Bad Romance: I Did Something Terrible to a Customer

This event happened a couple of weeks ago. It took all this time for me to finally gather the strength to share this experience online. I have been a believer that books are not gender specific; there is no such thing as books only for girls or only for boys, so you will totally understand why I wanted to punch myself in the face after my despicable respond to a customer. Here it goes. 

My name blared on the speaker of the store asking me to go to the information desk in the middle of the third floor. My coworkers never called me there unless a customer was searching for a YA book recommendation. I dropped all the books in my arms, promising I would come back for them (yes, I talk to books). I went straight to the information desk with haste on my shoes.

My coworker greeted me with a smile. “This gentleman over here wants to know what is a good teen romance book.” 

She pointed to a boy who’s about thirteen to fifteen years old. He was holding a hardcover copy of The Night We Said Yes by miss Lauren Gibaldi.

I never just throw random popular titles. I love personalizing my book recommendations, so I started asking questions.

That’s when things started to fall down.

“Is it gonna be a gift?” I asked. “Is it for your girlfriend? Tell me what kind of romance books she loves to read.”

He was quiet for a few seconds. That’s when I noticed the kind of hurt plastered on his face that I knew so well. I already knew what his reply was going to be, but I let him talk.

“It’s actually for me,” he said.

I apologized a million times, and I gave him tons of recommendations. Even though my lips were saying book titles that night, my brain was praying that I could erase the hurt I had given him.

Even until now, I still hate myself for assuming that boy was looking for a YA romance book for his girlfriend when I, myself, enjoys YA romance a lot. But I have learned my lesson. I am a firm believer that books are not gender specific, so assuming a boy who wants YA romance recommendations is buying the books for his girlfriend, sister, or whatever is just plain wrong.     

Paper Towns is not a Paper Movie: Paper Towns Movie Review

As I type this, my mouse pointer is in the other window hovering the buy button above the Paper Towns soundtrack album cover. Even though I am a John Green fan, I’ve never thought I would find myself obsess with the movie Paper Towns, because my expectations for the movie was beyond low, and there are reasons for that, but, boy, the movie made me regret setting a low bar. 

When I enter the movie theater, the familiar scent of butter and kernel hit my system. I set myself in the middle of the theater. The movie started with sir John Green thanking everyone who made the movie possible. I gave him a thumbs up. I was excited, but a nervous breathe escaped my lips accompanied with the words “let’s see how this goes.” 

CARA DELEVIGNE

One of my biggest concerns in the movie was Cara Delevigne. Yes, she is very beautiful, but I just didn’t see her as Margo. I see Margo as a girl who can fade into the background with her mysterious attitude. I didn’t think Cara could do it, but she proved me wrong. Cara gave Margo’s character the power that sir John Green put in the book. The way Cara interacts with the setting and other characters gives the feeling of she knows everything about herself, but it is only all a facade. Margo doesn’t know who she is.

Q, Ben, and Radar  

One of the reasons I fell in love with the book Paper Towns is the portrayal of friendship between Q, Radar, and Ben. I was scared that the actors would not give all the characters justice. I also thought that even though they picked good actors, the chemistry was the main ingredient to make the movie work. The movie, however, did a magical job of showing the trio’s deep friendship. The movie introduced Radar and Ben with what you needed to know about them– Radar and his parents’ black Santa Claus collection, and the Bloody Ben rumor about Ben– and then the actors gave the rest of character development through dialogue and scenes. Ben is very memorable in the book and I adore him a lot, and I give the movie my biggest kudos for making Ben a memorable character on screen too. Ben will charm you with his hormone driven dialogues. He is a true image of a teenager, but at the same time, he is still very unique. 

Faithfulness to The Book 

Is the movie faithful to the book? Not entirely, but what movie is 100% faithful to the book, right? There are changes in the movie. Some scenes are tweaked a little bit, but it still follows the plot. You’ll also see that those changes fit perfectly in the film.

Is the Movie Worth Seeing? 

Definitely! it’s a 10/10 movie. The movie perfectly gives the “people fall in love with the idea of someone” message. Even of you have or have not read the book, what are you waiting for? Go to the nearest movie theater now!  

Winner of My 1st Summer Giveaway + Another big Giveaway: Click Here to Join

Summer is full of fun and magic, so another way of making it more magical is reading a fantasy book. I guess it is only fair to share the magic with you, guys, by giving away the first book of The Elemental Trilogy: Elemental by sir Antony John. According to sir James Dashner, author of The Maze Runner, the book is…

“Completely gripping and full of intrigue, revelation, mystery and suspense. I highly recommend this book.” 

I know you are dying to know if you are the winner, but hold your horses. First, here are the entries for the giveaway. And yes, you got 2 entries if you like the Facebook and Instagram posts together.  

I guess it’s in my nature to give some things a little twist, so I decided to do the raffle Hunger Games style. 

I put all the entries in this plastic jar and picked 6 names. Here they are: I only have one book to give away, so I put them back inside the plastic jar. I want to keep the suspense alive (like a real writer), so let’s draw 3 entries from the 6.Here’s the magic 3. Is your entry still in there? Let’s draw the final winner. Who is it gonna be? Okay, here it goes. Congratulations! You’ll receive your price as soon as possible. If you are not the winner, don’t be discourage. I have another giveaway coming, so keep scrolling if you want to join. 

LET’S KEEP THE INTENSITY OF SUMMER HEAT ALIVE! 

ANOTHER GIVEAWAY. 

Want to win this book? 

Oh, wait. That’s boring. Just one book?

Want to win both of these books? Both on Hardcover. Now we’re talking. 

(Click for synopsis)

(Click for synopsis)

Here are some ways to win both of those books. Yes I will only pick one winner, so pay attention. 

• Like and hit the share button of this post on my Facebook account. (Equivalent of 1 entry)  
• Share this on twitter. Don’t forget to tag me @Fearless_Kurt (Equivalent of 1 entry)
• Like and repost my Instagram post about this give away and tag me. (equivalent of 1 entry)

Deadline of this giveaway is September 4. Winner will be announced on September 6.  

  

Parallel Worlds: Jumping From the World of Books to the World of Anime

July marks the middle of the year, and 2015 has proven again that it’s had given me new experiences. From July 2-5 I was a main event staff at Anime Expo, and I am happy to say that I have realized something really important with the experience.

I have a lot of friends like me who are big readers but only know a tiny bit about anime. And then there are my friends who loves to watch anime and read manga, but they only know a little bit or nothing at all about the YA genre world. 

The moment I stepped at Los Angeles Convention Center, I was expecting a whole different world even though the way the cold artificial air traced on my skin was familiar. However, before I even reached day 4, I’d seen many things that the anime world is just a different version of the YA genre world.

PASSION

(click for photo credit) 

Cosplaying is not that big in the YA world compare to the Anime world, but I actually did not see a big difference when it comes to passion.

Making costumes requires a lot of time and pure dedication. I cannot take away the passion that anime lovers show in cosplaying. YA fans cosplay too, but not that much. However, YA fans show their passion towards collecting a lot of books and carrying them around just to get them all signed. YA fans love book signing as much as anime fans love cosplaying. 

I did not buy anything other than this cute plushie called a cockblock. It is a rooster and a block, so it is a cockblock.Anyway, I digressed. What I am saying is I saw a lot of anime fans buying a lot of stuff to quench their anime addiction. Looking at them, I actually saw myself in them even though I only bought one $26 plush. I actually told myself, “that looks like me buying tons of books.”  

LEARNING SOMETHING NEW

Sometimes, when people talk about anime, I feel like I am still stuck on my teenage years, because I have zero clue about the new ones right now. Going to Anime Expo has made me realized that anime fans have created a bridge between the old generation of anime and the new generation anime. Attending different panels and events at the expo made me curious what Fate Stay Night is. Why is everyone talking about it? I just started the first episode today. I must say the magic system is making me want to watch more. On the YA world, a good book is just like a good anime. It does not matter how old it is, a good book or anime deserves good readers and viewers.

FEELING WELCOME

 (Click for Photo Credit)

When you think of a book nerd or anime nerd, you’ll think of a person who wears thick glasses and braces. Someone who is socially awkward. This is not 100% true, but sadly breaking stereotypes is harder than time travel. While I was at Anime Expo, I felt a sense of belonging. It is the same feeling I feel whenever I attend book events. It is like you belong in a big family and no one is there to judge you. I love how I saw some people exploded in fandom just because they were wearing shirts that show the same fandom. I know the scorching pain I feel from the eyes of people whenever I say I love the show My Little Pony. But in Anime Expo, I was just a boy who loves My Little Pony. I was just a normal dude. Not a weirdo. And seriously, the people who think that Anime lovers and YA fans have no friends other than our books and animes, then they don’t know that nerds are actually chick and dude magnets too. They should see this very handsome Captain America cosplayer:

  

Anime Expo is very tiring and exhausting. I am happy I volunteered this year. There were lots of mishaps, but a good adventure is full of failures, right? Right now, I am slowly crawling back to the anime world. I hope I could find the my teenager self that not only loves YA books, but also anime. I am for sure going back to be a volunteer next year.