real life moments

Some random IRL shizz from over the month.

• Its Strawberry season! I love strawberries. 

Tutti Frutti. (Lahore).
Strawberries, Chocolate Syrup, a ton of Fro Yo.

Home.
Strawberries, Haleeb Cream, Icing sugar.

• JK Rowling is writing another book which is to be released in THIS.YEAR. 
• I don't have anything else to say at the moment. Oh- I read Cinder, a retelling of Cinderella! Twas nice.
• Bye now!
• Oh, follow me on twitter: Here
• xx
• Chicklitgirl

I doodle too.



Heres to us.

x

Chicklitgirl

Top Ten Books That Broke My Heart A Little

This title idea is taken from The Broke and the Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday meme.


So here they are, the Top Ten Books That Broke My Heart A Little, in no particular order.


Ps, this does not mean they're bad books, it means they were so good, most of them made me cry and really feel, but then put my heart back together again. Others left it on the floor, but were still pretty freakin' amazing.


ALL of these books have a rating of 4 stars or more. (From a total of 5).




1. Stolen by Lucy Christopher

I wanted to hate Ty.
I didn't.
It left me so confused, and totally heart broken.
I even dreamed about it. 






2. The last mediator book- Twilight by Meg Cabot

One of Meg Cabot's BEST series ever. The ending was, as always brilliant and left me so super duper happy. *sigh*
But the Jesse bit in the middle? 
Oh boy did I cry.
Gotta love Jesse and Suze. 




3. A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

I put up both the covers,
because both are so pretttyyyyy.

Xander. Oh Xander. 
That Xander bit nearing the end? I cried. Hard. 






4. Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanan

It was so bittersweet. I desperately wanted a fairytale. 
I got real life. 
But it was so good.






5. Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Alex and Lena were so inspiring and good together. The end killed me. *sigh* Waiting for Pandemonium and a miracle. [one of the] Best love based dystopian EVA.






6. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

This book was a slow and steady read. 
The bittersweet love story broke my heart, and all the sad war bits and how the children were left alone.


I love books where children are left to fend for themselves and make an adventure out of it. Enid Blyton books did it in a happier way, Meg Rosoff did it in a bittersweet, tugs-on-your-heartstrings way. 
Click here to view the book trailer- its pretty awesome.






7. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

If a book broke my heart and ripped it to pieces, it would be this book. 
The ending was a happy one though, and the story was extremely well written and so good.
I didn't cry but at parts it got me so angry at the injustice of it all! Ugh.






8. Harry Potter by JK Rowling




Dobby, Dumbledore, Fred, Hedwig? 'Nuff said.








9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

All the sad bits. *sigh*






10. books by Christopher Pike

Christopher Pike is one of my most fav authors EVER. He writes so brilliantly- every single one of his books have heartbreak-y stories, but they are always SO. FREAKIN'.GOOD. You're left shocked, questioning and just wowed. 






And those are my top ten picks. What are yours?


xx


CLG

Calling All Lahori Book Lovers!

 


Liberty Books has set up a little makeshift stall/shop thingy, down in the basement of Mall of Lahore!

What: All sorts of books from coloring, DIY, YA, Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Thriller etc from good publishers.
When: 15th to 29th Feb 2012.
Where: Basement of Mall of Lahore.
Discount? 15% on ALL the books, with assorted books going for a lot lower.
Worth it? Yup.

I bought Pants On Fire by Meg Cabot (hardcover, EXCELLENT condition) for a mere 200 rupees! I found another copy of it too, but it was tagged 500, so I dunno what thats all about.

Tips: Check out the prices of all the books that seem interesting. I found quite a few on the full priced tables with  '150 rupees', '100 rupees' etc tags on them! You just might get very lucky!

Oh and if you go- don't forget to comment on this post with what you brought/thought.

xx

CLG

letting go.

She pulled open the last draw of the chest with a grunt. She'd have to fix the darn thing, the sides always stuck before giving away to the force. 

The blue and white notebook sat there atop a pile of journals from the past. 
The hesitation was minuscule, and she lifted it out.

She remembered giving it to him on the last day of school. 

They'd boasted about long lengths, dared him to write more. 

And to her surprise, he actually had.

His pages spilled love and hope and happiness. 

He was a terrible writer but his words were honest. There was no elegance but oh- so much heart. 
She read it once again, from the very beginning. 

The letter of sorts spoke of so much, promised a ton and then some.

She smiled a sad smile as she tore the pages out. 

If only time could have frozen in that dark room, that warm, dark night.

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Heres a mini review of Sophie Kinsella's latest book. 

I've Got Your Number

by Sophie Kinsella

I've lost it. The only thing in the world I wasn't supposed to lose. My engagement ring. It's been in Magnus's family for three generations. And now, the very same day his parents are coming, I've lost it. The very same day. Do not hyperventilate Poppy. Stay positive!! 

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry the ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her 'happy ever after' begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring but in the panic that followed, she has now lost her phone. As she paces shakily round the hotel foyer she spots an abandoned phone in a bin. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect! 

Well, perfect except the phone's owner, businessman Sam Roxton doesn't agree. He wants his phone back and doesn't appreciate Poppy reading all his messages and wading into his personal life. 

What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other's lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents... she soon realises that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life. 


Rating: 4.5 stars, out of 5!


Sophie Kinsella has done it again.
Serious laugh out loud PARAGRAPHS, not just moments, a fuzzy warm romance, a lovely wonderful heroine, a sexy well rounded guy, a hidden mystery and a huge gargantuan smile on my face in the end.
I absolutely ADORED this book.

The thing about SK is, she always writes the same story- but they are ALWAYS a ton of fun, and really, really good.

Read it if you're down and need a serious pick me up, or are just in the mood of good hearty laughs and a yummy romance.

Basically its a good rom com movie, in book form.

xx


CLG

Ash, Meghan, and Valentine's Day #theironfey

Julie Kagawa has yet another wonderful surprise for all her Iron Fey fans!

From her blog:

Valentine's Day is coming!
The holiday of loooooooooooooooove, in all its sappy glory. Lol, I happen to love Valentine's Day, and as a special treat for all my fans who've been so good to me, I was inspired to write a short story with Meghan and Ash, and how they spend their first Valentine's Day.
It is nearly five thousand words of shameless FLUFF, so be warned.

The short story, AN IRON FEY VALENTINE, will be posted here on February 14th, and also at theironfey.com, so be sure to check back, and spread the word.
See you on February 14th. Until then, please enjoy these teasers. :) 


















***

"Relax, Ash. Humans do this all the time. It's called a date."
"So, you're implying that this...Valentine's ritural involves courtship. Dinner, flowers, that sort of thing?"

"Also, that means no swords, knives, or ice-daggers, Ash. Leave all sharp pointy weapons at home."

I.CAN'T.WAIT!
Are you as excited about this as I am?

xx

CLG 

of broken dreams

She looks at him, laughing with her and she shuts her eyes. 


This too shall pass.


She edits the party pictures, then deletes them. One by one.
He wont tell her how beautiful she is, so what then, is the point?


This too shall pass.


She cries in great gasps and hiccups and pain. Her eyes become bloodshot and swollen as she reads his last goodbye. 
They leak, of love lost and heartache gained.

This too, shall pass.

She reaches up and grabs the person telling her it will be okay. As she slowly strangles him, she laughs a crazed laugh.

It needs to pass now.

conversations with the One #litpickuplines

me: I'm writing a romance novel... wanna help with the research?

him: YES! If I were a novel, you'd be my climax ya know. ;)))))))))))))))))))))


*go down to our chamber of secrets*
*make our Great Expectations come true*

*cue swoon worthy Shatter Me/Obsidian truu luff type action*

       

Are these not brilliant!? I found them on tumblr.
But you know. The one that fits most perfectly to me is below.

forever lonely hugs,

xx

Chicklitgirl

The Lahore International Book Fair 2012 (book haul)

The 26th Lahore International Book Fair 2012 was held between 3rd and 7th Feb. I obviously went and got a few books from there.
The two main book sellers there, the ones selling a ton of YA books as well as others were Liberty Books and Readings. I was presently surprised to see so many well known titles finally in Pakistan!
I just wish they were better organized and the books weren't that expensive. *sigh*

Since it was a book fair, a lot of book sellers were offering tiny discounts to promote their stalls.
Liberty Books had a whole table where brand new books were offered for as little as a hundred rupees (a bit more than a dollar) to 300 rupees. I bought three good books from that table.
Over all, all their books had 15% off, just for those days. I got another book for 845 rupees, which yes, is quite a lot, but I really, really wanted it- I LOVE Cecilia Ahern!

I was extremely happy to see the wide variety of young adult books at both Liberty Books and Readings. Readings, especially had SO many well known titles!

They had Perfect Chemistry!

@Readings. Look! Melissa Marr!

Amy Plum! Sarah Dessen! That Forbidden book everyones been raving about!

Books I bought: [click on a title to find out more about it.]

Anatomy Of A Boyfriend 
Summer Boys
Slumgirl Dreaming: Rubina's Journey. [a book about the little girl in Slumdog Millionaire]
The Time Of My Life

Slumgirl not pictured here. 

Liberty books is a bookstore based in Karachi. It is, however going to open up a shop here in Lahore too, sometime this year. Readings is solely a Lahore book shop. I'm planning to go thoroughly review it for the blog one of these days, so stay tuned for that!

xx

CLG

Shatter Me

That awesome feeling when you read two excellent books in a row. *shivers with happiness*
Here is a review of one of the two books.

Shatter Me 

by Tahereh Mafia

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. 

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. 

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now. 

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Rating:  4.5/5  stars

Published:  November 1st 2011 
Series: Yes, trilogy, other two books not yet released.
Swoon Scale: Hearts In My Eyes, Longing Filled Sigh, Melting in The Excess of Love, 
Heated Moments: Yes
Sex: No 
Swear Words: Not that I can recall.
Action: Yeah
Romance swoon scale: 4.8/5 stars 

I absolutely LOVED THIS BOOK AAAAHHHH.
*excuse me while i compose myself*
Ahem.

Shatter Me was incredible. It had everything a good book has:


The story:
It sucked me in straight away. I picked this book up at 8pm, and put it down at 1am. I read without pausing- it was just. So. Good! The action bits were brilliantly done- I was so scared for them at all the right bits- at the edge of my seat at some and no matter where I was in the book- it never once got boring.
The dystopian element, though not fully explained, made sort of sense. 
This book is a part of a series so I expect all will be revealed in the other parts- but the best thing about Shatter Me?
IT CAN BE READ AS A STAND ALONE TOO! The ending left me completely content- with a super warm fuzzzy feeling inside- but I will most def pick up the sequel when it comes!

Romance
The pure, unadulterated love between Adam and Juliette? I swooned a thousand times and drank it all up as fast as i could. It warmed my insides and made me feel just so entirely happy for them- sigh. I don't even have the words to describe it. The way TM describes feelings- its just so beautiful!
A quote from the book:

I tiptoe forward and he pulls me into his arms. Breathes in the scent of my hair and kisses the side of my head and I’ve never felt anything so incredible in my life. I’m not even human anymore. I’m so much more. The sun and the moon have merged and the earth is upside down.
Sigh.
(Keeping in mind that Juliette has not touched anyone in a year, and has not known touchy-feely love since she was a baby)
The Writing:
This is a book where the actual writing stands out on it own unsupported and apart from everything else.
It was beautifully lyrical and rich with imagery and this sweetness.
The broken words were perfectly broken and bittersweet and all the raw emotion? You could actually feel Juliette's love pouring out of her. It was exquisite.

Adam:
Absolute love. The deep, sweet kind.

Juliette:

I loved her. She was the perfect blend of broken but incredibly strong. I loved how she grew from being a broken shell, into a fiery spirit. I really liked her shyness and just how down to earth she was! But being all that- she was still loyal and brave, and did not cower but faced everything head on.

Over all, this was a refreshing book.
Yeah there were some glimpses of other well known dystopian books in it- but aren't all dystopians essentially the same thing? Bad corrupt government, cool hidden rebels, intense epicness to save the day? 
Some are better (The Hunger Games/ Uglies/ Delirium) than others (Matched) but rest assured, Shatter Me was one of the best.

Read it!

xx

Clg

screaming cupcakes

So, at the moment, I'm watching Scream 4. Is it any good? Will I be scared shitless?
I hope so. Only time will tell. Lucy Hale is in it! I did not know that. I love Lucy Hale. She can sing too! Admittedly- just tween songs, but I really liked Run This Town.
Okay- added later- that was just stupid. -_-

I'm applying to LUMS- so fingers crossed for that! Pray for me? Please. I kinda need it. Though- I'm only doing it because Lums is well LUMS and they'll be happy.
Though me, personally? I'd like to go to BNU.

The Gap Year is in effect, at the moment. I work now too! Its supposedly a 'good' job- but pays absolute peanuts. Its the only one my Dad is letting me do because you know- I'm a girl! Working for my Aunt's A level school is safe!

To make this post more interesting, here are the cupcakes I baked and decorated for said Aunt's birthday.

Jelly hearts, vanilla butter cream icing, chocolate cupcakes.

Jelly heart, Nutella Icing, Chocolate Chip and Vanilla Cupcake.

all of 'em.

the card I made to accompany 'em.

You know when you think you're going to be friends with a certain person forever and then he or she decides they really don't give a shit? You don't? Well, good for you.
This has been my theme song for the past month.
Its brilliant- better than the original.



Recent Books read: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.
Any good? : OMG IT WAS AMAAAAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4.8 stars outa 5. Review to come soon.
Fun fact about book: Tahereh Mafia is amazingly sweet. (Insignificant twitter chat! :D) She is also MUSLIM! :D x 500.

xx

Chicklitgirl

Sundays at Tiffany's

Movie: 4/5 stars
Book: 2/5 stars

I saw Sundays at Tiffany's a few days ago, and absolutely-freakin'-adorable totally sums up the movie.
The love story was beautiful, and properly fleshed out. We knew how and why the characters feel the way they do- it definitely was not a love-at-first-sex/sight sorta thing, which I really liked. Also the way that love was shown depended on actual actions.
It was brilliant and if you love romance with a tinge of magic? Just the movie for you.

Then, as I was reading the back cover, I realized... it was a book adaptation!
Well, you know I have thing for good books right?
So obviously I went out and bought it.

The book however, is totally different from the book.
The book has its own charm, but it kinda sucks. I mean- okay, it was nice and adorable in its own way. But the movie pulled off Michael and Jane's look in such a wonderful way. The book however just.. meh.

First of all, the stories are completely different.
That being said, here is a review of the book:

As a little girl, Jane has no one. Her mother Vivienne Margaux, the powerful head of a major New York theater company has no time for her. But she does have one friend--Michael--and no one can see him but her. But Michael can't stay with Jane forever, and on her eighth birthday, her imaginary friend must leave her. 
When Jane is in her thirties, working for her mother's company, she is just as alone as she was as a child. Her boyfriend hardly knows she's there and is more interested in what Vivienne can do for his career. Her mother practically treats her as a slave in the office, despite the great success of Jane's first play, "Thank Heaven." Then she finds Michael--handsome, and just the same as she remembers him, only now he's not imaginary. For once in her life, Jane is happy--and has someone who loves her back. But not even Michael knows the reason behind why they've really been reunited.


The book is literally the summary, with only twist thrown in the end  and Hugh- her evil ex, to show how Jane is such a poor-lil-girl.
The thing I totally and utterly disliked was how Michael was written in third person, but Jane was written in first person- with alternating chapters.
I would have liked to have a total look inside Michael's head too please! The 3rd person made him less realistic, and a bit robotic.
And their love! It was horrendous and total instant-love- the kind which has no developments and is just 'omg i luv hym and i dunno y he is so h@wt!!1'. Michael's personality was zero- even though their were whole chapters on him. 


The whole book was, basically a disappointment. I had bought it with high hopes- trust me when I say, the movie was BRILLIANT. 


So lovers of that warm gooey feeling at the end of a fulfilling love story? Please watch the movie asap. The book, however, can be skipped.


xx


CLG