Seasonal Plume

One of the things that I like buying are bookmarks. I especially like pretty, unusual bookmarks, even though this sort usually means that the book will be taking a beating along the spine (and thus don’t get used too much). I have the ordinary sort, such as this one shown here, given by Caroline. They come in interesting designs and are great also for quickly marking where you are to get a bite to eat or something–I stick the bookmark just below the line I’m leaving, with the length perpendicular to the page, so that I can easily get back to reading after a few minutes.

The downside is that they’re usually made of thick paper or board, and sticking it into the spine isn’t usually going to be very good for the books in the long run. Of course, I have even thicker variety, such as this one of a poor pig becoming roadkill (how morbidly cute is that), given by my sister (click on the photo for a bigger image). I use it for my planner, as in the photo. It does eat into the space a bit, but people who see it while I’m using my planner as usually have a few words to say about it.

Another example is the portable ribbon sort, such as this one, which I bought myself (click on the photos to view bigger images). The bookmark itself is an elastic cord looped around itself, with a kind of tail for the “ribbon”. The book goes inside, as in the photo. This is even more saddening for the book, but for prayer planners like this one it’s good–it’s easy to find the right page in the morning when you’re still groggy ;)

On the up side, I don’t use bookmarks all that often — I can use random paper lying about (the most usual culprit are receipts), and more often I just remember the page number (or thereabouts), and I’m good to go. I usually read a few paragraphs to a page back to get my bearing again when picking up on reading anyway.

I wonder if bookmark usage is something I take for granted–that everyone else uses bookmarks the same way I do, or maybe there’s some technique in bookmark-fu that I haven’t yet found out. How do you use bookmarks?

I finally caved and got a two-year membership at Kinokuniya. I should have done this earlier, but I kept putting it off because I kept telling myself that books are cheaper in the Philippines. Which is true, but then the selection generally isn’t as good. I finally went and got the card, telling myself that I’ll be able to make up the membership fee since I’ll be getting:

1. All of Kamio Yoko’s Hana Yori Dango,
2. All of Takaya Natsuki’s Fruits Basket, and
3. Garth Nix’s Keys to the Kingdom series

…among others. Just getting all of Hanadan within two years actually makes up for the membership fee already! I bought a couple of things today and already got a discount of a bit over six dollars.

I remember when we were children, our parents got us memberships at one Armchair Reader, which is an interesting library concept: it was a pretty comfortable, borderline posh place (well, pretty usual nowadays with Starbucks dotting the cities, but as ignorant kids the huge cushy armchairs were posh) with shelves upon shelves of books of pretty much whatever genre. A membership apparently granted you free stay at the “library” for however long, where you can read whatever books that you liked, and then discounts for borrowing books. Our parents would leave us there while they do “grownup stuff” (like look for paints, lights, household fixtures, etc). I still have fond memories of the place and feel sad they shut down a long time ago.

I’d have to say, though, that aside from these two and the usual school library memberships, I haven’t been part of anything else that’s reading-related. That’s kind of sad, although as a kid I don’t seem to have suffered adversely from the lack of it.

This Thursday’s Booking Through Thursday is Books vs Movies:

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

Interesting question, and I was actually talking about this in brief with Faye recently. I’m not a book purist, and I think that on average, I do enjoy movie/TV adaptations a lot, certainly on varying degrees of enjoyment. To me, a movie generally has to be more compact, but that’s because it has a lot of power to convey more in a short period of time, since movies and TV shows are highly visual. Show, don’t tell, is definitely the rule. It’s easier to reach a lot more people with movies, because they’re so much easier to stomach — what’s two hours, after all, in one day, in one week?

Books, on the other hand, require a bit more patience than a movie (since it won’t end after two hours I’m sure, unless it’s a very short book or you’re an amazing speed reader) but a well-written book can go so much deeper than a movie has time for, which I feel is great. It gives one the leeway to imagine as one wills, which can give a more powerful impact to the story than a movie, with its “set” visuals, can give. Those imaginings are highly personal, tainted by one’s own preferences, and one can definitely end up enjoying a book more than a movie simply because of the highly personal nature of one’s imagination.

Going back to the book versus movie debate, I sometimes even like it when adaptations deviate from the book, as long as the premise and spirit is the same, and this definitely has a lot of bearing on the skill of the actors and the screenwriter. For example, there was a bit of flack about the BBC 2006 Jane Eyre adaptation being rather, well, “forward”, but I thought it worked well, and I enjoyed the TV mini-series immensely. The 2005 Pride and Prejudice adaptation was also rather different, but it was admittedly pretty (even though I’ve found a lot of ways to poke fun at the movie).

This isn’t always the case, though. Just recently, since I had just finished reading Eragon (and Eldest), I tried watching the movie. Oh shock horror. I couldn’t get past Saphira flying down from the sky suddenly full-grown and wise. (Maybe I should have stuck to it more, since I later on found out that Rachel Weisz had voiced Saphira.) While I don’t think Eragon is omgamazingfabulous, the movie felt quite botched together. Roran not going off to find money to wed Katrina is alright, but everyone knowing about the new farm-boy dragon rider? Uh, no thank you. I don’t think I want to know how else they managed to make a rather stereotypical, predictable fantasy epic worse.

But naturally, there are also exceptions for me when a movie is better than a book. I quite enjoyed the 1999 Mansfield Park adaptation more than the book, even though I’m a staunch Jane Austen fan. Sadly, this is the only one example I can give of a movie being better than a book, but then my sister would say the same about Lord of the Rings (she couldn’t get past Fellowship of the Ring) — something we obviously disagree about ;)

Your mileage may vary.

Finally getting around to that book meme Tina tagged me with a good couple of days ago. I kept putting it off because I have five, read it, five draft posts still waiting to get posted.

The rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment on Tina’s blog (she’s the one who tagged me) once you’ve posted your three sentences.

I started reading Eldest by Christopher Paolini just yesterday, as I wanted something not very intellectually or emotionally taxing, and I had previously picked it up at the last MPH warehouse sale (book haul coming soon).

They soon left the buildings and found themselves crossing the barren fields at Tarnag’s base. Beyond those, they reached the stone quay that edged the still, gray water.

Waiting for them were two wide rafts tied alongside a pier.

I am now tagging:

1. Angela
2. Caroline
3. Michelle
4. Danielle
5. Lenneth

I just finished Christopher Paolini’s Eragon, after resolving to read it since it’s been turned into a movie (no, I haven’t watched the movie, and yes, I heard it wasn’t good). As a YA fantasy novel, to me it was pretty typical: fast-paced adventure, magic, dragons, a likeable protagonist who is coming of age. It was an enjoyable read, and I’ll definitely be picking up the next installation soon.

(Spoiler warning! I will be talking about some plot elements that affect the ending of the book.)

I don’t exactly know if I feel it’s doing a good bit of foreshadowing or if it’s too much. I obviously haven’t read Eldest, but already I feel like it’s going to be a no-brainer. For one thing, Angela the witch’s foretelling of Eragon’s future felt like… wait, already? So we already know there’s a near-death, someone who’s family will betray him, and there’s a noble love on the horizon.

I felt the near-death would be Brom right off. I mean, seriously, who else was it going to be? Who else (who’s still alive) was close to Eragon other than Roran, Brom, and Saphira? If Saphira dies, there goes the story. There was a chance it would be Roran, but I felt that Brom would make more sense, more impact.

And besides, there was the whole thing about the betrayal of someone who’s family. That instantly pointed to Roran, but! We skip to the end of the book, where we, omg, find out about Murtagh’s past. Murtagh Son of Morzan who, when sparring with Eragon, was his equal in every respect, even when they tire. There was mention of them being so alike each other, but yet differing in beliefs. Let’s not forget Murtagh’s mother, who came from an unknown village, who mysteriously left when Murtagh was three, and returned just as mysteriously.

Oh, what’s that about Eragon’s mother? His mother, who had become apparently rich, went home to Garrow five months pregnant with Eragon, gave birth, and then pleaded that he be raised there, and then disappeared. I mean, seriously? You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to put, omg, two long-lost brothers together and, in the end, have them face each other in a heart-rending, emotional battle between good and evil! Not to mention battle for the heart of a noblewoman, Nasuada, apparently. There was a stray thought about it being Arya, but you never know. Would that be possible in Eragon’s world?

Okay, maybe I’m wrong about some of these points. I don’t even know what I think about all these guesses of mine. I feel like, what, why is this so easy?? I don’t know if I enjoy it, making all these guesses.