When I learned that National Book Store (NBS) is organizing an event where fans will have a chance to meet Lauren Kate in person, I immediately said to myself I have to be there. Never mind that Fallen and Torment fall under the Teen Romance genre. Never mind that I might have to brave a throng of perky/bubbly/giggling teenagers to just for a chance to meet a foreign author.

When it was announced in their FB page that only the first 50 to register will receive a book signing pass, I made sure I went there early. Registration starts at 4PM, so I was there around 2:30. There were already a few teens sitting near the registration, but since I thought I might look out of place, I decided to tour the mall.

I grabbed a quick bite. Guess where?

By 3PM, I began to worry I might get a signing pass, so I went back to the atrium. I tried to get information from the ladies manning the Registration table. I think I had asked quite a lot, it's a good thing that one of them ushered me to the area where the "early birds" were sitting. Good, I get to sit down while I wait. Since there's a couple of hours before the start of the event, I started to read Torment. A few minutes later, someone distributed donuts. Cool!

The event started around 30 minutes past 5. I've already finished reading the book and is getting a bit drowsy.  I would have dozed off if not for the appearance of two men dressed as angels. To the fans, it's obvious that they were there to represent Daniel and Cam, the fallen ones who fell for Lucinda Price. Daniel is the fallen who chose the good side. Cam, on the other hand is a demon. Although Daniel is Lucinda's soul mate, most readers seem to favor Cam. Girls always seem to prefer the bad boys.

Who you want to be with? Cam or Daniel?

There was a quick introduction of Lauren Kate. It was also mentioned that it is actually Ms. Kate's first time in Asia. Her husband is with her. During the Q&A she revealed that Cam was loosely based on her husband. Awww, so sweet. She gave some hints on the upcoming book in the series (Passion) as well as the final installment, Rapture. She read a chapter (the prologue) from Torment.

When it was announced that book signing will begin, there was slight commotion. Thankfully, the lucky 50 were given numbers. I think I waited for around 30 minutes, but it was worth it. Among other things, I told her I was relieved she mentioned that the age range of the fans of the series is from 11-65. I felt like kicking myself when I asked if she's already tired. I'm sure used to this. But, really what do you say to an author while she's signing  your book?

Since she will be signing a lot of books, I had expected just a signature. The fangirl in me was elated to find out a few extra words.

And of course, being an early bird has its perks. I went home with a freebie- a couple of bookmarks and a t-shirt! Thank you National Book Store. Keep 'em coming! :)

Whoa! I think this is the mother of all book fairs.

This month, watch out for the 31st Manila International Book Fair at SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia.  Exhibit schedule is from September 15-19, 10 AM- 8PM.

For more details, click on the image.

I'm a self-confessed sucker for fairy-tales.

If you'd have a chance to take a peek at my book collection, you'd notice right away that romance novels take up most of the space. Aside from the obvious kilig factor, I like them because they are predictable.Girl meets boy. Girl gets into trouble and boy appears as a knight in shining armor. And they live happily ever after.

Well, unless the author is a man. Apparently a man's idea of romantic is killing off one or both main characters.

So I'm constantly challenging myself to read something other than the usual. Something that I won't normally choose to read when I get home from work.

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The ultimate battle between sisters is nearing, and its outcome could have catastrophic consequences. As sixteen year-old Lia Milthorpe searches for a way to end the prophecy, her twin sister Alice hones the skills she'll need to defeat Lia. Alice will stop at nothing to reclaim her sister's role in the prophecy, and that's not the only thing she wants: There's also Lia's boyfriend James.


Lia and Alice always knew the Prophecy would turn those closest to them against them. But they didn't know what betrayal could lead them to do. In the end, only one sister will be left standing.

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Wohoo! It's day 2 and I'm happy to see entries for the promotion.

I'm not familiar with some of the books mentioned, but I must say my interest is piqued. For sure, my reading wishlist will be considerably longer after this.

I've received some queries about the mechanics and I realized that there's a need for me to post more details. Total newbie. :)

My "poster" was made for Facebook users, so I figured I should write my mini-FAQ here.

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Dear All,

As I've mentioned in my previous post, I have been cooking something up to reach my next milestone. I do hope I'd meet new people who are also passionate about reading books.

I try to keep the details short and sweet, so do forgive moi for the lack of flowery words :)

So without further ado, I present to you my Facebook promo.

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An ancient prophecy divides two sisters.

One good. One evil.
Only one will prevail...


Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become fierce enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in an age-old battle that could have consequences of biblical proportions.

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This is what greeted me today...

Oh yes, the first milestone in my road map to world domination. Hehe. Just kidding. Or not.

Anyway, I've been selling on and off since early 2009. I drive myself crazy trying to come up with tools and techniques for managing my book selling business. (Although my husband would often point out that it's definitely not profitable.) I can't count the number of times I've updated my ebay templates and the sleepless nights spent on cataloging my ever-increasing book collection.

Too much effort, but well worth it.

The positive feedbacks I received are my main motivation. And each encounter with buyers who are passionate about books are valuable experiences.

As a way of saying thank you, I shall be unveiling a surprise soon. Hopefully, this will also help me achieve this milestone.

Next milestone: 100 Facebook page members.

And it gets bigger!

If you're the type who likes to buy used books, or a seller like me, then this is the Big Kahuna!

Imagine my delight when  I received an email with the words "books, warehouse and sale" on the subject line.

I immediately dialed the number listed on their website and was able to confirm that the warehouse is open Monday-Saturday, 8am-5pm.

Click image to go to their website

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Just last week I've started following other book bloggers. I'm happy to share with you the Queen Of Happy Endings' blog.

This site feature book reviews and reading challenges. For this month, she is giving away the following books:

• The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
• For The King's Favor by Elizabeth Chadwick
• Torment by Lauren Kate

They all look interesting to me. But I think I'm leaning towards Lauren Kate's Torment.

Pretty neat, huh? And this is open to international readers who follow her site. For more details, click here.

In her suspenseful new novel, New York Times bestselling author Amanda Quick delves into the underworld of passion, geed and powers that lie beyond this realm.


Victorian botanist Lucinda Bromley has a rare talent: the ability to detect almost any type of poison. She also tends many rare plants, including a species of fern that was stolen from her conservatory just last month -- and which turns up m a poison that was used in a nobleman's murder.


To keep her name out of the investigation and to find the killer, Lucinda hires a fellow Arcane Society member. The founder of a psychical investigation agency, Caleb Jones is very good at protecting the Society's secrets -- and frighteningly good at getting the truth.


As a nearly overwhelming desire blooms between Caleb and Lucinda, they are drawn into the dark heart of a deadly conspiracy -- and into a legacy of madness that could plunge Caleb into the depths of his own tortured soul . . .

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It's that time of the year again! I missed this one last year, but I'll definitely make sure to visit National Book Store at Glorietta 5 tonight. This has the widest book selection so far within the Glorietta-Greenbelt area in Makati. Good thing I still have the GCs that my colleagues have given me :)

National Book Store's CUT PRICE book sale is back! Up to 75% off on books!
So hurry! Don't miss the CUT PRICE book sale at all National Book Store branches from July 30 to August 22. 


To look for National Book Store branches nationwide, click here.

*Again, this was reposted from my multiply site. I've decided to resurrect this to help educate ebay.ph buyers and sellers

My brief stay in Illinois made me a  big fan of online stores. I was stuck in a suburb, with no driving skills and no guts to ask a friend to drive me to a nearby mall. So when I wanted to buy a book or dvd (even clothes), I just surf online. Thank goodness for amazon! With their free shipping I need only to wait for it to be delivered at my doorstep. And I could track my packages too. It was really convenient.

When I returned here, I wasn't really willing to take the risk. I was afraid to end up buying from bogus sellers. But in an effort to save money on my latest addiction, I began to buy second hand books via ebay.ph. In just a few weeks, I've acquired a lot of books that space is beginning to become an issue. And since I'm not really a good collector, that leaves me with no other option but to dispose of them. Thus, I became an ebay seller.

Selling online is really fun and easy. One good point is that you really don't need to carry your stuff everywhere. Just take a nice picture and post it along with the item description. You can even sell used items: remember one man's trash is another person's treasure. And the risk for a seller is minimal compared to a buyer.

For those who are planning to try out ebay, here are a few tips that I could share based on my limited experience in ebay:

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*This was earlier posted in my multiply site.

Amongst fiction works, historical romance novels would always take the number one spot in my book list. Ewww! That's a common reaction that I hear. Soft porn - one of my friends would often attempt to summarize historical romance with these words. Err, I have no defense for the steamy pages. And never mind those cheesy covers. But what I do know is that, once you've read a few romance novels, you'd learn to skip those naughty pages (read: they are all the same!).

Why then would I waste precious hours reading one? One, I love history. Although I'm sure that the authors do extensive research for some novels (some may even have degrees in history), I doubt if they are 100% accurate. Reading about characters in a medieval (my favorite) setting is like travelling back in time.

Two, there's a bit of an anglophile in me (most of the books in this genre are set in England). I once devoted my time to trace the roots of British monarchy and researched on the lives of their famous rulers. Thanks to the fertile imagination of these authors, I swear they become more human in my mind.

Three. It's the only way you get to meet the perfect male specimen. Ahem, no offense meant guys.

So, since I've begun exploring new authors on this genre (other than Deveraux, Garwood and McNaught), I shall endeavor to share to those interested, my new finds. First up, is Lynsay Sands. Lynsay Sands was actually introduced to me by my friend. When I raided her house to hunt for books, she told me to try Sands' works.

Lyndsay Sands is a Canadian best selling author. She writes historical and paranormal (Argeneau Vampire series) novels. She is known for her humor. For now, I really didn't care much about her paranormal series, since I'm really after the historical ones. After reading some of her books, I'd say she's unique for she has this knack for getting her characters in awkward situations. Witty retorts are ever present, of course. But she seems to relish in making her characters suffer embarrassing moments. Here are a few of the books I read:

• Pirate Lady - A female captain of a pirate ship has to present herself into society, aiming to snag a titled gentleman, in order to claim her inheritance. Quite hilarious. Aye, aye captain - er milady!
• The Key - A novel about chastity belt. How cool is that?
• The Chase - One headstrong woman leads her betrothed to a wild goose chase.
• Bliss - The lord and lady of neighboring lands are always at each others throat and complaining to King Henry about it. The king is getting tired of the missives that bear these complaints and is seeking to put an end to this. The solution? Marrying them off to each other.

For a complete list of her books, drop by her official website.

A bit of caveat - the web site's background is bloody red - too much for my taste. Reading the excerpts, though really fun, gave me headaches afterwards.

Happy reading :)

Up to 80% off! What are you waiting for? Visit a nearby Power Books branch.

Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. 


One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.


Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

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Got my Fully Booked e-zine today so I just thought to share the news to everyone.

July 25 and 26- Exclusive Sale for Fully Booked Discount Cardholders


Enjoy up to 80% OFF on selected titles and 20% OFF on regular items on July 25 and 26. Simply present your Discount Card at the cashier.

The Discount Cardholder must be present at the time of purchase.


July 27, 28 and 29- Exclusive Sale for Fully Booked Facebook Fans and Twitter Followers


Up to 80% OFF on selected titles and 20% OFF on regular items.

To be part of this, please email your

-Name
-Facebook Profile Name and/or Twitter Profile Name and
-mobile number

to marketing@fullybookedonline.com.

You will receive a confirmation from Fully Booked.

Please present the confirmation at the cashier.

No confirmation, no discount.


Note:
Both exclusive events will be held at Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street only.
Local, consigned and N-coded items are NOT included in the sale.

I'm feeling a bit giddy today.

You see, I've been lurking around in the Facebook fan pages of my favorite Romance authors, one of them being (THE) Teresa Medeiros. I got caught in the World Cup fever so I decided to post David Beckham's picture on her wall.

And she liked him enough to create a post. Not only that, she mentioned my name. For a while I could not wipe the smile off my face.

Hmmn I wonder what my reaction will be if I meet a local author, say (THE) Jessica Zafra. Will I embarrass myself by screaming, or worse-fainting? I hope not.

From the Amazon.com Review:


The story opens in Amsterdam in 1972, when a teenage girl discovers a medieval book and a cache of yellowed letters in her diplomat father's library. The pages of the book are empty except for a woodcut of a dragon. The letters are addressed to: "My dear and unfortunate successor." When the girl confronts her father, he reluctantly confesses an unsettling story: his involvement, twenty years earlier, in a search for his graduate school mentor, who disappeared from his office only moments after confiding to Paul his certainty that Dracula--Vlad the Impaler, an inventively cruel ruler of Wallachia in the mid-15th century--was still alive. The story turns out to concern our narrator directly because Paul's collaborator in the search was a fellow student named Helen Rossi (the unacknowledged daughter of his mentor) and our narrator's long-dead mother, about whom she knows almost nothing. And then her father, leaving just a note, disappears also.

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