This is one of those days when the future just really seems too scary. I mean, yeah, generally, the future IS a scary thing and no one’s really prepared for what the future has in store for us no matter how carefully planned one’s life is but what bothers me the most is the fact that I am in third year of college and everyone’s pretty much dead-set on their career path - or at least some of them are - and I’m not. I still have no idea what I want to do with life and I’d like to think that that’s alright because sometimes that’s just the way things go - some people know what they want and some people just take the time to figure things out for themselves. But no matter how many times I try to just shrug it off and tell my friends that “Eh! we’ll see what happens to me”, I honestly feel scared.
I’m halfway through college and although I do love my major, I still have no idea what I’m going to do with it. I know that at this stage it’s perfectly fine for me to be feeling like this - confused, that is. I think, for the most part, I’m feeling like this because I don’t want to be one of those people who don’t know what they want to do with life. I don’t want my life to be like that of a cliched college student who graduated with a major and decided she wanted to take a completely different path. I don’t know. The uncertainty of it all scares me. It sucks. I’m all for taking risks but the stakes of this one are too high. I’ve disappointed myself way too much back in high school. I don’t think I would want to go through that again.
Day 1 - Best book you read last year
Murakami’s Norwegian Wood is, no doubt, the best book I’ve read in 2011. I actually got my copy of the book from this book sale outside the Dela Costa Hall in Ateneo for only 250 PHP. If I can remember correctly, at the time the same book costs about 500-600 PHP at Fully Booked so I guess it was a pretty good deal.
This was my first Murakami book and I was actually kind of surprised that this one was easy to read as I have heard a lot of reviews that most of his books are quite eccentric and are kind of hard to understand (this was actually proven when I moved on to my second Murakami novel, Kafka on the Shore). I could say it’s a coming-of-age novel with more explicit scenes than your ordinary coming-of-age (usually YA) novels.
It tells the story of a 30-something Toru Watanabe as he was transported back to his college days upon hearing, yes, The Beatles’ Norwegian Wood on an airplane and to his memories of his first love, Naoko, who happens to be his dead best friend’s (ex) girlfriend.
I wasn’t very fond of the ending (or lack thereof) of this book and I spent quite some time frustrating over this book but I think it’s still one of those books which just sticks out among the rest and I guess the way Murakami writes is part of the charm. He’s really poetic in the way he writes the narrative.
I’m not much of a book review person so I’m just gonna include this link from Goodreads for a better synopsis haha. I would definitely recommend this, though, for a first novel for someone who hasn’t read any of Murakami’s novels yet.
Day 01 – Best book you read last year
Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
Day 03 – Your favorite series
Day 04 – Favorite book of your favorite series
Day 05 – A book that makes you happy
Day 06 – A book that makes you sad
Day 07 – Favorite genre
Day 08 – A book that you’re reading right now
Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 10 – Favorite classic book
Day 11 – A book you hated
Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
Day 13 – Your favorite writer
Day 14 – Favorite book of your favorite writer
Day 15 – Favorite male character
Day 16 – Favorite female character
Day 17 – Favorite quote from your favorite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favorite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favorite romance book
Day 21 – Favorite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favorite book you own
Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favorite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favorite book of all timeIt’s been ages since I took on a 30-day challenge. Since I don’t have anything in my mind to post, I’ll try this one. Must be easy since I am a book whore. Haha.
While I’m not yet slumped with a lot of school work, I’m gonna try and do this challenge. I hope I actually get to finish this.
I just KEEP buying books and I have every intention of reading each one of them but I just can’t find the time.
So right now here’s an overview of the books I’ve bought in the last few months which I haven’t read yet. I’ve started with some of them though.
I’m gonna try and make it a weekly thing. Finish at least one book/week. Usually I can finish a book in two to three days but uh my hands are starting to become full with school and some other stuff I need to sort out.
Morrissey - fucking Morrissey is having his show in Manila tonight and I AM NOT GOING TO SEE HIM. He’s practically a living legend and I hate that I’m not seeing him. I’ve become a The Smiths fan and it sucks knowing that Morrissey’s around and I won’t get to see him play! I heard that half of the songs he’s playing on this tour are Smiths songs asldadakdlaksldkalkdalkdalkdlad
Back in Manila after a short visit to my hometown. I haven’t been home in almost five months and it’s weird how the place can seem so strange and familiar at the same time. I’m fortunate enough to have some place that I can go back to and still feel “at home” but at the same time, I also think it’s sad that these changes and developments going on in our city have made me become sort of unfamiliar with the place. I know it’s good that there are all these new places where one can hang out or like there are new spots which are accessible to tourists and what-not but somehow, I can’t help but feel like these things are keeping “home” away from me. It’s selfish, I know. Like for example, in downtown Naga, there used to be this Banco Filipino across McDonald’s. The bank’s been closed for years but as far as I can remember, no other establishment was opened in its place When I passed by the street a couple of days ago, Chic Boy was already in the exact location. Now I don’t have anything against Chic Boy or any other establishment for that matter, it’s just this personal feeling that I get that a place which seemed so familiar to me, becomes somehow unfamiliar.
I guess it also has a lot to do with the fact that there are a lot of things changing in my personal life (eg. college). Couple that with a lot of things changing in my hometown and …. BAM! It feels a lot like my childhood’s being taken away from me and in the process, a part of my identity is also being taken. It’s weird and probably something one can’t fully comprehend unless one gets to experience it on his own. I don’t know. I can’t even fully process it in my own mind, let alone articulate it well here in this post. I just get this feeling and that’s it. I just needed to let this out. I guess.
