Coffeespoons

On Coffeespoons' 3rd Anniversary

2012-01-21T21:26:00.000+08:00

It's Coffeespoons' 3rd birthday! Three years ago, on this date, I made the first post of this blog live. I always have a certain fondness for that post whenever I read it. It's not one of those things I write that I cringe at (I have a lot of those), mostly because it was honest and I like the sense of history. I started this blog because I was bored and because I love reading.

Now, I am no longer bored. Haven't been for a long time. And I still love reading.

In my last 2 blogiversaries, it was my custom to outline my advocacies for the year, whether I realized it or not. If you care to check back on my first and second year anniversary posts, you'll see that it was always about reading and the Filipino reader. That hasn't changed yet. So, this year, I hope I can do more to help push reading and readers in this group of islands where I'm from.

This blog, which was meant only to allow me to share my love for reading, has been good to me. I know I often haven't shown it the love that it deserves, but I want to say that, since I started this blog, many things have happened in my life that led me to where I really wanted to go.

Because of this blog, I've met people from the book blogging community, both local and international. I worked up the courage to shift careers so that I could do what I enjoyed and prioritize what I wanted to prioritize. Eventually, this blog allowed me to express what I thought about the way readers are perceived (or not perceived) in my country. I was able to meet the other Filipino book bloggers and count many of them as friends. This blog helped me realize that a readers' conference is an idea that other people could get behind, too, hence the first Filipino ReaderCon. And I do believe this blog has been instrumental in helping me get the job I currently have.

But most of all, this blog allowed me to just geek out as a reader, to be unabashed about my love for or my dislike of certain books. And periodically, it provided me sanity. Come to think of it, I started it to preserve my sanity.

And so, dear blog, thank you for everything you have done for me. I don't know where life and you will lead me as I go into the 4th year of book blogging, but wherever it is, please know that I will forever be grateful for what you've already brought me.

The Ulysses Read-along

2012-01-16T23:56:00.000+08:00

Ulysses wordle (img src)

Early this year, during a conversation on Twitter, Jaclyn of a book diary and I decided that we'd have a read-along. I'd never done one before and I thought it might be fun. Besides, I figure that, sometime during the year, I'd need this push in my reading. And so, Jaclyn suggested Ulysses. Perfect, really, since I only went as far as the second page long in my previous readings of the work.

We decided we'd check in on each other every 16th of the month, since Bloomsday, the day in celebration of Joyce and Ulysses, happens on June 16. I do not take credit for this idea. To be honest, I stole it from dovegreyreader who ran a Ulysses read-along almost 3 years ago.

So, this is the first check-in.

Frankly, I'm 6 pages into the text.

However, I did read the introduction and the publication history. Around 3 or 4 years ago, I took a course called History of the Book. One of the most fascinating examples of a book with an intricate publication history was Ulysses. Sadly, I've since lost the reference materials I had showing how involved Joyce was in publishing Ulysses, how he dipped his hand even into the composition and the layouting of the text. Even more sadly, I can't recall which version we talked about. And so, I hedged my bets with the original 1922 version and got myself the OWC edition. And because I am now incapable of going through a book's text without reading all, and I mean all, of the front matters--yes, including the copyright page--I went through the first two sections before I dove into the text.

I will not attempt to go into a discourse about the intro and the composition and publication history. In the first place, I don't think I'm capable. In the second, I have 20 mins. before this day ends and I would really like to post this while it's Jan. 16 in my part of the world. Suffice it to say, however, that my eyes did not glaze over as I read Jeri Johnson's introduction. I often like entering into a book cold, but I don't think anyone who was born in the 20th century onward can enter into Ulysses cold. And so I appreciated the context that Johnson provides, from the initial to the latter readers of Ulysses. Not having read the text completely yet, I like can't say if I'd agree with Ms. Johnson, but I can agree with her when she says,

While every new reader faced with this book addresses it new, this newness is modified by the generations of readers who have come before and whose disseminations of it have seeped into virtually every aspect of high and popular culture.

Like I said, who hasn't heard of Ulysses?

And so, though I shunned this novel before, by virtue of rumors about it being too dense and incomprehensible, I think what consistently brings me back to it is the idea of history--both it's publication history and the history of all the readers who have ever tried to make sense out of it. It is exactly a book like this that keeps reading alive--because people can't agree about it, because it is hard to fully understand, because no matter how long it's been around, people still discover/rediscover things about it and it still has something new to say. I don't know if I will end up liking it, but if only for its history, it earns my great respect.

That said, 6 pages into the text itself, and I wonder why I dropped it at page 2 years ago. Sure, I have no idea yet what exactly Buck Mulligan and Stephen Dedalus are talking about, but I have to say I'm enjoying reading the prose. Reminds me a great deal of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. And therein lies the reason. Except that this is prose, not poetry. I wonder how that will turn out eventually.

Thus goes my first month check-in for our Ulysses read-along. Jaclyn, I hope you're doing much better than I am.:)

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

2012-01-08T22:39:00.002+08:00

Summary

"Madeleine Hanna breaks out of her straight-and-narrow mold when she falls in love with charismatic loner Leonard Bankhead, while an old friend resurfaces, obsessed with the idea that Madeleine is his destiny." - from NPR.org

The good stuff

It started with the books. And it went on and on with books. The Marriage Plot is replete with references to books. We catch the three main characters, Madeleine, Leonard, and Mitchell, in college and the first year out of it, and much mention is made of their reading material. In fact, two of the characters fall in love precisely because of books, and the other one in the triangle uses his readings and scholarship as a crutch for his unrequited love. However, it is Madeleine's reading list that speaks the most to me, since she loves the narrative and considers herself a "Victorianist," a specialization I would also love to have. (Just to show how much I enjoyed the books, see the list compiled below.)
I only planned to browse through the book's first few pages. But Eugenides writes so smoothly that I found I'd already gone through 25% of the book before I looked up.
I liked that Eugenides gave characters values that seem very archaic today, such as taking the marriage plot (in literature and in life) head-on and searching for faith even in organized religion.
I enjoyed Mitchell's honesty and Leonard's fight to cope with his condition.

The not-so-good

Even though I loved her reading list, I did not care for Madeleine at all. She was blind, oftentimes on purpose, to the course her life was taking or the consequences of her choices. She also got progressively whinier through the book. I did not like that she became childish whenever she was with her family, nor that it was the men in her life who made choices that would benefit her, such that she, not them, ends up with a promising life, through little effort of her own.
This may be because I'm nearly 15 years out of college, but at certain points, I did not see what their fuss was all about. All the pretension from knowledge gained in college, the search for love, the quest for one's self--not that I've got the last of these down pat myself--but really, I was close to losing patience with them. And that's how I realized that I must really be getting old. These are not the issues I would worry about knowing what I know and being where I am now.

Quotes from the book that I highlighted and why

She'd become an English major for the purest and dullest of reasons: because she loved to read.

...because the line is counterintuitive.

Madeleine was perfectly happy with the idea of genius. She wanted a book to take her places she couldn't get herself. She thought a writer should work harder writing a book than she did reading it. When it came to letters and literature, Madeleine championed a virtue that had fallen out of esteem: namely, clarity.

...because we share this belief.

Religious feeling didn't arise from going to church or reading the Bible but from the most private interior experiences, either of great joy or of staggering pain.

...because it makes sense to me.

There were some books that reached through the noise of life to grab you by the collar and speak only of the truest things.

...because it reads like a line that'll be in a "best quotes about books" website and will be quoted ad infinitum by book lovers.

It took courage to let things fall apart so beautifully.

...because the line is beautiful and true.

The ending

I still haven't decided whether I like it more than I didn't like it. I liked it because it was witty and right, given everything that happened. I didn't like it because it felt like the whole book was written just to get to that ending...

Over-all

(Errata: The initial version of this paragraph assumed that this book won the Pulitzer. I thought I was that behind on Pulitzer news that I didn't even know the award was given. Apparently, I was misled by the cover. So, it hasn't won the Pulitzer yet and I don't think it will. Thanks for pointing it out, Aldrin!)
In spite of the indulgence in semiotic theory, feminism in Victorian lit, and a deconstruction of the marriage plot itself, all set in the recession of 80's America (or maybe because of it) I wasn't all sold to the book. Though I flipped through the novel quickly and enjoyed reading it to some extent, I still think Middlesex was a stronger and more relevant novel. The female character in The Marriage Plot didn't speak to me and that disappoints me because I like well-drawn female characters, if not strong ones. In the end, I felt that, no matter how much I enjoyed reading the book, it didn't mean much of anything in the face of real life. Which, I think, is highly reflective of most literary theories.

And yet, the books...

The Marriage Plot started with the books, so I'll also end with the books. It may either be geekiness or even pretension on my part, but I did write down the books mentioned in it, along with who was reading them. Not that I intend to read all of them, but I am grateful that it reminded me of other books I still plan to read.

So, whose reading list do you prefer?

Mitchell

Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis
Confessions by St. Augustine
Interior Castle by St. Theresa of Avila
A Confession by Leo Tolstoy
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware
A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber
Auguste Comte and Positivism by John Stuart Mill
The Courage to Be by Paul Tillich
Being and Time by Martin Heidegger
The Drama of Atheist Humanism by Henri de Lubac
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Cloud of Unknowing
The Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross
V by Thomas Pynchon
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Madeleine

Modern Library Set of Henry James
Love Story by Erich Segal
Myra Breckinridge by Gore Vidal
H.M. Pulham, Esquire by John Marquand
Emma by Jane Austen
Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
Of Grammatology by Jacques Derrida (also read by Leonard)
The Role of the Reader by Umberto Eco (also read by Leonard)
Writing and Difference by Jacques Derrida (also read by Leonard)
On Deconstruction by Jonathan Culler (also read by Leonard)
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
A Lover's Discourse by Roland Barthes (also read by Leonard)
Paradise Lost by John Milton
The Madwoman in the Attic by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar
The Oxford Book of English Verse

Leonard

Writings in General Linguistics by Jacques Derrida
The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Ontogeny and Phylogeny by Stephen Jay Gould

Other books mentioned

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Sarrasine by Honore de Balzac
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
New French Feminisms: An Anthology

By the way, this list is by no means exhaustive. And if you find mistakes or things I missed out, feel free to point them out.

A Perk and An Assessment

2012-01-06T02:38:00.001+08:00

My new Kindle Touch. Forgive the sucky picture. It was night,
I was using my iPad camera, and I really take sucky pictures.

I work in digital publishing. So, though I have my own trusty Kindle 3, now being rebranded as the Kindle Keyboard, I was issued today with this new office equipment. Yep, the Kindle Touch. Of course, I did a little happy dance inside.:)

I've been giving the Touch a test run, and here's what I found so far...

The Good:

It's smaller and lighter.
I can secure it with a numerical code.
There seem to be more setting options.
It's easier to transfer books into folders or collections.
It's touch screen!

The Not-so-good:

The screen is deep, so there's a slight shadow on whichever side the light comes from, and it's a bit distracting. (In the picture, check out the shadow on the right edge of the screen. Sorry, I'm a nitpicker.)
The keys on the screen are small. Even if the keys on the Kindle 3 are small, too, at least it's tactile so I make less mistakes in pushing the keys.
If you have big fingers, the left margin area to move the page back might be too small for you.
If your library spans more than one page, you'll have to type in the page number to go to the other pages.

Ok, ok, a lot of the not-so-good things really are nitpicky. I can't really say much yet about the battery life since I just charged it. And truth to tell, I haven't explored everything it can do. But for the record, to everyone who asks why I've always said I prefer this over a Kindle Fire or a Nook Tablet, I reply with one answer: e-ink.

I honestly find it hard the stuff I like to read on backlit screens, such as iPads or any of the other tablets. I do, however, love e-ink because there's no glare and it reads like paper. I'm an old curmudgeon that way. The only things I am willing read on a backlit screen tablet are graphic novels and picture books.

So thank you, makers of e-ink, for being kind to my eyes. And thank you, workplace, for the new plaything.

And now, back to regular programming, which means trying to finish The Sisters Brothers.

Keeping It Real (or, My Reading Goals for 2012)

2012-01-04T00:56:00.000+08:00

I plan to chill, just like her. (img src)

This year in reading, I'll...

relinquish my little semblance of control and be entirely honest with myself. Ergo, I opt not to formally join any reading challenge this year.
let my reading develop organically, while trying to read more of the following:

African women writers
Filipino literature (for fun, not just for work. Though work is fun.)
Graphic novels

try to limit my book buying to P1000 (around $23) per month.
try blog more regularly? (I don't think I can commit to anything beyond that question mark, especially with my current schedule. I know people say it's all a matter of scheduling, but I seem to have a medical condition that prevents me from keeping to any concrete schedule. In an ideal world, I woud like to blog at least 3x a week. But I can only promise to try.)
participate in or organize more read-alongs, either with fellow book club members or fellow bloggers.
definitely have a Ulysses read-along with Jaclyn of a book diary. It will last a year and we'll be checking in with each other every 16th of the month.

So, I declare it a stress-free reading year for me, because Lord knows there's going to be stress elsewhere. And I'll try to make it a better blogging year than last year. I'm already excited to see where this year's reading will take me.

For the record, I don't think the world will end this 2012. I doubt that God/fate/the universe is that predictable.

Best Books I Read in 2011

2012-01-02T19:14:00.001+08:00

Of the 69 books I read last year, these were the most memorable. They're ordered according to when I read them.

The El Bimbo Variations by Adam David - Adam's a valued co-worker, but before he was a co-worker, I'd already read and loved this poetry collection of his. A year after reading it, I still count it as one of the most memorable books I read last 2011. Its humor, wit, and intelligence haven't faded with time for me.
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill - At a time I was looking for satisfying ghost stories after reading a few disappointments, I came across this one. Sadly, I haven't gotten around to watching the movie version with little Danny Radcliffe, but if you're looking for a slow-burn scary read, I highly recommend this.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - This book has been in my TBR for a while, and I picked it up because, well, I don't really know. I think I was looking for a lyrical Oprah book. This one gladly fit the bill. It was beautiful and peopled with strong and highly intelligent female characters. And maybe the fact that I'm a mother also had something to do with my connection to the book. Oh, God. I'm exactly Oprah's audience.
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls - To paraphrase Anna Karenina, every dysfunctional family is dysfunctional in its own way. Walls' memoir of her life with her dysfunctional family could have become maudlin, but she wrote it with such sensitivity and acceptance. Takes a big woman to do that--make us love her highly irresponsible and fucked up parents in spite of all their dysfunction.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd - You should know that I'm a big fan of Patrick Ness, if you don't already. I have waxed poetic about all of his work. So, yes, I was predisposed to like this. But I have been predisposed to like many things, though didn't. I'm glad Ness still has the same magic for me. It's a simple story, began by Siobhan Dowd. Even the revelation is simple. But, of all the books I read this year or in recent memory, this is the only one that has finally made me cry.
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson - Many of my former co-workers had mentioned this book, so I finally decided I should read it. Of course I found it revealing and very logical. And now, very, very relevant to what I do. I haven't gotten to the point that I preach about it, but I do mention it a lot during presentations.
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - I read Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad this year, too. Though I liked it, reading Cloud Atlas soon after Goon Squad really made the first book pale in comparison. I like Math. I like order. Naturally, if there are multiple voices and toying around with form, I appreciate a clear structure, which is what I found in Cloud Atlas. Not to mention that the voices were more distinct and compelling for me. If you like literary fugues, read this. I think it counts as my best read this year.
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin - And if I were to judge best reads based on how much I wanted to scream at the book, this would be it. The scream would have been in surprise, anger, and frustration, which are not necessarily bad things when one is reacting to a book. The way I see it, if you do that with a book, it means it has involved you. As long as you don't scream at the author. Anyway, if you've read the book, then you might know the context of the scream. In any case, George R.R. Martin has gotten me hooked.
Surgeons Do Not Cry by Ting Tiongco - I read this because it was part of my job, but I ended up loving the book. Ting Tiongco's memoirs of going through med school in the University of the Philippines were funny, touching, and tinged with a bit of rebellion. I feel bad that this book wasn't given as much recognition as it should have. It's not merely meant for people in the medical industry, although I've heard people giving it to med students as a gift. Nevertheless, I honestly think it should get the mainstream recognition it deserves. Help it out?:)
The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman - I'd been following the Walking Dead series up until the first few episodes of Season 2 when a friend offered me copies of the comics. So, of course I snapped up the offer. Started reading issue 1 on a Friday. Finished issue 71 or 72 on Sunday. Yes, it's gripping, unputdownable, and all those other cliched words that people use when writing reviews. After reading it, I thought I should have a new goal when it comes to my children's education, and that is to educate them so that I'm sure they'll survive a zombie apocalypse. That'll mess them up for sure, but at least they'll survive.

I've been looking again at the list of books I read last year, and I realized that I seem to have expanded my reading to include more Filipino titles (partly because of my job, partly because I just wanted to) and more comics or graphic novels (thanks to the generosity and thoughtfulness of both Carl Javier and Adam David. And, again, partly because of my job.). And I have decided that this expansion in reading taste trumps failure of meeting my avowed reading goals. Hurray for new frontiers in reading!

And for Oprah.:P

The Year That Was

2012-01-02T01:39:00.000+08:00

This was my reading life in 2011...

On reading goals and challenges:

I'd like to think I started out well. I aimed to go through at least half of my 2010 TBR. I joined the TBR Dare, which lasted for me until the end of February. I also aimed not to buy more than 12 books in the whole year, unless I had already finished my TBR goal. Sadly, by March, that 12-book buying goal was compromised by one thing--the Kindle. My sister had given me one as a gift, and there went my goal. To be fair, I held out until the middle of the year. To date, though, I do not know how many additional TBR books I've acquired. I can count how many print books I've added, but cannot and do not want to count how many ebooks I have on my TBR.

As for my other goals, well, I barely remember them and I suppose I lost interest in them along the way. Figured that, as long as I'm reading and trying to vary it, I'm ok. In any case, here's my total reading progress for the year.

On book/reading events:

I and other Filipino book bloggers organized the first Filipino ReaderCon, out of a desire to give Filipino readers more of a voice and a presence. It was a small albeit successful (judging from available feedback) event, and we're planning to hold the second one, of course, this 2012.

I also got to attend the 2nd Manila International Literary Festival, graced by two Pulitzer Prize winners: Junot Diaz and Edward P. Jones. Fell in love with Mr. Diaz when he said that readers were his peeps. I, along with blogger Tarie Sabido, was also invited to be one of the panelists in the talk entitled "Getting the Young to Read," where I mostly talked about my experiences as a high school teacher in getting kids more interested in reading. Been telling myself to write a post about that whole talk, and I hope I finally will before this month ends.

On other life-changing things:

Well, not so much life-changing as career-changing. Last August, I wrote a post explaining a change in job, which thereby makes me not just a book blogger, but also part of the publishing industry. So far, am loving my job, but it sadly leaves me little time for book blogging. I'm hoping all that can be explained away by the customary job adjustment period (though that is kind of a long adjustment period). The beginning of a new year is always an optimistic period for me, blogging-wise, so I will keep my hopes.

Working at Flipside has given me the unique opportunity to help other authors publish their own work and help local publishers become more comfortable with the digital era. It's pretty exciting work that I'm glad to be doing. I don't know where it will take me or how things will pan out in the future, but for now, I'm just going to work my ass off and enjoy myself while I'm at it.

So I say goodbye to a year that, for all intents and purposes, has been good to me. Here's to hoping that the coming year will be as good or even better. Soon up--my best reads in 2011.

On Writing by Stephen King

2011-12-07T22:57:00.000+08:00

With the work I have now, I thought it was high time for me to finally read King's On Writing. Let me put forth a few home truths:

I am not a writer. The extent of my claim to being a writer goes as far as authoring around 7 teacher's modules, contributions to a few textbooks, an article in a magazine here and there (like 10 years ago), and one accepted essay in an anthology about to be published. And this blog. So, as one who must now help other writers publish their book, I figure I need to learn all I can about that craft.
However, I am a reader, as should be obvious from this blog. I read voraciously and widely. Sometimes, I may not read as much or as often as I'd like, but I still go around with a couple of reading implements on me (my Kindle and a print book, more often than not).

Thus, putting these two truths together, my response to learning the craft of writing, especially of fiction, is to read about it.

Right. Lame. But, for one who is so in love with fiction and consumes it in great heaving chunks, I have never had the urge to come up with my own. I've tried (2 Nanowrimos) but it was really just for the heck of trying. So, reading about how others do it is the best I can do.

Which brings us to Stephen King's On Writing. It's a book I had always wanted, and I finally got the ebook version when I got my Kindle. Actually, I wanted On Writing because, apart from the great reviews, I mistakenly thought it had one of my favorite King essays, "Why We Crave Horror Movies". I don't know where I got that idea, but it was always an assumption.

Nevertheless, On Writing was everything the good reviews raved it would be, and more. For one, I loved King's memoir of his journey to becoming a successful writer.

Ok, not everyone is a fan of Stephen King. When I was in college, I remember a few professors disparaging him. But I do remember one professor who also said that we underestimate writers such as him. I tend to agree with this last professor.

I don't want to rehash what I think about the distinction between "literary" novels and "genre" novels or the marginalization of story (wrote about that in a review of Gaiman and Sarrantonio's Stories anthology). Suffice it to say that Stephen King, for all his faults, is still a damn good writer. I'm not a fan of all of his books, but I'm a fan of enough of them to say so. His Salem's Lot is the scariest vampire novel I've ever had the privilege of reading, and I still remember the stories of Carrie, Firestarter, Pet Sematary, and The Stand, which is much more than I can say for many of the other books I've read in my life. Also, it's pretty hard to argue with success, and I think we can all safely say that the man is successful.

And down-to-earth. At least, that was the impression I got after reading his memoir, the first part of On Writing. I'm a big sucker for "how-I-prevailed" stories. They give people like me hope and inspiration, trite as that may sound. So, Stephen King's wall of rejection slips, his distaste for journalistic writing, and writing tips from his editor give me as much satisfaction as a warm cup of cocoa. With marshmallows.

When I say that I got more than I expected from On Writing, however, I am referring to King's very concrete tips for writers, of his effort to focus on the language. Again, I stipulate that I am no writer. But I have been editing for the past four years. And I have been a teacher. King's tips made me wish that I had read this book back when I was still teaching high school students. For instance, his tip on simplifying the writing. Sure, this tip has been bandied about a lot. Yet I appreciate the concreteness of his examples, such as the sample chapter from Room 1408. Yep, the movie. I actually didn't know that Stephen King wrote that. I have fallen far behind on all things King.

And the idea that one doesn't have to begin with the plot. I felt that was liberating. Being the obsessive-compulsive individual that I am, I've always figured that one needs to outline one's plot first. Yet King has a different process. He starts with thinking of a situation, of a character's back story. Then he writes from there and lets the characters take him where they will. Puts me in mind of what Junot Diaz said in the recent Manila International Literary Festival, about the difference of writing short stories and novels. Diaz said that a short story is a fully conscious work, but a novel is not. One has to trust one's unconscious at some point in the act of writing a novel. I figured that that's not so far from what King does when he says he lets his characters take him where they want to go.

That's for the first draft, of course. King, like most other writers, espouses the discipline of writing and the work that needs to be done for the second draft. Plain and simple, it's work. Work that many of us might want to do, given the luxury of time and millions in royalties. But it's work all the same. And I have great respect for hard work.

So the question is, am I inclined now to try my hand at writing fiction after reading this book? To be honest, I'm still not sure. It did push me to finally write this blog post, though, after weeks of not writing anything. I figure, it doesn't have to be fiction, does it? I think I just miss writing for me.

Oh yeah?

2011-11-05T00:33:00.000+08:00

Yeah, gonna smack you down, bitch. (img src)

During one of the sessions in last year's Manila International Literary Festival, I remember someone saying that it makes sense for an author like Neil Gaiman to be on Twitter, but not really for literary authors. And a lot of the audience were nodding their heads.

Aside from my usual annoyance at the delineation once more of "literary" and "genre" authors, I also thought, "These people probably aren't on Twitter much, or else they'd know a 'literary' author such as Margaret Atwood is very active on Twitter, and her fans are loving her for it."

And just to prove some more how wrong that statement about literary authors on Twitter was, I bring you Salman Rushdie's very involved engagement with Tweeps in the #literarysmackdowns hashtag. I am seriously impressed that Rushdie is taking all this time and effort to interact with people he does not know from Adam. Whether it's him or a staff member, I still appreciate the effort.

Which brings me to my next point: if you're an author, then by golly, use Twitter! It's not the Holy Grail, fine. But it does win you the loyalty of your fans, not to mention potentially brings you more fans or readers.

And yes, I'm talking especially to you, Filipino writers. Well, at least the ones who haven't caught up yet to the online marketing phenomenon. Go to Twitter, look around, follow people, lurk for a while (if you want), say some interesting stuff, react, retweet even, and let people get to know you. It's the personal touch that makes all the difference. Even highbrow Mr. Rushdie up there gets it.

Surgeons Do Not Cry by Ting Tiongco

2011-10-09T23:15:00.002+08:00

I've been pimping Surgeons Do Not Cry by Ting Tiongco for a while now for two reasons. The lesser of these reasons is that our company co-published the ebook edition. So that's my "full disclosure" statement. But the bigger reason is that I read the book and was utterly both charmed and blown away by it.

Ting Tiongco was a med student at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine, the country's premiere med school, in the early 1970s. He interned at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), a government hospital and the lab hospital of UP. PGH caters to the poorest of the poor, which is saying a lot in a third-world country. Moreover, the 1970s was a historic time in Metro Manila--the era of the declaration of martial law and student demonstrations against a dictatorial regime. So, Tiongco's book is a memoir of his experiences pre- and during med school during those tumultuous times.

But it is absolutely not a political book. I say this because I definitely shy away from any book that is strongly political. I like my fiction and I like my stories. And Ting Tiongco's book is replete with little funny, sad, and ultimately inspiring stories.

In fact, it drew me in from his story about his battle to enter medical school. Tiongco didn't take up his pre-med in UP. He took it in Ateneo, another premiere university in the country. But back then, Ateneo didn't have a medical school. And students figuratively (or so I hope) killed to get into UP College of Med. So much so that Ateneo only allowed 5 students to graduate from their pre-med program. Because that is how many students from Ateneo the UP Med School accepts. And Tiongco tells a lot of campus humor that goes on prior to his entering UP.

The campus humor goes on to when he finally makes it to the College of Med. Tiongco came from a more old-world tradition, hence was always very gallant towards the women in his class. Until a rabid feminist cusses him very volubly for offering to pay for her lunch. After which, he says he felt relieved because no longer felt the strain on his meager budget whenever a female joined him for lunch.

Or his story about a classmate who felt so edified that her psychiatry patient kept giving her an apple everyday, until she found out that the patient really believed in the adage, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Or the time when he revealed all his secrets to a catatonic patient who eventually recovers and gives him a knowing smile after. Or when he instituted the Kissing Rounds in the PGH and how the older doctors foiled his plan. Or when they had to treat a patient who had a broken penis. Yes, it was news to me that penises could get broken.

UP PGH (img src)

But a doctor in the PGH who treats the poorest of the poor can't help but have stories that can break your heart. Such as the girl who was physically abused by her mother. Or the love story between a diplomat's daughter and a dying little boy. Or what happens the first time that a surgeon experiences a DOT (Death on the [Operating] Table). But the stories never turn maudlin. I think what helps is Tiongco's simple tone.

And that's the other thing that made me love this book: the way it was written. Ting Tiongco doesn't suffer from an affected grandiose style in writing. He tells it simply, effectively, beautifully, which makes the insights and the commentary he intersperses in the stories more poignant.

Insights and commentary he has aplenty. Tiongco was what we might call a firecracker. He was a thinker and a leader. In his memoir he speaks about establishing the Gota de Sangre program, a blood donation program that he instituted. Initially, they went around campuses asking for donors. Eventually, they set it up with the College of Medicine itself, and he tells the story of the entire program, up until its unfortunate end. He also relates what happens in the first ever UP PGH strike, in which he played a major part, being one of the student leaders. At the time when the UP College of Med was rocked by a cheating scandal, he was there and was one of the signatories denouncing it. In fact, that story is further illustration of how the little decisions we make and little steps we take could turn into something amounting to a national scandal.

But the most inspiring thing I found about Tiongco and his book? His belief of what a College of Medicine should teach and how it should teach it, especially in a country such as ours. Of how much a tragedy it was that, in those times, 70-90% of the best educated doctors in the country end up not serving the country but moving to foreign lands. Of how doctors train in 3rd world conditions but still opt to practice in 1st world settings, whether in the Philippines or elsewhere. And yet, there are many patients, especially outside the urban areas, who have most need of doctors' help.

I have a soft spot for rebels, especially the passionate and eloquent sort. Stands to reason I've fallen a little in love with Ting Tiongco. His book ends with his graduation from the UP College of Med. But it has appendices of Dr. Tiongco's commencement speeches in colleges in Mindanao, which is where he grew up and where he decided to go back to after med school. And one can tell that his passion, eloquence, and beliefs did not end with his graduation from med school. It is alive and well judging from speeches as recent as 2006.

I wish I could meet the man. (His print publisher, UP Press, tells me he's a very gracious person in real life.) And I wish, very dearly, that his book gets read by more people and even enters into mainstream consciousness. No, not just because we co-published it (though, really, that wouldn't be bad at all), but because the book deserves it, for its writing, for its stories. And for what it makes you feel after reading it, which is, in the simplest terms, happy.

*on Amazon - Surgeons Do Not Cry [Kindle edition]

*on Apple iBooks - Surgeons Do Not Cry by Ting Tiongco

What do I expect from the ReaderCon? (The last ReaderCon Filipino Friday)

2011-09-14T02:49:00.000+08:00

It's 11 hours to the ReaderCon. I'm awake because I'm cramming for the event, and what better time to cram when everyone is asleep?

Since I didn't make it on a Friday again, I promised that I'd at least post this before the ReaderCon. So I'm abiding by my promise.

The last ReaderCon Filipino Friday topic is

What do you hope will happen in the ReaderCon? What are you expecting from the event?

I will try to answer this as best as 2AM and my sleep-deprived brain will let me.

I hope it'll start on time, that's for sure. I hope all the little details fall into place. I hope the food's good and sufficient. I hope it'll be a success.

But let me veer away from speaking as a volunteer and organizer. What I hope for the ReaderCon is what I've always hoped: that more and more people will realize that reading is something many Filipinos engage in and are passionate about. As a corollary, readers will find other readers or will give birth to other readers. And, in the end, I hope that no one says that "we don't read" anymore.

I know these are big hopes. I like big hopes. But not to lose sight of the small though, here's a more concrete set: I hope that I meet the other Filipino bloggers I've been seeing and interacting with online. I hope that the planned directory of book blogs and book clubs will be of great help to other readers, writers, and publishers. I hope that book blogs don't get lumped under the Arts and Culture category again in the Philippine Blog Awards. Don't we merit our own category already? Because that would be quite a statement, for the benefit of reading and readers in the Philippines.

I expect to have another ReaderCon next year. And I expect I'll do everything I can to make it happen. In fact, I've already asked a few people what topics they'd like for next year's ReaderCon, and I've thought of a few myself. How 'bout you? Any ideas? I know we're only about to embark on the first, but let's make this happen again.:)

See you in 10 hours!

ReaderCon Filipino Friday: The Compilation

2011-09-03T21:11:00.001+08:00

This is me trying to make up for the past 2 Filipino Fridays I missed plus answering this week's current Filipino Friday.:) Bear with me if this turns out into a long-ish post; it's a three-in-one.

Prompt for Week 2:

How did you become a reader? What influenced you to take up reading as a hobby?...What is it about reading that you enjoy so much?

I blame my mother, as I suppose most of us do. The story I fondly tell is of my mother taking me to Greenhills when I was three and, as we got down from the car, she was excitedly telling me that she would buy me a book. How do I know I was three? Because my mom says that's how old I was when I started reading. Anyway, my mom was gabbing away about buying me that book, and I distinctly remember thinking, "What's a book?" I had no idea what it was, but basing solely on my mother's excitement, I figured it'd be a good thing. And so she bought me two books, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. Beginning that night, she read me one or the other, though I asked from Red Riding Hood more. I probably couldn't relate to Cinderella yet, though I did love her ball gown. And eventually, I memorized the first page of Red Riding Hood. I know this because I remember joining my mother as she read it to me. But I wasn't really reading the words yet. Until I did.

And the rest is history.

The irony is, as I was growing up, my mom would get mad at me because she couldn't understand why I spent my money on books and never on clothes or bags or jewelry. A few times I was tempted to tell her, "Well, it's your fault."

I enjoy many things about reading. I love that I live many lives through what I read. I love that I get disturbed and shaken by some things I read. I love that I learn new things. I love that I can talk to people about things I read and find a connection with them because we've read the same thing. I love that I do not have to pretend to be anyone else when I am reading.

Prompt for Week 3:

How hard or easy is it to be a book-lover in the Philippines? What are some of your frustrations as a Filipino reader? And what are the positive aspects of being a reader in the Philippines?

Let's start with the last question: great thing about being a book-lover from my beloved archipelago? Cheap books. Yep, cheap, as in less-than-a-dollar books. Of course, I'm referring to the books in the copious second-hand bookshops found all over our metro. In the past, I used to make a hobby of going to different second-hand bookshops hunting for a good but cheap copy of a novel I wanted. I wasn't as good at this hobby as some of my other book friends, though. I've been able to nearly complete the Dr. Seuss books for my kids, most of which I bought for less than $3. So yeah, that's a pretty cool thing to have.

Frustrations? You know, the word "frustration" connotes a powerlessness, so on that count, I guess I refuse to be frustrated. Instead, I'll talk about the things I hope to work on changing, such as:

getting a wider variety of reading material from local writers (e.g., more novels, more YA lit, and graphic novels becoming more mainstream)
publishers and writers becoming more aware of readers, what readers are interested in, and how readers can help them
publishers, writers, and readers working together to market Filipino works more, both locally and internationally

I'll stick with this list first because if these things are accomplished, then by golly, this Filipino reader will be one happy guppy. And as for the last question, to be honest, I think if you're a lover of anything, it doesn't matter how hard or easy it is. You'll still love it no matter what.

Prompt for Week 4:

Do you read Filipino literature? If you do, tell us your favorite books by Filipino authors and name a few that you'd like to recommend to fellow readers. If you don't read much Filipino lit, then tell us why.

If you asked me this question a couple of years ago, my answer would've been no. I read what was required and no more. And I would have to explain it by saying that my reading material has always been English books and my educational background has always leaned towards Anglo-American lit. To paraphrase my friend, I'm a very good colonial. But after I had been blogging for a year, I read a few accusations against Filipino readers and I realized that I was very guilty. Since then, I've been trying to read more Filipino authors and have discovered that I had been missing out on a lot.

For instance, I never read Nick Joaquin, except for the few short stories we were required to read in school. But when I was working, my friend lent me a compilation of his myth and fairy tale retellings. They were originally published as children's stories, but the compilation I read, entitled Joaquinesquerie: Myth a la Mod, was styled as a short story collection. I meant only to browse through it to look for a story to use in my students' exam, but oh my Lord, I read through the entire thing because every story there was fantastic! To date, those are some of the best short stories I have read.

Then there's that wonderful murder mystery, Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.B. Batacan. It's intelligent, it's exciting, and it's short. The main characters are two priests from the university where I used to work. It would've made for a nice series with those priests solving mystery after mystery. Sort of like Father Brown, but a tandem. And without much of the philosophizing.

There's also Ricky Lee's Para Kay B, which is written in Taglish (a mix of Filipino and English). I thought I'd have a hard time going through it. But I didn't have a hard time reading it at all, perhaps because for many of us, Taglish is our mother tongue. And I found the story fascinating and hilarious.

And then there are also the various Speculative Fiction anthologies which I've been introduced to via writers I've met in talks or online. Recently, our book club discussed Philippine Speculative Fiction 6, which has this year's Palanca Award winner for Short Story in English, "The Big Man" by Asterio Gutierrez.

I could name others, but I think that'll have to be for another post or a series of posts or (gasp!) actual book reviews (I know, I know. I haven't done one here in a while.). Otherwise, this post is in danger of becoming ridiculously long.

But let me say one last thing and this time, I'm not just talking as a reader but also as a publishing professional. A lot of Filipino literature is beautiful and should be read by as wide a public as possible. But if you notice, a lot of the books I mentioned above are not easily accessible. Which, to me, is a sad, sad shame. How wonderful would it be if someone were to read this post, decide to get the books I mentioned, and find that they're just a click away? That's what I'd like to do. Help make them so easy to access that people who want to read them can. People from anywhere in the world.

Ok, that's enough about my agenda. And now I have successfully caught up with Filipino Friday. My last chance to actually make it on a Friday is next week, the last Friday before the ReaderCon. You are going to the 1st Filipino ReaderCon, aren't you? You should.:) If you can't make it to SMX, then follow @PinoyReaderCon, and drop by Twitter on Sept. 14 from 1-6 PM. We'll be there, too.:) Get a chance to talk with fellow Filipino book geeks like you.

What is constant and what has changed

2011-08-27T03:52:00.000+08:00

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For posterity's sake, I'd like to post here what used to be my Blogger profile write-up:

I've learned that in my life there are only a few things I need to keep constant: my love for my family and my love for reading. The rest can come and go as they please.

Now if you look at my current profile there on the right, you'll realize what has changed.

What is constant: I am a reader, I am a mother. Things that have changed: I used to be an educator in the classroom; now I'm an occasional educator when I do teacher training. I used to work in educational publishing, which did not impede at all into my book blogging activities. Now, I work in a digital publishing company that publishes and co-publishes trade books and some academic content. So, yes, I know this will affect this blog somewhat.

But for the kind of work I am going to do, I'm willing to take that chance.

And what is the kind of work I am going to do (or am doing, as of Tuesday last week)? I've been hired as managing editor for Flipside Digital Content Company, Inc. Historically, Flipside is a conversion house. They've been converting ebooks for some of the big six publishers for years. But this year, Flipside decided to open their services to local authors and publishers, which means that they're not only a conversion house anymore; they're a publisher. Specifically, they're a digital publisher.

So, working for them means that I get to live my dream of helping promote Filipino (and Asian) content on an international scale. I get to help publish Filipino titles to Amazon, Apple i-Books, and Barnes & Noble. Let me spell out what that means, in case the implication has missed a few of the readers--Filipino books can now be made available and more accessible to the international market via e-publishing, which I get to help out with. And, oh my God, for one who believes that our local lit should be read by more people, what a wonderful thing this is!

"But what about the Filipino or the Asian reader?" you might ask. We here in the good ol' Southeast of A aren't the marketplace for iBooks and B&N. No, we CANNOT buy books at iBooks and B&N, even if we have the devices, the credit cards, and the willingness to pay for the book. We can buy via Amazon, but we have to live with the additional $2 charge on all of our purchases. Again, penalty for living on the "wrong" side of the world. So much for promoting reading everywhere, huh?

But Flipside is also working out solutions for the Filipino and Asian readers, solutions that will grant them easier access to ebooks and will help writers and publishers make their content more accessible to local readers. So that's the other reason I was eager to work with them--I get to help enable more Filipino readers.

But enough about me and my career choices. What I want to say is that I will mostly continue what I've been doing with this blog, because this is still my blog, and not my company's or anyone else's. However, the line between my hobby and my work is blurring even more, so I want to be transparent with that. For every review I write, I will

state how I got the book
specify whether it's a book we're publishing.

I still reserve the right to blog about what I want to blog about, but I will do my utmost to be fair to my readers, to the company I work for, and to myself.

Occasionally I might gush about things we're doing, so you're going to have to excuse that. After all, what use is this blog if I can't gush about book-related stuff that I want to gush about?

But at the heart, I am still and always will be a reader. Wherever I go or whatever I'm called, I'm happiest when I just read. That is constant.

ReaderCon Filipino Friday: Introduction

2011-08-14T22:01:00.003+08:00

Better late than never.

Filipino Friday is a meme that originated within the Filipino Book Bloggers site and is being borrowed by the ReaderCon site in order to encourage participation among Filipino readers everywhere. The ReaderCon Filipino Friday will run for the 5 Fridays leading up to the big event on Sept. 14.

This week's topic is an introduction. Here's the prompt from the site:

Tell us what kind of reader you are. What are your favorite genres and books? Who are your favorite authors? Do you have a comfort read? And what's the best book you've read this year so far? You can also include links of where other readers can find you online.

I like to think I'm an eclectic reader. Though I had favorite genres at certain points in my life (bestsellers in early high school, sf&f in late high school to college, classics in later college years, YA when I started working) I think I've gotten to a point where I'm willing to sample anything. For instance, even when I started joining book clubs and blogging, I was a staunch fiction reader. But exposure to the wide world of reading and readers encouraged me to try out a few non-fiction titles which, thankfully, I enjoyed. So now I don't mind mixing non-fiction into my reading fare. Sometimes I even crave it. And although I love classic literature, something that a lot of people might shy away from, I am not afraid to say (oh God) that I loved Twilight! It hit me how amateurly written it was after I had consumed the first three books, but I loved it all the same. I've always wanted a vampire boyfriend.

In the time since I've read Twilight, I've upgraded desired vampire boyfriend into either of these two.

Favorite genres? Being an eclectic reader, I like to mix it up. If I judge from the kinds of books I've read over and over again, such as Pride and Prejudice, Hamlet, To Kill a Mockingbird, I'd say my favorite genre is classics. Ok, I did teach a couple of these titles in my former career as a high school English teacher, therefore I had to read them periodically, but I was already reading them yearly even before I had to teach them. In the case of To Kill a Mockingbird, I lobbied to put that in the curriculum because I loved it so much.

To be honest, though, I can't even judge my favorite genres from the books I read over and over again. And even my comfort reads change. Right now, I like me some George R.R. Martin. (Nearly done with A Feast for Crows and I swear if Martin kills another character I like, I will scream at him until I'm blue in the face. Well, scream at his picture, at least.) There was a time nothing could comfort me except non-fiction books. Other times I want contemporary literature. But a usual fall back is YA or some really fun fantasy or mystery book. And by fun, I mean lots of scheming and darkness and down-and-out characters on a quest for something that will bring about their own redemption.

I think it's easier to talk about favorite books and authors. So aside from the books I mentioned, here are some of my other favorites:

for-the-sake-of-nostalgia favorites (meaning I don't entirely remember them bec. it's been so long, but I know I loved them): Lord of the Rings, Middlemarch
f*ck-yeah-this-is-awesome favorites: Middlesex, Wolf Hall, A High Wind in Jamaica, The Knife of Never Letting Go
because-I-am-a-kid-at-heart favorites: A Hundred Dresses, Anne of Green Gables series, Horton Hears a Who
real, real favorites: Chronicles of Narnia (especially The Silver Chair and The Horse and His Boy), Pride and Prejudice (I just had to say it again), The Blind Assassin, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Stoner

And my favorite authors: Jane Austen, William Shakespeare (yes truly), C.S. Lewis, Jasper Fforde, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Ness, Margaret Atwood, Michael Chabon, Dr. Seuss. I qualify my favorite authors as those I've read a lot of and enjoyed. So, Ms. Lee, though I love your book, you've only written the one and I can't really say you're my favorite author.

Best book I've read this year, so far? Cloud Atlas. By David Mitchell. Hands down.

But just so you get some context of what I've read this year, you can check out my bookshelf at Shelfari. That's where I log my reading adventures. Aside from this blog, that is. I'm also a member of Flips Flipping Pages, the club that I blame for the unprecedented and catastrophic rise of my TBR pile. Them and these damn book bloggers. Couldn't beat them so I joined them.

Well, that's me, if you didn't already know. And if you're anywhere near the vicinity and free on Sept. 14, even if it is a Wednesday, I hope to meet you at the ReaderCon!

The First Filipino ReaderCon

2011-08-13T21:03:00.001+08:00

Yes! Yes, it is. Yes, we're finally going to do it.

Filipino Readers Make it Social! The First Filipino ReaderCon is finally going to happen on Sept. 14, from 1-6 PM at SMX Mall of Asia. We are going to be one of the special events during the Manila International Book Fair, which actually starts on that day.

About 19 months ago, I declared what I believed about Filipino readers. Then, nearly a year ago, in a post about the local Future of the Book conference, I mentioned how some local publishers didn't seem to be aware of the level of activity of the reading public. But the germ of the ReaderCon idea finally took form during the first Manila International Literary Festival last year, when Tarie and I were imagining what our ideal conference would be, since we felt that literary festivals and book conferences could do with more reader involvement. And that was when we said that we should have a readers' convention.

The time seems ripe for it, after all. Around the same time last year, the Filipino Book Bloggers first met as a group. Even way before that, several book clubs had already been put up and enjoying an active status. And finally, when we posed the idea of a ReaderCon early this year, people's responses were enthusiastic.

So, through the generous efforts of the local reading community and the generous contributions of our friends, we're having our ReaderCon. The objectives and the program are below:

Filipino Readers Make It Social!

The 1st Filipino Reader Conference

Objectives:

to provide support, instruction, and social time for book club members and book bloggers
to celebrate readers and reading in the Philippines
to promote a closer connection between readers and writers and/or publishers

Programme:
1:00 – 1:20 PM - Registration
1:20 – 1:30 PM - Welcome Remarks

1:30 – 2:00 PM - Keynote Speech: No Line on the Horizon: The Merging of Readers and Writers through Social Media
Speaker: Carljoe Javier

2:00 – 3:30 PM - Panel Discussion: Putting up and Running a Book Club – for the fun of it!
Panelists:

Gege Sugue (Flips Flipping Pages)
Doni Oliveros ( The Filipino Group - Goodreads)
Tata Francisco (Ex Libris Philippines)

Facilitator: Peter Sandico

3:30 – 4:00 PM - Snacks

4:00 – 5:30 PM - Panel Discussion: The Why and How of Book Blogging
Panelists:

Tarie Sabido (Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind, Into the Wardrobe)
Charles Tan (Bibliophile Stalker)
Chachic Fernandez (Chachic’s Book Nook)
Aldrin Calimlim (Fully Booked. Me)
Sasha Martinez (Sasha & the Silverfish)

Facilitator: Honey de Peralta (Coffeespoons)

5:30 – 6:00 PM - Socials

By the way, we'd like to thank the generosity of our co-presenter, Vibal Publishing House, Inc.; of our major sponsors, Primetrade Asia, Flipside Digital Content, and Scholastic Philippines; and of our raffle sponsor, OMF Literature. Without them, our ReaderCon would probably remain a dream.

The Philippines is an archipelago, so we know a lot of book bloggers, book club members, and readers in general won't be able to make it to the venue. However, there are many ways that people can participate. We've set up a Twitter account where we'll make announcements, talk to people, and do live tweets during the ReaderCon.

You can also check out the conference website for general information and announcements. Right now, we have a weekly meme going on. Filipino readers of any persuasion can join the meme or read the others' entries. It's one way to get to know who the other readers are out there. You might even find your reading soulmate. If you haven't, that is.

If you're on Facebook, you can also check out announcements or start a discussion in our Event page. And book bloggers can join the Filipino Book Bloggers group on Facebook, if you haven't already.

So, if you're a Filipino reader of any persuasion or want to be, I hope that you do come for the ReaderCon. Registration is a measly P50, but you will be fed well and, more importantly, you will gain great friends. If you can't make it there, you can still make great friends by engaging in discussions in any or all of the sites where there are Filipino readers. And if you're the type that doesn't want to engage in discussions, then at least you know that others are there.

Finally, you could also help spread the word about the Filipino ReaderCon. Just go to the conference website and grab any of the badges there and link to the site. Help us spread the word about the vibrant Filipino reading public.

Print vs. ebooks: What I've been reading and buying

2011-07-24T17:32:00.002+08:00

I don't intend to rehash a tired debate; I only mean to look at what formats I've been reading books this year and what this means.

I got my Kindle last week of March and of the 20 books I've read since then, 7 have been Kindle ebooks. I think I'd be reading more of my Kindle books if not for that goal that I set for myself at the beginning of the year--that of cutting down my 2010 TBR to around half.

However, what's more telling, I think, is how many books I've actually bought from brick-and-mortar bookstores since I got my Kindle. Ok, granted I also have that other challenge not to buy more than 12 print or e-books this year until I halve the TBR, I notice that I hardly show any interest when I pass by a bookstore anymore. Shocking, I know.

Like other bibliophiles, I couldn't resist going inside a bookstore whenever I passed by one. And I couldn't resist buying at least one book whenever I entered one. Or if I didn't, I went through this long process convincing myself that I would not die if I didn't buy the book then and there.

But I don't do that anymore.

I no longer feel the pull of a bookstore whenever I go to the mall (And our malls here have several). Sometimes I still go in, but I merely browse disinterestedly through the shelves. Unless, that is, I go in to specifically find a certain book. But that rarely happens now.

Many reasons for this, I think. First, I blame the ease with which I can buy books online, be it an ebook or print book. It used to annoy me that bookstores didn't readily have a copy of a book I wanted. Now, if they don't have it, I can just go online and order from Book Depository, if I want it in print, or Amazon, if I can get the ebook.

Second, at this point in my readerly life, I know which books I want and I don't feel the need to browse through shelves anymore to find books that might interest me. Instead, I look now to my favorite online sites, like The Millions, Guardian Books, NPR books, preferred book blogs, and my friends' recommendations. I even pick up on some of Amazon's recommendations. And this is why I find browsing through shelves of books I'm not interested in tedious and impractical.

Also, considering space issues in my home, I've been favoring ebooks over the print version. I know there are a lot of purists out there who will wax poetic about the smell of the paper, the feel of the books in their hands, blah, blah. Heard it all and you're preaching to the choir. I love print books, but I don't see any contradiction in loving the digital formats, too.

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Personally, when I buy books, I really pay for the content. The prettiness is something extra that I'll be willing to shell out money for, provided it's justified. Which is why now, the only times that I deign to buy a print book are: 1) It's NYRB (I love how the spines look on my bookshelf); 2) It's illustrated (I find images don't translate well on my Kindle.); 3) It's ebook-proof (e.g., pop-ups, Foer's Tree of Codes, etc).; and 4) There is absolutely no ebook version and I absolutely still want the book.

Do I miss the hunt? (Meaning the pre-Amazon physical book hunt). Occasionally. Everything seems so easy now and the only thing that gets the blood singing is if you get your copy before everyone else or you got it on sale somewhere. But there's no real challenge anymore. That is, unless I decide to start collecting rare books or maybe one book in every language it was ever printed in.

That said, I'm enjoying the plenitude too much right now to seriously complain. I just scored Zoo City for $0.99 at Amazon's Big Deal. Situations like this are not things to complain about.

But be it bricks-and-mortar or online, be it print or ebook, I think what really influences my buying now is a lot of convenience and a little personal touch. Let the book be available, let it be affordable, and let someone tell me that it's there. The online bookstores do that with their recommendations. But the physical bookstores do that, too, by maintaining some sort of relationship and contact with their customers. For instance, I know I frequent one bookstore because the marketing people have made themselves accessible, are prompt in responding, and, basically, have been kind to me. And I have an abiding loyalty to this second hand bookstore in my alma mater because the proprietor always has a nice word and a recommendation for me whenever I pass by. Also, it doesn't hurt that I like the selections in both stores.

I don't know the future of publishing for certain and I don't have a business solution for offline bookstores. But as a voracious consumer of books, I can see firsthand how my buying habits are changing because of new technologies and new business models. I do feel conflicted about these changes, but as long reading is still reading, I will be ok. And so, I hope, will the bookstores.

Meeting John Sayles

2011-06-25T00:46:00.004+08:00

John Sayles, writer, indie director, editor, actor.

I met John Sayles, indie writer, director, and editor, last Tuesday during an intimate presscon organized by Fully Booked. What struck me first about the author was his seeming shyness.He introduced himself readily to the members of the media there (all 7 of us), but sat quietly while his partner and producer, Maggie Renzi, chatted us up very warmly. Nevertheless, the author of A Moment in the Sun, a doorstopper of a book which is to be launched this Saturday also at Fully Booked, looked around with sharp eyes that seemed to take in everything.

To be honest, this was my first presscon, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. My images of presscons are shaped by Hollywood movies and coverages of Philippine politics. But this presscon was just a small group of people seated around a table, eating and chatting. (In Philippine culture, it doesn’t seem right to chat without eating.:D) Aside from members of traditional media and writers from news websites, Fully Booked’s marketing department did think to invite a few book bloggers to help spread the word about the book and the Philippine launch.

The book's cover. Pretty, isn't it?

I thought I’d go into this presscon a little prepared by researching more about John Sayles, whose work I admittedly hadn’t read before. I found out that he had written several novels, one of them, Union Dues, nominated for the National Book Award. He'd directed seventeen films, and had also been given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Writers Guild of America. I also stumbled upon John Sayles's blog, maintained by Maggie, covering their trips through the US and the Philippines to promote both Sayles's book and movie. But I think it's the fact that his book, A Moment in the Sun, is published by McSweeney’s that I latched on to the most, because it gave him a lot of plus points on the hip scale. What surprised me, as I did my usual Googling, was that the book wasn’t the typical McSweeney’s/Dave Eggers contemporary hipster novel. Rather, A Moment in the Sun is, to quote the press release:

"a sprawling affair; touching on various landmark events in history such as the discovery of gold in the Yukon to racism in North Carolina to the explosion of a battleship in a Cuban harbor—which would lead to the war with Cuba and Spain to America’s eventual colonization of the Philippines."

Apparently, John Sayles is no stranger to the Philippines. He had been here several times before to shoot his film Amigo, which is set in the Philippines in the 1900 and is about the Philippine-American War.

It was what Sayles uncovered about the Philippine-American war that pushed him to both make Amigo and write A Moment in the Sun. During our conversation, Sayles mentioned that he had come across several documents that mentioned something called the Philippine-American war and he wondered how he had never heard about that war before. So, this pushed him to learn more about this war that, apparently, was not taught to Americans and neither was mentioned in American textbooks.

As Sayles described the primary and secondary documents he read to help him examine what was history and what was myth, I was stunned by the length and breadth of his research. He tried to procure or access all books and documents that he could in order to give him a wider and deeper understanding of the war. This includes, too, books that might not have to do directly with the Philippine-American war but were written during the same time. I had to ask him how he gained access to these books and he replied that he searched and bought some of them from online sellers, some he accessed via the Library of Congress, and others he found during his trips here to our country. So, what really impressed me is this man's intelligence and passion for history. In fact, he said that he thought of writing the book A Moment in the Sun because he realized that there was more material that he wanted to add in his film Amigo.

Then again, the thickness of his book was not entirely his own doing, according to him. He spoke about his editor at McSweeney's, who really went through his manuscript with him and even asked him to add certain portions to the book. He remarks that he appreciated this but it did surprise him, as it was more customary for editors to ask writers to make their manuscripts thinner.

Me with John Sayles. Forgive the pixelated picture. Only had my phone camera.

Sayles said that he wrote the book from different perspectives and worked to make each character's perspective seem authentic. He reflects that writing seems to be a good practice for acting, because both require getting into the head of a character and seeing only what that character sees. I asked, then, if being a director also influenced his being a writer. He mentioned something that struck me, possibly because I'm neither a writer nor director myself. He said that both are forms of storytelling, but whereas in directing, you point a camera and it shows everything to the audience, in writing, you start with a blank page. So, though both jobs require one to choose what to highlight, in directing, it is a process of taking away, but in writing, it is a process of adding. I thought that was a pretty cool insight.

Now I'm off to read his book. I have high hopes for it, not just based on its blurbs, but also because I heard from a friend that, despite its length and topic, it's very readable. And it's no small matter that I was very impressed by Sayles himself who, I have to say, seems to know my country and its history better than I do. But one other cool thing about the book, though, is that the McSweeney's site also provides additional notes on most of the book's chapters. So, things and situations unfamiliar are just a click away.

So, if you happen to be in Manila on the afternoon of June 25 and you're free, do head to the book launch of A Moment in the Sun by John Sayles. Judging from our presscon, I know there are going to be interesting conversations there.

Oh, and in case you're free on June 28, too, you can also check out the premiere screening of Amigo at Trinoma Mall, 6PM. They're going to have an exhibit of the beautiful costumes used for the movie right before the screening. Here's the trailer to whet your appetite.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd

2011-06-21T22:36:00.001+08:00

I am a proud pimp of Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking trilogy. To date, it is still the best YA series I have ever read. Beginning with the first book, The Knife of Never Letting Go, the series just got better with each installment. Which is why it's a shame that there are only 3 books. Which is why I have begun to look out for anything Ness. Which is why, when news came out of A Monster Calls, a book Ness wrote based on an idea from Siobhan Dowd, I jumped up and down in glee.

Though the word "monster" is used both in this new book and in the title of the third book in Chaos Walking (Monsters of Men), this new book is not cut out of the same cloth as the dystopian series. But it's still Ness's writing. And after reading this book, I think I've figured out why I love Ness's writing so much. To me, he speaks truth: quietly, simply, powerfully.

A Monster Calls is a tale of a young boy, Conor, coping with the reality of his mother's illness. One night, Conor is visited by a monster, a huge, centuries-old, yew tree-like creature. Intriguingly, Conor is not afraid of the monster, because it is not the monster that he was expecting. The monster tells Conor that he will be afraid before the end, for the monster will come back and tell him three stories. And after the third story, Conor will tell him a fourth story and it should be the truth. Otherwise, the monster would eat him alive.

Conor asked a logical question, which I suppose most of us, too, would ask in his place.

"You're going to tell me stories?...How is that a nightmare?"

To which the monster replies,

"Stories are the wildest things of all. Stories chase and bite and hunt."

Which is, I suppose, as close a manifesto as Ness will ever put in this book. Although he did write a magnificent introduction to the novel that says something about stories, too, particularly about the fact that the book was derived from notes left behind by Siobhan Dowd.

I felt--and feel--as if I've been handed a baton, like a particularly fine writer has given me her story and said, "Go. Run with it. Make trouble." So that's what I tried to do...
And now it's time to hand the baton on to you. Stories don't end with the writers, however many started the race. Here's what Siobhan and I came up with. So go. Run with it.
Make trouble.

Maybe it's all this set-up in the beginning about stories. Maybe it was the topic itself--a dying mother. Maybe it was the character of Conor, who not only had to deal with his mother's cancer, but also the other travails and uncertainties of adolescence. Maybe it was Ness's writing, which is both stark and lyrical that it really brings you face to face with the grief. Whatever it was, the story did chase and bite and sort of make trouble for me because I ended up ugly-crying by the end and had to hide my sobs from my husband. And I really don't remember the last time a book made me ugly-cry or just plain cry.

The monster's stories aren't all that scary, truth to tell. But all of them are meant to show that things and people aren't always what they seem. And they're all for the benefit of Conor, who does have some difficult stuff to get through. But the nearer Conor approaches the time for telling his story, the more afraid he is. And when he does tell his story, you'll realize why he was afraid and it will all make sense.

I've always thought that Ness wrote beautifully. And, though sad, this is a beautiful story. And a beautiful book. I'm glad I got the print copy because it is filled with dark and wild illustrations befitting the story's underlying mood. The illustrations were care of Jim Kay, who has some of the illustrations on his website. Here's a sample below:

The monster (img src)

Ness did run away with Siobhan Dowd's ideas. Now, I've never read any of Dowd's books, but judging from the reverence with which people talk about her, I gather she must be a pretty great writer. And this means I have to find and read one of her books. Any suggestions?

In the meantime, I do suggest that you read A Monster Calls, especially if you like exceptionally well-written YA novels that have nothing to do with vampires, werewolves, or fairies, and everything to do with a realistic coming-of-age through the telescope of grief. It is awesome. Ness is awesome.

I await his next truth.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

2011-06-19T20:34:00.001+08:00

It won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2011 Pulitzer for fiction. And, Aldrin was raving about it.:) Which makes it a book that I could not pass up.

In fact, I went all the way to Fully Booked, twice, just to get my reserved trade paperback copy of Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad. I held off on the Kindle version because of some negative feedback about the powerpoint chapter (i.e., it was hard to read). Yes, there's a powerpoint chapter, which I found utterly brilliant and charming.

Forgive me if I can't summarize A Visit from the Goon Squad. I will have to seek recourse through this Publishers Weekly review.

We begin in contemporaryish New York with kleptomaniac Sasha and her boss, rising music producer Bennie Salazar, before flashing back, with Bennie, to the glory days of Bay Area punk rock, and eventually forward, with Sasha, to a settled life. By then, Egan has accrued tertiary characters, like Scotty Hausmann, Bennie's one-time bandmate who all but dropped out of society, and Alex, who goes on a date with Sasha and later witnesses the future of the music industry. Egan's overarching concerns are about how rebellion ages, influence corrupts, habits turn to addictions, and lifelong friendships fluctuate and turn.

I think all of you who've read the book will agree that it's a pretty difficult book to summarize. There are multiple characters and multiple viewpoints. The narrative goes back and forth across time. You'd think with an experimental novel like this, it would be difficult to read, which is why its readability and strong storytelling is so refreshing.

I've come to that age when postmodernist gimmickry annoys me unless it is accompanied by an actual understandable story and relatable characters. Then again, really good writers, for all their linguistic gymnastics and literary pastische, always tell good stories and create characters that we know. In this regard, Egan is most definitely an excellent writer.

"Time is a goon," or so one of the characters claim. And time is indeed the preoccupation of the novel. Time and music and the connectedness of people. The rather clever thing that Egan did--the thing I loved most--is that the apparent fragmentation of the novel belies the inherent interconnection of it all. All the seemingly discordant voices (different narrators and language styles) combine to create a harmonious tune; pretty fitting for a novel wherein music is a strong motif. The style puts me in mind of the movie Crash, another exercise in weaving together discordant stories.

Egan, unlike many other less talented writers, never loses control of her novel. So, though at one moment I was reading about Bennie's wife and the dissolution of her marriage, then the next I was dragged several years ahead to the story about La Doll, Bennie's wife's boss, and then I was dragged again, this time way back to the past, to witness the downfall of Bennie's wife's brother, it never bothered me that I was being dragged.

And I think this implicit trust I placed in Egan was a function of her story and characters. Isolate the stories, and they can probably stand on their own as beautiful short fiction, with characters that you can recognize and some you really care about. For instance, the character and the story I really took to was La Doll. Initially, you meet La Doll as one of the most powerful PR people in the biz, but when it's her turn in the book's spotlight, we meet her years into the future after her downfall born out of pride. This time, she is merely Dolly, trying to scrape a living to support her young daughter, Lulu. Dolly still has her PR skills, but as she is already blacklisted from her original PR circle, she accepts the job of working on the image of a ruthless dictator who is suspected of genocide. In the entire story, you see Dolly's struggle to merge what she used to be, what she is, and what she wants to be. Dolly's story also leaves you caring a lot about Lulu and wondering what will become of her, which (thankfully) the novel answers in another later story.

But put all of the stories in Goon Squad together, and the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts, because in one way or another, they all touched each other's stories. And I love the idea that, no matter how we move through each of our own little worlds, there is a connection to all our lives. I find this idea very comforting.

Perhaps one day I'll reread A Visit from the Goon Squad again and pay attention to all its music references and how it portrays the individual in the midst of the 21st century technology. But for now, if all it gives me is the thought of interconnectedness and that people across time change yet remain the same, all told in lucid and tender prose, then it has more than fulfilled its promise.

Oh, and I can't wait for the HBO series.:)

Filipino storybook apps for the iPad

2011-06-08T00:49:00.000+08:00

Pagpagayuk and Mariang Sinukuan on the iPad

This is a post wherein many of my worlds collide--my work, my book blogging, and--only a tad bit--my family.

Anyway, the educational publisher I work for, Vibal Publishing House, Inc., has released its first set of interactive storybook apps for the iPad and for the Android! And they're the first storybook apps for the iPad developed entirely in the Philippines by a publishing house! And they're the first Filipino-English bilingual storybook apps in the world! Yes, those are exclamation points because I'm very proud of having been part of the process of their development.

So, this is not a review because I can't review something that I helped make. This is, obviously, shameless plugging.

There are five storybooks from Vibal's Chikiting books imprint developed into apps. These are:

Amansinaya: Goddess of the Sea
Story by Eugene Evasco
Illustrated by Jomike Tejido

Mariang Sinukuan: The Goddess and Keeper of Mt. Arayat (image above)
Retold by Eugene Evasco
Illustrated by Leo Cultura

Pagpagayuk: The Magical Bird of Bukidnon (image above)
Retold by Eugene Evasco
Illustrated by Pia Constantino

The Magical Shirt
Story by Eugene Evasco
Illustrated by Ghani Madueno

Yummy Fly Pie
Story and Illustration by Jomike Tejido

The first three are available for the iPad ($1.99), and the last two are available both for the iPad and the Android (for free). Most of the stories are written by Eugene Evasco, a member of the Palanca Awards Hall of Fame. The Palanca Awards is the Philippines' most prestigious literary award, and only writers who have won five first prizes in any of the Palanca Awards categories are inducted into the Hall of Fame. Evasco has distinguished himself in writing for children, of course, but mostly in Filipino. So with these storybook apps, Eugene Evasco, together with the other illustrators and writers, can get worldwide exposure.

We're also hoping to let the world know more Filipino myths and legends, which is why those first three stories up there are retellings of local myths. In fact, in the recent Asian Festival for Children's Content, these storybook apps were presented. We like to think of these apps as our contribution to spreading "Asian content for the world's children".

So, what did I do to help with the development? To be honest, not much. Well, unless you count the English voice-over. Yep, in the event that you do download these apps and listen to that voice reading the English text--that would be me.

Apart from that though, as one of the in-house editors and elearning specialists, I took a look at the apps at various stages of development and gave comments about how I'd like them to function. I wasn't trained for any of this and I'm really just learning more about technology now. However, I gave comments based on what I'd like to give my children, as a parent, and what I'd like kids to do with the story, as a teacher.

One of the first television features for our apps. Guess who's the girl at the center?:)

I was never a tech geek when I started to work with the company. All I was was a curious teacher who liked going online. I'm still not a tech geek, but I've learned many things when it comes to publishing and how publishing is evolving. I've also learned how coming up with something beneficial instructionally is heavily dependent on budget, manpower, schedule, and know-how.

And so, I know that coming up with an interactive storybook app is a struggle when one is still trying to learn how and when a lot of people around you don't understand what is being done. But I am proud of the people who worked on this because they were willing to experiment and try something, even if there were grave constraints on manpower and budget. And I'm glad to be working in a place where people are brave enough to try new things.

Now, if you do try out these apps, you should judge them based on their own merits. The developers, including myself, are very open to comments and suggestions because we do know there are many things that we can still work on. Nevertheless, this knowledge doesn't make me less proud of these first few storybook apps. And we can only hope that we'll keep doing better.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

2011-05-31T20:27:00.001+08:00

This was my Mother's Day read (yes, that long ago). I didn't want to read one of those Oprah books (not that I have anything against them, but I don't like being pigeon-holed.) and I think I made the right choice.I thought Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle was a beautiful book.

There are probably many other reasons why I chose it--issues with mothers, wanting to read about the Walls family, getting another book off my TBR...but mainly, I guess, the book called out to me.

Regardless of reason, I was enthralled by the book from the beginning. Jeannette Walls' first memory was of being on fire. She was three and her mother let her cook hotdogs by herself. She got into an accident, caught fire, and was brought by her mom to the hospital. She loved being in the hospital because it was totally different from the trailer park in which they lived. Her brother and sister came to visit, as well as her dad, who didn't approve of hospitals or anything to do with The Man. After six weeks, she leaves the hospital Rex Walls-style, which basically means that her father just snuck her out.

Obviously, Jeannette's parents aren't the epitome of parenting. They drag their children around the US, and they allow them to go starving. The father drinks them broke and the mother refuses to work because she wants to concentrate on her art. But the kind of picture that Jeannette Walls paints of her parents is one of love. Seriously. You have to read it to believe it. As a mother, I felt disgusted by certain things that Jeannette's parents did or allowed to happen. But never was I disgusted by them.

Rex Walls might have been a drunk and Rose Mary Walls a self-absorbed wannabe artist, but, based on Jeannette's portrayal, they were both very intelligent and educated their children so well that, despite their poverty and periodic starvation, these kids were always ahead of their peers. Moreover, whatever lack of parenting skills Rex and Rose Mary had, they made up for in imagination. One Christmas, when they had no money for presents, even of the dime-store variety, Rex Walls took his children out in the night sky and made them choose stars for their Christmas presents. He told them of the different stars and constellations, about light years, black holes, and quasars. And after they had made their choices, he told them, "Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten, you'll still have your stars." It's an excuse, to be sure, but it's beautiful all the same.

Perhaps the only thing that really irritated me about her parents, though, was that Jeannette's mother seemed to have the capacity all the while to lift her whole family out of poverty, but she refused to do anything because, well, it was just against her principles. It wasn't anything like whoring or selling her kids--it was simply that she refused to sell a piece of land worth a million dollars because "land must stay within the family." I understand why Jeannette was so intent to learn how much the land was worth when she learned about the situation as an adult.

Yes, the children do grow up to be adults--successful ones, for the most part. After years of being poor and hungry, the Walls children learned to escape and fend for themselves. And when Jeanette and her siblings move to New York one by one, away from their parents, you can't help but cheer. However, they never could leave their parents far behind. Especially these parents who, no matter how dysfunctional, seem to love their children.

In my post about poetry, I mentioned an unforgettable line from "A River Runs Through It"-- We can still love them--we can love completely without complete understanding. I think the line illustrates Jeannette's relationship with her parents perfectly. Heck, it illustrates many a person's relationship with his or her parents perfectly. And The Glass Castle is a testament that, even in the midst of disappointment, you can still love.

April Round-up and a question about your ereaders

2011-04-30T22:49:00.002+08:00

Woman Reading in a Landscape by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot (img src)

She looks so calm and involved reading there, doesn't she? I do wish I were her, even for a little while.

April has been a better reading month than March for me, all because of the Holy Week holidays we have here. Four days of not doing anything--just lying down to read. It's something I badly needed. I even got to blog a bit!

So here are the books I read this month, with links to the two that I was able to review on my blog:

One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde - I'm a big fan of Fforde. And though I think that his first four Thursday Next books were much better than the two books that followed, I'm still a big fan. That is how much loyalty his first four Thursday Net books and the two Nursery Crime books have evoked in me.
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman - read many good things about this, so I got it on my Kindle. What I loved about it are the character studies. The book shows us the different people who work for an English-language newspaper based in Rome. Ultimately, what it shows is how the people who give us the news are extremely fallible and very human.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - my first Ishiguro, which I love.
The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller - this was a gift to me from my husband, the graphic novel fan. To his credit, every graphic novel he has made me read has really impressed me. This one is no different.
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton - Now I see why this book is put in schools' reading lists, and why it's often challenged or banned. Just to clarify--I think this should be read in schools, because it shows that those labelled as delinquents have just as much dignity and feeling as anybody else.
Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath - I really appreciated all the practical advice in this book for making your ideas and messages stick.

The first two books I read on my Kindle. Then I made a conscious effort to try to go back to all those TBR books on my shelves which I need to get to. Which brings me to my question for owners of ereaders...

How has your ereader changed your reading habits?

Before I got my Kindle, I sat amazed as I read testimonial after testimonial from ereader converts. These were people whom I know valued print books. But when they got their ereaders, some of them suddenly found themselves preferring it.

Now, when I got my Kindle, I told myself that I would only get selected new releases there--the books that take a while to get here to the Philippines. Then, I found myself deciding that I would get most of my books via the Kindle, unless they were NYRBs (whose book designs I love) or books that don't translate well to ebooks. And whereas before I always brought a print book with me to work or wherever I go, I've realized that I actually find it easier to read on my Kindle whenever I read outside my home. And so I thought, why fight it? I've decided that it's more comfortable for me to read my print books at home and bring my Kindle with me when I travel or commute.

So yes, I'm a convert, too. I refused to read ebooks via my computer before, but now, I actually enjoy the ability to download books easily and quickly and to carry around several books at once. I still love my print books, though, and in fact have ordered a couple more, but I like that I have more options for reading now.

One more change in my reading habits brought about by my Kindle--I no longer count the free ebooks I've downloaded to my Kindle. Have discovered the beauty of downloading classics from Project Gutenberg, and the reason I don't count those is that my concern re increasing my TBR had to do with space and cost issues. The free ebooks don't take up any space and cost nada.:)

However, I've still bought a few books in the last month, and here they are:

The Magicians by Lev Grossman (Kindle)
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd (pre-ordered on Book Depository)
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (Book Depository)

One ebook and two print books. And if I'm to remain faithful to the challenge I set for myself, I can only buy 3 more books this year until I finish 60 more TBR books. Oh my. Then again, I've always liked impossible challenges.

And how was your reading month?

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

2011-04-24T22:20:00.000+08:00

Ever since I left teaching, I've become more interested in the field of communication and marketing. Which, I admit, is strange because communication and marketing are pretty useful skills if you're a teacher. Except that, I think, a lot of teachers don't realize this. As an English teacher for almost 12 years, I wasn't provided with any kind of communications training, nor training on designing my message. We were given a lot of training on teaching strategies, teaching frameworks, philosophies, etc. Now, yes, some of the teaching strategy strategy training has to do with communication, but I don't recall any training or preparation that was meant for communication alone. Which, I think, is a pity. When I listen to my husband or my friends from corporate talk about communications training or how to market, I think, "Hey, these ideas are really useful to an educator." And I wonder why we don't talk about these things a lot. A lot of educators may know how to communicate and to market their ideas instinctively, but I think, for those who don't, the principles and strategies would be useful knowledge.

Anyway, this is why for the past few years, I've been extending my reading to non-fiction books of the marketing/communication variety. Well, I've read two. But, as far as my previous stats, go, two is a lot. Last year, I read Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, which I honestly enjoyed. And now, I've finally finished reading Chip and Dan Heath's Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Funnily, the Heath's book is strongly inspired by Gladwell's The Tipping Point.

Hubby actually gave me this book a year ago when I asked for it after a friend sent me a link to the first chapter. I can no longer find that first chapter now, but I hope this Publishers Weekly review suffices:

"The brothers Heath—Chip a professor at Stanford's business school, Dan a teacher and textbook publisher—offer an entertaining, practical guide to effective communication. Drawing extensively on psychosocial studies on memory, emotion and motivation, their study is couched in terms of "stickiness"—that is, the art of making ideas unforgettable. They start by relating the gruesome urban legend about a man who succumbs to a barroom flirtation only to wake up in a tub of ice, victim of an organ-harvesting ring. What makes such stories memorable and ensures their spread around the globe? The authors credit six key principles: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions and stories. (The initial letters spell out "success"—well, almost.) They illustrate these principles with a host of stories, some familiar (Kennedy's stirring call to "land a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth" within a decade) and others very funny (Nora Ephron's anecdote of how her high school journalism teacher used a simple, embarrassing trick to teach her how not to "bury the lead"). Throughout the book, sidebars show how bland messages can be made intriguing. Fun to read and solidly researched."

I may not teach in a classroom anymore, but I do a lot of teacher training, so the stickiness of messages concerns me. And though sometimes I would like more information about Chip and Dan Heath's research sources, I find their suggestions solid. For instance, I'm totally in with their first principle for sticky messages: Simple. It's about finding the core of your message. That resonates a lot with me, as a former teacher and current trainer who might have to go through a mountain of content. To be honest, no one remembers a mountain of content delivered in a limited time frame of, let's say 1-3 hours. So, it's all the more important to identify and focus on the core of the message.

The 6 principles for making an idea sticky (img src)

I also liked the last S, which is Story. I'm mainly a fiction reader, so I'm big on Story. And yes, I do believe that stories make a message more memorable.

I guess a lot of the things mentioned in the book aren't really big discoveries or earth-shattering insights, especially if you've been in the communications and marketing field for a while. But I do like how they present it and how they concretize it with examples AND clinics. The clinics are basically exercises or workshops for the reader. In fact, there's even a Teacher's Guide online on which you can base a workshop for helping people create sticky messages. And I think it's useful for both business and education.

Finally, I liked the voice of the writing. Chip and Dan Heath are down-to-earth, funny, and not above making fun of themselves. And, let me tell you, that helps a business/marketing/communications book go down easy.

So, if you're a person who deals with constructing and designing messages, be it in the classroom, in media, in business, or for companies, I would heartily recommend this book. Wouldn't it be fun to try out the principles (if you haven't yet) and see how well they work?

Now I sit back and see how sticky this blog post is...:)

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

2011-04-22T13:41:00.000+08:00

I finally read Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go and finished it in one day. What surprised me about it is how readable it was. I'd heard much praise about the book, but I think I was surprised by its readability because my only exposure, so far, to Kazuo Ishiguro was the movie version of "Remains of the Day." I loved it, but knew it was langurous. Thus, it was pleasant to find out that Never Let Me Go was the kind of book that you wanted to and could finish in a day.

So now I can finally watch the movie.:)

Never Let Me Go is the story of three friends, Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth, who grew up in Hailsham, a boardinghouse in England. There, they spent an idyllic childhood under firm but kind guardians. They were taught to create art and value each other's creations. Yet, Hailsham students are different from the rest of humanity. As this was mentioned in the movie trailer, hinted at from the very beginning of the book, and revealed in full by the first quarter of the book, Hailsham students were bred in order to be used as donors for other humans. They were made for that purpose.

Interestingly, though the summary above smacks so much of sci-fi, the book isn't really about science-fiction. In fact, considering the kind of writer Ishiguro is, the book falls under literary fiction. But let's do away with labels. What the book charts is the relationship among the three main characters and how the other people who live this fate cope with it. How does one go through life knowing that this is what one is made for?

There was no outward rebellion in Kathy, Tommy, Ruth, nor any of the other students from Hailsham. There was no talk of running away. There was only the acceptance of their lot. This sounds a bit passive, but their lives hardly were. The book charts how they grew up, how they learned things, how they were affected by things they learned. But more importantly, Kathy, the book's narrator, talks about their relationships with each other, and how little things that might not have made sense at one point gain more significance when one grows older and gets more perspective.

It is Kathy's story who, though she might not have known it, has always been in love with Tommy, even if, for most of their life, Tommy was with Ruth. And Tommy's story who always had to struggle with not being as creative as the others, but more introspective than the others. And Ruth, the perfect frenemy--charming, supportive, manipulative, and deceitful. (I seriously wanted to whack her for the greater portion of the book.) It is the story of how they were brought together, torn apart, then brought together once more. And I thought the questions this book asks of its main characters really are: how much more will you value these people now you know what they were made for? How much more will you value your life because you know there's a lease for it?

So now I see why people rave about the book. It is beautiful and wonderful. It may not fall within my most-loved novels of all time, but who knows--I might gain more perspective when I watch the movie and change my mind. Nevertheless, it is up there with my five star books, and I did wake up this morning still thinking about the three characters, so that's a good sign. A book that keeps me thinking is definitely a candidate for all-time favorites.

March Madness

2011-03-31T22:23:00.000+08:00

Woman Reading by Pablo Picasso (img src)

Yes, March was a mad month, both in good and not-so-good ways.

So, March was a month of stringent deadlines, a lot of which I am still laboring under. However, it was also a month of family and celebration. My son celebrated his 7th birthday and my sister got married, all in the span of one week. Consequently, family came home from distant lands (some from local provinces and others from far-off countries) to celebrate with us. And, I gotta say, I love family reunions. Now that I think about it, I don't even live in the same hemisphere as some of my immediate family, whom I love very much, so I try to drop everything so we all can hang out together.

Anyway, what all this means, too, is that I haven't been making much progress in my reading goals (not to mention my blogging, but I think you can tell). No matter, though. This is one time where I'm comfortable putting reading in the back seat. Although, with my new toy, I think I'm inspired to make up for the time I lost.

TBR book I've read: Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
Non-TBR book: Blindness by Jose Saramago (book club book)

That's my grand total for the month. Ah, but here's my new toy. :)

A gift from my youngest sister.

Given the new toy, I'm now wondering what to do with my 12 book limit for the year. Do I include or not include ebook purchases? On the one hand, they don't take up any space; on the other, I still spend money for them. Choices, choices. I think I'll play this by ear for now. But just to be consistent, here's what I've acquired for this month:

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman (Kindle ebook)
One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde (Kindle ebook)

Oh, but I downloaded a ton of samples. Having a Kindle is so fun! Still love my print books, but I am loving my Kindle, too.

Ok, that's it for the month. April's not going to be any lighter, actually, but I still hope to resume regular book reviewing soon. And how was your month?