I finished a Book!
Guess you know what’s going up on Between the Covers soon. 
I drove the boyfriend to a shoot and waited for him to finish. Forced me to catch up on my reading (that’s a good thing).
My Bookcase
Google Reader
We cleaned up the PC because our 500GB hard drive was almost full. We got a new 1.5TB EHD (at almost half the cost of the 500GB EHD we bought years ago) and transferred all files we wanted to keep before re-formatting the old harddrive.
I got all my files and downloads transferred over – all photos are secure. Everything was ready. The boyfriend went ahead and cleaned up. The entire process of reformatting and reinstalling the OS was faster than previous times we’ve done it. There was almost no downtime.
Last night I sat in front of the PC and downloaded Google Chrome – my browser of choice. That’s when it hit me – I did not backup my bookmarks. This happened to me before and I was pretty sure I did some backup at some point, didn’t I? I logged on to my Google account but there was nothing in Bookmarks. Seriously?
So I set out to build up my link list but then I figured I’d just as well set them up in Google Reader as most of the sites I want to keep up with are actually blogs. Here’s an old video introducing Google Reader:
I’d never been an RSS reader fan – it took the fun away from blog hopping and I loved doing that. I tried using the RSS reader on the Windows Live Toolbar a long long time ago, but it just wouldn’t stick. It was no fun.
Thanks to this tutorial on I Heart Faces though, I can blog hop with the aid of Reader, without missing out on the personality of the blogs I visit. 
What’s more, I don’t have to visit each one just to find out which ones are updated, I just hit Next on my Bookmarks bar and I’m on the next unread item on my list! Coolness!
I do receive blog feeds on my email, but sometimes I feel like it just adds clutter to my Inbox. So I might stop subscribing to feeds via email altogether.
How about you, how do you keep up with your favorite blogs?
I received a free book!
I saw this badge on a blog awhile back and signed up. That first time I was on the site, I didn’t understand how things worked; did they deliver to the Philippines? I wasn’t sure. So I didn’t order. A few weeks, maybe a month, later I saw a longtime blogger friend post a book review on her site for the book Why You Say It. Right at the bottom of her post, she mentioned receiving a copy to review via Book Sneeze. Well what do you know, they do deliver to the southeast!
So I logged back on to the site and ordered this book:
This morning, I finally received it. A few days shy of a month after requesting for it.
I started reading it at the doctor’s clinic, while waiting at her lounge. In return for the free book, I just need to write a review which really is no chore. I like the book already. Stay tuned to my book review site, Between the Covers. If you haven’t checked it out yet, then you’ve missed my review of one of the greatest graphic novels in recent history. 🙂 So head on over to Between the Covers. Now! 🙂
I think this is a great service, any way I can get books at no cost to me, is a brilliant service 🙂 If, like me, your trying to cut back on expenses (after doing a whole lot of shopping), then Book Sneeze might be the answer so you still get your book fix. I heard that Apple’s been shipping those new iPhone 4s all over the place, and if you just upgraded to one, then you’d probably want to save up for more iPhone 4 accessories, I know I would if I just got a hot new phone. Heck, I almost bought myself a pair of Sennheiser earphones the other week just because it matches the look of My S Phone. The boyfriend actually stopped me though. Anyway, get your book fix without spending a dime, checkout BookSneeze. 🙂
Between the Covers
… of a book, that is.
I’ve launched a new blog with that title. I figured, since I spend so much money on books, I might as well dedicate an entirely new blog for them. Checkout the banner I used, courtesy of Zoe Pearn’s Blog in a Box:
For a change, I used Blogger for this new blog and I’m actually liking it. I finally have a blog design that has a scrapbook feel, much like how my old blog was. There are already quite a number of posts on there, and you may be familiar with some of them. Naturally, I simply migrated posts here tagged with My Bookcase. I did add a note at the bottom of each post that they were being reposted – I wouldn’t want to be in trouble with Internet cops for duplicate content, lol. 🙂
What’s next kaya? I mean what other blogs will I give birth to? Haha. Maybe one for causes and charities, or maybe we can improve the blog of Baby Jon Angelo! Why not?! 🙂
Anyhoo, please go checkout In Between the Covers!
The Year of Secret Assignments
Have you ever wondered how the ladies of Lipstick Jungle must have been like as kids or teenagers? Probably just like Em, Lyd and Cass from Jaclyn Moriarty’s The Year of Secret Assignments. Or not.
This book was again one of those books I picked up at my favorite second-hand store. That’s what I love about those places, they just get me to be so open about books that I would normally have snubbed at full price. Haha 🙂 In the past, I would only buy books by authors I’ve read before and liked. Or I’ll stay safe and go for those referred by a friend. When I started frequenting second-hand bookshops, I was more daring so to speak. The good thing is that I have only ever regretted buying one book. I picked it up (a novel that a tear-jerker of a movie was based on), tried to read it, couldn’t continue. It was soooo slow. Anyway, it wasn’t this book.
I enjoyed reading this book. A lot. It’s for kids/young adults as the characters are in high school. There’s no magic here, or mythical creatures. Rather, you’d read about kids who cut classes, pick locks, and play pranks. Very nice, haha. 🙂
The girls in the book go to Ashbury, a private school for girls. Their parents were all friends, and lawyers. I could imagine them with their book bags, binders, maybe even with their blazers/jackets, hair bows, or beaded lanyards, walking the corridors of their school just talking about the boys they’re exchanging letters with. I also imagined them on their sleep overs, talking about their hopes and dreams 🙂
They had a penpal project for their English class and their pen friends were to be from another English class from the rival school (seems to be a public co-ed highschool). The story is told through the letters exchanged by the girls and their pen friends Matthew, Seb and Charlie. Lyd’s special notebook and Cass’ diary also come into play. It was interesting to see how their relationship developed through the letters, until they all met in person. It was also interesting to see how their characters developed as they continued corresponding with each other.
Friendship and loyalty was, not surprisingly, the central theme in the novel. It also showed how friends help one cope with the death of a parent.
I’ve laughed a couple of times while reading this book. These kids are cool! Haha. And I might just pass this one on to my niece for a bit of reading. 🙂