earlier killing. She stumbled and all and when she found the door, she went out and found the man who kidnapped her. He was eating, seemingly stoic, raising his brows and not really reacting to her presence.

She was afraid but she was able to process all that. And she sat across the table and talked to him.

From this point on, the story obviously became a haphazard attempt to be an intellectual one. It wasn't.

2. The captor was given his own perspective in the book. Which is very strange, if you ask me. He was given emotions and instead of making the story captivating, the attempt to humanize the captor actually fell flat. He wasn't the normal serial killer. He wasn't deranged. He was actually a very overacting serial killer wannabe!

3. Again, the captive's attention to detail was pretty amazing. I mean she was able to take in the surroundings. She was able to appreciate the beauty of the ballroom and the lounge. She was able to process decisions in her head whether to go to room 1 or 4, to west wing or east, to go up or down. She was able to even talk to herself like she's just deciding whether to get up for work or just stay in bed.

4. She wore high heels! My goodness! How can a captive run when she's wearing high heels for crying out loud! In my experience reading thriller novels, the captive immediately finds a way to free herself of restrictions to freedom. A pair of high heels is clearly a restriction. She took it off for a while but she put it back on. I can only shake my head on that glaring lack of common sense and survival instinct.

5. She would be used by her captor as an experiment on Stockholm Syndrome. But then he told her that. And he wasn't acting like he wanted her to feel sympathy towards him. In fact, he was acting fairly annoying! Which might be the point to the story but then again I didn't get it.

6. I do get it that the kidnapper was suffering from MPD. But, come on! You didn't really get that the person had MPD until the end of the book! And only when the names of the alters were introduced.

This book was trying so hard to become a big psycho thriller but the writer forgot that a really good story doesn't necessarily need highfalutin words to make the story grand. It's in the simplicity of the story, in the character development, in the plot itself. That's what makes a novel really good!

I would have given this book 1 star but opted for 2 for effort.


***
Keeping Her In The Light rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Note: This post was a book review I did back in November 28, 2010 in my old Addicted to Reading blog. And looking back, I think I'd give this book a 1 out of 5 stars. I will edit my review of this in Goodreads.

Flowers in the Attic (Dollanganger #1)

Goodreads described this book as "...the compelling story of a family's betrayal and heartbreak, love and revenge." Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews is more than that. It tells of how a person can be controlled by lust for money. It tells how a person, slave by the pleasures and luxuries of life, can forget those that really matter in her life. Selfishness, betrayal, heartbreak.

It was a case of tender, loving murder.

The four children had perfect lives. They lived in a golden family filled with happiness. But their father dies suddenly, their mother throws themselves on the mercy of her parents - who had disowned her long ago.

Their mother promised they would stay only long enough to inherit the fortune. But gradually she forgot how much she adored her family. Kept hidden in the airless attic, the children now lived alone except for fleeting visits from their mother. Visits that became increasing infrequent... and increasily deadly...

The story was told from the point of view of Catherine Dollanganger. A very effective way of telling the story because if it was told from the point of view of Christopher Dollanganger, I think the emotions would not have come out the same way.

She started telling their story from when they were little kids up to the time they escaped from their "prison".

The story is all about the Dollanganger family. Christopher and Corinne, the parents, and their four kids: Christopher (or Chris from hereon), Catherine (aka Cathy), Carrie and Cory (the twins). When Christopher died due to a vehicular accident, Corinne was left with nothing but her beauty, her penchant for pleasures in life, and her four kids who were totally dependent on her. She begged her parents who disowned her to embraced her back into the family. She was taken back but her kids were brought to the second floor room connected to the attic to hide.

Corinne and Christopher turned out to be very closely related. Christopher was Corinne's half-uncle. Her parents, being fanatical religious people, disowned her when they got married. When Corinne was taken back into her family, she conspired with her mother to hide the kids from her father so that she could work her charm and get her inheritance after all.

She promised her kids that their "imprisonment" would only be for a day. As soon as the father accepts the fact that Corinne had four kids from her marriage with Christopher, the kids would be able to go down the house and be free. Then that changed. Corinne promised them that as soon as her father dies, they would be out of the room fast. But days, weeks, months and it took over two years before they were able to set foot on the ground again. It took them that long before they found out that their mother and grandmother were slowly poisoning them with arsenic. The planned their escape but not before Cory, one of the twins died supposedly from pneumonia that they later realized to be arsenic poisoning. Weak and slowly dying, they resolved to get out of the house even if it meant fighting off their grandmother.

They were able to get out easily, though. Set free, they planned to go to Florida and forget about the attic they left behind.

My personal thoughts: When Cathy and Chris found the book about sexual positions (I presume the book to be Kama Sutra), it is already a hint that their mother has a very different personality than the one that she showed them over the years. And the way she couldn't look at the twins when she comes visit them... the obvious disregard for their well-being... the hesitation to share with them vital information on what's happening in her life outside... Obvious giveaways that the woman is evil just like her mother.

I cried when Chris and Cathy were whipped! I cried when the twins got sick. I cried when the grandmother ignored their Christmas gift. I cried when something happened between Chris and Cathy. How can they help themselves when they were shut out from the world? They were growing teens, with rampaging hormones, especially Chris. It's bound to happen especially as they were always left alone in the attic. My heart ached for them, most especially when Cory died and Carrie was asking to go to him.

My friend told me about this V.C. Andrews novel way back in early to mid-2000, if I am not mistaken. I wasn't overly excited about the book because it wasn't really explained to me except that my friend said that it's the first story she read with an incest relationship in it. Other than that, I knew nothing anymore.

And you know what? After Forbidden, I wasn't really that much excited to read about an incestuous relationship again. But when I read the blurb from Goodreads of this Dollanganger book series, I thought I need to read this one, at least start with the first book and then move on to the next if the Flowers in the Attic will turn out to be a good one.

And let me tell you, after finishing the book a few minutes ago, I can't wait to sink my teeth into the second book of the Dollanganger kids. Flowers in the Attic is one of the best compelling stories I've read. It will leave you questioning the evil lurking in the people around us. It will leave you questioning the love a mother has for her child and if money can really wield that much control over a person that you can turn your back on your very own flesh and blood.


***
Flowers in the Attic (Dollanganger #1) rating: 5 of 5 stars

Note: This post was a book review I did back in January 2, 2011 in my old Addicted to Reading blog.

I am wishing you all...

...a Happy Christmas!!!

I am hoping that you are all enjoying the festivities and are actually in the bosom of your love ones.

Celebrate the real meaning of Christmas which is the birth of Jesus. And then go have fun!

As for me, I will be reading.

;)

Currently Reading: The Marriage Bargain

The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst is the first book in her Marriage to a Billionaire series. I got interested in this book when I saw it as one of the top 10 best-selling books in Amazon. So I looked for it and now I am about to begin reading it.

Here's a blurb from Goodreads...

A marriage in name only...

To save her family home, impulsive bookstore owner, Alexa Maria McKenzie, casts a love spell. But she never planned on conjuring up her best friend's older brother—the powerful man who once shattered her heart.

Billionaire Nicholas Ryan doesn’t believe in marriage, but in order to inherit his father’s corporation, he needs a wife and needs one fast. When he discovers his sister’s childhood friend is in dire financial straits, he offers Alexa a bold proposition.

A marriage in name only with certain rules: avoid entanglement. Keep things all business. Do not fall in love. The arrangement is only for a year so the rules shouldn’t be that hard to follow, right?

Except fate has a way of upsetting the best-laid plans…

Very interesting!

I think I will end my year with this read instead of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn which was supposed to be my last read for 2012.

Personalized domain

I will be changing this blog's address to a personalized one. I am going to use AddictedtoReading.info here. It is still being used in an old blog of mine. And since I don't have any intention of using it for income, then I will use it here instead.

I will just clean up all the stuff I have in my old blog and then I will make the transition to that personalized domain.

Expect this book blogger to be active in 2013!!!

;)

One Night with her Best Friend

A cute love story about friends Kate and Aaron who've been the best of friends for the past fourteen years. One night, Kate found herself needing Aaron more than just a friend and one thing led to another until they both realized that their worlds turned upside down especially Kate's who likes her world organized and well-planned out. Aaron turned out to be waiting for Kate to see him as a man and not just as a friend, while Kate realized after a steamy intimate session with her best friend that he has now gone from geeky Aaron to a mysterious, hot and uber sexy man!

Those looking for quite a quick read (less than two hours for me) and for those hopeless romantics like me, you will surely like One Night with her Best Friend by Noelle Adams!

***

I gave this book 5 stars in Goodreads.

After the Night

I've been following three local romance writers and I read this controversy regarding one of them where she's been accused by a former colleague of copying a novel she wrote more than six or seven years ago. The accusation was the novel was copied from After the Night by Linda Howard. Naturally, I got curious so when a friend sent me an e-book copy of it, I downloaded right away and will now begin reading it.

Here's the blurb from Goodreads...

FAITH DEVLIN: A poor, outcast child in Prescott, Louisiana, she'd always adored the town's golden boy from afar. But he called her white trash that sultry Southern night when his rich, respected father disappeared, along with her pretty Mom. Now Faith wanted to hate Gray Rouillard...not to feel a powerful surge of desire. But she couldn't quench her passion, any more than she could hide the truth about the past she had waited so long to unravel.

GRAY ROUILLARD: Even when he raised hell, he did it with style. Reckless, charming, and backed by Rouillard money, Gray controlled the town of Prescott -- and Devlin was a name he never wanted to hear again. But when he gazed at Faith Devlin, all he saw was a swirl of tangled sheets and her silken flesh beneath him. To care for her was impossible, unthinkable...because Gray Rouillard planned to use all his power to ruin her.

Totally interesting!

Can't wait to dig into this book!

;)

Crazy book addict, too!

I wish I can find someone as crazy as I am when it comes to reading. Someone just as crazy in her reactions to the books she's read, just like me!

I have friends who read. I have friends who like the same books as mine. I have two sisters who read a lot like me. But there's no one in my life just as crazy. I need someone as crazy or crazier than me!

Alas, the one person who was just as crazy is no longer in my life...

:(

Fifty Shades of Hotness!!!

The following photos are for those who are so self-righteous and closet Fifty Shades fans!

You like? Wait! There's more hotness after the jump...

What a package!

Yummo!

You can find more on the Fifty Shades Film Facebook page!

;)

My very own Travis Maddox! ♥♥♥

When I was reading Beautiful Disaster, there were two guys alternating in playing the role of Travis Maddox in my mind. One was Josh Kloss, that guy with Katy Perry in her Teenage Dreams video, and the other one was Adam Levine.

For the past few days, though, Adam's the one constantly in my mind when I think of Travis. His tattoos helped in gaining him the upper hand...

And I mean, come on! Look at the guy! He is soooo hot!!!

Sigh.

I used to think he's so full of himself due to Maroon 5's songs always being the girls so desperate to catch his attention. But, of course, I was wrong and it's just scripted. When I saw one episode of The Voice and how he's so kind, warm and generous to the contestants, well, he got me. I fell head over heels for the guy!

And now he's my very own Travis Maddox!

Ahihihi!

:P

Want: Fallen Too Far

OMG! That cover is hot!!!

I want Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines!

This is Abbi's first new adult book and from the blurb I've read in Goodreads, I just know I need to get my hands on a copy as soon as it becomes available!

To want what you’re not supposed to have…

She is only nineteen.

She is his new stepfather’s daughter.

She is still naïve and innocent due to spending the last three years taking care of her sick mother.

But for twenty-four year old Rush Finlay, she is the only thing that has ever been off limits. His famous father’s guilt money, his mother’s desperation to win his love, and his charm are the three reasons he has never been told no.

Blaire Wynn left her small farmhouse in Alabama, after her mother passed away, to move in with her father and his new wife in their sprawling beach house along the Florida gulf coast. She isn’t prepared for the lifestyle change and she knows she’ll never fit into this world. Then there is her sexy stepbrother who her father leaves her with for the summer while he runs off to Paris with his wife. Rush is as spoiled as he is gorgeous. He is also getting under her skin. She knows he is anything but good for her and that he’ll never be faithful to anyone. He is jaded and has secrets Blaire knows she may never uncover but even knowing all of that…

Blaire just may have fallen too far.

Ayayay! I love it!

;)

After reading a really great book...

The thing with reading is this when you finish a really good book you tend to compare all the succeeding books to the joy you got from that good one. Instead of being inspired to read some more, what happens is that you tend to go on a plateau and would stop reading for a while. At least that's what it is with me. After Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, I read Bared to You by Sylvia Day. It was not as good as Beautiful Disaster but I still loved it! So what I did after reading Bared to You was I read Beautiful Disaster again. I just had to have that high from reading Travis Maddox and Abby Abernathy's love story again.

Then I got into discussion about Bared to You with my best friend Tim who was able to read it first. We discussed Gideon Cross and Eva Tramell's love story and I got excited with the next book Reflected in You by Sylvia Day. Now that book was really good! I read it thrice already because I just love how the story unfolded and ended. There's a third (and possible fourth) book coming out in December. I can't wait for that one!

Meanwhile, I was stuck in a reading funk. I don't know what to read next that will give me the same high as the last book. So I read Beautiful Disaster again and I went back to reading Every Day by David Levithan. It was not as thrilling as the last three books I read but I've been hearing raves about the book so I have to read it now.

And good thing I now have Ceaseless by Abbi Glines, the last book in the Existence series. I've been waiting for this book to come out and I am excited to read it. I will make sure to finish it in one seating!

Self-righteous people!

Please spare me from self-righteous people! They think they are too good to be associated with the Fifty Shades Trilogy by E.L. James but I am sure they are secretly enjoying the books! They easily condemn the books as trash just so they can say that they are better than those who enjoyed and are now fans of the kinky trilogy. Ha!

You are not fooling anybody but yourself! Get the fuck off your high pedestal and just come out and say you are a closet fan as well!

I will post some photos from the Fifty Shades Facebook pages for you to secretly enjoy, hypocrites! Come back and check it out. I know you will.

Anne Rice and Me

I used to be a huge fan of Anne Rice and her dark novels. Interview with the Vampire and the rest of the vampire books, Cry to Heaven (which is my favorite of all her books!), the Beauty trilogy, The Witching Hour and the rest of the Mayfair Witches books. All those books I've read when I was younger and I loved all of it! Anne Rice has a very intriguing way of writing her books that even though all her books are dark in concept, there are enough twists and turns to keep you reading it until the last page. That's how it was for me, anyway.

But then after going through so much in life, I realized I don't need more darkness around me by reading too much dark-themed novels. And Anne Rice's books are dark. I slowly veered away from reading her books into lighter ones and, well, I got over my crazy love for whatever Anne Rice wrote.

It's her birthday today. I read in Twitter via Lucy of Fully Booked's tweet that she's 71 now. I remember reading about her husband's death and how she began seeing the light after. She stopped writing dark novels and is now focusing on her renewed faith in the Lord. Good for her!

Happy birthday, Anne Rice!

I still think you're one of the best writers of your generation!

;)

*photo credit: Fully Booked

Travis Tuesday!!!

Sorry I'm late in posting this one. But let me tell you now...

Yesterday was Travis Tuesday!!!

What am I talking about here?

Well, on Monday night author Jamie McGuire posted an update on her Facebook account that ATRIA, her publishing house, issued a challenge to her fans. In four (4) days her Facebook page likes should reach 13,000 and they would release the whole Prologue to Walking Disaster, Travis Maddox POV of Beautiful Disaster. Do you know what happened? In a matter of hours fans surpassed the 13,000 benchmark! Likes of Author Jamie McGuire Facebook page reached past it!

So ATRIA and Jamie had to revise their promise. Instead of releasing the entire Prologue on Friday, they released it yesterday! Thereby making yesterday Travis Tuesday among us fans!

Here's the link to the entire 9-page Prologue of Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire.

Happy reading!

I surely did.

;)

Want: Through to You

Another book that I am waiting to get my hands on is Through to You by Emily Hainsworth. Goodreads has the following about it...

Camden Pike has been grief-stricken since his girlfriend, Viv, died. Viv was the last good thing in his life: helping him rebuild his identity after a career-ending football injury, picking up the pieces when his home life shattered, and healing his pain long after the meds wore off. And now, he’d give anything for one more glimpse of her. But when Cam makes a visit to the site of Viv’s deadly car accident, he sees some kind of apparition. And it isn’t Viv.

The apparition’s name is Nina, and she’s not a ghost. She’s a girl from a parallel world, and in this world, Viv is still alive. Cam can’t believe his wildest dreams have come true. All he can focus on is getting his girlfriend back, no matter the cost. But things are different in this other world: Viv and Cam have both made very different choices, things between them have changed in unexpected ways, and Viv isn’t the same girl he remembers. Nina is keeping some dangerous secrets, too, and the window between the worlds is shrinking every day. As Cam comes to terms with who this Viv has become and the part Nina played in his parallel story, he’s forced to choose—stay with Viv or let her go—before the window closes between them once and for all.

I learned about this book a couple of months ago. I wanted to read it right away but, well, release date was yesterday. So I waited and waited and I do hope when I go check tomorrow the book is already available in bookstores.

Can't wait to read this one! Intriguing plot!

;)

Want: The Shining

I've been hearing about The Shining by Stephen King and I am intrigued. So I checked the blurb from Goodreads and here's what it says...

Danny was only five years old but in the words of old Mr Halloran he was a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father became caretaker of an the Overlook Hotel his visions grew frighteningly out of control.

As winter closed in and blizzards cut them off, the hotel seemed to develop a life of it's own. It was meant to be empty, but who was the lady in Room 217, and who were the masked guests going up and down in the elevator? And why did the hedges shaped like animals seem so alive?

Somewhere, somehow there was an evil force in the hotel - and that too had begun to shine...

I am a Stephen King fan and some of his books I've read are faves of mine. But what really made me want to read this was a comment I read somewhere saying that when he read this book, he had nightmares for weeks! Yay! I love horror stories!

I will check this out tomorrow when I go to the mall.

;)

Book quotes for today

True. With books all our dreams could come to life, even if for just those few precious minutes or hours that we are holding it. Also...

Through our reading we can travel to other times and other places, into other people’s minds and hearts and souls: it is a transcendent experience. - Louise DeSalvo

A book is so diverse that we often travel to the world inhabited by the very characters we are reading about. It's actually pretty cool to be able to go undercover with the protagonist or explore different countries through the eyes of the author.

Read. You will know what these quotes mean and what I am raving about here.

My Prince

Cinderella and her prince are truly out now. Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, my prince and yours and hers, are in!

The infographic above had me laughing! Can you imagine being given such by your man with a good amount of spanking to boot?

Hahaha!

:P

Currently Reading: Dante's Girl

I am currently reading Dante's Girl by Courtney Cole. I forgot where I saw this book but I was instantly intrigued! The following is a blurb from Goodreads...

I have spent every summer since I was ten years old with my father in London. Every summer, since I was ten years old, has been uneventful and boring.
Until this year.

And this year, after a freak volcanic eruption strands me far from home, I have learned these things:

1. I can make do with one outfit for three days before I buy new clothes.
2. If I hear the phrase, “You’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto,” even one more time, I might become a homicidal maniac.
3. I am horribly and embarrassingly allergic to jellyfish.
4. I am in love with Dante Giliberti, who just happens to be the beautiful, sophisticated son of the Prime Minister of a Mediterranean paradise.
5. See number four above. Because it brings with it a whole slew of problems and I’ve learned something from every one of them.

Let’s start with the fact that Dante’s world is five light-years away from mine. He goes to black-tie functions and knows the Prime Minister of England on a first name basis. I was born and raised on a farm in Kansas and wear cut-off jeans paired with cowboy boots. See the difference?

But hearts don’t care about differences. Hearts want what they want. And mine just wants to be Dante’s girl.

My heart just might be crazy.

Sounds interesting, right?

Will post a review as soon as I finish reading it.

;)

I am bookworm!

I have two addictions in life: food and books. I am trying to cut down on the former so I am pumping up the latter!

BOOKS. It's my escape from reality. It's my therapy. It's a way of life for me. This may sound pathetic for some non-reading people but my life is lived around books. It makes me happy!

So, yeah, I am bookworm! I am and will die this way. LOL

Anyway, this blog is GUARANTEED to contain all my raves and rants about the books I have on hand, have read, have stopped reading, and those that I've been hearing about. I will customize/personalize the domain later on but for now this will be it.

The next couple of posts will be about my love for Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire and Travis Maddox. Also, I am still in the process of choosing a template so changes will be made here and there. And there will be tons of stuff to look at that I want you to see at the sidebar.

So bear with me for now, okay?

Kisses!
xoxo
;)