they say that if you wanna be a good writer, you have to read a lot of books like it’s nobody’s business but yours.

i’ve been pretty slack on both counts but for my blog’s year-end tradition, i’m happy to report that i picked some really good books this year, save for jojo moyes’ “the one plus one” because i found it incredibly… blah.

the rest i’d give 4 or 5 stars. quality vs quantity.

you know how you get jealous of authors at times that you kind of wish with all your heart that you could write as good as them? kristy chambers is that for me. what’s more, she’s also a nurse, so there were some vital points she mentioned that i could totally relate — like the fact that she never really wanted to be a nurse in the first place but somehow kind of got sucked into it through some cosmic force one cannot explain nor deny.

in my case, through a bit of soul-searching which may or may not have involved a few doses of alcohol that left my brain in a happy stupor and my liver in fuming rage, i think getting lost in the path of nursing was what led me here in australia. to jeff and to this cutesy baby thumbsucking in her sleep behind me.

that’s how much i deduced so far, anyway. i mean, in the grand scheme of things, that hasty, split-second decision totally changed the course of my life. and although it took 11 years before i found myself here, it was just the pace that i needed before i was hurled into a freakin’ rollercoaster ride of events that left me wondering what the hell just happened.

but, anyway, enough about me. kristy chambers is really funny. you don’t necessarily have to be in the nursing profession to appreciate her humor because she’ll have your ribs crackin’ in no time at all. she also kind of inspired me not to give a shit when you drop the word ‘shit’ in your sentences. i mean, some people get a heart attack over the use of profanity but i kind of like it as long as it’s done in good taste. and by that, i mean if it brings out the color of your eyes, wear it like a motha!

the other author whose writing skills awoke the green-eyed monster within me was markus zusak of “the book thief.” but compared to kristy, his book was more of a serious read. the kind where you put on your somber face just to even look intelligent. but omigod, his words were delicious and every sentence he dished out were dripping with the sweetness of it that i found myself reading the same lines over and over again just so i could relive the pleasure of it before moving on to the next.

that explains why it takes me a longer time to finish some really good books. i linger. which then fucks me up because by the end of the year, i end up not having read enough. but then again, my standards are shot anyway so there’s really no benchmark i hold myself accountable to as long as i read one book annually. which, i reckon, is better than nothing at all.

“animal farm” was very interesting too. shout out to all the pigs in the world who deserve to be slapped with dale carnegie’s book, “how to win friends and influence people.”