My 2013 in reading

I spent a lot of 2013 working and trying to get my thesis off the ground. There were months when things got so tight, it was a wonder I got any reading done at all. I would read a chapter or two before falling asleep or immediately upon waking up; I would read on jeeps, in airplanes, or in line to pay the bills; basically during any stolen quiet moment. I turned in some serious reading while waiting at the airport. On a field trip to Bantayan Island in Cebu, I took a chunk off the tome that is The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Now, I associate travel to the island with certain chapters of that book.

This year, I stopped worrying about the number of books I could finish. I took on books that challenged me (in terms of both scope and scale) and was rewarded for it.

Read the rest of my year-end review on The Exchange, which has been resurrected over at Wordpress. 

Reading: year-end review 2012

It's three days into the New Year, and I still haven't written a year-end post. I'll get to it eventually - it's just that some bits of 2012 are a little hard to digest.

On the other hand, some things are easier to write about than others. On The Exchange, we list our favorite reads for 2012. Here are mine:

(Click here to get to the original post.)

These are some of Hanna's:

(You'll have to click here for the rest of her list.)

And these are our shared favorites:

(And you know what to do.)

Another year done. But, of course, the reading never ends.

Later.

On The Exchange...

...we are reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.

Reading is the best medicine

The Whitby Bookshop by artist Tom Gauld

The Specialist's Hat by Kelly Link

"When you're Dead," Samantha says, "you don't have to brush your teeth."

"When you're Dead," Claire says, "you live in a box, and it's always dark, but you're not ever afraid."

Claire and Samantha are identical twins. Their combined age is twenty years, four months, and six days. Claire is better at being Dead than Samantha.

Read the rest of this deliciously creepy story here.

After everything

School has been over for a while. I'm only just getting the hang of moving slowly again. Shortly after I turned in my grades, I went through the usual post-hell week blues. A tiny fraction of my brain understood that I was now without obligation. But I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out exactly what to do with myself. So mostly, I just sat around, studying fascinating bumps on the wall. I also made the rounds in my head, checking for damage.

I've come around since then, but haven't quite gotten to the point where my writing is all flow-y. So bear with me while I incoherently blurt out bits of my life.

In June, I'll be moving back to Manila where spending money is kind of like exhaling. And with all those nice, well-stocked bookstores too. Irony, you sneaky bitch.

The best thing about not having to go to class everyday is I get to read as much as I want. Sure, there are pesky interruptions like bathing and eating, but things on the literary front are golden.

On The Exchange, Hanna and I embark on the 30 Day Book Challenge. We are wreaking all sorts of havoc over there. Join us! As of now, we are up to Day 5.

Ma is back, which is a relief. (I don't think I have to mention how pleased Brother Bear and Dog are.) The first thing she did when she got home was clean. The thing about mothers is, they manage to find dirt even when you thought you'd got everything. So now, the house is clean by maternal standards.

I'm almost done with The West Wing. I know someone who is mightily proud of me.

I'm not teaching this summer, but I have tasks for the department here and there. It's not a bad set-up. I have lots of free time and still get to work for my pay.

I end here. Oh and another thing, school letting out also means I treat my sleeping habits with wanton disregard. Later.

Tales of childhood

On The Exchange, we celebrate Roald Dahl month! And we are giving away a copy of Boy! The contest details are here. Happy reading!

2011 Reads

These are the books I have read this year, so far:

1. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
2. Girl Goddess #9 by Francesca Lia Block
3. Just in Case by Meg Rosoff
4. NP by Banana Yoshimoto
5. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
6. One Day by David Nicholls
7. You Shall Know Our Velocity! by Dave Eggers
8. Second Hand by Michael Zadoorian
9. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
10. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
11. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
12. The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano
13. Dramarama by E. Lockhart
14. On Love by Alain de Botton
15. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
16. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
17. Starter for Ten by David Nicholls
18. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
19. You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons by Mo Willems
20. Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
21. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
22. The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
23. What Happened to Goodbye? by Sarah Dessen
24. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
25. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
26. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Schteyngart
27. Justice League of America Volume 1: The Tornado's Path by Brad Meltzer and Ed Benes
28. Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Some Other Things That Aren’t as Scary, Maybe, Depending on How You Feel About Lost Lands, Stray Cellphones, Creatures from the Sky, Parents Who Disappear in Peru, a Man Named Lars Farf, and One Other Story We Couldn’t Quite Finish, So Maybe You Could Help Us Out, Edited by Ted Thompson (with Eli Horowitz)
29. Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
30. Daytripper by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon
31. The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
32. Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson
33. My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales, edited by Kate Bernheimer
34. Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
35. Encore Provence by Peter Mayle
36. No Tomorrow by Vivant Denon
37. Trese 4: Last Seen After Midnight by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo
38. The Heroes of Olympus Book One: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
39. Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
40. Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
41. Enough About Love by Herve Le Tellier
42. Fantastic Women: 18 Tales of the Surreal and Sublime from Tin House
43. A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
44. Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle
45. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Read or die 2

These are Hanna's top ten from her massive reading list for 2010:

And these are unanimous 2010 favorites at The Exchange:

Read or die

Wrapping up my reading for 2010 over at The Exchange:

So sleepy...but wait!

On The Exchange, I write a long overdue review for A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. This book is one of my best reads for 2010, and now an all-time favorite:

"A Dirty Job was my first taste of what would later become an acute addiction to Moore’s work. To say I was impressed is a gross understatement. I basked in the unhinged humor, the zingy back-and-forths between kooky characters, and the thick tangle of a plot. In between all that, Moore manages to make social commentary with his study of the Beta Male and talks about death and reincarnation in a new and interesting light. I was reeling, mystified as to where all this awesomeness had been all my life. So there I was, happily wandering around in this aforementioned blur of awesome, when out of nowhere, I was accosted by hell-hounds and reanimated forest animals and sewer harpies! It was madness. It was magnificent. All this in superb writing."

Heinous fuckery most foul

“This is a bawdy tale. Herein you will find gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity, as well as non-traditional grammar, split infinitives and the odd wank. If that sort of thing offends you, then gentle reader pass by, for we endeavor only to entertain, not to offend. That said, if that’s the sort of thing you think you might enjoy, then you have happened upon the perfect story!” 

On The Exchange, I write a review of Fool by Christopher Moore.

Free book contest!

Over at The Exchange, we're having our first book giveaway contest. The winner gets this:

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg is a pleasant, comforting read. The milk and cookies are pretty awesome too, except the courier company may have issues transporting dairy. Nonetheless, the book would be an excellent companion during the holidays. Check out the contest details, and send us a message! Deadline for entries is midnight on Christmas Day. Enjoy!

The usual suspects

I spent most of September and October with a red pen in my left hand and a tired scowl on my face. Things have cleared up considerably, though, so here I am.

In books, I am currently working on Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon. I finally found a copy last week while on a trip for a workshop on frogs and expensive lab equipment with which to play with their anatomy. I can't get Michael Douglas' voice out of my head. He is my narrator. I also keep imagining Robert Downey Jr. as Terry Crabtree. Normally, this would be a bad thing, but who wouldn't enjoy Robert Downey Jr.'s face frequently popping into their head?

Also in books, it is currently J.K. Rowling Month on The Exchange. This gives us ample opportunity to obsess about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1).


New episodes are out. Supernatural has been giving me a headache, but I hold on for Dean's beautiful eyes. On the other hand, this season's Weekend at Bobby's (episode 4) was a gem. Also, was recently immersed in White Collar. Neal Caffery totally owns: his classic suits and devilish charm have disarmed me. I was desolate when I ran out of episodes.

I've been a little somber the past few weeks. My mind likes to make cocktails of random dark feelings. So as not to completely transform into a black hole, I have compiled a list of things that make me happy:

• Lem and his campaign for POSITIVITY(!)
• Good friends and the cake they bear
• New books/ new old books
• A laptop that can type the letters G and H, and also the number 3 (The keyboard on my two-year old Compaq is succumbing to overuse. Obviously I can't manage without an H. The word "the" alone would have to vanish from my vocabulary, and I happen to enjoy this particular article. Currently using Pa's laptop, which he has agreed to part with for a reasonable price.)
• A clutter-free desk (I cleaned out my desk at school the other day. I spent hours feeding a paper shredder the spoils of last semester. It was vastly satisfying. Also, this paper will be recycled. So hurrah for the Earth!)
• Slow mornings with the family
• Dog
• The Baguio cold

More happy things soon. Later.

Books and doing nothing on a Monday

A free Monday at last. I woke up wantonly late this morning, and intend to do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day.

The third book of The Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay, is finally out. I finished reading it yesterday morning, and spent most of Sunday recovering. I wrote a review for it on The Exchange, a writing/reading project Hanna and I have just recently begun. It is a work in progress, but it would be great if you could drop by and give us a little love.

I got myself a couple of great books last night. The Yangco girls just opened Mt. Cloud Bookshop in Casa Vallejo and it is looking brilliant. There were a bunch of great titles, and I bought Shanghai Baby by Wei Hui for only P50. After dinner, Lem and I dropped by SM Booksale where I found Fool by Christopher Moore. I'd been looking around for a while, and was just about to tell Lem how frustrating it was not to find anything when there were so many new books. Then I looked up and spotted Fool on one of the higher shelves. I couldn't reach so I asked the man next to me to please hand it down to me. He kindly obliged, and I had to keep myself from scaring him with peals of excitement. I've only ever bought Christopher Moore's books full price, so I was ecstatic finding one for only P165.

Pa and Jake will be home soon with the groceries, and I should get started with lunch. Later.

The Beautiful Miscellaneous

Hanna writes a review of Dominic Smith's The Beautiful Miscellaneous:

"For the record, let me just say that I get uncharacteristically attached with the characters in the book that I read and I have a hard time dealing when the time comes for me to let go of them.

This sentiment is especially true after reading The Beautiful Miscellaneous by Dominic Smith. The book is essentially about a seemingly ordinary boy who has been living under the shadow of his father’s genius..."

Continue reading the review on The Exchange.