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!

Standing on The Magical Shoulders of a Giant: A Book Review of Tall Story by Candy Gourlay

Tall Story by Candy Gourlay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I started reading this book last January, during a children's literature workshop. Then, I got busy. I left my copy in the bathroom and later discovered that my husband finished it ahead of me. What is up with that? He usually doesn't read. But this one he finished. So, I went back to it...and was richly rewarded.

Tall Story, while a young adult novel, is also a lovely novel, period. I'd recommend it for all ages. When my son has graduated from thinner chapter books (he's still in grade one)...this will definitely be in his reading list.

It's about Andi, a young half-Pinay-half-Brit girl who happens to be short but a killer basketball player, and her gigantic (eight-foot) half-brother, Bernardo. This is a story that alternates between Andie's and Bernardo's points of view. I really liked it. It provided a very rich contrast of two worlds brought together by the same mother (and um, basketball).

What I absolutely loved about it was the fantastical description of Bernardo's fictional earthquake-ridden hometown, San Andres. In it, you'll still find anting-anting (magical amulets), witches, werewolves, and the legend of Bernardo Carpio, the giant who saves San Andres from earthquakes but who goes to sleep in the mountains never to be seen again. I love how it ties in to Bernardo leaving one world for another when his mother in the UK claims him. The leap is, indeed, a huge one.

More than anything, it is the growing affection (and later on, love) between brother and sister that becomes captivating and endearing. There's a lot of Pinoy-English humor in it as well as little vignettes about (and tributes to) the Philippines' number one sport, basketball (a sport that isn't popular at all in the UK). I had a wonderful time reading this book.

View all my reviews