where's the romance?

i plopped myself onto the couch to catch last sunday's telemovie "their eyes were watching God", which oprah had boasted as being THE best love story of all time.

strange how quotes like that could ruin a movie for you. because to me, it WASN'T a love story, it was a woman's journey to discover herself. that said, my expectations were clearly not met, leaving me with a feeling i've been robbed of a good few hours. an unimpressive acting on halle berry's part didn't help either. loved her in "dorothy dandridge", but not this one.

a few days later, i felt compelled to look up comments on the show. unsurprisingly, a LOT of bad reviews , but what did catch my attention was that its screenplay was based on a book of the same title. THAT one had good comments. and that made me seriously consider getting it.

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MY romance is with books of course. a noted bookworm since i was a kid, i even asked for a then-popular sweet valley twin paperback for every A-'s i got (which, now that i think about it, WASN'T a fair deal at all. i mean, 1 book lang? for 3 months of hard work??). anyway, that 'love affair' has me really set on having a small library (i can imagine my sister bringing her hands up in mock horror) if and when i get a place of my own.

wish list on the top of my head are:
- Shopaholic Takes Manhattan (since i have its prequel already, Confessions of a Shopaholic)
- Shopaholic Ties a Knot (hopefully, after i get Shopaholic.. Manhattan)
- Can You Keep A Secret? (same author as Shopaholic series, different heroine)
- Memoirs of A Geisha (read it, but want my own copy)
- Samurai's Garden (read it, but want my own copy again)
- Bridges of Madison County (technically, it's my bro's. i don't he has read it, tho)
- The Notebook (if Gem doesn't return it to me)
- the Twins' Legend (the next trilogy to collect after the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy set. that, and me being a professed Tasslehoff fan. no, not Hasselhoff, fu!)
- My Utmost for His Highest (which i like better than Purpose-Driven Life)
- The Hiding Place (because i lost it.. or don't remember whom i lent it to)
- The Time-Traveler's Wife (just because i hear it's good)
- The Joy Luck Club (i've seen the movie. and i hope the book is just as good. or better)
- Sun Tzu's Art of War (hehe)

incidentally, i found an online book page that allows you to read some popular reading materials. for free. its not the same experience as actually reading and holding the book in your hands, (plus the added glare of the monitor might do more damage to my vision) but who knows? might give it a shot some day.