A new post and series from me! Featuring books I've recently read and liked! Oh so exciting coz' although I like reading, they are usually chick lits or of the romance genre, which also kinda mean that they are not educational to the eyes of many. Personally, reading is just a past time and leisure for me. I do not seek to learn per say but to escape from the reality and delve into the fictional world. Because fictional worlds are so much more exciting and it helps us to forget our own problems for awhile and learn about the problems of fictional characters. I like easy reads that I can understand without me thinking too hard. So, anything with analogical stories about journeys and difficult vocabulary turns me off. Sounds very superficial and dense of me, but I'm not denying it if you think I am. 

Anyway back to the book I was going to talk about. I started reading this book because of a youtuber, missglamorazzi, picked it up and the cover and title of the book kind of called out to me. (I totally judge a book by its cover, literally) I believe its of the young adult genre? I consider myself a young adult, so I think its suited my intellectual abilities. I hardly ever buy hardcover/paperback books, though I want to have my own collection of books, its just not a habit of mine to buy books from young. My mum mostly only allowed me to borrow books from the library, to discourage spending :( I downloaded the ebook version and read it on my book. I now have a sense of satisfaction to have my very own collection of ebooks on my play book library. This is my attempt to summarize the story, if it sucks, remember that I'm not a pro at reviewing books. 

The Beginning of Everything revolves around Ezra, a high school student who was the popular jock. However, a car crash resulted in injuring his knee and ruining his athletic career and pushed him down the social hierarchy. From then on, he had new friends, met a new girl, Cassidy, (some romance ensues) and lead a different high school life. He learnt that for his whole life before the tragedy he had been playing the part of what everyone had expected him to be and how challenging it was to fit that mould. It is then through this tragedy that he rediscovers himself and be himself. He realised that tragic endings are also the start of new beginnings. (This is me looking at the blurb of the story and paraphrasing and adding my experience of reading this story) 

This story was witty, heart wrenching and just so relatable to all of our lives even if its in a cliched high school setting, which many young adults books have. Schneider's writing has a nice flow and the voice she has taken for Ezra was well narrated which I especially love in this book. I have to point out that the high school setting and characters can be quite stereotypical. Some characters are rather underdeveloped which is a bummer but being able to connect with Ezra made up for it. This book might not be everybody's cup of tea, but if you're into contemporary romance and don't mind the stereotypical high school setting, this book might be the one for you.  Or if you're not a big reader or stopped for awhile, maybe this story will help you dive right into reading again. 

People come and go in your life, the experiences you had with them would all influence your being, they "lent the spark, perhaps, or tendered the flame," but your life, your decision, the arson is yours. Oscar Wilde once said that to live is the rarest thing in the world, because most people just exist, and that's all. Start living.

"Grease is the word!" So in case some of y'all don't know, Grease is a musical that started off in Chicago in 1971, which was then premiered on Broadway in 1972. Soon after made into a film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The Australia cast is on tour and is here in Singapore! Watched it with my friend last night and despite the expensive tickets (like any other musicals) I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I have always been a fan of musicals, and one day I wish to travel to New York and watch Broadway musicals! I think this kind of started as I watched Glee years ago, music, dancing and acting all at once? PERFECT.

So my obsession for musicals kind of started from the past few years I've watched Wicked, The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, My Fair Lady and last night Grease! Since Singapore has started this form of arts appreciation I cannot be happier coz' its definitely my cup of tea. I've not watched the movie but through Glee I kind of get a gist of the story and I've definitely heard some of the songs before, which includes, You're the one that I want and Summer Nights. I was kind of afraid I would be too sleepy for the show coz' school drains out all my energy and for My Fair Lady, I was so tired I lost focus, but to my defense I did play under the sun for 2+ hours during CCA, and heat is not my best friend. But to my surprise, Grease actually kept me energized and it was exhilarating.

The songs are different from other musicals since it was set in the 1950s, they are mostly rock hence the strong beats and fast paced songs. And another cool thing about it being rock is that instead of having an orchestra, it was a live band, like drums, electric guitar and bass band, which was super cool. I really love Gretal Scarlett (Sandy on the show)'s voice, its powerful and wonderfully suited for the role. Stephen Marty(Danny on the show) is incredibly talented as well but I didn't think his voice was really suited for the role, I think John Travolta's voice fitted the character quite nicely though. I like that the other cast members were able to sing solos as well, not just the 2 main characters and they performed wonderfully. The songs and energy are so infectious, you just can't help but to bop and mouth the lyrics to the songs! The mega mix at the end of the show was really the highlight since the cast comes together and the whole audience stands up and clap/dance/sing along to the music. It's just absolutely wonderful and I had a great time. The choreography was amazing and the costumes were beautiful and well designed.

Overall, the show was incredible and I'd love to watch it again. Unfortunately, tomorrow's their last show. So so happy I got to watch it and it really made my week!