Book Shelfie

I'm in love with books and I can't hide it.
Thus the shelfie!
Note: I may be too overwhelmed while typing this blog because my excitement over books are not containable. 

Some of my books are not here, but still. Yey! Shelfie!

FIRST ROW:

My Animorphs collection!

 This collection is so dear to me. I'm an Animorphs fan since first year high school (that I even did an Animoprhs 30-day challenge) and have been hunting book shops and book sales to complete the 54 books. So far I only have less than 10 books to find. This series has a lot of influence to my life, plus, it gave me my longest lasting relationship with a book character ever - yes, Marco and I are still together. No, I'm not a creep. Anyway, for more feels, feel free to read this reaction to the ending. 
Also, for all the series readers out there, I recommend this one! 

SECOND ROW:

Where my favorite books are. Wait. There is no favorite in books.

The Dapitan Correspondence, Anthology of Poems and New Poems in Filipino (projects of Marcos era) - those are the supposed highlights of this row. But in truth, all of them are. 

I was in deep relationship with myself while reading The Art of Happiness and How to Win Friends and Influence People. 

From 'Tis to Call it Sleep are my Php10. And they were good picks. 

From Personal to Island, and some Neil Gaiman books, are given to me by my lovely boyfriend. 

And if I can command people, I would command the young readers to read Artemis Fowl. Great series too. 

My shameless plugging. XD

Continuation of second row: My Neil Gaimans. I love him. 
And then there are my UP Press books, Smaller and Smaller Circles, Lacaba (forgot the title) and One Hundred Love Poems (Bought 2, gave one to my bf. Totally used for luring-my-bf purposes lol). Of course they're bought on sale. :) Great picks I might say. :) 
Rio Alma's a gift from a friend. :)
SANDMAN. I started to read graphic novels because of Sandman. I read this online before, but unfortunately the site's down already, so I have no choice but to buy them all. I failed my classes because I couldn't wake up early from reading this. Don't be obsessed like that, guys.

THIRD ROW: 

2/3 are still to-be-read

I love the thrill of buying preloved books, thus the books that are yet to be read. From left, to Albuquerque. 

Then comes Tales of Power by Carlos Castaneda. It is the last book of four, and it's the only book that I've read, but it's still a good read. It's a unique read for me.

The Bob Ongs and Ricky Lees - the light Filipino reads (compared to F. Sionil Jose).

From Bronte to Scrabble are books given to me by many people. Thank you very much! I hope that they'll never be tired of giving me books. Please. 

Storm of Swords - my favorite of the series so far. I pray to all gods that GRRM will be alive until the very last book. And that he'll be able to write many novels afterwards.

Continuation

 My big books! 'Instructions' is a graduation/birthday gift from my boyfriend! He loves me. 
Notice: I don't own a full set of series. (YET for Animoprhs)
I remember buying Harry Potter and Mockingjay just because I didn't want any spoilers. 
On top are some of the children's books that I will give to my inaanakis on Christmas. Mahirap lang kaya second-hand, but it's the thought that counts.

SANDMAN.

There. The spazz is over. Please please please share me your shelfie too! Comment your shelfie link below. :) I would love to have more book bffs! :)

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Ending

Day 30: Thoughts on the ending 

Right after I finished the book, this was my reaction:

The ending sucks.I need fucking closure; why couldn't she just give it to me??? I hate what happened to Ax... I can take it if this is ASOIAF because I already anticipated it. But to Animorphs and to an Animorph, it kills my feels! My feels are all over my days and I can't function, not until I find a good fan fiction that saves Ax from that The One. And Jake... starting from when Cassie gave the cube to Tom, I'm disturbed on why he couldn't forgive himself and move on. From then on, my mind is wondering if Marco should be thrown out of my most favorite character ever and replace him with Jake. (But seriously, Marco, if you ever happened to be alive, IRL, please I need to know you.) I'm not even starting on Tobias here.  

Oh Tobias. The world created by Applegate was never for you. Come here, let me hug you. Was he never meant to be happy? I suppose so.Yes, yes, Applegate is such a great author to generate many feels from me and other fans (goodreads). Yes, the whole series is AWESOME in so many ways. For readers who can take new things as positive, this is a goddamn good ending. But I'm not, as of now. Lacking of self-help books still, I'm selfish. I need closure. So, 4 out of 5 if I'll consider myself. But as a general reader, damn, this is perfect.

But after I read K.A. Applegate's explanation re ending, I calmed down and admit that it is indeed a good way to end a war story. The characters' wounds that hurt us readers so much are portrayed perfectly. It made me think that Rachel's better off dead because she can't survive all her wounds after. You can never love wars after reading this, and that's the goal. 

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge - Day 29: Howler

Day Twenty-Nine: Your favourite alien species.

Did you read 1984 by George Orwell? There's this part of the book where the protagonists, all along thinking that they were alone in the room, said "We are the dead". But then someone responded, "You are the dead". That scene, while reading it, was the most chilling but/most terrific thing that I've read. 
I associate that feeling to Howlers, too. 

Howlers, the alien species made by the evil Crayak, are made to play a game - killing game. They are these babies that thought the poor thing that they're killing is a toy that they must play with. 

I applaud K.A. Applegate for creating them. What they're doing was sick, but they're innocent; they don't know that killing is a vile thing to do, so you don't know how/what to feel for them.

I love Animorphs for all the mindfucks it gave me, and the Howlers definitely did this to me too, that's why they're my favorite aliens.

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 28 - Ellimist or Crayak

Day Twenty-Eight: The Ellimist or Crayak?

The Crayak (image from the link).

Image from the link.

I can't choose Crayak. He's scary and bullies Jake. He made Howlers (which is a fantastic creature added in the list of 'wtf ftw monsters in fiction' by the way. You rock, K.A. Applegate), who were programmed to look at murder as a game. 

Plus I don't get his point - why would he want to destroy everything just to rule the ultimate species? Why would he want to rule the species who could be so destructive (I'm speculating here that they would be.) that they could kill each other in the long run? What would he do/create with these creatures anyway?

So I'll pick the Ellimist.

Who would you pick?

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 26 - Movie

Day Twenty-Six: Would you be for or against an Animorphs movie?

-Against, at first. I want it to be an HBO series please. Then, Megamorphs movie for the fans that will be 'bitin' from the series' end. Oh, yes.

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 25 - Change

Day Twenty-Five: If you could make one change to the series, what would it be?

• I would want to have an extensive 'closure' to what happened to the parents. One book would suffice, hehehe. In Eva's POV. It could start at book 53.

• I would eliminate The One, which still gives me the creeps thinking about what he did with dear Ax. 

• I would let Rachel live. Why, because Tobias and Rachel's relationship is the only relationship that didn't dive in the sea of doubts. I reread book 53 then 3 after, and it really saddened me, the way their relationships (Rachel-Cassie, Cassie-Jake, Jake-Marco) plummeted. I would let Tobias be happy, for once. I have this faith in him that he could give Rachel the therapy that she would need after the war. I ship Rachel/Marco but I really believe that if Rachel lived, R/T would make it. (I hated it that J/C didn't make it. It's like shoving reality into my fiction world, and it disturbs me. Fairy tales are a thing of beauty, if you would look at it. No more whys after reading them, because they lived happily ever after all. They're easy, in contrast with the Animorphs.)

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 19 - Conversations

Day Nineteen: Three favourite quotes/conversations

Animorphs #35: The Proposal 

(1) "<Self-help books?> Ax asked. <Are they similar to instruction manuals?>

<Not exactly, Ax-man,> Tobias said. <Self-help books are like instruction books for living.>
<Indeed? Instructions for living? Such as "Consume necessary nutrients"?"Breathe sufficient air"?>"

This is my first favorite Animorphs conversation that I can remember. I even make 'Breathe sufficient air' as a motto once. Ax makes me laugh out loud most of the time. 

(2) “But mostly, I remembered what I’ve always believed. What my mom taught me. That while some things are just plain awful, most things in life can be seen either tragic or comic. And it’s your choice. Is life a big, long, tiresome slog from sadness to regret to guilt to resentment to self-pity? Or is life weird, outrageous, bizarre, ironic, and just stupid? Gotta go with stupid. It’s not the easy way out. Self pity is the easiest thing in the world. Finding the humor, the irony, the slight justification for a skewed, skeptical optimism. That’s tough." - Marco

This is straight to the heart. I'm a pity person, but I'm doing my best to get out of that because it doesn't make any difference. Sulking isn't the way out. And Marco is one fine example how to make a way out. 

Animorphs #54: The Beginning 

(3) Did it matter? In the end. My life and my - my death - did it change anything? Did I matter?

Yes. You were brave. You were strong. You were good. You mattered.
-Rachel and Ellimist

This is the summation of a life story. I'm hoping that when my time comes, this would be my last thoughts. That I mattered, too. 

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 18 - Funny Aneurysm

Day Eighteen: A Funny Aneurysm Moment (FAM)

NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD

I must say this is my FAM:
[From Book 4: The Message]

Marco's cooperative mood hadn't lasted long. I knew it wouldn't. Marco is never happy
unless he's complaining about something. Just like Rachel is never happy unless she has
something to fight against. And Tobias is never happy, period. He thinks if he's ever happy,
someone will just come along and take his happiness away.

When I read this part, I thought the POV (Cassie) was joking about Tobias, so I laughed. Out loud. This would be an FAM in Book 54 though, because the love of his life was taken away from him, at the very end of the effing series. 

I want to please give Tobias a long hug.

And this too:

Rachel's POV, Book 17:

"I think it was a dead body!"Thanks, I thought. Hope that's not a prophecy.

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 17 - Three heartwarming moments

Day Seventeen: Three heartwarming moments.

1. The characteristics of Pemalites
    - As much as how heart wrecking their end might be, Pemalites, as how they were, are heart warming. When I read the part where their story was being told, I was all 'Awww, I want to meet one.' Their chosen innocence is sweet it makes my heart melt and makes me want a dog so much.

2. Aftran and Cassie's deal
    - To be introduced to a Yeerk who didn't like the war they started for the first time is so good for my Yeerk-hating heart. Applegate had done a great job here in demonstrating the gray areas of life. The Departure should be read not only once.

3. Rachel, crying over Cassie's caterpillar incident
    -  I've just reread book 19: The Departure after reading books 50-54.  They've changed a lot because of the war, and inevitably, relationships suffered. So I was deeply touched by Rachel, crying over Cassie.in book 19 because from feeling so down due to the Animorphs' doubts with each other's motives from the last books, here comes a refreshing part of their story: when their friendship was so fresh that it would truly devastate the hard, cool Rachel to lose Cassie. I imagine, if Rachel would lose Cassie on the last parts of the series, she would return to her memories, of how deep their friendship was, because so much strain had happened to them that their recent encounters would only count Cassie as the 'valuable part of their team'. 

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 16 - Nightmare Fuel

Day Sixteen: Three moments of nightmare fuel.

1. The ant morph. O.O
    - It's like being controlled by a Yeerk, only you have a system controlling you. I don'y know which is worse.

2. Infested Jake... and all of Tom's thoughts being fed by the Yeerk to Jake
    - Nightmarish because of emotional torture. I admire Jake's stability here, ang I would hug him if he's real. The pain, the pain.

3. All books with David. *shivers*
    - It's nightmarish for me because I don't know how to handle this gray area that is David. I don't know how I would react if I'm in their places. 

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 15 - Three moments that broke your heart

Day Fifteen: Three moments that broke your heart.
(In no particular order)
1. Jake not saving his parents.
2. Tobias being human just to cry for Rachel.
3. Marco's dad telling Marco about Eva, who tried to force her way out of the yeerk's control to tell his dad not to be involved in military.

From knowyourmeme.com

Gahd the feels.

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 14 - Battle Morph

Day Fourteen: What would you choose for a battle morph?
At first, I thought I want to be as big as an elephant or a rhino, but I never saw them move fast, so I don't know if I can handle their bodies.

Plus I think I'll be more of a Rachel-angry type fighter, so I'll choose gorilla or the grizzly. :)

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 12 - Visser Three

Day Twelve: Your thoughts on Visser Three.

I'm not a Visser Three (V3) fan. 

Image from animorphs.wikia.

I think the Earth Invasion should be credited to Visser One alone. Yes, V3 infested an Andalite, but I believe he did many things that a politician would do to hold power, just to be the one to infest an Andalite. He's not a thinker, and to lead a war, one must think 3 steps ahead of the enemy, just the way Jake did. V3 did not do that. 

Also, it takes a leader to lead, and V3 is no leader. He easily kills his subjects when he's annoyed, even the most loyal ones. And he's easily annoyed. His subjects are afraid to be killed; they're not afraid to disobey or disappoint him.

Because of his true nature - angry, impatient, impulisve, vengeful - he wouldn't win any lengthy wars, for sure. 

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 11 - A Controller I love or love to hate

Day Eleven: A Controller you love…or love to hate.

Got to be Tom's Controller. I love to hate him, because I could not just erase the thought of what the real Tom felt when they saw Jake as the leader of Animorphs, and how the Controller could just shove it away.

Anyone with fanfic featuring Tom's POV please? I would love to read it. :)

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 10 - OTP

Ever since book 1, I'm rooting for Marco and Rachel, that's why one of my favorite rereads is Megamorphs 4 (See them here. They look so good together, don't they?). 

For all fanfic writers out there, please make my OTP come true. I would want to see the changes that Marco will undergo for his love for Rachel - changes as in I kind of see him as a womanizer at book 54. 

(Had to research the meaning of OTP here. XD Had to fix my internet slang vocabulary.)

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 8/9

Day 8: TV series
It's sad to admit but I haven't watched an episode, clips or even gif of the TV series. Not since this challenge. 

I only looked it up because of Shawn Ashmore - I had a crush on him when he played Iceman in X-Men. But I did not indulge on his Animorphs stint. I'm cool with him (his physical appearance) being Jake though. 
...So all I can say about this is that I cannot love or hate a thing that I do not even care to know. I'll pass.

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 7 - Visser One or Three?

Who was the better leader, Visser One or Visser Three?

I am with Visser One through and through. Having a human controller, he has an advantage on knowing how to deal with humans. Visser Three's lack of empathy combined with his extra large ego doomed it to his failure. His first appearance, the one when he killed Elfangor, could've been prevented if only he acted with his reason. Morphing a large alien being near a mall is dangerous, but he did it anyway. Near the end of the series, as he increased the production of Controllers by force, he also produced more enemies due , leading to his fall. 

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 5 - David

Day Five: What is your opinion on David?

David is one of my worst nightmares generated by this series. I would gladly skip the David series if I'm to reread Animorphs 1-54. 
He's bad for one's guilt - yes, he's a human being and he has the right to live, but he's such a pain in the ass that I was really happy that they got rid of him. However, I don't like the Animorphs' decision to let him stay as a rat. They may have picked some animal with a less suicidal life like dolphin, dog or even cat. A person may be bad, but that doesn't mean that s/he should be punished harshly, right?

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 4 - Favorite Book

Day Four: Your favourite book, including Megamorphs, Alternamorphs, and the chronicles

My favorite Animorphs books are the Megamorphs series.
But, if I have to choose just one from the series, it would be the fourth one because of these reasons:
1. When I have the time, I can't help but grab it and reread it because the cover looks extremely cool.
2. Rachel and Marco dated. That's my ultimate fanfic dream.
3. Marco died. It's weird, but I love the feels I felt when he died.
4. The Elimist and Crayak's relationship with the Animorphs amazes me to no end, and this book is one delightful example.

Animorphs 30 Day Challenge: Day 3

Favorite Morph

I have two answers here.

1. I would love to morph the duck, because of its restlessness in flying. I love the way Applegate describes the flying sensations; it really drove me to envy the characters because they were experiencing it.

2. Because I am constantly reminded on how the Animorphs (AM) generated many nightmares from morphing this insect, I would count it as my favorite AM's reaction to morph. It's the ant. I like how morphing it can be equated to being infested by a Yeerk - same feeling of helplessness and having mo freedom. I can't choose what's worse - being a prisoner of a system (work-kill-die) or having your actions controlled by an evil parasite. I love how that chapter made me think.