The Marsh family were astounded to hear that their son, Daniel is suffering from autism. Melanie and Stephen’s son will never be normal. He will never experience the things that a normal child would have. He will never have the chance to mingle with other kids, learn the wonders of the world inside the four corners of the classroom. All he knows is that the whole world is his.

Because of this, the marriage of Melanie and Stephen started to collapse like a building with poor foundation. Problems suddenly arise from nowhere, severing their relationship further. They argued every now and then. Stephen wants Daniel to be sent to a special school for autistic children but Melanie thinks otherwise.

Thanks to Andy and his unorthodox ideas. Melanie and Andy persevered hard to teach Daniel how to speak. They wanted to make Daniel’s life as normal as much as possible. They thought him how to speak. At first, Daniel could only manage to say a word in one go, but as they progressed, these one word sentences expanded to two, three, four, and even five words. They’ve also worked hard to teach him how to use the commode and even behave properly in the supermarket. Besides all of these, Andy became the comfort of Melanie while her husband is away, thinking of what would have become of their dwindling relationship.

Towards the end of the book, Melanie realized that she has fallen in love with Andy. But what about Stephen? The person that she married and promised to that only death would separate them? She has tried to save their sinking marriage countless times. And now, it’s Stephen’s turn to save it. Will he be able to reconcile with Melanie?

*****

What I liked about the book is that aside from the drama of the story, and as how the People had put it, the book was “… leavened with humor.” Because of this, reading the book didn’t make me bored. And because of the plot was interesting it made me crave to read and finish it.

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The problem was that there were so many technical jargons about circus throughout the book. It’s hard to imagine what was happening in some parts of the book.There were also so many characters and they were introduced almost at once and most were not clearly described. There were also characters that were quite misleading. There was this character named as Camel. It was a bit misleading at some times because the reader wouldn’t know if the protagonist was referring to the man named Camel or to the animals. There was also this character named as Cecil. I thought that he was a female. I was wrong.

What I have noticed was that there were less conversations in the book compared to other books. Also, there were only little sudden twists of events. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the book.

The first time I heard about it (thanks to NY Times), I was intrigued with the title. Strange title, isn’t? What a unique book. After reading it, I still didn’t get it why its title was so. I searched about it in the internet and it turned out that it was entitled “Water for Elephants” because of an incident between the protagonist and another resident of the nursing home. The latter said that when he was a kid, he gave water for the elephants, but the former doesn’t want to accept that. And they had argued about that.

*****

Jacob Jankowski was in his final year in college when his parents met a car accident. They died immediately, leaving Jacob alone. There was no money left under his name. Their house, he found out, was mortgaged. Because all of these problems, he didn’t answer anything in his final examination and walked out of the examination hall.

Then, he found this train and boarded it. Without him knowing it, he got inside the train of Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Luckily for him, he got a job in the circus. He worked as a veterinarian even though he is not a real veterinarian. He fed horses, cats (e.g. lions, tigers), orangutans, giraffes, and other species of animals, he nursed sick animals, trained an elephant who could only understand in Polish.

But during his stay in the circus, temptations followed him. Barbara, the sexy performer was one of the temptations that surrounded him. But the worst thing was that he fell in love with Marlena, the wife of August. Why worst? Well, August have paranoid schizophrenia — sometimes he seems to be okay, but there were times where it would be stupid to get near him — and August is Jacob’s boss.

Join Jacob throughout his journey around the United States of America, involving love and murder. What a riveting book!

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I still don’t get it why it was entitled Dogs of Babel, I still think that Lorelei’s Secret is the right title for it. Never mind that now. Let’s proceed. Dogs of Babel is about Paul Iverson’s (a linguist) search for the reason why her wife, Lexy, jumped from their apple tree in their backyard on a gloomy day in October. There was only one who can testify what really happened. The problem was that that the one who saw the incident could not speak… it was Lorelei — a Rhodesian Ridgeback, a creature with a distinctive ridge of hair running down the middle of its back running in the other direction, four paws and a waggling tail — who have seen everything.

The police had concluded that her wife’s fall was an accident. But he was certain that his wife’s death was not a mishap at all, it must be something more than the taste for an apple. He looked around the house for clues: a steak bone, a torn part of a box with the letters “CLE,” a phone call to a psychic, their books were drastically rearranged. But he can’t unravel the secrets behind these clues. And then, he had an idea. He decided to leave the school where he taught students, not to have a vacation and reminisce the days he had with Lexy, but to teach his dog how to speak like a human being in the hope that Lorelei could tell everything what had happened in that fateful day.

Yes, I know, it’s weird, trying to make a dog speak. I haven’t heard of such experiments. But of course, the book was not about that. As the book unfolds, I knew more about Lexy, Paul and Lexy’s life before their marriage, how they met, their first ever date at Disney World, how Lexy got Lorelei, how Lorelei got her name. In the end, Paul had found the answer to his search, thanks to Lorelei.

Towards the end, I was somehow moved how the story of Paul was crafted. The words that Parkhurst put in Paul’s voice were really strong. I like the book but it did not pass my standards as a and it’s now one of my favorite books, I was expecting more from it as it is an international bestseller, but nevertheless, I enjoyed the book.

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“For One More Day” is the story of Charles “Chick” Benetto, a former athlete who even made a World Series. After the death of her mother, Possey Benetto — he was away when it happened — he got so drunk everyday. This went on and on and it became a problem that caused him to be fired from two sales jobs. But this made him drink even more.

Because of this, his marriage with his wife, Catherine, started to collapse, and in due time, he had to move to an apartment but he still continued his vice. Years later, he found out that his daughter was already married. He was not invited to the wedding ceremony. His family, especially his daughter was trying to distance themselves from him. This made him decided to finish his life one night in early October…

And then, he met her mother who had been dead for years. He met the ghost of her mother. He surely had one more day to spend with his mother. In that single day, they roamed around their old neighborhood, Pepperville Beach where their house was proudly erected. And in that day, everything was revealed to Chick: what happened to her dear mom after she was sacked from the hospital, and the real thing that happened during the night before the corn puffs, when her parents decided to end their relationship.

I have to admit this, the first part of the book really bored me. Seriously, it took me months to finish this book. Nevertheless, I liked the book very much. Thanks to the sudden twist of events and its moral. It’s message was evident, we have to love our parents. We only live once, likewise, our parents. We need to make the best out of it because we don’t know where the end of the line was drawn and the chances are slim to have one more day with our beloved parents when they’re already dead.

Mitch said that this story is true, and he has checked into nearly all of the details.

It sounds implausible, but if Mitch Albom said it, I believe it.

The story goes like this: Adeline’s mother died shortly after she was born, and since then, she was treated as bad luck in the family. Her siblings, a sister and three brothers would steal her favorite fruits in the dining table while the elders were not looking, and give her a glassful of urine disguised as a tasty and cold orange juice during a very hot and humid summer day. In due time, her father was married again and another two children were added to the household. Her father would not notice her much while her stepmother would not treat Adeline and her other four siblings the same way her stepmother would treat her half-siblings. Her half-siblings would have all the luxuries in life: a tea at the local hotel, nice haircuts, and trendy clothes from the west, while they’re only allowed to eat three times a day, get clothes two sizes too small, and be treated as if they’re not part of the family.

Adeline was born in Tianjin, a port city on the northeast coast of China. As a student, she did all her best, she always led her class and bring sorts of awards in the hope that her father would learn how to love her and appreciate her, but it was only her Aunt Baba who truly recognized her talents. Aunt Baba, since she was not married was asked to take the role and responsibility of Adeline’s real mother. She was always there for her niece. She, together with Adeline’s grandparents, believed that she can do something and she can reach whatever she want, and that she is precious and special.

A few years later, they transferred to Shanghai, where Adeline continued to strive hard in her studies. She was even elected as the president of their class. But these were nothing to her parents and because of an unfortunate incident, she was banished, her parents brought her back to Tianjin where she stayed in a dormitory school during the time when the Communists were winning the war in China. It was as if she was sold to the demon. By December, she was the only student left in the school together with the nuns operating the school. Luckily for her, she got to Hong Kong, where her family migrated to because Shanghai was not safe anymore at that time. After some years there, she was able to prove to her father that she can do something. Ironically, she was not able to succeed in yearning her parents’ acceptance.

The book has definitely captivated my heart. Just after reading the first few pages, my heart was already broken into pieces. One would surely feel sad and sorry for Adeline throughout the whole book. Adeline’s story implies that the family is a very important factor for an individual’s success. It would be very hard for a person to be fully developed if his or her family does not supper him or her. This is another evidence that proves that no man is an island. More so, like Adeline, we should try our best to conquer the hurdles in our life that stops us from getting to the finish line; it is impossible to get there if we don’t even try. Look at this way, we all have the ability to get to our goals in life, but if we don’t even try to reach our goals we don’t stand a chance.

Yes, Adeline Yen Mah, the author is the Chinese Cinderella in the story, her life.. the story of her life where she struggled to feel that she is loved.

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In her book, the contestants were picked from thousands of applicants not because they looked interesting but because of secrets that they keep which the producers were hoping to be revealed while in the course of the game in the prospect that they can get higher ratings. As what Juliet (a contest and and a former TV child star) had said “Reality is boring; no one wants to watch someone brushing their teeth or paying their phone bills. It’s all in the editing, they’ve got hundreds of hours of footage, and they’ve got to chop it down to into something worth watching. What they’re looking for is stories; you have to give them a story, or zip, they’re moving to someone else.”

In this book; you will experience how to be a contestant in a game show where you have to travel around the world carrying some found objects. It’s no easy task at all. If you have wanted to win in this kind of show, you would have to prepare yourself for fatigue and stress.

Obviously, Lost and Found is like Amazing Race and Treasure Hunt rolled into one. Fans of these shows can relate with what is happening and the descriptions of the places they visited were rich. Barbara Fox, the host of the reality game show hands an envelope to the teams at every start of a segment — they Keyword Round — where the contestants would guess a riddle which will help them to determine where is their next destination is and what is the keyword to proceed to the next round, the Found Object Round. Barbara will hand two envelopes — a silver and a gold — the silver containing a clue what on earth would they have to carry to the end of the game show while the gold holds their final destination for that round. The last team to arrive at the meeting place, of course, will be eliminated.

In the latter part of the book, the producers had earned what they want from the contestants; one by one, the contestants started to explode. Their secrets were no longer secrets, on the contrary, in just a few months, the whole America will know their secrets.

What I’ve learned from this book is that if we could avoid keeping secrets, let us avoid it. Furthermore, I also learned that there are no secrets that would never be revealed. No matter how you’ll try to keep it, our secrets will find their way how to unleash their powers. And these secrets that we hold, that we keep from others can be the reason of our fall.

And in the end, after reading the book, you should ask yourself the same question that Barbara Fox asks to the eliminated team, “What have you found?”

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• Youngblood: The Third Generation
• I Believe it

Youngblood³ is the third installment of the compilation of essays under the same title ((minus the number three)). The essays were edited by Jorge V. Artura and Ruel S. de Vera.

It’s a book of essays that talks about what boggles the minds of the twenty-something and below. From childhood memories, food tripping, unlikely love life, and finally, to corruption, you would surely enjoy reading this book. While reading some essays , you may feel like to laugh because of the hilariousness of them. While the rest, you may feel like to cry out of sympathy and sadness.

It was really as if I was reading a blog site with entries that are far more excellent than any other blogs that I visit and read — even my blog (which I underestimate until now). If there was a comment form available, I would have posted my reaction which can be as long as the essays or even longer especially with those that I can relate with. I’m not exaggerating things, really. It’s just I’m interested with all of the essays that were picked from thousands and thousands of entries sent by somebody like you and I.

With just PHP 150.00 ((there is also this version of the book that is PHP 300.00+ if I’m not mistaken)) you’ll definitely enjoy a couple of days or a week ((depends on how fast you read)) reading it.

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