The Giving Tree Book Review

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Amazon: 4.4
Goodreads: 4.38


The Giving Tree is a beautiful fable of a little boy’s relationship with a tree. The boy seems to symbolise the human race as a whole and the tree depicts nature or even mother Earth herself.


The tree gives and gives and gives. The boy takes and takes and takes. However, the tree finds happiness in giving, while the boy never does in taking. He keeps on wanting more and falls in the pit we humans have spent millennia in. His early innocence made him want to be one with nature and he was truly happy. However, as he grew up he lost in touch with it and became busy in the hub-bub of the materialistic world, never stopping to use the generosity of the tree, never stopping to wonder what he could give back.

It is a beautifully simple story, which highlights the complicated and melancholic relationship man has with the natural environment selflessly nourishing him throughout his life. Nature finds happiness in it but man remains drowning in his sorrows and in his need.

This book is a must read for all!

Motivate You

Are you hurting right now? I’m sorry. Times can get bad. Life can sometimes be down right shitty. Maybe you relapsed for the first time, or even the tenth time. Maybe you had a panic attack and isolated yourself from friends and family today. Maybe you’re someone who thinks they don’t have any friends or family to care about them. For whatever it is you’re going through, I want you to take a deep breath, fuck it, take 5 deep breaths. In through your nose and out through your mouth. Relax. Remain calm. You can do this. Life will go on and you need to be around to see what happens next, okay?

Motivate You

The Love Journals

A Love that is Eternal is the one that sees the soul for what it is, as it is. All else is an illusion, temporary and replaceable."

Book Review: Results May Vary

Title: Results May Vary

Author: Bethany Chase
Published: August 9th 2016 by Ballantine Books 
Genre: Women’s fiction, Adult, Romanc
Rating: 4/5 stars
Last year, I read and devoured Bethany Chase’s first novel, The One That Got Away. This year, I had the pleasure of reading her second book, Results May Vary. And let’s just say, Bethany Chase is one of my new favorite voices in adult fiction. Her books are filled with interesting characters trying to navigate complex relationships and hardships.

In Results May Vary, the premise sucks you in from the start. In the first chapter, we find out that Caroline’s husband of ten years has cheated on her…with another man. And then we’re off on her heartbreaking – yet uplifting – journey of rediscovery. Caroline starts to examine herself, her family, her marriage, and those around her in a way she’s never seen them before. She undergoes an emotional journey that will resonate with many readers.
What I loved about this book is how it has a twist on a common trope. Affairs are everyone in adult fiction, but rarely do we get to see a marriage dissolve because the husband sleeps with another man. The topic of sexuality was a nice touch in this book. I also applaud Ms. Chase on not bashing gay people or their relationships.

The cast of characters in this book were amazing! I loved the dynamic between Caroline and her sister, Ruby. I loved how we had a love interest who was a POC. I loved how things got messy. Let’s just say, I found myself yelling at my Nook a couple times while reading.

The writing style here is superb! I said it in my review for TOTGA and I’ll say it again here. Ms. Chase has the best similes and metaphors in her writing. They’re all refreshing and clever.

My only complaint is that Caroline got a little frustrating at times. And I wanted her to get more angry at the hand she had been dealt. We were in her head a lot, but I wished we could have delved a little deeper into the issues that were bothering her.

If you’re a fan of Emily Giffin, I think you’ll enjoy this book! Or if you like juicy reads about a likable character stuck in a difficult situation, then this is for you. I can’t wait to read what Ms. Chase writes next!

#bethany chase#book review#book reviews#book blog#book#books#book review blog#adult fiction#pretty covers#read in 2016

The Love Journals

"If you have to convince someone to stay with you,then they have already left."

-Shannon L. Alder

Apo Whang-od

Finally, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago has NOMINATED Whang-od as a national artist. -Midland Courier August 14, 2016 Issue.......................


Up until today, traditional tattoo culture is still practiced in the Cordillera. Elderly men and women carry distinct tribal tattoos on their chests and arms, covering almost their entire body. In earlier times, girls would receive tattoos as they enter womanhood while men would get them for their achievements.These body arts are artistically made by a traditional hand tapping tattoo artist or the ‘mambabatok.’


Many of these mambabatoks have passed away, and the last living traditional artist who is still practicing the craft is Apo Whang-od from the Butbut tribe of Buscalan in Kalinga and has been featured in the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, the exhibition entitled "Tattoo: Ritual, identity, obsession, art" and at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Canada. (Just wow)

Many have been campaigning for Apo Whang-Od to be declared as Pambansang Alagad ng Sining for her role in preserving the dying art of traditional and cultural tattoo.