Book hungry + WOES WOES WOES

What says you? I've been READING!! YAY!! I've always loved to read novels but never really have the time to do so. It has always taken me forever to finish one book, either because I am always reading materials related to my assignments, or I was so wiped out after a day at the restaurant that I have no more mood whatsoever to read. With all these conditions aside, I got to enjoy reading a lot more.

Sarah's Key
by Tatiana de Rosnay



Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old Jewish girl, is arrested by the French police in the middle of the night, along with her mother and father. Desperate to protect her younger brother, she locks him in a cupboard and promises to come back for him as soon as she can.

Paris, May 2002: Julia Jarmond, an American journalist, is asked to write about the 60th anniversary of the Vel' d'Hiv'--the infamous day in 1942 when French police rounded up thousands of Jewish men, women and children, in order to send them to concentration camps. Sarah's Key "is the poignant story of two families, forever linked and haunted by one of the darkest days in France's past. In this emotionally intense, page-turning novel, Tatiana de Rosnay reveals the guilt brought on by long-buried secrets and the damage that the truth can inflict when they finally come unravelled.

This story moved me so much... Alternating between Sarah's narration and then Julia's, I felt the hatred, the heart-wrenching sadness and the cruelty of the whole Vel d'Hiv roundup that the French police did without mercy and deported all these innocent Jews to their deaths. Wanting to understand more about this event, I did some research about this event as well. It's definitely worth a read because it will really move you to tears.


Alice in La-La Land
by Sophie Lee



A series of disasters in her home town causes Australian actress Alice Evans to flee to Hollywood where she finds life is not the glittery stuff of dreams. It's the Hollywood nightmare. She is forced to navigate her way round the city in a cheap Japanese rental car lurching from one audition to the next. She has no money in the bank, no friends, and her auditions aren't exactly setting the town on fire. She shares an apartment in the decidedly non-glamorous Miracle Mile district with an out of work swimsuit model and two bellicose cats who have a habit of invading her suitcase when she's not looking.

Alice begins to suspect she's come to the worst place on earth to turn her luck around but she's hell bent on her mission to succeed. One day she has a chance meeting with an Irishman called Nick who encourages her to think carefully about holding onto long-held dreams when life could open up many new possibilities.

I understand this is Sophie Lee's debut book. She's an Australian writer who has written primarily on plays and theatre works (I think... she has not written a book yet) but it's an enjoyable read. You can follow through Alice's pace as she drift from one audition to another. Hollywood is definitely tougher to enter than you think it is!


Everyone Worth Knowing
by Lauren Weisberger



The in-crowd wears Gucci but one girl wears her heart on her sleeve...From the bestselling author of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA comes a no-holds barred expose of the world of the Manhattan super-rich. Bette gets paid to party ! Well, to plan them, anyway. And she can hardly believe her luck. Running with celebs, gaining VIP access to Manhattan's hottest spots and meeting 'everyone worth knowing' is a million miles away from her old banking job. Overnight, New York has become her sexy late-night playground. But quicker than you can say Birkin bag, Bette turns up in the gossip columns as girlfriend to a notorious British playboy. It's news to her -- but news that delights her publicity-hungry new boss. Her family and old friends, however, think it's not very Bette. What happened to the girl they know and love -- who always had time for romantic novels, 80s music and junk food, not to mention them? As her new and old worlds threaten to collide, can Bette say goodbye to the glamour and the Gucci, the parties and the Prada, and step back into the real world -- and find a prince who's got a heart to match his charm?

This book is not as enjoyable as "The Devil Wears Prada" in my opinion, but it is still an enjoyable read when I am so freaking free at the moment. I am only halfway through the book, but I think I can give my review now. But of course, the book can get better as the chapters go by. Sometimes I can call myself a sucker for girly-girl books. ;)

**********

I really wonder now if I am really a loner after all... These days, I spent most of the time alone. However, despite the plight I am in now, I thought being alone seems to be a soothing remedy... but I'm sure this cannot be maintained for too long.

I just went to do some shopping alone, and went to Caulfield library for a while to do some printing of my resume and photocopying my passport to be sent to Daddy. I still have some money in my student card anyway, and I kinda miss my university. I think student life is just wonderful... Despite wanting so much to get out of school and earn some experience (and money) before, now that I am away from being a student, I feel like my life has become more disoriented. At least those dreaded assignments have somewhat posed as a guide and somewhat a motivation to reach some goal. Now, I am just wandering around aimlessly...

Sometimes, I wonder what is the meaning of knowing so many people, yet none of them are really the ones you can talk to? When I feel like I needed someone's shoulders to lean on, my "very impressive" phone list in my mobile shrunk to only a petty amount, and most of these people are not even in Australia. But I appreciate the advices that were given to me, and I really thank YC for being such a good friend even though you are so far away now... Really really miss you! Chris too, you have been a great companion when I was feeling down and trying hard not to show it.

Yet the tears just cannot stop falling at night, especially when I see him coming home as late as he possibly can, even though he doesn't work that late all the time. Of all the free times he get, not even 1% of it came to me. I tried my best to ignore this fact, but then it just kept plummeting down on me like loose rocks falling off the cliff and I'm standing just right underneath it. What is a relationship when you can't even spend time with each other? Even if it's just quietly sitting side by side? I felt so lost, having never been in a relationship before, yet there is no one to guide me along. He said he'll rather spend time with his friends than with me. Why? Because his friends do not give him pressure like I did. I really wonder if I am the right one for him... Why would he choose me when I cannot be the kind of girl he can spend time with? Why me when all I can do is to pressurize him? I am so deprived of his love, his touch and just him sitting next to me... Ever since that foul machine gun fired out bullets that wounded him, I found myself craving for him to warm up to me, but I really have no idea when is that day ever going to come.

What is really bugging me here is the amount of time he is willing to spend time with me, as well as going on to the next level of the relationship. Sure, having to work so as to earn money is something that is important, so that factor aside. Out of work hours, why can't he spare a few hours with me? He displayed annoyance whenever I 'bugged' him out of his TV/DVD sessions cuz I miss him so much and wanted to just talk about anything. Perhaps to him, I am not offering any constructive thoughts and conversation, so he cannot be bothered? Am I being too much to crave for these things? I am in a relationship, yet I feel like I'm so detached from him. I see people hanging around with their loved ones, and I cannot help but envy them so much. I am sure most of these couples do not stick to each other like UHU glue, but they at least get to spend a couple of days with each other? As much as we should have our own independence and freedom, but the difference between being single VS being in a relationship shouldn't be too minimal, should it? It bugs me so much, yet I cannot tell him. Why is it I can never let him see things in my point of view? If I phrase it this way, he might say everything has to be about me, me and ME. Is it just me? Can I use the phrase 'US' instead?
It sucks to be living in darkness and losing your way in the forest. I am considered jobless. I need to wait for response from China, and that is something not 100% guaranteed. And my job seek here seems to be out-of-luck. I proposed going back to Singapore, but I sensed Mom's disappointment as I started my proposal. I am living everyday hoping I will get forgiveness, but I received none. And as much as I wanted to live my life healthy, ever since my accident the other time, my dental health is failing, and I am falling sick. I cannot eat well and hasn't been eating well. I don't know why, on all of a sudden, my life seems to have turned topsy-turvy and all astray. I wonder where the other end of this maze would be...

I am praying that this darkness will end all in this week... And then the coming week will be another fresh week, a better week, a cheerful week, a fulfilling week, a week with more smiles and less tears. Something good will happen... it will. Something good HAS to happen. No one deserves to stay depressed all the time, do they? Or am I an exception?