Bribing me with Books

Dashboard Confessional’s concert was last Thursday. Dashboard is the only band other than The Beatles and Nirvana that I will seriously kill to see Live! And I missed it! I missed it for the lame reason that I have to be in Makati very early the next morning for Kuya Paolo’s doctors appointment. So imagine my irritation when come Friday he wouldn’t stir from his sleep, and when he finally did, declared to postpone his appointment. Driven by impulse and sheer frustration, yesterday mama and I decided to hit Alabang for the sole purpose of scoring cheap books at the booksale. Honestly, I think she was trying to please me, because I was seriously and utterly depressed.

I ended up buying 9 books, and she bought far more than I did so she sure took home a lot of new books. I was a little disappointed with the choices (it’s a small Booksale shop) but I’m happy with some of my purchases, nevertheless. Here are some (with the exact covers):

WHITE SWAN, BLACK SWAN (Adrienne Sharp) is a collection of stories revolving around the world of ballet. So far, I've read two stories and it seriously feels like torture. It's like grazing a healing scar. It reminded me that I once dreamt of being a part of that world (I sounded awfully lot like Little Mermaid, didn't I?). It reminded me of soloists who were unbearably good and unbelievably skinny. Who looked just like everybody else but turned into beautiful swans on the stage. I was reminded of how much I wanted to be just like them. And with Adrienne Sharp's beautifully crafted stories, I get to peek into ballerinas' pristine little tutu worlds of pirouettes and scandals.

FALLING ANGELS (Tracy Chevalier)
I bought this because I loved Tracy Chevalier's Girl With A Pearl Earring, hoping this is just as good. Fingers tightly crossed!

WHITE AS SNOW (Tanith Lee) is a dark, sensual version of Snow White, a unique retelling of a well-loved fairy tale. I read a few pages, it seriously creeped me out I had to shut it and read something light. I swear to read it once I'm done with Miss Pettigrew. This version (White as Snow) starts with the story of Arpazia, a 14-year old princess who later turns into the evil queen.
I read the reviews, although some enjoyed it's dark, disturbing storytelling, a lot felt disgusted and preferred the Disney version. Me? I'm excited!

WHITE OLEANDER (Janet Fitch)
I have no idea why I bought White Oleander. I didn't enjoy the movie despite it's wonderful cast. But as much as I believe that books can be turned into godawful films, it is possible that terrible movie adaptations came from terrific novels, too. I also read and loved Paint It, Black written by Janet Fitch as well. So, fingers tightly crossed.

MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY (Winifred Watson)

I'm almost done with this one. Yes, that fast! Because it's a fun read, it says in the introduction that it is a version of Cinderella. One, that the old ones could relate to. It tells the one day events of the life of Miss Pettigrew a poor, virgin, middle-aged, awkward governess who fortunately found herself before the door of Miss La-Fosse, a night club singer. I find myself completely enamored by Miss Pettigrew and her sad life, I feel overflowing with joviality whenever she experiences something extraordinary like meeting Miss La-Fosse's friends and boyfriends. It's a story of second chances. Telling us that one is never too old to start living! I highly recommend this book. And so does the "1001 books you must read before you die"

THE END.