books – Shainne Hostalero

5 Kilig Books You Should Read This Month of June 2022

If you are looking for your next light read that can make your heart swell, here are my picks.

Some find my book genre of choice funny, amusing, weird, disappointing, and a mixture of all that. Taking a doctorate amidst mothering, full-time work, and running an enterprise, I’d like some breath of fresh air. With that said, reading Young Adult, Contemporary Romance, and kilig books that can be considered chill, easy-to-read, and got that kick of warmth is a must, if not a resort.

If you are looking for your next light read that can make your heart swell, here are my five picks, in no particular order:

1. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Who would’ve thought STEM is a good setup for lovebirds with all the sciences stuff? Dr. Adam Carlsen and Ms. Olive Smith will be your new favorite couple! As a bonus, Ali Hazelwood provided an Adam Carlsen POV as a bonus chapter. That chapter can be found on the author’s website.
There is a reason why this piece is a New York Times Bestseller.

I was kilig, happy, lonely, and ugly crying all at once in this book. I did not even want to put it down nor did I want it to be finished–it was good!

I put annotations on the pages that moved me a.ka. made me cry and I highlighted a few pieces that I want to remember in this book.

This book is the type that I can read over and over again and won’t get tired of.

2. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

If you are a fan of the Bridgerton Series on Netflix, it was recently announced that after Anthony’s story, it will be Collin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington’s story that will come next. In the book, Romancing Mister Bridgerton comes after An Offer from a Gentleman which is Benedict Bridgerton’s.

These two books are my favorites in the series, but I lean on An Offer from a Gentleman as my top 1 and Romancing Mister Bridgerton next. But, all the twists of Lady Whistledown are in it. Many of you might know that Penelope and Lady Whistledown are one and the same, but her works and how it all happened in a full circle will be revealed in this book.

It is a given that the complete Bridgerton book series will make us swoon, but Collin and Penelope’s story, I think, is the strongest, because of their good foundation–friendship.

3. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

This book reminded me of the movie Pretty Woman, there has been a kind of resemblance and I think Helen Hoang also took it as an inspiration in writing the book.

Stella Lane and Michael Larson could be in the opposite worlds, but someway somehow, their paths have crossed.

The Kiss Quotient was long sitting in my TBR list and in my Kindle library. I gave it a try without reading so much about it online and without knowing that it was one of Amazon’s Top 100 Books of 2018. It did not disappoint.

4. The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

I used to read via my Kindle for the entire 2020 and 2021 and was amused by good physical books that have been released in the market, so I went for it. This book is part of my April 2022 which I read so many good reviews about. Though it was your typical fake dating thing, but it was kilig all the same.

Catalina Martin and Aaron Blackford can give that to you. Some paths of the book you’d see almost the same with The Love Hypothesis, but it is just as good.

5. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

This could be a little fascinating, but you’ve heard the story a thing or two once before. But, nonetheless, a read that you will find staying awake all night to just finish.

Colleen Hoover (CoHo) does that. I’ve read so many of her works and I couldn’t remember if I did NOT like any of them. Tate Collins and Miles Archer are in it for the long haul. It was a little tragic but heartwarming at the same time and CoHo will give you a happy ending.

So, if you are looking for something to think and cry about that has that kilig vibes, too. Ugly Love is a good read.

You might have a different experience in each book and we may not be, in particular, aligned in how we see the book, but these are just from my experience and personal preference. I hope to get your insights too, on how you saw each read if you have tried them. Happy reading!

Readings Update of 1/2 2021

As we indulge ourselves to more readings.

When we started the new year, I have a full list of the books that I will read this 2021 like what I always do every last of month of the year before we welcome another one.

The year 2020, when the pandemic broke out, indeed took a toll on my reading goals because of the occurrence of anxiety, keeping my businesses afloat, focusing on survival, and prioritizing health and safety, oh but of course. Needless to say from my original target of 25-30 books annually, I read only eight (8). Not that it’s a competition but it is a form of gaining new perspective and indulging myself to literary pieces; by which, helps me to relax and expand my vocabulary.

Half of the year has passed, I just finished my 7th book last night, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. There were a lot of good reads aligned this year because I have started reading the Bridgerton Series by Julia Quinn – it wasn’t supposed to be part of my list for 2021, but when I started – can’t stop, won’t stop! Indeed a good ice breaker from all the blunders of the world and extreme academic reading. Hehe

I’m also in post-graduate studies so I am (required) to read a lot of textbooks, array of research, journal articles, and the like – which, by the way, I also enjoy. It gets too technical at some point, but always always a great experience when you read works of others of intellect.

I read books even the ones that got me bored along the way. I try to power through because sometimes its end is better than how it started. In addition, it is also a good practice to read something that does not interest you much to gain deeper comprehension of matters that, sometimes, you don’t fully understand. It makes you more open-minded, more understanding in various aspects, if I may say.

I’ll find the time to share book reviews here as per usual – probably once or twice a month of those I have already read and hopefully real time of what the books I am to savor on. I like to document such because the new perspective I gained is sometimes worth more than of my travels (and I don’t like to travel much, plus given the current health crisis globally, it will take longer for us to board transport to different places again).

Any good reads you want to share?

The Diary of a Young Girl

During the third or fourth week of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, I’ve decided to read The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (I bought it very affordable from Amazon at $0.99 a Kindle copy for my own Kindle device).

My teenage self can relate and comprehend with Anne’s situation – getting misunderstood as a fourteen-year-old, having crushes, discovering sexuality, and hating her parents (haha!)

More than her predicaments and thoughts, we may somehow relate with her during these trying times. Anne Frank and her family, alongside the Van Daan’s (Van Pels), and a Jewish dentist went into hiding in the ‘Secret Annex’ in 1942. They were discovered in 1945 and did not survive. Her dad, Otto Frank, was the only survivor from eight people that hid in that secret place.

Anne’s diary was a breather and an eye-opener. Indeed, we have a lot of things we need to get out in the open. As a teenager, I compelled her conviction in knowing herself and establishing things that are non-negotiable for her.

Here are some takeaways and quotes written in her diary that I admired her for:

Paper is more patient than man.

When I was in grade school to high school, I also kept a diary with a lock! It is because I like to see my thoughts written down and go back to it if and when my view has changed; or more often than not, I just like ‘something’ to talk to.

Love finds a way

Don’t be too unassuming, it doesn’t get you anyhere.

Mrs. Edith Frank (Anne Frank’s mother) on Mrs. Van Daan:

“I find, too, Mrs. Van Daan, that one gets on better in life if one is not overmodest. My husband, now, and Margot, and Peter are exceptionally modest, whereas your husband, Anne, you, and I, though not exactly the opposite, don’t allow ourselves to be completely pushed to one side.”

Anyhow, I’ve learned one thing now. You only really get to know people when you’ve had a jolly good row with them. Then and then only can you judge their true characters!

I don’t want to be cross, love cannot be forced.

A person of fifty-four who is still so pedantic and small-minded must be so by nature, and will never improve.

This statement still rings true today. I know, I experienced it.

The only way to take one’s mind off it all is to study, and I do a lot of that.

Pro-tip: If you are thoroughly thinking something and you seem to cannot get your mind out of it, you study. Read something you think can help you at work, at school, or your daily living. Learn new sets of skills. Get busy and be productive.

I soothe my conscience now with the thought that it is better for hard words to be on paper than that Mummy should carry them in her heart.

Why do we trust one another so little? I know there must be a reason, but still I sometimes think it’s horrible that you find you can never really confide in people, even in those who are nearest to you.

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy, is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, Nature, and God.

Richest can all be lost, but that happiness in your own heart can only be veiled, and it will still bring you happiness again, as long as you live. As long as you can look fearlessly up into the heaves, as long as you know that you are pure within, and that you will still find happiness.

People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but it doesn’t stop you having your own opinion. Even if people are still very young, they shouldn’t be prevented from saying what they think.

And whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery.

Isn’t there an old saying that love often springs from pity, or that the two go hand in hand? Is that the case with me too? Because I’m often just as sorry for him as I am for myself.

In case you cannot understand teenagers:

When you are old as we are, you do want to decide just a few things for yourself, you want to be independent sometimes.

For those who are losing courage and will to go on:

Although it’s not always easy, your time may come sooner than you think.

Anyone who doesn’t write doesn’t know how wonderful it is;

I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.

In this unprecedented time:

Be brave! Let us remain aware of our task and not grubmle, a solution will come, God has never deserted our people.

It is God that has made us as we are, but it will be God, too, who will raise us up again.

Be strong because

The weak fall, but the strong will remain and never go under!

Like Anne Frank, this is how I also feel about this pandemic and the mass-testing or lack thereof,

Nothing can crush us more than this restlessness.

And to those people or colleagues that we have that cannot relate or nonchalant with our success,

Stupid people usually can’t take it if others do better than they do.

We all live, but we don’t know the why or the wherefore. We all live with the object of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.

Our life in quarantine,

Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.

For those who are thinking of doing evil stuff,

A quiet conscience makes one strong!

And children…

“All children must look after their own upbringing.” Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.

And in case I’m not making patol, I stan Anne Frank saying,

I have acted entirely according to my feelings, but I have acted in the way that was best for my peace of mind.

For in its innermost depths youth is lonelier than old age.