ReaderCon/Filipino Friday: Pinoy Book Drop

Pinoy Book Drop Details
Book: One Day (David Nicholls)
Place: Noriter, Taft Avenue, Manila
Time: around 4:10 PM

Although my blog (in)activity may not show it, I'm really excited for the upcoming 3rd Filipino ReaderCon. This year it will be on November 9 at the Rizal Library at the Ateneo. As a countdown to the event, we're asked to share our answers on different book-related questions every Friday, and this week, it's all about a brilliant concept called the Pinoy Book Drop.

Printing the bookplates. I had grand plans of leaving three but so far I've only done one.
I actually had a hard time picking a book for the drop. By the time I had printed out the bookplates, I still hadn't decided. On one hand, the book drop was a good way to pass on an unwanted book that could be loved by someone else. But on the other, I didn't want to leave something that no one would pick up because it was extremely old and tattered.

The book drop was a great opportunity to spread the love, so another requirement I wanted to meet was to leave a book I fairly liked. I was going through my books and while a lot of them were good candidates for such the drop, I wasn't sure if I could find these editions again. In the end, I went with a book that 1) I could part with but was still in good condition, 2) could be easily replaced, and 3) I liked enough to share. I will not grieve over its absence from my shelves, but I think someone might appreciate it more.

I slipped the bookplate behind the plastic cover.
It was easy to decide where to leave it. A coffee shop seemed like a good location, since there are a lot of people talking and reading and looking for tables. I brought it with me in case I was going to be in the Alabang area. But then I found myself in front of my old university, where there were a lot of cafes and tambayans, so I thought this was a good place as any. I picked Noriter, a little Korean-inspired cafe very near the LRT. Its patrons were students who were studying or writing reports, so I was a bit more confident that someone would pick up One Day.

Noriter! This side is next to the windows so there weren't a lot of people on there.
One thing that I was afraid of was someone coming up to tell me I had left something. I didn't realize it then, but Noriter's colorful tables were a good camouflage for the book. Plus with all the students around (and all their books and papers on the tables), there seemed a little chance of that happening. I just bussed my table so that the servers didn't have to do it for me (and discover my book drop)!

Goodbye, dear book!
I didn't check back on who might have found it, but I'm crossing my fingers that one of the students brought it home to read. Not only would it be a welcome break from studying, but I think it's got a lot to say about friendship and love and growing up that would appeal to people at a turning point in their lives. I really hope my copy finds a good home.

ReaderCon/Filipino Friday: Reading Filipino Literature

As a countdown to our 1st ReaderCon, I'm joining the other Pinoy bloggers in doing this Filipino Friday meme. Every Friday, we're asked to share our answers on different questions, and last week's question was all about Filipino literature. Again, I'm a little late to the party.

Being a Lit major and a writer for our university's literary folio really broadened my awareness of Philippine literature outside of the stories we discussed in high school (like Maganda Pa ang Daigdig and Without Seeing the Dawn). I guess when we were younger, reading Filipino stories and novels was more an obligation than anything. But a lot changed in college. I was fortunate to have met a few of my literary idols; a number of them have even been my teachers and critics. Slowly I began reading out of genuine curiosity and no longer out of obligation.

One of my favorite Filipino books is Merlinda Bobis' Banana Heart Summer. It has such beautiful descriptions of food and living in the province and growing up and all of them together and I was just really drawn to it. It's been years since I read it (I'm pretty sure my copy's been lost in the black hole residing in my bookshelves) but as far as I remember it didn't have a real climax. But that's how I like my books: quiet slices of life, patient and poetic. And because I'm such a fan girl, there's also Yvette Tan's Waking the Dead, a rich collection of Filipino stories both weird and macabre. Another favorite of mine is a collection of short stories called Catfish arriving in little schools, which features short stories by Gina Apostol, Jaime An Lim, and Clinton Palanca.

I wish I read more Filipino books. This year, I've managed eight: FH Batacan's Smaller and Smaller Circles, Erwin Castillo's The Firewalkers, GM Coronel's Tragic Theater, chick lit books Popped, Fan Girl, and Love Your Frenemies, and Manix Abrera's Kikomachine 5. (Oo, malapit na ang 7. Huli na ako.) These are not enough. I have started reading books by Ambeth Ocampo and Alice Sarmiento but I left them in Manila. Still not enough. I read SFF short stories over at Philippine Genre Stories and I know: it is nowhere near enough. I'm hoping that I can continue discovering more Filipino books that I can enjoy, with the help of fellow bloggers and events like ReaderCon.

PS. I am hopeful that this will be the year that I finally get a copy of Vince Groyon's The Sky Over Dimas.



The ReaderCon is presented together with Vibal Publishing House, Inc, and sponsors Primetrade Asia, Flipside Digital Content, and Scholastic. It is supported by the National Book Development Board.

ReaderCon/Filipino Friday: A Book Lover Outside NCR

As a countdown to our 1st ReaderCon, I'm joining the other Pinoy bloggers in doing this Filipino Friday meme. Every Friday, we're asked to share our answers on different questions, and this week, we're taking on what it's like to be a book lover in the Philippines.

I don't usually find new books in Aklan. Yup, I live outside of Manila, where the nearest city is an entire province away. It was only last year when Book Sale opened its first branch at the Gaisano Mall. Imagine how thrilling that was for me! It certainly replaced those days when I'd get my secondhand books from a few shelves at a local bookstore.

Still, I don't find it too hard to get the books I want. It used to be really frustrating when I was younger, but now I just wait for my next trip to Manila or Iloilo to find the latest titles that have caught my eye. If they're unavailable then, I try to shop online through Book Depository. When I visit bookstores outside of the country, I immediately take note of the titles I like that I can't seem to find in Manila. But all things considered, I'm still good with what we have.

Sometimes it's not as easy as it sounds (I once had to wait for a long time for a Ted Chiang title to reach an affordable amount before I could buy it) but with a little patience, good things will still come.


The ReaderCon is presented together with Vibal Publishing House, Inc, and sponsors Primetrade Asia, Flipside Digital Content, and Scholastic.

ReaderCon/Filipino Friday: Reading Influences

As a countdown to our 1st ReaderCon, I'm joining the other Pinoy bloggers in doing this Filipino Friday meme. Every Friday, we're asked to share our answers on different questions, and this week, we're revealing who/what influenced us to read.

I grew up surrounded by books. My mom used to be an English teacher at an all-girls school along Katipunan and she taught me to read at an early age. When I graduated from picture books, my mom would buy me the Ladybird editions of Greek myths and classics like The Wind in the Willows and The Last of the Mohicans. When I was in first grade, she bought me my first Nancy Drew books, a collection which I cannot part with now. Her youngest sister was the one who encouraged me to appreciate literature. Some of my earliest memories are of my aunt reading The Little Prince, Hope for the Flowers, and To Kill a Mockingbird out loud to me (I was about eight or nine when we took on that last book). We still have the battered copies of the first two books, which bear a lot of my doodles. The copy of the Harper Lee classic was eventually lost and replaced, but I recall quite clearly how much I wanted to be Scout and Jem's friend.

My mom and my aunt were very patient with me as they helped me understand what I was reading and appreciate each book. What's funny is that as I write this I realize I don't recall ever thanking them for this amazing gift. I really can't imagine my life without reading and it's all thanks to them. Reading takes me to lives I would never have, places I haven't seen. It makes me see, page by page, how rich the world is.

The ReaderCon is presented together with Vibal Publishing House, Inc, and sponsors Primetrade Asia, Flipside Digital Content, and Scholastic.

ReaderCon/Filipino Friday: An Introduction

As a countdown to our 1st ReaderCon, I'm joining the other Pinoy bloggers in doing this Filipino Friday meme. Every Friday, we're asked to share our answers on different questions, and this week, it's all about introducing the kind of readers we are.

I read everything. Back when I was a Literature major and fancied myself a writer, a college professor told me that I had to be more discerning with my choices. The rationale behind it was that if I read good books, I was likely to write better. I really didn't listen. I cannot imagine not reading things that interest me. So yeah, now I guess I'm a reader and not a writer, and I'm cool with that!

Fantasy: I read Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsinger when I was about nine or ten. My older cousins, who were into Pern and Terry Brooks' Shannara, thought it was a good idea for me to add some fantasy into my reading choices and I was hooked. I finished most of the Pern series in grade school, was hooked on Dragonlance, checked out every fantasy-related YA book from the school library (mostly Lloyd Alexander, C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle, John Bellairs, Susan Cooper, Fay Sampson). In high school, I moved on to JRR Tolkien, Ursula Le Guin, William Goldman, Peter S. Beagle, David Eddings, Mercedes Lackey, Robert Jordan, Frank Herbert, Ray Bradbury, Orson Scott Card (okay, obviously I began reading sci-fi as well). I went through doorstoppers like crazy. Still do. In college, I read George R.R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Terry Pratchett, Stephen R. Donaldson. Post-college: China Mieville, Ellen Kushner, Robin Hobb, Neal Stephenson, Jeff Vandermeer, Jack Vance, H.P. Lovecraft, Iain Banks, David Mitchell, Sergei Lukyanenko. Hay naku, tama na, di ako matatapos. What was the question again? Sorry, I really tend to ramble when it comes to fantasy stuff. Sell me anything and I'd buy it.

And the rest, quickly now.
Asian Literature: I love books by Haruki Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto, Yukio Mishima, Dai Sijie, Ma Jian, Anchee Min. I also enjoy Salman Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahiri, Arundhati Roy, and Orhan Pamuk. I wish I can read more from Southeast Asian authors (I'm only halfway through my first Indonesian book).

YA: I used to read as many of the American Newbery winners and honor books as I could: The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Johnny Tremain, Strawberry Girl, The Westing Game, and Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. My favorite authors were EL Konigsberg, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, and Katherine Paterson. I still read YA fantasy like Shannon Hale and Patricia McKillip but thanks to my teenage sister, I read more of the contemporary titles now.

Romance: I devour Regency bodice-rippers and chick lit. Recently discovered Julia Quinn and I'm loving her books to bits. This was all thanks to reading Sweet Dreams on the sly in fourth grade and then graduating to Sidney Sheldon by the time I was a freshman in high school.

Poetry: Should that count here? Too late, I'm answering anyway. Luisa Igloria, Eric Gamalinda, Edith Tiempo, Billy Collins, Wislawa Szymborska, William Carpenter, Philip Levine, Ted Kooser, Pablo Neruda, and Rumi.

My favorite authors, in no particular order: Peter S. Beagle, Haruki Murakami, Harper Lee, Ellen Kushner, Kelly Link, George R.R. Martin, Terry Pratchett, Umberto Eco, Banana Yoshimoto, Erle Stanley Gardner, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Georgette Heyer, Elizabeth Hand, Patricia McKillip, Patrick Ness, Lloyd Alexander. I think our Filipino genre writers rock. Yvette Tan and Crystal Koo are among my (many) favorites.

Here are some books I'd read over and over again:
LM Montgomery's Anne of Green Gable series and The Blue Castle
Eva Ibbotson's The Morning Gift
Elizabeth George Speare's The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Terry Pratchett's Night Watch, The Truth, and Soul Music
Sharon Shinn's Summers at Castle Auburn
Avi's The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Wendy Mass' Every Soul a Star
... and should shoujo manga count?

Finally you'll have to forgive me if not all of these books were released in 2011; they just happen to be a list of fabulous books that I've managed to read this year:
David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas
Peter S. Beagle's Sleight of Hand
Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls
Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others
Sara Zarr's Sweethearts
David Markson's Reader's Block
Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan
Benjamin Tammuz' Minotaur

Whew! Probably my longest post ever (and I'm hoping I don't get too long-winded next time). But if we happen to have common favorites and you'd like to chat, let me know. I hope I'll see you at ReaderCon. :)


The ReaderCon is presented together with Vibal Publishing House, Inc, and sponsors Primetrade Asia, Flipside Digital Content, and Scholastic.