Attachments

Lincoln has completed another degree and is back at home living with his mother. He got a job as an IT guy in a newspaper company. He has nothing much to do except to man the help desk at night and also send warnings to employees whose emails have been flagged. The company uses a program to scan through employee emails and Lincoln's job is to read those flagged emails to verify whether the employee has violated the company email policy.

It was quite lonely working at night as he was the only person there. There were two ladies in the company who uses the email for personal conversations which was flagged. Since the things they discussed were not harmful and Lincoln was kind he decided not to send them any warnings. Every time Beth and Jennifer's email was flagged he reads about their life and soon he was really interested in what was happening. He was looking forward to reading them and tried to be subtle about it but it was really his job to read those flagged emails anyway. Slowly, Lincoln had realized that he had fallen in love with one of them and it would be hard to tell someone you have never met before that you love them. If Lincoln were to tell the truth what would happen and will he have a chance with her?

Attachments  by Rainbow Rowell is a book about a guy and two ladies. It's not a triangle love instead it's about a guy reading on some bits and pieces of two ladies lives' where he slowly falls in love with one of them. I absolutely love this story as it's funny, sweet, adorable and many more good feelings involved. The writing style is simple and lovely just like her other books. The plots are smooth and funny much of the time.

I usually love writing style like these where the stories are unfolded in emails conversations. I first read books like this from Meg Cabot and I loved it. It just shows that even though those mails are short conversations, a lot can be conveyed in a story. Just by reading a chain of the mail, you get to know a bit of the person's personality, their life and moods. It's an odd love story but also romantic at the same time. The character's personality slowly shows from the story line and it was fun knowing people from another person's point of view.

The author did good for her first published book and it's fantastic. This book was just such a wonderful read where it leaves you feeling happy. It's one of the books that kept my attention and I finished it in two days (actually read a bit the first day but I read about 300+ pages the following day). This book just makes my heart feels jittery and excited for the male lead and the person he fell in love with. If you like a simple love story that has some funny in it then this is your book. I'm so gonna reread this book next year and I'm super excited for the author's next book Landline.

White Cat

Cassel's family are all curse workers and he is the only one who does not have the magic touch. Curse workers are considered criminals as with a touch to the victim they can change people's emotion, kill people, change people physical condition, alter memories and more which are deemed illegal. They only have one type of curse work which is discovered when curse workers accidentally work someone or something and that is already considered a crime.

Cassel is in a private boarding school where he tries to act as normal as possible but much people knows he is dangerous as his mother is in jail for her crime. He had a girlfriend and secretly running a bet system as the rich kids like to bet on silly things. One night he found himself on the roof of the dormitories as he was dreaming about chasing a white cat to get back his tongue. When he woke up he was falling off and managed to hold on and yelled for help.

After the incident, the school decided to send him home until he can proof his sleepwalking problem is safe. His eldest brother Philip came to pick him up and that night when he was staying over, he heard his brothers talking to their grandfather. As it seems everyone has been keeping a secret from him. Philip's wife also seemed odd saying that she hears music all the time and her face looks distress most of the time. Cassel figured that there is something going on as the details to the incident of him murdering his best friend Lila seems too vague to remember as well. Cassel has to unravel his past and memories to find out the truth.

White Cat by Holly Black is the first book to the curse workers trilogy and this book is quite unique. I absolutely enjoyed this book from the start till the end. The plots of the book is truly wonderful, it keeps your attention and then something surprises you. I have read a lot of books about magic but this book is unique and I'm intrigued that magic can be written this way. Besides magic involved in the book, there are con aspects too.

I love watching movies where people do con jobs whether big or small and this books incorporates con really really well. The author explains con really well and I appreciate the researched that was done for this topic. The characters of the book are also good because you get to know them and find out more about them in the plots that unfolds in the story. I love the main character Cassel as he seems like a complex guy but only wants simple things. He is one character that needs to find his memory and uncover the truth about himself. The character development is a job well done.

I really love the climax of the book because there's was much suspense and when it happened it really was surprising and satisfying. Reading this book gave me the feeling that I was watching a movie and I think it would be an interesting story to be made into a movie. I love that this book has moral values and also touches the dark side of people. I reccomend this books for readers who enjoy paranormal with much mystery and suspense included. I'm falling in love with this author's writing and I get to read the next book without waiting as the series is completed. I will definitely reread this book in the future.

2014 New Year Resolutions

New Year, new goals and it's been like this for some time now. I know some goals might not be achieved but I like to set it and at least try. There's always goals that are repeated for me as I failed the previous year. Every year I strive to be better than last and I believe there isn't anyone who would want to do any worse actually. As a yearly ritual, I sat down and thought carefully about those goals which took me sometime hence I'm posting this slightly late. Better late than never, so here are my resolutions for 2014:

• Read 50 books this year (hopefully 1 book per week)
• No buying makeup ban (at least until I finish 50% of the collections I have)
• Eat healthily (no fast food unless no choice)
• Exercise once a week
• Blog more beside book reviews
• Follow my schedules more often (be better at planning)
• No more excuses in laziness (work harder towards my dream)
• Grow more as person (do not judge people, do not care what other people think too much, always be humble, don't be stubborn)
• Really think carefully before I speak
• Don't let emotions get in the way (controlling my temper)

This year I have more goals and I decided to share some personal goals as well. The last three resolutions in the list is a constant struggle for me as a person because I believe there are no limitations to a person's good personality. Over the years since college till today, I have always been one emotional person that affects my life dearly and also the people around me. When I'm emotional it affects the decisions I make, the actions I take and especially the words that I say to people. I really hope that this year I will work harder on those resolutions as it matters more than the ones before it. With a positive attitude and a great personality, I believe I can complete other resolutions even better. I wish everyone a good year ahead and always remember that being happy and a better person beats all wealth and materials things in life. Also to mention the video below is a good inspiration on resolutions to have:

Thank you Bubzbeauty for inspiring to be a better person.

Favorite books of 2013

My year in reading was fantastic as I was picking young adult titles that were new and unique to me. I usually read more adults books and this year after I picked up Divergent I researched for more books like these. I also Youtube people's book hauls, to be read and much and was expose to the booktube community. I was amazed as I did not realise there were so many channels doing this. I am so grateful for the books they introduced and reviewed as it help a lot to know what young adult books to buy. Most books I stumble upon are young adults book that are in the highlights shelves in the book store. Because much of those titles were made into movies hence I also followed the trend and read those books. 

This was also the year I join Goodreads and I was amazed with the database where there are a lot of ratings for books. It also recommended some good titles for me based on my genre interest. I'm quite happy with my reading progress and I hope I can do better in 2014. The books that I'm mentioning are not in any order and I love all just the same.

1. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell is a young adult contemporary book about two teenagers falling in love. It's cute, innocent, realistic and many many things about youth. It's certainly a story that is unique and touching. Here is my review: http://www.anythingbuteverything.com/2013/07/eleanor-park.html
2. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is a young adult contemporary book about a girl going to college and she finds it hard to give up fanfiction while her twin sister does it easily and also does not want to spend much time with her. This coming of age story was super fun to read and it's adorable too. My review: http://www.anythingbuteverything.com/2013/10/fangirl.html
3. The coldest girl in coldtown by Holly Black is a young adult paranormal book where vampires are all quarantined and those suspected of the disease too. This is one vampire story that is unique and refreshing characters. The female protagonist is absolutely kick ass and brave.  Here is the review: http://www.anythingbuteverything.com/2013/10/the-coldest-girl-in-coldtown.html
4. Lola and the  boy next door is a young adult contemporary about a girl who got nervous when the boy next door is back. An adorable female character with a nice guy that is her neighbor and they used to be friends until something happened.  This is book can make you feel jolly because of the young and innocent love. My review: http://www.anythingbuteverything.com/2013/12/lola-and-boy-next-door.html
5. Insurgent by Veronica Roth is the second book in the divergent series. Although this book was published last year it was this year that I read the series and out of the three books I felt that this one was the best. The plots were good and there were good character developments. My review: http://www.anythingbuteverything.com/2013/05/insurgent.html
6. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare is the third book in the mortal instruments series and I felt that the plots were the best in this book. The characters were also fantastic as they grow quite a lot in this book. I've only read the first 3 books and this one is my favorite. The series is a good and unique to me. My review: http://www.anythingbuteverything.com/2013/10/the-mortal-instruments-city-of-glass.html
7. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare is the last book of the infernal devices series and this is my favorite book of the series. The whole series was fantastic but to choose the last book was the best one. The plots were good, characters are well developed and the ending was the best I could ever hoped for. My review: http://www.anythingbuteverything.com/2013/12/clockwork-princess.html

If you were to ask me to pick one out of those books, I would pick Clockwork Princess as my favorite for the whole year. The series was a fantastic prequel to mortal instruments and the ending was perfect. I also love the characters and the setting so so  much. The relationships between all the characters truly touched my heart and made me emotional at the end. I would definitely read this series again in the future. Truly a job well done by the author and I can't wait for more books from her.

Girl of Nightmares

Cassio has been having nightmares where he sees Anna being tortured in many ways. While he went on the job with Thomas and Carmel in a barn, Cas heard Anna's voice and hesitated to kill the ghost. Things got messy and Carmel almost got killed but in the end he managed to kill it. Cas cannot let go of Anna and he continues to think about her. He want to find ways to bring her back but Morfran warned him and Gideon told him it was not possible to do it. The nightmares keeps getting worse and last for a long time. Cas wanted to find out why it was like that and Morfran told him his athame was the connection that Anna has with him now.  Cas and Thomas found out that he could talk to Anna by opening a window and Thomas would be the witch that can help with the ritual.

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake is the second and last book in the series. The book was quite slow paced in the beginning and then it picks up late in the book. I was not impressed by this book and thought some mystery was just thrown into the book to make it slightly interesting. There wasn't enough action in the book. I was disappointed as there was not much character development on the main guy and only his friends had a bit too. The introduction to new the characters were just okay as there wasn't much background on them.

The first book was good and so I expected more on this book but sadly disappointed. I would have love to read more about Anna but she's just a side character. I rather she played a more prominent role. Overall the book ended well and besides the plot being slow it's still not bad of a second book to the series. It's seems like an epilogue for Anna dressed in blood that is quite long. It's definitely an interesting paranormal book as I have not read such a story before but the characters did not capture me much. I don't think I would be picking up both the books to reread as it's an okay book to me.