That ain't a typo in the title

My T-shirt during the discussion
Somehow, the word 'award' has now become a slang term for 'awesome'.

Last weekend, the book club got together for an official book discussion. This time, it was a local book: Bebang Siy's It's a Mens World, which won the Best Essay Collection award during last year Readers' Choice Awards. (Obligatory disclaimer: I was one of the 3 judges in this category.)

Orly, the moderator for the month, managed to pull off one of the most enjoyable book discussions I've attended. The author herself was present during the discussion, who I think was amused listening to us talk about our thoughts on her book. I must admit that I was a bit wary of having authors being present during book discussions. Some of the members might be too uncomfortable sharing when the author would be present, especially if the opinions aren't positive. But Bebang Siy was cool with it.

Also, Orly picked 10 book club members to do readings of Bebang Siy's work. I was one of those unfortunates who were chosen. For my reading, I decided to read from Bebang's blog instead of the book. I figured that the novelty of it would force the members to listen. Hihihihihi.

There were pretty cool swag too. The bookmark is quite, ummmm, different, as you would see below. Orly also got help from a couple of the members for the other swag items. Plus, we all were wearing shirts with unique words printed on them. Prior to the discussion, Orly asked us to identify a word that reminds of something from the book.

If you'd get to know Bebang Siy, you'd find out that she's one of the most interesting persons around. She's terribly funny. She's like your long-lost sister or your fag hag. Her essays found in It's a Mens World show the range of her writing abilities. While several of the essays in the collection were humorous, a few of them can really tug at your heart. I admire her for coming up with a very personal essay collection. I know I couldn't do it. All that honesty would kill me.

Anyway, here are some pics that I'd like to share with you, dear reader.

Me, during the reading
I asked R to be my 'human prop'.
(From R's camera)

R, me, and Bebang
That lady is hysterical!
(From R's camera)

The brown bag with the mysterious goodies

Opening the brown bag made me smile
Locally made candy!

The bookmark
Shaped like a sanitary napkin

Me with free magazines from the National Book Development Board
Thank you!
(Photo courtesy of R)

The Flippers!
(Photo from R's camera)