Reviews Archives - Page 3 of 28

A fable a day keeps the tantrums away (Review of Gaya’s Gift)

C.E.L. Ruffolo March 29, 2017 March 28, 2017 ReviewsLeave a comment

There’s something about fables that makes it easier to teach values to children – and Gaya’s Gift, a story of a carabao who believes that she does not have any special talent is one of those modern day fables that help mothers like me share the value of self worth …

The ecological alternative (Review of Elicon House)

C.E.L. Ruffolo March 24, 2017 March 20, 2017 ReviewsLeave a comment

Cris Evert’s Note: I stay in all types of accommodation in Cebu City. Name it, I have tried it. Last week, I stayed at the Elicon House and Jeff said he wanted to go with me. This was unexpected and I was pretty sure that he won’t like it because …

The literary and artistic genius of Shell Silverstein (Review of Where The Sidewalk Ends)

C.E.L. Ruffolo March 22, 2017 March 20, 2017 ReviewsLeave a comment

If and when I grow up, I’d like to have the literary and artistic genius of Shel Silverstein, who in Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein, successfully brought out common childhood images and doodles and transformed them into poetry and arts that reach out to …

No need for barbecue sauce in this murder-mystery novel surrounding steak and everything worthy of a food break (Review of Crime Rib)

C.E.L. Ruffolo March 15, 2017 March 13, 2017 ReviewsLeave a comment

How on earth is it possible for a murder-mystery plot to be in sync with mouth-watering food in a precious gem of a town named Jewel Bay? The answer: Agatha award-winning author Leslie Budewitz. In Crime Rib, the second book in her Food Lover’s Village Mystery series, Leslie brought us …

Review: Discovering the untold story of 1898 Cebu Revolution

C.E.L. Ruffolo February 1, 2017 February 3, 2017 ReviewsLeave a comment

Let me start this review with a confession. This is my first time to read a literary work that has something to do with the revolution that happened here in Cebu. Since I just started my foray into the world of Cebuano history, heritage and culture, I feel like Emil …

Unleash your creative self (Udemy course review)

C.E.L. Ruffolo January 27, 2017 January 26, 2017 Reviews28 Comments

Truth be told, I have participated in too many massive open online courses. I also took one graduate degree on an online platform and I am still finishing another one still in the same digital learning environment. You can say I am a little bored with it. So when I was told …

That one great true love (The Bridges of Madison County)

C.E.L. Ruffolo January 25, 2017 January 25, 2017 ReviewsLeave a comment

I hate you Robert James Waller — and I hate myself for only knowing you just recently through your book, The Bridges of Madison County, which, without my editor Edra Benedicto’s recommendation would have sat for ages on my bookshelves gathering dust, waiting to be read by their book hoarder of an owner. …

X-Men meets the world of Harry Potter (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children)

C.E.L. Ruffolo January 18, 2017 January 15, 2017 ReviewsLeave a comment

The very first time I saw the first edition copy of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, I thought I was in for a written version of The Conjuring. The book oozes a mysterious, scary ambiance that invites readers inside the doors of one unusual orphanage where …

The little triumphs of the unwanted (Chinese Cinderella)

C.E.L. Ruffolo January 11, 2017 January 12, 2017 ReviewsLeave a comment

If you’ve read Falling Leaves, then make sure you read Chinese Cinderella for it presents the little triumphs of the unwanted.

Published in 1999, two years after Falling Leaves hit the book stands and took the world by anguish and scorn, Chinese American author Adeline Yen Mah came out with Chinese Cinderella: The Secret Story of an Unwanted Daughter, a more detailed account of her childhood until her foray into the world of medicine in England. Continue reading“The little triumphs of the unwanted (Chinese Cinderella)”

Colon: Fearless, bold take on history (Book Review)

C.E.L. Ruffolo January 4, 2017 January 5, 2017 ReviewsLeave a comment

Rogelio Braga was fearless as he wrote Colon, a bold take on history — or a part of history that I have never read in any book or discussed in any forum or symposium that places the war in Mindanao under the blinding, pretentious attention accorded by a spotlight. Braga’s literature is free and …