Join The Pinoy Book Drop 2014

This month is National Reading Month! That's why the Filipino Reader Con is held in November and that's why there's an Aklatan (Indie Publisher Fair) and a Philippine International Literary Festival (all being held at Bayanihan Center, Pioneer St., Mandaluyong City this week).

So, what is this Pinoy Book Drop all about? The concept is simple. It's all part of sharing a reading experience with others. BTW, there's a hashtag for that, too, from DepEd (Department of Education) called #ShareABookPH.

My first book drop happened today at Starbucks, Robinsons Pioneer. The two books were: 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People by David Niven, Ph.D. I got this book from a friend and I'm passing it on to others...hopefully so more people will be happy. The second book was an overeager purchase during a Scholastic sale. I bought The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes by Anne Mazer (sounds like Gone Girl's Amazing Amy, right?) together with other loot, thinking that I'd save it up for my daughter. The thing is she's three and this book might gather a lot of dust before she lays her hands on it. So, I'm giving it away for other young readers.

I hope my books find good homes.

So, c'mon and join the the fun!

These are the mechanics from the Filipino Reader Con website:

1. Pick a book (or two, or three, or yes, four!) that you wish to give away, or that’s okay for you to part with, for one reason or another. Make sure to check the pages for important stuff – anything you may have inserted there and forgotten but you may want to hold on to.

2. Download and print the customized bookplate that you’ll find below these instructions. It doesn’t have to be in color – black and white will work just as fine! Paste or stick one bookplate on a clear page or area of the book/s that you wish to give away. Yes, you can sign your name there, too, if you want.

3. Leave or “drop” the book/s in a public place, or basically any place where people are sure to see them: in a café, in the office, at a restaurant, the gym, it’s up to you. (Well, maybe not inside a bookstore, yeah.) You know where someone is likely to see the book/s and pick it up, yes?

4. Before leaving the book/s where you “dropped” them, take a photo. If you’re leaving two or more books, be sure to take note of the date, time, and place where you left each one.

So how is everyone going to know that you have dropped a book somewhere? You can do any of the following:

(a) If you have a Twitter account, just tweet the title of the book, where and when you dropped it, and attach the appropriate photo. If you dropped two or more books, tweet about each title separately.

(b) You can also post about it on Facebook – on your own profile/timeline, if it’s set to public, OR on the Filipino ReaderCon page itself. Same details apply: title of the book, place and date of the drop, and photo. If you’re dropping two or more books, you have the option to include all the books in one go or post about the books individually. It’s up to you.

IMPORTANT: Please use the hashtags #pbdrop and #filreadercon and don’t forget to tag us at @PinoyReaderCon for every tweet!

5. The actual dropping of books will take place until the Filipino ReaderCon on November 14, 2014.

6. On the other hand, if you’re one of those who are lucky enough to find a dropped book, we encourage you to tell us all about it, as well! Tweet and Facebook any dropped book that you find – same instructions on using the hashtags #pbdrop and #filreadercon and tagging us at @PinoyReaderCon apply. ;)

Click on this link to get the special bookplate from FilReaderCon that you can use with your book drop.

Filipino Friday #4: Diverse Books

Hello! It's Filipino Friday once again. How time flies! Next week is already FilReaderCon!

This week's prompt: Do you think we have enough diversity in the books that we read? Are our choices enough to satisfy our different tastes? Are our writers able to present the variety of people, culture, lifestyle, interests and so on? How diverse are your reading interests, and are you able to find enough books to satisfy your reading needs? Do you think we need more diverse books?

My answer: My short answer is no. At least for Pinoy books.

But there's a whole background to it. First of all, in terms of an international viewpoint, the answer is yes. There are a lot of books out there. The catalog on Amazon is both gargantuan and labyrinthian. If you can find anything from literary fiction to gluten-free vegetarian cookbooks to dinosaur erotica...that must cover pretty much *everything.*

But I'm talking about Pinoy choices. Are there enough choices to, for example, satisfy my taste? I want more stuff like F. H. Batacan's Smaller and Smaller Circles. I want science fiction by Pinoys. Where are they? I want more literary horror stories like Yvette Tan's short story, "Seek Ye Whore: Lust In Translation" and more comics like Trese by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo. I want more young adult books like Candy Gourlay's Tall Story and Shine.  My son reads The Magic Treehouse books...but there's no equivalent for the Filipino experience. I don't think we have enough chapter books for very young readers.

So, why is this important when we Pinoys can actually go over to Amazon or Kobo and take our pick of international books? Precisely because of the third question in the prompt: do we have enough stories that depict our people, our culture, our lifestyle, our interests? That's where my answer is no.

My own preferences are very diverse. I read fiction (mostly literary, sometimes of the thriller genre like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl), non-fiction (mostly business books, research on education and self-improvement, recently a book called The Vegetarian Myth, which I thought was very well written). I read young adult fiction like Hunger Games and Candy Gourlay's books. I am a fan of Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Ursula Le Guin, and Margaret Atwood. I also had an Anita Shreve period. I avidly follow must-read lists from Goodreads or on websites like Oprah's Book Club. I am always looking for something to read. I am the kind of person who naturally gravitates towards the written word, even food labels and product labels interest me. So, yes, you could say that I have a very diverse appetite for books. Currently, I think my need to read is currently satisfied, especially with such a wide array available in the international market. But my need for more diverse Pinoy books is still unsatisfied.

Diversity is a good thing. For life to thrive, there needs to be a healthy balance of environment and biodiversity. Even for the mind, I think the same is true. We need a healthy diversity of thought and experience to really thrive and flourish as human beings.

Filipino Friday #3: FanFic Felicity

And here I am posting for Filipino Friday on a Saturday. Sigh. As I said in my first Filipino Friday Post: Better late than never.

So, here's this week's prompt: Fanfiction is pretty popular, no doubt about it, but it has been received with mixed feelings by many authors and writers. Some don’t mind it, and even welcome readers who give their own spin on their work. Some writers don’t like it at all, to the point that they contact fanfiction authors to take their work down. Others use it as a jump-off point for their own writing.

How about you? What is your take on fanfiction? Do you read fanfiction, and if you do, what kind of fanfiction do you read? Do you write fanfiction, and why? Or are you against fanfiction? Enlighten us.

My answer: Reading and writing are not meant to be isolated acts. In the end, it is a story being told and a story being heard. It is part of human experience. Let that be my underlying principle.

So, on to fanfiction. I don't think there's anything wrong with fanfiction. It's a way to engage with a written piece of work. I think writers should embrace fanfic because it's part of a conversation. Once a writer publishes work, it belongs out there. It no longer belongs to the writer. That's just how it is. No use being in denial.

I think fanfic is a great exercise in writing. My very first fantasy novel (the one that I lost a long time ago) could be considered fanfic after reading Ursula LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea. I copied the style of archaic writing and world-making as well as the idea of mapping that world (which, if you think about it, started further back with The Lord of The Rings which I hadn't read at the time). I also got encouraged to write love stories when I first read Sweet Dreams books. So, there, gave away my age. Haha! One of my favorites was P.S. I Love You. I was such a fan. I later read her other books, The Summer Jenny Fell In Love and Winter Dreams. Fanfic is a good starting point, especially for a writer who's just starting out.

But do I read fanfic? Not really. But this is not to say that I would discourage anyone from reading it. That's totally different. It's just not my preference. I would rather read the original stories.

So, in conclusion, I think fanfic is great. It's a great creative activity for fans. Some worlds are just so engrossing they have to be built upon. It's a great activity for writers, especially when they are inspired by a piece of work and are just starting out in a genre. As a reader, I have a preference for original stories. But that's just me.

Filipino Friday #2: Hello, Writer!

Yes! It's Friday and I'm finally writing a Filipino Friday post on the right day. Haha!

So, here's this week's prompt: As a reader, have you ever thought about writing a book? What kind of books/stories do you want to write? Or are you now a published author, and what compelled you to go fulfil this dream? How was your journey from reader to writer? How did you go about getting your book out there?

Here's my answer: Shameless promotion time. Haha!

Yes! Writing has always been a part of my life, just as much as reading. I started really early (grade school). I'm the type who keeps a journal. I started my first journal in Grade 2, as part of my school work. After that, I kept at it. I remember filling notebooks and notebooks with stories, poems, character banks, and even advertisements (yes, advertisements. I may have had an alternative career in copywriting)! Read about my favorite stories and my first attempt at writing a fantasy novel here (last year's Filipino Friday prompt).

Words make up my days. I say this elsewhere but I'll say it here again: your life is made up of what you remember. That's why I attempt to write whenever I can: it's life captured (and shared, when published).

I started writing poetry quite early too. I feel, up to now, that poetry is a concentrated kind of literature where I best express myself. But it's also one of the least profitable types of literature as well. Frankly, I don't care. I still write it.

My poetry has been published before. I'm really happy that I have a couple of poems published in two editions of U.P.'s Likhaan series. I also have one poem in A Habit of Shores, edited by one of my idols, Gemino "Jimmy" Abad. The poem title is rather long: "A Filipino Writer of English Poems to a Filipino Writer of Spanish Poems." It was written for a Rizal Centennial poetry contest in Ateneo de Manila (which I won...a long time ago). I have another one in One Hundred Love Poems, edited by Sir Jimmy and another of my literary idols, Alfred "Krip" Yuson. This latter poem is probably what you'd call my most mainstream and memorable poem. It's called "Seven Years Later, Driving Home." In other words: marami sigurong sawi sa Pilipinas. Haha!

I won't forget, though, the first time I got two poems published in a magazine. It was before I submitted my poem to the Rizal contest. I submitted it through my friend, Tats Locsin. Seeing my words printed on paper in a national publication was very thrilling. But my hope was: let it touch lives. The title of one of the poems was: "Lost Afternoon," about how even love is subject to time, a favorite theme of mine. I was going through a phase then.

I submitted another two poems to Panorama and they got published too. But that was it. Nothing published for a very long time.

A couple of years ago, I attended a seminar on producing results with velocity and I thought to myself: why don't I publish my books? I had a rejected manuscript for a chick lit story (too dragging, too serious...hahaha!) and I had a lot of poems that were unpublished, just languishing on this blog. So I published them on Lulu.com (a self-publishing platform in the U.S.) and I even got a couple of printed proofs in the mail which made me almost faint with excitement. My friend, Maisa dela Torre, illustrated my book of poetry.

My book of poetry is Gift: Poems. And my love story is Artemis Lets Go. I even did a little book launch in Fully Booked, BGC. The books were self-published so I couldn't use Fully Booked's distribution system and cashier. They needed a publisher or a company to sign the contract. I just printed a few copies and sold them to friends and family who showed up at the launch. My aunt, all the way in Virginia, also ordered several copies of my poetry book to give away as Christmas gifts. Yay!

Last year, I also collaborated with two other writers, Buding Aquino-Dee and Jenny Ong, to come up with a children's book that highlights how breastfeeding is part of family bonding. It's called Snuggle Wuggle Wee. It was such a joy to write! Sales of the book will fund more breastfeeding activities by the the non-profit organization, L.A.T.C.H. (Lactation, Attachment, Training, Counseling, and Help). A Filipino version, translated by a poet who happens to be my favorite Philosophy teacher, Bong Oris, is on the way.

I still won't make money out of writing. Not yet. But I don't mind. It's not why I write. And I'm learning! It also won't stop me from continuing to write. I found a way to DIY and I still got my books to some people. That's what counts. "Wildly popular" isn't really my end goal. As I've read in Stephen King's book On Writing: write for yourself. And here I am, still writing. I've submitted a couple of short stories to two anthologies for publication next year. I'm looking forward to the launches of those.

Also, NaNoWriMo is coming up. Maybe it's time to shake off the dust from a languishing manuscript and put it out there, in the world. There are a lot more choices available to writers nowadays, especially with the advent of digital distribution systems.

My conclusion: a reader may not always become a writer. But a writer...a writer will always start out as a reader. And a writer will always need to continue reading because of an incurable love for words and stories.

Disclosure: I work with a digital distribution system for the Pinoy market, buqo. But you'll see from my story, above, why I'm so passionate about books and getting authors to their audiences.

Filipino Friday #1: Surprise, Reader!

It's not Friday anymore but it's better late than never. 

Really excited for this year's ReaderCon which is now part of the NBDB's (National Book Development Board) Philippine International Literary Festival (PILF) happening from Nov. 12-14. Right after that, Komikon on the 15th. All happening at the Bayanihan Center along Pioneer St., Mandaluyong City. 

Here's the prompt:

Surprise, Reader! Hello, it’s the first week of Filipino Fridays 2014! Whether it’s your first time to participate or not, tell us a bit about yourself. More specifically, tell us about your favorite book discoveries for this year. Any author you started reading this year that you can’t get enough of? A book you didn’t think you’d like, but you ended up liking/loving? Any book series that you just have to get your hands on? Have you discovered anything new from Filipino authors this year?

About myself:

I'm a delinquent book blogger and a reading addict. I just happen to work in the book sphere through buqo, a Filipino digital bookstore app. :-) This is the second time I'm participating in Filipino Fridays. 

Author I started reading that I can't get enough of: Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan working in tandem for The Strain trilogy. I couldn't put the books down.

A book I didn't think I'd like but ended up liking/ loving: The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith. I expected to hate it because I've chosen to be vegetarian several times in my life. I was only curious when I got the book. I found that it was written with a lot of compassion for vegetarians and the motivations of a vegetarian. And it got me even more interested in agriculture (especially here in the Philippines) and how else to be more conscious of my impact on the environment. 

A book series that I'd like to get my hands on: Um, please, George R.R. Martin, please release your next Game of Thrones book already. I've been patiently waiting. 

Discovered something new from a Filipino author this year: 

• A lot, actually. First off, I discovered Coming To Terms edited by Lorna Kalaw-Tirol. It's an old book. But not old to me. I loved reading the book and seeing how another generation faced mid-life. 
• Next, I discovered Taming Romeo by Clare Ayala. It's a steamy read set in the West Coast with a wonderfully colorful immigrant Filipino family. I'm glad Clare is releasing the second book in the series, Claiming Carlos, this time focusing on the sister of Evie (Taming Romeo's protagonist), Choco. 
• I also fell in love with the books by Candy Gourlay. Tall Story was such a wonderful read. My husband finished the book ahead of me. That's a feat because my husband doesn't usually read fiction! And I'm in the middle of Shine, her second YA book. Loving it so far!

So, that's it. Looking forward to the next Filipino Friday!

Filipino Fridays #6 Torn Over ReaderCon Excitement

Okay, it's not a Friday anymore but I couldn't resist.

Here are the questions: What are you most excited about for this year’s ReaderCon?

Are you excited about the panels? What panels are you planning to attend, and why? The book discussions? Have you picked which one to attend? Are you excited to meet some of the awesome local authors we have invited? Are you ready to receive recommendations from the Book Recommendation Fair? Or are you there for the Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards? Are you going with your friends, or alone? Are you excited to meet bloggers and other readers?

Here are the answers:

Okay, disclosure, I work with Buqo. So, pretty much, I'm going as a sponsor. Haha!

But....even if I weren't a sponsor, I would still have gone to the Filipino ReaderCon anyway.

I'm excited about the panels!

Torn, torn, torn

I'm torn between "Kids and Their Stories" and "Don't Hate Me Because I'm Popular." The former because I'm a mom and I want to learn more about children's books and how to encourage my kids to be readers. But at the same time, I'm very curious about the Wattpad phenomenon. I'm not a Wattpad reader but I signed up and I was mulling over putting up a story over there (but never found the time!). I'm an author (well, I still consider myself "aspiring author") and I want to learn more about what other readers read. I read for myself...I read esoteric stuff. I read "literary" stuff. It's not punishment for me. I just love it. But I'm really curious about what makes Wattpad tick. I'm curious about language and how people navigate through bilingual pastiche and how it moves them. What moves these readers? And what kind of stories are these authors coming up with? What inspired them? And how did it become some kind of movement?

Come to think of it, all the panels have me torn! I want to go to "The Digital Filipino Reader" and I also want to go to "What Booksellers Know" because both have great insights into the Filipino reader. I'm one. But I want to know what other readers are into. Aargh!

For "Authors as Readers" I might go with the one with Lourd de Veyra. Simply because I'm a (gushing) fan.

Same Dilemma for "Book Discussions." I want to go to the discussion on Pride and Prejudice because, well,  I'm a Pride and Prejudice girl. It's one of my all-time favorites. Ever. But. I also want to go to the Walang Diwata ng Pakgahulog because I'm interested in book clubs that read Filipino works. That's really interesting.

Wish List! And General Excitement

What I would have loved to attend would be a discussion on Diary ng Panget or something like it (i.e. Wattpad book). I really enjoyed the Fifty Shades of Gray discussion last year. I think I got read from laughing my head off. And because of the book discussion on Smaller and Smaller Circles, I got myself a copy too.

I'm excited to get book recommendations because my own little book club would benefit from more titles. However, we're a bit delinquent (understatement). Haha! I also read a lot. So, book recommendations are always welcome with me. I want recommendations on Pinoy Chicklit and why the reader loves that title. I also want recommendations on non-fiction (haven't really explored this area too much) and fantasy (haven't explored this in a while).

I'm definitely going with friends (and office mates).

And I'm always excited to meet fellow readers.

So come on over to the Filipino ReaderCon this coming December 7 at the Rizal Library, Ateneo de Manila.

Filipino Fridays #5: An Audience of One (or Why Writing for Me is Writing for The Long Tail)

The questions this week:

What do readers want? What’s your favorite genre/reading material? Who is your favorite author (local or foreign)? What kinds of books would you like to see more of from local authors or publishers? What is your favorite book from a Filipino author?

My answers: 

I don't have a particular favorite genre...well maybe except for fiction but that's pretty broad. I also read poetry. I joined a book club to expand the genres that I read.

In terms of fiction, I like a pretty broad range from literary fiction like Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns (only recently discovered) and Jim Crace's Quarantine and David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas to fast-paced thrillers like Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series by Stieg Larsson. I don't have particular favorite authors but sure wins (meaning, if they release a new novel I'd probably check it out/ buy it) for me are Neil Gaiman, Anita Shreve, George R.R. Martin, Margaret Atwood and Ursula Le Guin. Among poetry books, my favorites are Jane Hirshfield and Robert Hass. On a side note, I also buy any Lawrence Durrell book that I see in a secondhand bookstore for sentimental reasons. Among classics, I was a collector of Thomas Hardy (I've read almost everything he's written except for A Pair of Blue Eyes which I just couldn't finish for some reason), Jane Austen, and E.M. Forster (hands down favorite is A Room With a View).

Do I have a favorite local author? I like Trese (story by Budjette Tan and artwork by Kajo Baldisimo). I also like Gregorio Brillantes (I have two of his collected short stories, The Apollo Centennial and The Distance to Andromeda and Other Stories). I also remember enjoying The Praying Man by Bienvenido Santos. I have to confess, though, that I don't really read a lot of Filipino authors for leisure. I've bought F.H. Batacan's Smaller and Smaller Circles (because of last year's Reader Con) but I haven't started the book. It's about a serial killer so I'm bracing for some heaviness.

What would I like to see more of from Filipino authors and publishers? Perhaps more fiction like Khaled Hosseini but set in the Philippines. I remember reading Jessica Zafra but just short stories. Maybe more of that but in novel form? My taste, though, is not leaning toward popular genres like chick lit and Korean-like pop fiction (ex. Diary ng Panget or She's Dating The Gangster). So, I'm not sure if writing for me would profit a writer (or publisher). I do feel a stigma, though, for the Filipiniana section. It's too serious/ weighty. I'd like it to be more diverse... and not necessarily separate from the rest of the books in a bookstore.

Writing for me doesn't look profitable. However, I do know that the long tail works at some point. If there are enough titles out there, an audience will be found. All I know is: what I want is a diverse bookshelf. I want many, many voices.

Filipino Fridays #4 Digital Reading: A Short History Starting 2011

It's Filipino Friday again! Here's this week's question: Do you read (or have at least tried to read) books in other formats aside from print? How was your experience with these different book formats?

Answer: Absolutely! My very first digital book was George R. R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons. I discovered Game of Thrones only in 2011 and I was addicted to the Game of Thrones books, devouring them as quickly as I bought them. And when I got to his last book it was always out of stock. After trying three stores, I gave up. And then a friend of mine suggested that I just buy the e-book. The what? At that time, I had not capitulated to tablets yet. But where would I read it? On my computer, apparently! But that would be too tiresome! I thought about it for maybe five minutes (I was that addicted to GOT) and then I bought it. This was on July 23, 2011. I know this fact because I can check my account on Amazon and see exactly when I bought a book. There was no turning back after that.

My next purchase was The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft. What an absolute treat! I read Lovecraft so late in life. But better late than never. I adore his stories! In between A Dance with Dragons and The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft, I had acquired an iPad 2. It was a grief purchase (it's the perfect way I can describe it) after Steve Jobs had died. On that very iPad, I read Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs. In Jobs' honor, I downloaded the free e-book, Autobiography of a Yogi (I still haven't finished that book, though). By this time, I was very comfortable with e-books already. In fact, for one of my book club choices, I decided on an e-book version of The Silver Linings Playbook (this time on the Kobo reader).

A year later, I got an iPad mini for myself and I turned over the iPad 2 to the kids (creating a different kind of learning revolution for the kids as well -- that's a different post altogether). I'm a certified e-book reader already.

BUT.... Let me just qualify that I am a physical book lover and I just can't take it out of my system. Maybe because I'm a digital immigrant, having crossed that threshold between analog and digital within my lifetime (I can't say the same thing for my kids).

Let me use a demonstration of this. I got an e-book version of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows but for some reason I didn't start on it. I read a few pages from the first chapter and then never progressed from there. I was perfectly aware that it was a charming book. But for some reason, I didn't feel the charm in the e-book. Several months later, I was at a secondhand book shop and I saw the paperback version of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I bought it immediately. And then the romance with the book started. I was so in love with it that I saved it (like eating cake a little at a time and then storing it in the freezer to be taken out and re-heated again). I couldn't bear to read it too fast. It was that kind of novel. I realized, then, that I'm still a physical book kind of girl after all. It doesn't stop me from buying e-books, though.

There was a time that I was giving away my physical books left and right (donating them to libraries -- a big batch went to the Jesuit Volunteers of the Philippines -- and then another big batch went to a friend for a library he was building for a school in the province). I said that I would be reading e-books from then on. But, no. That was not the case. I didn't exclusively read e-books after that. I still ended up buying physical books, anyway. Which made my husband shake his head: "What was the point of giving away those books when you'd stock up more books to take their place?" Hmmm. Bookworm is a bookworm.

Also, a word about children's books. We have a lot of physical children's books at home. I like the idea of having my kids touch books and physically flip the pages. I make sure we spend time reading analog books. One of my favorite activities is taking them to a secondhand book shop and letting them choose whatever book they want.

BUT...I also read e-books to them. One of my favorite children's books is Playtime With Monster by Michael Yu. It was a free e-book but it was much appreciated by my son and I. It's so sulit because now my youngest is enjoying the book that her kuya very much enjoyed before her. I made sure to leave a positive review for the book because I owe that much to the author for making such a lovely book free. Another e-book that I actually bought to read with my son is Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman. It has all my son's favorite stuff in it (from pirates and aliens to dinosaurs and sharks and piranhas). We read it together and he still remembers all the little details that I thought he would forget.

So that was the long answer to the question. Haha! I love reading. So, reading in digital is something I can get comfortable with. It helps in terms of not having to lug around a lot of physical books. Also, when I'm impatient, I go for the digital version so I don't have to line up for it (or worse, encounter the problem of no stocks). There are books that are also out of print and aren't readily available in bookstores. I got a copy of Stephen King's On Writing in e-book format simply because I knew that I wouldn't be able to get a copy of it in local bookstores anymore. But I am still a physical-books-analog girl. There's nothing like holding and smelling a book. :-)

In sum, I just keep reading. And I hope my kids catch the bug permanently. They are already digital and analog readers as well. Here's to more readers!

If you love to read, come to the Filipino ReaderCon this coming November 9 (Saturday) at the Ateneo de Manila Rizal Library. It's going to be very fun! The theme is What Do Readers Want? So, that will be very interesting.

Filipino Fridays #3 Good Omens for Reading: The Pinoy Book Drop 2013

Good Omens left at a company pantry

Qs: First, kindly detail all the books that you have dropped, and where and when you dropped them.
– Next: tell us all about your experience. How did you feel before and after you dropped the books? How did you choose the places where you dropped them? Did you check back and see if the books were still there? Do you have any idea who might have found them?

Okay, I was a bit delinquent here. My book drop happened exactly today. The book I chose was Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. I was a bit reluctant to let it go. It's quite dogeared from use. I dropped it off at a company pantry after lunch so I expect that it will be discovered by the merienda crowd. I already told the janitor not to put it away but to leave it where it was (conspicuously displayed on one of the tables).  No takers yet. I left a number for the book adopter to text in case the book was already picked up. So far, no text.

How did I feel? I felt anxious for my book. I wanted someone cool to be the one to pick it up. That book was really fun and it's by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett! I was also afraid that because I left it at a media company's pantry (I chose this venue more out of convenience than anything!)....it might be that most of the people there already read Good Omens. Hmmmm. I hope at least one of them hasn't read it and would appreciate randomly finding the book during merienda. Or maybe I'm just overthinking this. I'll probably update this blog post later on for an update on where the book went.

Since I was delinquent...I'll just go ahead and answer the second set of questions, anyway, for those who didn't do the book drop.

Image from npr.org. 

Qs: Tell us about your most memorable or favorite book hunting experience. Have you ever found a book in a most unexpected place? If you find a dropped book somewhere, what would you do with it? Where do you get your books nowadays? Do you still go to bookstores, or do you buy/order books online?

Image from goodreads.com.

My favorite book hunting experience happened in City Lights bookstore, San Francisco. It was there where I found several books by Jane Hirshfield. I hardly see her books here in Manila and it was such a wonderful experience to find her books: Given Sugar, Given Salt and The October Palace.

I've never just found a book lying around, though. If I found one, I'd check the title and keep it if I liked it. Sorry, finders keepers. Hahaha!

Nowadays, I get my books online if I can't wait to buy the physical book (I did this with Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin, I didn't bother waiting for the book in the bookstores, I just went ahead and bought it online after getting thwarted by several out-of-stock experiences). When I happen to be in Fully Booked, I always end up picking up a book (example: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I heard a good review from a friend and when I saw it at the bookstore I just bought it). However, most of my serendipitous discoveries happen in second hand bookstores. I have such fun looking for books there. I almost always never leave without a book in my bag.

All in all, I hope my participation in the book drop is a good omen for more reading in the Philippines...well, at least in my building!

So, if you're a fellow reader...come to the Filipino Reader Con happening on November 9, 2013 at the Rizal Library in Ateneo de Manila.

Filipino Fridays #2 Favorite Books as a Kid: Wizards, Dragons, Legends, Groovy Pop

Q: What were your favorite books as a kid or while you were growing up? Do you still read children’s books? If you could give your younger self a book to read, what would it be?

Image from www.ladybirdflyawayhome.com.

A: My very first memories involved reading. I remember trying to read Cinderella. I remember that magic moment when "the" became not just a mix of letters but an actual word. I can't find the book cover anymore but I went on to other fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and The Beast. These were not the Disney variety but rather large hardbound books that I happened to receive on birthdays. When I was in Grade 1, I remember reading The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde and I remember crying my eyes out.  I have since been fascinated by fairy tales. I bought a large Hans Christian Andersen collection of stories when I was much older...just because it reminded me of the stories I used to read, growing up. I also very much enjoyed Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, a retelling of traditional fairy tales.

When I was in grade school, I got a book from my stepmom called Stories and Legends from Filipino Folklore by Maria Delia Coronel. Below is the exact book that I used to have.

Image of book cover from www.nancycudis.com.

I remember reading this book until it got dogeared. I was fascinated by it. It was another version of fairy tale, this time from all around the Philippines. I really liked this story about an engkanto or tree spirit who fell in love with a maiden and turned into a human for her. But because she insisted on meeting his family, he ended up slowly becoming a tree during their journey, leaving his human form and leaving their child fatherless. There were lots of Mariang Makiling stories there too.

Image from www.series-books.com.

I also remember having library card contests with my classmates about who could read the most books from the library. At that time, I borrowed almost all the Nancy Drew books in the library!

Image from Rappler.com.

I also really loved the series of children's books by Nick Joaquin: Pop Stories for Groovy Kids. I read all of them. My favorites were about the manananggal (Lilit Bulilit and the Babe-in-the-Womb) and his version of the Beauty and the Beast called Johnny Tinoso and the Proud Beauty. I wish my kids could read them too. Sadly, they're no longer available. I even signed a petition to have these books printed again but I don't know what became of that. 

Image from Goodreads.com. 

I also read Jane Yolen's Pit Dragons series: Dragon's Blood and Heart's Blood. But I was bitin! My grade school library didn't have the other books. It was only later as an adult that I found A Sending of Dragons and Dragon's Heart. I loved the idea of how the dragons communicated very differently from humans and it opened up my imagination. 

Image from seantcollins.com.

Lastly, I reserve a special place in my heart for Ursula Le Guin. I read her A Wizard of Earthsea series (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore...and later on Tehanu and The Other Wind, the latter two I bought as an adult) and I was forever in love with fantasy. They were in my grade school library and I love the librarian who put these books there. I even attempted to write my own fantasy story inspired by The War of the Roses, complete with maps and background stories about the warring factions from Aetamar and Gitel (my fictional medieval cities). Sadly, I've lost the manuscript...one of my greatest regrets. I continued to read Ursula Le Guin later on, as an adult, and she remains one of my favorite writers of all time. 

I still read children's books up to today because I have two young children. One of my favorite activities in the world is reading stories with them! I encourage them to read by taking them to secondhand bookstores and giving them the run of all the books they could possibly choose from. 

Image from Wikipedia.com. 

Hmmmm. If I could give my younger self a book...what would it be? I guess it would be Neil Gaiman's children's books...only because I'm sure I would have loved them even as a kid! Also, I would have appreciated a book about anger, death or loss because I lost my mom so early. I didn't really know about it (death) and the grieving process was a very long one for me. If I could go back in time and give myself a book, it would probably be a book about anger and loss like Where The Wild Things Are or about death like Gentle Willow or The Brightest Star. 

Filipino Friday 2013 #1 What Species of Book Reader Am I? Definitely Azkal

Come to the Filipino Reader Con this coming November 9!

First of all, let me just give a bit of a background. I'm participating in this year's Filipino Reader Con preparations. As an avid reader, I'm very happy to contribute to the Reader Con's Filipino book blogger Fridays.

So today, the idea is a bit of an introduction but instead of using a conventional way of introducing ourselves, we need to use the reader classifications made by Laura E. Kelly (see graphic below).

I am definitely a mongrel reader. So, how do I love books? Let me count the ways.

1. I am a compulsive book cherisher.

• I am a book worshipper. I keep collecting and collecting books. I tried giving them away to libraries and reading programs....but I end up getting more books, anyway. 
• I am also a book hoarder. I collect but I don't necessarily read them all. This is related to my being a conflicted reader...but we'll get there later. 
• I'm also a compulsive book buyer. This is now related to my being a book rescuer because I'd definitely burn holes in my pocket if I just kept going for brand new books.

2. I am also a compulsive book abuser

• I am a book rescuer. Whenever I go do the groceries, whether I'm in Shopwise or in Pioneer Center, I end up in the secondhand bookshops there. I find some excuse and then I can't leave empty handed. 
• I am NOT a book underliner and scribbler but I wanted to take this up because my mother was certainly this type of book abuser. I'm glad she did it. And I love her for it. I cherish all those underlines and notes. 
• I am a self-confessed promiscuous reader. Sometimes I read three different books in the same day but in different situations (see situational reader later on). Or sometimes I abandon the other book or books I'm reading in favor of one that has become more interesting or un-put-down-able. 

3. I am a situational reader

• As a situational reader, I am an omni-reader. I read anything, even receipts and labels and food ingredients. Anything. When I eat breakfast, I am reading the nutrition table on the milk box. When I am stuck anywhere and I didn't bring my own reading material, I hunt around for something to read.
• I am also an app happy reader. Whenever I am waiting for my husband to pick me up I read a book on my iPhone. Whenever I am waiting, in general, I am reading on the most convenient form of book, the eBook. 
• I am a sleepy bedtime reader. I think this gets me into trouble because my reading time eats into my sleeping time. I also read somewhere that the glow from a digital device (even when it's in night mode) affects my sleepiness. So there. I am in the bad habit of doing this. The thing is, I can't help it. 
• I am a bathroom reader. Haha! That sounds gross. But it's been something that I've done since way back. I can't go into the bathroom to do you-know-what without a book. I have to confess too...I end up shouting from the bathroom to have someone pass me a book because I just can't do it without a book. Sorry, TMI. 

4. I am a social reader

• I am a book clubber. I can't do without my book club mates. There are some things I can only discuss with my book club. Although my book club is kind of delinquent, it doesn't stop us from reading outside of our reading list and doing Facebook shout-outs to each other about what we're reading. 

5. I am also a free range reader

• It's complicated for me. I read anything. I read YA and, as a mom, I read toddler books too. I read anything. But don't get me wrong, I'm also a resister (see below). 

6. I'm a conflicted reader too. I'm a self-confessed delayed onset reader and a slow starter when it comes to some books. Some examples of these books: Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns (now that I've read it, I can't wait to read his other books! And I can't believe I waited months to read his book). It took me a very long time to continue reading the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book too. It had to do with the format, I think. I'll explain in another post when we talk about eBook and print book reading habits. I remember that it took me a very long time to get start started with To Kill a Mockingbird. But when I did read it, I couldn't put it down and I was in tears when I finished reading the book. 

So there, that's me, the azkal reader. :-) Glad to meet you!

Infographic by Laura E. Kelly.

Visit Laura-e-Kelly.com for more about books, reading, and authors.