Setting the Scene: The Trolley-Lady

© Bobbie Rebultan

She stacked a fresh batch of cauldron cakes atop her trolley, releasing a fresh smell of caramel and cinnamon. She strolled down the corridor, occasionally taking a peek inside the compartments. She was careful. With years in this job, the students are happy when they see her, but she doesn't want to be intrusive. Oh she loves these kids and they are well-behaved, but teenagers are capricious!

Setting the Scene: To My Darling Bookworm

 © Bobbie Rebultan

Specks of dust floated and danced in the light drifting through the clerestory. A smell hung in the air, of mildew and spring. A peculiar blend of old and new.

A girl, barely an adult, crossed the room. Her footsteps echoed with sadness and curiosity. She held in her hand a piece of paper. On it is her mother's round cursive. "To my darling bookworm," it read. "May you find home in these pages as I have." With dark, inquisitive eyes, she gazed at the bookshelf in front of her, age-old and imposing with the amount of books it held. But it welcomed her, creaking softly as her hand pulled open its glass doors.

The girl reached up and took a dog-eared book from the shelves. It rested in her hands with a sigh, the sound of a soul finding its way home. Its spine made fragile by time, and its pages smelled of memory.

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The Book Cellar candle from Frostbeard Studio (@frostbeardmpls) featuring the first favorites to occupy my shelves. What it reminds me: discovery of long-lived treasures.

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Notice: Words and pictures are mine. If you want to borrow them, please read my Content Usage Policy here. Thank you! :)

Review: Norse Mythology

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This review is also found on Goodreads! :)

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Reading this book has been a most magical journey. A tale of gods, warriors, creatures, and giants. Of battles and tales of trickery and gods outplaying each other.

All the tales in the book were as delightful and intriguing as the next, but my favorites are:

* Thor's Journey to the Land of the Giants : Thor, Loki, and Thialfi's journey to Utgard was one of the most fascinating stories in this book, especially Utgardaloki's challenges to his visitors. These challenges, in hindsight, proved their strength.

* Ragnarok: The Final Destiny of the Gods : The only word I can describe this last tale on the book is epic . The narrative was short as far as battles go, but it gave leeway for scholars and storytellers to give it their own unique spin--a chance Gaiman did not waste. At the end of Ragnarok came the rebirth of the world, which filled me with hope, as Mimir's head filled Odin.

Setting the Scene: A Woman of Literature

© Bobbie Rebultan

It stands over me, bright and beckoning. Contemporary, but a little weathered. The facade is marked by a simple FULLY BOOKED sign in large block letters. Large windows give me a peek on the wonders within.

I step inside and I am greeted with both a rush and a hush--a feeling of thrill and peace only books can bring. The multistory shelters thousands of worlds and realities. Numerous floors and endless shelves lined, stuffed, and stacked with books. My eyes and heart leap from one shelf to the next. The crew, clad in their signature red shirts, smile warmly at the wondrous gaze of their visitors.

On the center, there she sits, grand and dominating with her infamous icy gaze--relaxed while she holds her pink cat. I look up at her and wish to be what she is: a woman of literature.

I step out, grinning from ear to ear and hugging to my chest the new stories I have adopted to fill the library I keep in my room, and the one in my head. I imagine myself trailing smiles, glitter, stars, and a faint smell of books as I emerge from the bookstore. ❤ It seems to me that the heavens noticed I was lonely, so they gave me the universe and called it a bookstore.

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This week's vignette will be about my favorite bookstore, Fully Booked (Happy 10th Anniversary, BGC branch! ❤) And inspired by the wonderful smell of the Bookstore candle by Frostbeard Studio (@frostbeardmpls).

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Notice: Words and pictures are mine. If you want to borrow them, please read my Content Usage Policy here. Thank you! :)

Review: Bone Gap

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This review is also found on Goodreads! :)
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Actual Rating: 3.9 stars
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Magical realism confuses the hell out of me; I won't disguise that truth. I've had to research the difference between magical realism and fantasy, because as I was thinking of what to write in my review, I kept wondering why I'm not fond of magical realism whereas I love fantasy. The former is grounded on the world as what we perceive as real as opposed to the latter, in which the setting and characters are completely made up.

Surprisingly, Bone Gap was not as complicated as I thought it would be. I was able to enjoy and follow the story because it was still comprehensible. Yes, the circumstance was out of place because it was laced with fantasy. I found myself getting frustrated for any lack of explanation or background on the fantastical elements, and I desperately wished that it will be explained at the end. Of course it wasn't. This is magical realism after all--it's confusing and all that is magical will not be demystified. This may explain my aversion to the genre--I like things that make sense, that can be untangled to an extent.

Review: Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This review is also found on Goodreads! :)

Parts tagged with * has major spoilers. If you still want to read it, please do so on Goodreads here. :)
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This is still one of the most clever mysteries I've read. Unique and fresh even as I've only read it now in 2017. I suspect that I would enjoy this book immensely when I read it for the second time. However, I cannot put this on par with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, which in my view is in a league of its own.

However, one of the things I love about Murder on the Orient Express is how it seemed to be darker and more sinister. I'm attributing it to the fact that the setting was closed and secluded, and also because the weather here in Manila has been dark and gloomy recently--which is always an ideal background for reading mysteries. However, I often found myself confused and unable to recall the passenger names and details; I even mix them up even after finishing the novel. Unfortunately for an easily-distracted reader like me, some of the characters were not given enough particulars to stand out. The characters were mysterious, and this is partly to blame. The amount of secrecy behind each character became a nuisance. (view spoiler)*[But I guess, this whole affair lies on the mystery of these characters. All the lies behind each suspect muddled my perception of the crime. (hide spoiler)] Another thing I loved about this book is how it showed Poirot's ability to manipulate his suspects into revealing their little truths. His guesses were not absurd and they were always substantiated and shown (unlike some detective stories *coughdeckercough*).

Setting the Scene: Old Friend

© Bobbie Rebultan

Harry stared at the headmaster's chair. A year ago, a phoenix with intelligent eyes perched on it. Now, it looks bare. Around them portraits hung, their occupants peering down at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, some bored, but most are curious, wondering what brought the three students back to this office.