I just discovered Netgalley.com the other day, and I swear I’m in love.

Basically Netgalley is a book site where you can request advance copies of books that are soon to be published, so you can review or recommend  them on your blog, or on social media, or whatever. 

So once you sign up, you can browse through the book catalog (which has a pretty good selection across a wide range of genres btw), pick the ones you like and click the Request button to ask publishers for a free copy.

And then you wait. Kind of like a girl waiting for that next-day call after a great first date. 

(Umm, the publishers will email you, they won’t actually call you on an ancient rotary dial phone, but you know what I mean.)

If you’re approved, then TA-DAAAH! You get an email, and the book magically appears in your Netgalley account and you can either send it to your Kindle, or download the file to read on some other device. 

OMGILOVEIT.

And just a few hours after I made my first bunch of requests, I got my very first book from Penguin Books Australia!

HEE! I was thrilled! Even if I had no idea what a WAG was.

Oh well, I figured I’d find out eventually. Except I really didn’t.

Whatevs. Anyway I wasn’t sure if my ignorance was due to being Filipino or sports-deficient (probably both) so I Googled it (though honestly, I feel I shouldn’t have had to, Ms. Costello) and apparently WAGs are “Wives and Girlfriends” of pro football players. Huh. Who knew. 

Anyhoo — going back to the book. I REALLY wanted to like it and write a rockin’ review, since it was my first and all — plus it was about a football star (which is close enough to a rock star, and we all know rock stars are my weakness).

But NO. I just couldn’t. Here’s the story in a nutshell.

Merise the model sounded more like a naive 16-year old than someone in her twenties, and the story, their issues, and their “love” seemed pretty shallow, to be honest. I hate it when people think they’re in love when they barely know each other. Geez, they spent like a combined total of less than 20 hours together and 3/4 of that was spent bickering and/or misunderstanding each other — and suddenly they’re IN LOVE??

So MEH. With a side order of ho hum. I’m sorry, Penguin. This one’s not for me.

Luckily I got a few more approvals in my inbox today, so WHEE! More books to read and review. Here’s a sneak peek:

Apparently you can only release a review a week max before publication, and a couple of these will come out June & August, so I guess those’ll have to wait.

In the meantime, I’m off to check out and request more books… because NetGalley is the best website EVER, if you’re a rabid book fiend like me. Go check it out. 

Happy Friday, folks! What are you reading this weekend?  Let me know in the comments. 

I have this really bizarre love-hate relationship with Candy Crush Saga. You’d think I’d be over it by now, given all the stress it’s put me though… but I guess I’m just a sucker for punishment. 

I finally got past Level 100 the other day though (Woohoo!), and as I was desperately trying to navigate my way around those horrifically annoying time bombs that show up at that level, a few things struck me about the blasted game.

It’s a little bit like life, if you really think about it. 

1. In the beginning, it’s all just fun and games…

You’re all “OMG this is so fun and easy, what the heck is everyone yowling about? LOL! There you go candies, BOOM!”

…and then you get schooled.

2. The further you get, the harder it gets — and the more you realize that the obstacles you’re sweating over and growling about right now are really only preparation for the infinitely more difficult shiz that’s coming up later. 

3. Money can make things easier, but it doesn’t necessarily solve all your problems.

4. You’re better off making friends. There’s only so far you can get on your own. Eventually you have to ask for help. The more friends you make, the longer you last, and the easier it gets to move on to the next episode… whatever that might be.

5. If you really want to succeed, you just have to keep trying. You will fail, and then fail again. And again. And then some more. But if you just keep at it, you’ll eventually get to where you want to be. 

Am I right or am I right?? Candy Crush is totally a metaphor for life.  Or maybe I’m just rationalizing my embarrassingly unambitious plans of spending the whole day trying to get to Level 103. 

Whatevs. :)  You all think about it while I get back to my game. 

Have a happy weekend, everyone!