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You by Caroline Kepnes. Book & Lifetime Series Review.

September 24, 2018 / OTHER STUFF / 0 comments

“Every day I close up without finding anyone like you. Look at you, born into my world today“. Excerpt from the novel “You” by Caroline Kepnes.

Hey You, ever wonder what’s inside the mind of a stalker? oh well, let’s just say, a very romantic stalker that doesn’t really seem to realize that he’s actually a stalker or he doesn’t want to admit that he’s one. This book by Caroline Kepnes called “You” is all about the story of Joe Goldberg. A smart bookstore manager in New York City who seems harmless, seemingly kind, and likes to keep to himself with a serious passion for books. Joe seems like any other guy, romantic and cool, but Joe has a secret, in fact, he harbors a lot of secrets, and when he’s in love, he’s the type that goes all the way.

Joe met Beck at the bookstore and he was so captivated that began googling everything about her. She became the subject of his obsession, passionately knowing and trying to find things about her through the instant access of the internet and today’s incessant display of social media. Meanwhile, Beck seems like the ideal, pretty and likable girl that every guy would want to have. She’s everything that Joe desires and he has fallen madly in love with her, to the point of obsessively imagining and following her. He’s determined to do whatever it takes to make her fall in love with him, and nobody can stand in his way.

This book is giving me the whole Dexter meets Pretty Little Liars with a Gone Girl vibe. It’s giving me all the “feels” (LOL, whatever that means) and it’s beautifully written in the sense that it would make you really get into the mind of a stalker and sort of realize what it must be like to fall head over heels crazy in love with someone so bad that you’d actually do anything to make that relationship happen. There is something likable and strangely relatable about Joe. He’s just like most of us when we fall in love with someone, we do get obsessed with that person and we do feel the pain if that person does not reciprocate how and what we feel, even more so if that person doesn’t even realize that we exist, right? But loving and crushing are not the same as stalking. Stalking is wrong and it’s creepy. We don’t act out on our emotions and do crazy evil things when we have feelings for someone who doesn’t seem to be interested in us. We move on and find someone who can truly love us back the way we want to. That’s life, that’s what’s normal and that’s healthy. But then again, this book will take you inside a hopeless romantic psychopath’s mind and see what it’s like to fall in love with someone so obsessively to the point of being mad.

The series adaptation of this book is currently being aired on Lifetime every Sunday night. The latest episodes are uploaded online for the viewers to watch. It’s kinda weird that Lifetime made an adaptation of this. I’ve always thought of Lifetime as the channel that contains Golden Girls, Romance films, and all the feel-good movie type, but anyway, I think the series itself is just as well-done as the book. It has all the vibes and atmosphere of the novel’s story. Penn Badgley is great as Joe Goldberg and so are most of the actors. It’s as haunting and intriguing as ever.

I listened to the Audible version of this book, and I couldn’t stop. The narration is captivating and superb. It made me feel claustrophobic, strangely in love and was always on the edge. A real page-turner and true to what they say, this book is not your usual boy-meets-girl story.

To purchase this book online, click HERE

To listen to the Audible version of this book, click HERE

To watch the LIfetime series adaptation of this book, see it HERE

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Book Review.

August 28, 2018 / OTHER STUFF / 0 comments

Outlier – a person or thing differing from all other members of a particular group or set. Ex. people whose achievements fall outside normal experience.

I’m not quite a fan of self-help books, and I don’t really know why. Perhaps because I haven’t really found the one that really inspired me. Although I do have a thing for Psychology books, especially the Feeling Good book by Dr. Burns. I’ve read countless self-help books in the past, but I always seem to just forget about them right after finishing the last page. Recently, I was wandering around at my local Barnes & Noble and I stumbled at the Psychology area when I found this minimalistic book by Malcolm Gladwell called the “Outliers”. I immediately read the back part and was truly intrigued by it. Then it dawned on me, a friend suggested this book to me before but I didn’t really pay that much attention, so, this time, I know I’ve got to read this book. I was so intrigued about knowing the people we consider Outliers, and the whole term is sort of news to me. So, I bought the book in Amazon since it’s cheaper there and I started reading it non-stop.

I wouldn’t call this a self-help book, it’s not really, but more like a non-fiction inspirational book about understanding the people we call as Outliers in this world. Most of our understanding of the path to success and about very successful people are defined by the misconception that you have to have an innate talent, or that you have to be hardworking. Truth is, in this book, talent and hardwork are indeed parts of success, but these two qualities are not enough. Yes, you have to work so hard and have a talent, but you also need to be born at the right circumstances. These circumstances are very important in achieving success and that is how we can understand that the Outliers of the world didn’t just start from scratch or came from nothing and then became very successful. Further, this book will answer why there are no star hockey players born in the Fall, or why the smartest man in the world is not necessarily the most successful in life.

This book is an eye-opener and will change the way you view life. It puts everything in perspective and will make you realize why such very successful people exist. The answer is pretty much right there, you just have to make sense of it. With that being said, it doesn’t mean that nobody can be successful, the book will tell you that if only we’d applied what we know of success in all its complexities and elements, then we’d have more Outliers in this world, and in that sense, there won’t be such thing as an Outlier at all.

I highly recommend this book, as well as some other books by Malcolm Gladwell. He’s definitely my favorite author now and I just like the way he writes and explains things. He is very keen on observing our society and its occurrences. So, for that, I’ve already started reading his other books like “The Tipping Point” and “Blink“. However, this Outlier book holds a special place in my heart. It’s a fascinating read that will inspire you to learn about people’s success stories and realize that success truly doesn’t happen overnight or from scratch, it’s a much more complicated event that happens when all the right circumstances and all the forces of nature combined to make a dream a reality.

The Outliers book by Malcolm Gladwell is currently available at http://www.amazon.com or at Audible as an audiobook.

Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express Book & Movie Review

January 12, 2018 / OTHER STUFF / 0 comments

Raise your hand if you’ve been to the movie theater to watch Agatha Christie’s film adaptation of Murder On The Orient Express. Also, raise your other hand if you’ve actually read her bestselling novel. I know I did and I really quite enjoyed the experience. I must admit that I had never read any Agatha Christie novel before the Murder On The Orient Express. I don’t know why, but I’ve known a gazillion Agatha Christie fans, but I was just not into it.

The story of this Murder On The Orient Express will blow you away. That is, of course, if you haven’t read or seen it yet. But I bet that you all have read the novel and knew the story already. But anyway, here’s my two cents.

The Story (No spoilers, don’t worry)

The Murder On The Orient Express is part of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot Mysteries. As one of her most beloved character, Mr. Poirot is a seasoned detective and he embarked on a prompt return to London boarding on the Orient Express. There he met a rich and shady American, Mr. Ratchett. Mr. Ratchett tried to hire Detective Poirot as his private detective because he believes that his life is in danger. However, Mr. Poirot refused the offer. The next night, Mr. Ratchett was found dead and was believed to be murdered. There goes Mr. Poirot’s specialty-to investigate who killed Mr. Ratchett? which is actually Mr. Cassetti in real life. Upon Mr. Poirot’s deduction, he realized that the killer must still be on the train. But who? Which of the passengers? How about the crews? and Why? Not to mention that the train suddenly got stuck in the middle of nowhere. All that and the spellbinding mysteries to find out who the real killer is.

The Book

The book is thrilling and extremely gripping. You wouldn’t wanna stop reading because every page you turn will lead you to one mystery after another. It’s a fast-paced mysterious atmosphere that will leave you on the edge of your seat. I like the way the book was written. Even though it’s classic, it’s still very timely and the story is unique. It’s unlike any other crime novel mysteries I’ve ever read. I like how each character of the book is well-planned and well-developed. They all seemed very credible and very convincing in their alibis, up to the point that you don’t know who did who. Also, the plot will really set you on an exotic train somewhere in the middle east and the thought of it being stuck with the potential killer roaming around is just scary. Overall, I’ve read the book in 2 days and I was really impressed with its clever writing style, plus the fact that it’s not overly thick yet the story remained concise and riveting.

The Movie

The movie adaptation was released recently and some movie theaters might still be playing them. While there are several alterations to the original story of the book, (even right at the beginning of the movie) still I find the film to be as convincing and moving as in the book. The acting was good and the overall atmosphere was as mysterious and gloomy as in the novel. Mr. Ratchett/Cassetti was played by Johnny Depp, while Mr. Poirot was portrayed by Kenneth Branagh. A few characters were omitted or changed in terms of their ethnicity and names, but still, the storyline is there and the ultimate mystery and revelation are also there. I do feel like some scenes of the movie might be kind of boring for some, but that was part of the thrill, in the sense that Mr. Poirot was trying to find out who the real killer is by studying and observing each passenger on the train. Soon, it will all unravel.

To sum it all up, this has been a very good first-time Agatha Christie novel for me, and her writing style and story flow is superb. I am now a convert and will look forward to reading more of her novels, as well as hopefully seeing more of her book being adapted for movie in the near future.

The Murder On The Orient Express Novel is available at amazon.com

The audiobook is available HERE

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