5 Books I Wish I Brought With Me

Moving across the globe can be a tricky thing, and while I am not regretting the decision to move from sunny, humid Philippines to the cold, overcast England, there’s still a part of me wishing I could merge my life there to my life here. I’m not selfish enough to imagine I could pick my friends and family from their lives and dump them in Jolly Old England (Uncle Joe, haha), so instead I am going to write about the books I wish I had brought with me.

Book #1 is Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett

I’m supposed to be researching for one of my English essays (the role of women in Elizabethan society), but the very first website I went to mentioned Thomas More and I was suddenly reminded of the wonderful books I read a year or so ago. Yes, that book’s title was Portrait of an Unknown Woman. That book instilled some culture in me, let me tell you. Every time Bennett mentioned a painting, I rushed to the nearest computer and searched it up. Ahh, good times… good times.

Book #2 is the Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini

Yes, I am aware that the series isn’t called the ‘Inheritance Trilogy’ any more, but seeing as I don’t have a copy of the fourth instalment Inheritance,  I am refraining from referring to the ’Inheritance Cycle’. Make sense? Not really? Too bad. I can’t wait to get my hands on Inheritance, by the way. And that only makes me crave for its predecessors even more. *insert sad face here*

Book #3 is Vampire Darcy’s Desire by Regina Jeffers

Reading Pride and Prejudice for my English Literature class is making me nostalgic for two of my guilty pleasures: vampires and fan fiction. The former is obvious enough to need no explanation, but the latter… well, I suppose Jeffers’ work is far from the typo-filled works of tweens on the internet, but it’s still based from a well-known author. Ergo, it is fan fiction.

Book #4 is Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre

It’s one of my favourite classic novels. ‘Nuff said. I watched the new remake  with Mia Wasikowski and fell absolutely in love.

Lastly, Book #5 is Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt.

This is kinda cheating since I don’t technically have my own copy of this book. I borrowed it from a friend, and let’s just say I wish I owned it so I can read my favourite parts again and again and again. And again. It’s simply one of those stories that you can never get tired of. Much like The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge.

So those are the 5 Books I Wish I Brought With Me, because no matter how many times I could praise my Kindle, it is still no comparison to having an actual book in your hands: the flipping of pages, the dusty smell of an old book, or the scent of a new one… *sigh* Gotta love books, eh?

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Remember That List?

I love making lists; yes, I do. Call me a list-aholic if you wish, for I am not ashamed. Lists are fun and useful. They organise your thoughts into a practical format and they can be easily ticked off when needed, unlike in paragraphs wherein you have to search for key words and blah blah blah.

The list I want to talk about is the one I made around four months ago, way back when I was still in the Philippines and in the middle of the most boring of summers. I made a list about the movies I want to watch, and I’ve slowly been ticking them off one by one. It’s a slow process, but as of this moment, I’m happy to announce that I’ve watched the following movies:

• Welcome to the Rileys
• Never Let Me Go
• Let Me In
• Jane Eyre , and
• Sense and Sensibility

It’s not much, but given my record, five out of eighteen in the space of sixteen weeks is an accomplishment. ^__^ However, it was only recently have I finished watching the last two films on the list, Jane Eyre and Sense and Sensibility.

For the former, I watched the more recent version, the one with Mia Wasikowska (y’now, that girl who played Alice in Alice in Wonderland?) I enjoyed the movie, though they did cut some parts off from the novel. Because of that, I’m dead set on watching the 1996 version just to see if that was truer to the book. (Reading Wikipedia, however, I doubt it…)

As for Sense and Sensibility, I enjoyed it immensely. Of course, it helped that Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman from the Harry Potter series portray Elinor Dashwood and Colonel Brandon, respectively. And Kate Winslet, who needs no introduction. Oh, and let’s not forget the Hughs Grant and Laurie (Notting Hill, House M.D.) Watching the move makes me want to read the book again… sigh.

So yeah, I had a busy weekend. *cheeky grin*

Related articles

• #904: Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë (bridgetsbooks.wordpress.com)
• ‘Sense and Sensibility’ at TheatreWorks – review (sfgate.com)
• Happy 200th Birthday, Sense & Sensibility! (unputdownables.net)
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Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë

To be completely honest, I never really planned to read any of the Brontë sisters’ work after Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Yeah, I know, shame on me.

A friend of mine introduced me to the movie of the former (we just talked about it, and I haven’t really seen the movie yet), and as for the latter, it was because of Twilight that I began reading it. When I showed up in school with that book in hand, I had to explain countless of times that “I really wanted to figure what the fuss was all about.” I mean, why does Bella like the book so much and Edward doesn’t? But I digress…

Agnes Grey is a, first and foremost, a retelling of Agnes’ days as a governess. Now that might sound just like Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, but let me tell you it’s not. Both wonderful in their own right, the two books cannot be more different with their portrayal of the daily life of a governess.

To be honest, I found Agnes Grey a little boring — I’ve got nothing against it, except that Agnes dragged on and on about her religious views. I suppose that’s indirect characterization; Agnes is a fervent Christian. That’s all well and good, but there were too many times (for me, anyway) that Agnes went off in a tangent about religious ethics while all I want was for her to fall in love already!

I’m sorry. I’m a teenage girl. I’m not the sappy, lovey-dovey kind of girl, but I WANT to get to the part of the story where the boy likes girl, and the girl likes boy in return. That happens eventually in Agnes Grey, though not until past halfway through the book. Still, Agnes’ Mr. Weston is a very admirable man, and by the tone of the book, it’s understandable why the two lovers didn’t get together until they did. It’s just not in their personality to come running into each other’s arms in slow motion at the beach… though there was a beach scene near the end, and that slightly gruff but still romantic proposal at sunset.

*Sigh* What can I say? I love me some romance.

Agnes Grey is a worthwhile read. It might not sound like it with the way I’ve talked about it above, but it is. Believe me, it’s worth it.

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Give ‘em to me!

These are not a list of movies I want to watch. These are a list of movies that I need to watch. For the past year or so, I’ve either seen the posters, the trailers or advertisements for these movies. Some are even movies I’ve vowed to watch but never did such as, two years ago (like Oliver Twist, Sense and Sensibility).

So now I’m making this list, so that I’ll never forget them. The reason why I never watched these movies was because I always forget that I need to watch them, only to be reminded months later that “dang, I haven’t seen that movie yet.” If this has ever happened to you, then you are aware of the feeling if disappointment, discontent and irritation that just swells inside you. I certainly hope I am not alone in this. ^_^

• The Addams Family (1991)
• Addams Family Values (1993)
  

  Image via Wikipedia

• The Opposite of Sex (1998)
• Interview with a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
• Little Women (1994)
• Marie Antoinette (2006)
• Welcome to the Rileys (2010)
• The Duchess (2008)
• Northanger Abbey (2007)
• Never Let Me Go (2010)
• Let Me In (2010)
• King Arthur (2004)
• Princess of Thieves (2001)
• Oliver Twist (1999)
• In the Land of Women (2007)
• Sense and Sensibility (1995)
• Jane Eyre (1996, but I heard there’s going to be a 2011 film)
• Romeo and Juliet (1968)

I have no idea where to get these films, seeing as most of them were made years ago. That, and the fact that I do now know any decent movie places where I live. I suppose I should make the most of my time here in Manila and search all movie outlets. Hmm, I was lucky in finding that DVD of Pride and Prejudice TV series — Colin Firth hotness! — perhaps I’ll be lucky again.

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• The Addams Family (1991) (horror-movie-a-day.blogspot.com)