The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

There would be some changes since I got my Kindle.  On this gadget, I found out that sometimes, in some books, the pages don't work.  Instead, you'll find 'location.'  And it's not really viable to use location 68 since sometimes, it's still with the table of contents, acknowledgments, etc.  So, better use the percentage.  Since Kindle uses the percent instead of pages.  And I'll call it halfway up.

Halfway:

I need that pyramid and capstone... and I'm running out of time.

Sato arrived at First Street just as a black Escalade SUV with dark windows raved across the double yellow and skidded to a top in front of her at ther rendezvous point.  A lone agent got out.

"Any word yet on Langdon?" Sato demanded. 

"Confidence is high," the man said, emotionless.

Before starting with this book, I searched goodreads.com and was wondering why it got only an average of 3.5 rating.  But after reading several pages, it seemed to me that there might be a reason why.

My first reaction was that it started in almost the same way as with the Da Vinci Code.  I nearly lost interest because of the similarity.  But I tried to go on and see more.

The next thing is that those lengthy information on backgrounds of certain things bored me.  I know that sometimes some information are needed to fill in the gap, but then, sometimes it's way too long that I started to lose grip of the story.

I hope things change somewhere in the middle... or sooner.

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

First sentence:

Staring out the bedroom window, Ronnie wondered whether Pastor Harris was already at the church.

My favorite book written by Nicholas Sparks is definitely "A Walk To Remember."  Actually, if you'd probe deeper, I'll tell you that I like the movie better than the book.  I've read the book once and watched the movie several times and never tire watching.

Since I started my quest last 2009 to not read two books by the same author - at least not consecutively or at such a short interval - I never looked for anything written by Nicholas.  But wandering at the bookstore before Christmas, I found this book on trade paperback and could not resist not to buy it, for such a cheap price of Php 75.00 (about a $1.50).  So, since I wasn't reading anything at that time, I immediately started as soon as I got home and got the chance.

What's on page 68:

Will stood in the well beneath the Ford Explorer in his uniform, watching the oil drain while simultaneously doing his best to ignore Scott, something easier said than done.  Scott had been haranguing him about the previous evening on and off since they'd arrived at work that morning.

"See, you were thinking about this all wrong," Scott continued, trying yet another tack.  He retrieved three cans of oil and set them on the shelf beside him.  "There's a difference between hooking up and getting back together."

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

The first sentence:

My father had a small state in Nottinghamshire:  I was the third of five sons.

Again, this is a random choice from a sea of eBooks.  I guess the title attracted me, too, because as a child, I saw bits and pieces of the story on tv, but never really sat down and watch it in its entirety.

All I know (as a kid) was that he was captured by these little people in the land called Liliput.  I could still remember Gulliver lying down with these little people climbing the stairs that was placed somewhere in his torso.  I do not recall hearing a line said by any of the characters though.  Probably because I was only half-attending to the tv at that time and that I really wasn't interested.

I told a reading friend what I was reading lately.  He is reading Paul Theraux.  He told me good luck on reading Gulliver and I don't really know what he meant.

I replied that I chose the book by random and was only filling the vacuum.  I was on page 58, and at that time, Gulliver had just escaped the land of little people.

I told my friend that I thought it was kid's stuff.  But I thought it wrong when I reached page 110.  It totally changed my thoughts about the book.  Yes, it could be for the young adult, but I guess I am really wrong in calling it kid's stuff.

What's on page 68:

The farmer, by this time, was convinced I must be a rational creature.  He spoke often to me, but the sound of his voice pierced my ears like that of a water-mill, yet his words were articulate enough.  I answered as loud as I could in several languages, and he often laid his ear within two yards of me:  but all in vain, for we were wholly unintelligible to each other.  He then sent his servants to their work, and taking his handkerchief out of his pocket, he doubled and spread it on his left hand, which he placed flat on the ground with the palm upward, making me a sign to step into it, as I could easily do, for it was not above a foot in thickness.  I thought it my part to obey, and for fear of falling, laid myself at full length upon the handkerchief, with the remainder of which he lapped me up to the head for further security, and in this manner carried me to home to his house.