F.I.R-Three Wishes

-ENGLISH SUBBED-

Title: 三個心願 (San Ge Xin Yuan)
English Title: Three Wishes
Artist: F.I.R
Language: Chinese (Mandarin)
TTS: No

Wdebo's Notes: Kyaa this song is soooo kawaii!! I absolutely adore Faye and Real's voice in this song, and I don't know F.I.R that well (I've only listened to two of their songs), but I'm pretty sure Faye and Real are engaged or married? Not sure, one of the two. The lyrics are so sweet too! And also this song has Lego Li in it so that adds like twenty thousand more hearts to this song.

Enjoy!!

Hope you enjoy! And please comment!

Wdebo :)

Cafe Chit Chat: Steve Kluger

Steve Kluger is the wonderful author of My Most Excellent Year [Click HERE for reivew], for those who haven't read it...you should!! Highly reccomended :) It was one of those books that I stayed up late, so I could finish in one sitting.

Now, onto the interview...

~~~~

Wdebo: Please describe yourself in three words.

Steve Kluger: Depending on the day of the week? “OUT OF CONTROL,” “TOTALLY LAID BACK,” “SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN,” or “RED SOX FAN.” On all days of the week: “WORLD’S BEST UNCLE.”

W: Can you describe a typical day?

SK: Depends. When I’m working on a book, I write from 10:00 to 6:00 Monday through Friday. If I’m not involved in a creative project, I’m working in civil rights law, which is usually 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. between leaving home in the morning and getting back in the evening.

W: How did you come up with your idea for My Most Excellent Year?

SK: My then-6-year-old niece Emily was watching The Princess Diaries and sighed at the end about how much she loved Julie Andrews. The idea was born on the spot.

W: Could you give a short summary of My Most Excellent Year for those readers who might not be familiar with it?

SK: Best friends and unofficial brothers since they were six, ninth-graders T.C. and Augie have got the world figured out. But that all changes when both friends fall in love for the first time. Enter Alé. She’s pretty, sassy, and on her way to Harvard. T.C. falls hard, but Alé is playing hard to get. Meanwhile, Augie realizes that he’s got a crush on a boy. It’s not so clear to him, but to his family and friends, it’s totally obvious. There’s also a 6-year-old deaf kid who’s convinced that his life is going to get back on track once Mary Poppins comes to stay with him. Told in alternating perspectives, it’s a story of a most excellent year, where these three friends discover love, themselves, and how a little magic and Mary Poppins can go a long way.

W: Are any of your characters based on anyone you know?

SK: Hucky Harper is a deaf version of my nine-year-old nephew Noah, right down to the hangaburs, his mad face, and his stuffed dog named Shut-the-Door (the purple balloon story happened to us when he was 3-1/2); my sister-in-law Lori (Noah's mother) is Lori Mahoney, replete with her pathological refusal to sneak down to the empty expensive seats during a ball game; my sister-in-law Alejandra (who goes by "Alé") always said that the one role she always wished she could have played was Lilli in Kiss Me, Kate (her audition song when she first moved to New York was "The Music and the Mirror"), Phyllis Bryant is one of my dearest friends; Lee Meyerhoff and I have known each other since we were in third grade; Augie is me when I was that age; T.C. is me when I became a Big Brother to an 11-year-old without a father; Ted is mostly my brother Garry (with a touch of my father, who built the planetarium and the state map for two of my school projects); and when I was 15 years old and wanted desperately so see the Tony Awards (which were sold out), I snuck out of boarding school in my school blazer and slacks, took the train into New York, tried without success to find a standing room ticket, and wound up pulling open the gold-painted stage door at the Shubert and telling the stage doorman that my mother--Carol Channing--had forgotten to leave my ticket at the box office. Two things worked in my favor: (1) I may have been 15, but I looked 12, which made it appear extremely unlikely that I was pulling a fast one; and (2) I was obviously telling the truth since it would have been so easy to prove that I was lying. "Miss Channing, is this your son?" "Why, no, dear. I've never seen this boy before in my life." So he waved me in and told me where to find Mom's dressing room. When he wasn't looking, I took a detour up the stairs leading to the stage and watched the entire thing from the downstage left wing with Angela Lansbury and a handful of other celebrities. (Funny--that's the only part of MMEY that people occasionally think is simply too over-the-top to be credible. But Angela Lansbury is my witness.) That's why I always felt that this particular novel was more a matter of creative reporting than creative writing--though I get a big kick out of sharing the emotional by-line with the people I love.

W: What is your favorite color?

SK: Blue–especially aqua.

W: If you were stranded on an island and could only bring five things what would they be?

SK: Oh, boy. An iPod with my entire CD collection on it, the Fireside Book of Baseball, and three boxes of Snackwell’s Devil’s Food Cookie Cakes.

W: Are you working on a project right now? And if so, can you tell us a little about it?

SK: Nothing in the writing venue; I’m spending a lot of time on the anti-bullying programs in schools.

W: Who are some authors you look up to?

SK: Bel Kaufman, Mark Twain, Madeleine L’Engle, John R. Tunis, William Manchester, and Mark Harris.

W: What is your FAVORITE book in the whole entire world, one that you think everyone should read.

SK: The Southpaw by Mark Harris, Iron Duke by John R. Tunis, and Tom Sawyer by Mr. Twain have always tied for my number 1 slot.

W: Do you have anything else you would like to add?

SK: Fingers crossed for the Red Sox in 2010!

W: Thanks for letting me interview you!

~~~~

Click HERE to visit Steve's website! And don't forget to support My Most Excellent Year!

Wdebo :)

Wisdom Teeth are HORRIBLE!!!

So, I really do apologize for the lack of book related posts...and I really hate to use the same excuse (junior year) but I am really stressing...so I'm very sorry. And the next thing is that I got my wisdom teeth pulled out and, it's been four days and I still have horribly big chipmunk cheeks.

AHHHHHH!!! For those who have had your wisdom teeth pulled how long did it take for the swelling to finally go down?

Well, I just needed to vent somewhere...thanks for listening (reading) :P

Wdebo :)

Push By: Sapphire

Title: Push
Author: Sapphire
PAPERBACK
Amount of Pages: 177
Publisher: Knopf
Release Date (1st edition): June 11, 1996
Geared Towards: Adults
Cafe Warning: Full of mature content: Sex, cursing, etc...not reccomended for anyone under 14.
Extra Info: Push has been made into the movie Precious.

"Push, Precious, you gonna hafta push."

Summary (From B.O.B): Precious Jones, an illiterate sixteen-year-old, has up until now been invisible: invisible to the father who rapes her and the mother who batters her and to the authorities who dismiss her as just one more of Harlem's casualties. But when Precious, pregnent with a second child by her father, meets a determined and highly radical teacher, we follow her on a journey of education and enlightment as Precious learns not only how to write about her life, but how to make it her own for the first time.

Wdebo's Review: Push, wow, I haven't read a book like Push before. I'm more of the kind of girl who reads more love stories and light YA/Chick lit, but after seeing the hype about Precious, I thought I should read Push...just to see if I might enjoy Precious. Push was as disturbing as it was wonderful. The writing, written from the way Precious talks, from her spelling to her grammer, it was very raw, how she states everything was just greatly written and perturbing at the same time.

Push was the kind of book that when you started, you wanted finish no matter how much it scared or disturbed you. It was also great to see how Precious grows through the book through the writing.

Favorite character: None, really.

Cafe Cover Chat: The cover is simply but also brings the essence of the book out for some reason. (B+)

All in all, a very very well written, yet disturbing book, that is a must read, it's horrible to think that this could ever happen in real life.

Grade: A-

Wdebo :)

Tank- My Personal Angel

-ENGLISH SUBBED-

Chinese Title: 專屬天使 (Zhuan Shu Tian Shi)
English Title: Personal Angel
Artist: Tank
From: Hana Kimi!! [Click HERE for review]
Language: Chinese (Mandarin)
TTS: No

Wdebo's Notes: Oh wow, I absolutely love this song...very well sung by Tank and the lyrics are very sweet, and Tank plays the piano so, that makes it even better :)

I absolutely love Chun and Ella together...they should have had an ending like this instead of the Hana Kimi ending...I loved that drama, but the ending was very disappointing!!

Enjoy!!

Hope you enjoy! And please comment!!

Wdebo :)

The Realm of Possibility By: David Levithan

Title: The Realm of Possiblity

Author: David Levithan

PAPERBACK

Amount of pages: 210

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Release Date: August 10, 2004

Geared Towards: Teens

From: Library

"Moments into minutes.

Minutes into hours.

Hours into days.

Days into years.

Years into possiblity"

Summary (From B.O.B): There's a girl who is in love with Holden Caulfield. The boy who wants to be strong who falls for the girl who's convinced she needs to e weak. The girl who writes love songs for a girl she can't have. The two boys teetering on the brink of their first anniversary. And everyone in between.

As he did in his highly acclaimed Boy Meets Boy, David Levithan girves us a world of unforgettable voices that readers will want to visit again and agian. It's the realm of possiblity open to us all-where love, joy, and the stories we tell will linger.

Wdebo's Review: Question: What's better then a love story? Answer: Twenty love, life and hate stories of course!!

I have been a big fan of David Levithan after Nick & Norah, Naomi and Ely and Boy Meets Boy. He is a very wonderful author and able to create this great stories. The Realm of Possibilities was no exception. I am a sucker for a good love story, as many probobly know, and this book totally satisfies all my love story needs with other good life stories thrown into the mix.

It was very well written, and since it was written in free verse it gave a more realness to it, and each character's free verse reflected his or her own personality and character which was a very great element to the book.

I loved all of the stories; however, some were a little bit slow, but others were just awesomely great! I loved Anton and Gail's story the most, so adorable-ly cute!

Favorite Quotes:

"I am the one who knows who you are.

I want you to be happy.

and you could be

with me." (Page 56)

"Being a bitch is easy. It's finding the alternative that's hard." (Page 163)

"I should talk to him.

I know I should talk to him

but I do not talk to him.

I watch him from afar

and love him." (Page 169)

Cafe Cover Chat: I know that ring on the cover is a big symbolism of the whole story, but I really think it's kind of bland looking. (B-)

All in all, a great little, short, quick story about life and love that will make your day and hopefully lift up your spirits.

Grade: B+

Wdebo :)

Mayday-Like Smoke

-English Subbed-

Chinese Title: 如煙 (Ru hui)

English Title: Like Smoke

Artist: Mayday

Language: Chinese (Mandarin)

TTS: HERE

Wdebo's Notes: Love this song! Ah Xin (The lead singer) is an amazing songwriter, all his lyrics are so beautiful and have great meaning. The lyrics in Like Smoke are beautifullly lyrical and the meaning is just so wonderful. And the mv was kinda bittersweet, it just sounds wonderful and one of my favorite Mayday songs.

Enjoy!

Hope you enjoy! And please comment!

Wdebo :)

Waiting on Wednesday (8)

Long time no see WOW! So, I have been seriously horrible at keeping up with WOW....but I'll try to do better in the future!!

Waiting on Wednesday was brought to you by Breaking the Spine.~

Today's book is...

Runaway (Airhead #3) By: Meg Cabot

Summary (From author's site):

Where can you hide

When everyone knows your name?

Em Watts is a prisoner: Brandon Stark, heir to the Stark corporation family fortune, is holding her captive.

Em Watts is a liar: She's told all her friends she loves Brandon, and that everything is fine.

Em Watts is scared to death: She really doesn't know how she's going to get out of this one.

She's still in shock over the fact that the girl whose life she was forced to take over when her brain was transplanted into her body is alive—alive and furious with her for stealing what she claims was rightfully hers...

...including Brandon Stark, who's intent on finding out what that girl's secret was, and using it to get revenge on his father.

But that's not all Brandon wants…he wants Em. And not just to use her to trick Nikki into revealing that secret, and helping him secure his place as head of Stark Enterprises once and for all.

But Brandon's not the only one who wants something from Em. Christopher wants to use her to hurt Brandon…for taking her away from him, and to destroy Stark Enterprises.

Em Watts is tired: She's tired of being used. Tired of being lied to. Tired of being told who she can and cannot love. Tired of the lies she's being forced to live.

With everyone she loves furious with her for things she can't explain, Em's reached the end of her rope...what's the point of even going on?

But when she discovers the truth about Nikki's secret, she knows there's only one person she can turn to.

Will Christopher be able to put aside his personal feelings and help her expose her employer to the world? Is it even fair to get Christopher involved — since if he agrees, there's every chance that Stark Enterprises will try to have them both killed—this time, permanently?

Maybe it would be better for Em to just keep on running...

Why I Want to Read This: As a giant Meg Cabot/Airhead fan, I seriously CANNOT wait for Runaway...I want to read it right now. I read the exerpt...and OMG, can you say amazing??!! I really want to see Christopher and Em get together, he finally found out in the second book (why are guys so stupid? I mean she basically told him in the end of the last book, and it took him till the end of the second one to figure out. Why are guys so dense?) that it was her, except Christopher is getting a little crazy, and he seems to be using Em more then loving her...I have a nasty feeling, something bad is going to happen.

Release Date: May 2010

So, what are you waiting on?

Wdebo :)

Automatic Loveletter-Hush

Title: Hush
Artist: Automatic Loveletter
Language: English
Extra Info: The embedded vid is just the lyrics, but for the actual MV click HERE, because I'm not allowed to embedd it :S.
TTS: No

Wdebo's Notes: This is actually my first Automatic Loveletter song, so I have no idea who they are, but I really love Juliet Simm's voice, it has this husky ring, yet it is in a pretty high level so it draws you in. Except I think the mv is pretty ugh, but apart from that, the song is quite nice.

Hope you enjoy!

Hope you enjoy! And please comment!!

Wdebo :)

Play Me By: Laura Ruby

Title: Play Me
Author: Laura Ruby
HARDBACK
Amount of Pages: 310
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: September 9, 2008
Geared Towards: Teens (Girls, maybe some guys)

“‘You should play me sometime. I’ll show you harsh.’”

Summary: Eddy Rochester is an aspiring director and total player. All he thinks about is movies and girls. His hit online TV show, Riot Grrl 16 is currently in the running for a competition on MTV and Eddy is sure he’ll win and become famous, and live his life directing.

That was his whole life, movies and girls and girls and movies. Until he faces off again with Lucinda Dulko, a serious person both in tennis and life. Eddy hooked up with her when they were younger in Camp Arrowhead; however, they broke up, when Lucinda found out that Eddy was hooking up with four or five other girls at the same time. Now, she’s back in his life and Eddy feels himself falling for her, harder and faster then he has ever fallen.

Will Eddy get everything he wants?

Or will the player finally get played?

Wdebo’s Review: Play Me was a pretty good book. There were moments of hillarious-ness, moments of sadness and moments of OMG did you seriously say/think/do that?! It was great to see how Eddy matured in the book, and learned some lessons, but it wasn’t overly moving and touching. I actually felt pretty bad for Eddy, he had a pretty screwed up life, he lived with his father, stepfather and half brother, but his mother ditched all of them for a small role on TV and another man, but that doesn’t mean he should have become a total player.

The plot was pretty good, it’s nice to see a lot of movie references in a book, and though the player part is kind of not the freshest subject but this book did have a nice-ness to it that I liked. Except the ending was pretty predictable.

Eddy doesn’t really sound like a guy/player, he sounds kind of like a really sissy guy trying to act macho, and the whole hormone laden talk was too overdone and could have been toned down a noch, and WHAT is with guy’s chest fascination?

Cafe Cover Chat: I think the cover is nice and kinda cute, but that is defidently not how I pictured Eddy to look. The guy on the cover doesn’t look like a player he looks way too nerdy (not how I picuted players to look) and his hair color is different then what I pictured, I thought Eddy’s hair was on the dark red level. (B-)

All in all, a pretty good book, which is a nice read, for those who want some light reading.

Grade: B

Wdebo :)