my alternate universe by the mulberry tree

You may call me Jown. And I live in an alternate universe, by a mulberry tree. It's fun here that's why I love to share my scribbles (thoughts) on books I've read, or even devoured.

 My alternate universe was created because I have always felt that I am "sort-of" taken into different worlds when I read. Aren't we all? Or, if this is not the case, it's as if I have awaken to a new way of looking at things in the universe I am already in.

Sometimes, no, most of the time, I write wholeheartedly on how a book made me feel. This is my alternate universe and my own experience in reading so expect everything to be personal. Isn't this how reading is supposed to be, eh?

Something special to note about my alt universe is that most of the books I read are bought second hand. Books really cost a lot in the alternate universe I am geographically in. So I am very grateful for the secondhand bookshops on this side of the planet.

Sadly, reading is not much given importance here.  Bookworms who totally read anything YA or in the children's section, even shampoo sachet labels are indeed rare!!

Scribbles on Mary Ryan's Glenallen

If there was a book that I disliked at first but greatly loved upon re-readings, it was Glenallen.

How I got the book

I got it when I was in high school, April 2004 to be exact. I do not know why, but I always had a dislike for thick books written by unfamiliar writers. I know it is so judgmental of me. I have mended my ways since. Perhaps it was the back cover story that got me. Because it talked about friends. :-)

The Story

The book was written by Mary Ryan. The plot of the story is similar to the drama series that are shown here in our country. Shows that narrates the birth until the death (if possible) or the happily ever after ending of the main character. That is why when I first read the story, I felt bland. I even think I skipped most of the middle pages when reading it first.

But it was in the second and subsequent re-readings that I grasped what the story was about and how it affected me ever since.

The story was set in rural Ireland during the second world war. There are three main leads in the story. They are three girls who met in boarding school, namely Peg, Cissie, and Mary.

Glenallen also shows that the lengths people will do in order to have something they want. Evil, evil things a person would do. The story also incorporates the superstitious beliefs and somewhat folklore in the land where Glenallen was built or derived from. I do not want to think of this part of the story because it is creepy and is somewhat parallel/similar with our country's own superstitions.

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Even writing this review makes me cringe on the things that happened in the story. From my point of view, the events are too typical in my teledrama-soaked brain. The people in the story just did have the most exciting childhood (I loved this part of the story), or they will have the most ridiculous twists in their later life loves. Gaaah!

And I have not even begun writing about the protagonists in the story. I cannot even. Grrrr!!

This is how affected I am.

Scribbles on Karen Hesse' Out of the Dust

The first book I've read after "the incident" is Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. I grabbed this book from a shelf at the children's section  in Booksale. After speed-reading the back cover ... Billie Jo... not a boy ... family ... dust ... piano... losing mom... and the P45 price tag, I thought it's worth a try since I haven't read a book for a long time now. I think I've seen this book in those shelves before but I have just been engrossed in other things that I did not buy Out of the Dust.

So, fast-forward to the afternoon after. I have finished reading the book. I was trying very hard not to shout out loud. I was in our office sleeping lounge. Obviously not sleeping,