The bookshelf project #35

It seems that I haven't done a post on my bookshelf project lately. And I was scouring through my inbox when I remember the pictures my good friend Don sent me. How could I have missed these pictures!

Don sent me a picture of his workspace at home, which incorporates bookshelves. The rolling bookcases are just brilliant, don't you think? You can always do a quick redesign!

Don's workspace

If this were my workspace, I wouldn't mind working all day! (Not!) 

And the wood panels on the floor are just too beautiful.

A closer look

As Don is one heck of a finance guy, it's but natural to see lots of business books in his shelves.

I spy some good titles here.

Woot woot for The Hunger Games trilogy!

That novel by Matt Beaumont, e², is one of the funniest novels ever.

What do you think of Don's workspace, dear reader? I haven't even been to his flat in San Francisco, and yet I think that I would feel right at home there.

Also, if you do have pictures of your bookshelves, then why not throw them my way?

Filipino Friday (4): Books and Friends

Well hello there, fellow book lover! The ReaderCon is almost upon us! I do hope that you join us next Saturday, 18 August, for this annual book-ish get-together. It's one of the few events in the metro where you get the chance to mingle with other bibliophiles! 

Anyway, I'm doing this weekly meme a day early as I suddenly found myself with a pocket of free time tonight. This week, it's all about book clubs!

Are you a part of a book club? If yes, what made you join one?

Yes, I am! Actually, I'm a member of 2 book clubs. The first one, Flips Flipping Pages (FFP), is one that I'm a member of since 2009. It's a Shelfari-based book club. I think I've been a member since 2007, lurking in the threads and then finally deciding to attend their meetups. It's a very active group, with the members participating in online discussions and then meeting every month to discuss a specific book. 

The other book club is a new one, which was started by Orly, a good friend who's also a member of FFP. It's so new that it doesn't even have an official name yet. So far, I've attended two discussions—one on a Shakespeare work ('The Taming of the Shrew') and another on a biography of a former first lady (The Rise and Fall of Imelda Marcos). You can click on the titles for my posts about these meetups. 

FFP is much bigger than the other book club. Some of FFP's meetups can pull in as many as 30+ members. So the monthly meetups can be a riot! The other book club, since it's a new one after all, holds more intimate discussions, allowing ample time for the members to interact. Nevertheless, the meetups of both book clubs are not to be missed! They're just so fun!

What’s your favorite activity that you have with them?
Why, the monthly meetups of course! With FFP, you just don't know what to expect in a book discussion. It's always interesting to hear everyone's thoughts on a book. Most of the time, the assigned moderators even come up with pre-discussion activities in line with the book. During the first time that I moderated (The Hunger Games), I had the attendees participate in a game of paintball.

There are also lots of non-book-ish events at FFP. To name a few: bowling night, food trips, surprise parties, beach outings. If you want to check out FFP events for 2011, click here. For 2012, I've posted some of the pics below from our past events.

FFP book-ish events

January

 The first month of the year is when FFP members discuss their best and worst reads for last year.

Here I am with Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars, my best read for 2011.

That's Gege, the founder of FFP.

February

This month is all about George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones. 

Me, hamming it up again

A pre-discussion game with my team mates

By our reactions, you just know that we're winning. LOL!

March

I moderated Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth during my birth month.

 It's the perfect book to discuss over high tea!

Me, explaining the details of a card game for the book swap

April

This month is all about graphic novels, as we discussed Craig Thompson's Habibi.

 Honey, the moderator, showing how to make your own comic strip

May

This month is all about Eric Weiner's The Geography of Bliss.

Here's the group about to do a meditation exercise before the discussion. 

A poolside discussion! Woot woot!

June

Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo was the book of the month.

 During the discussion

July

Wayfarer-ed members during the discussion of Ernest Cline's Ready Player One

With R, who moderated the discussion

Best photographer and moderator ever IMHO

Thanks for some of the pics I used in this post, specifically the ones with myself in them.

FFP non-book-ish events

January (1)

The kids of ATD during our outreach program

We brought them to Museo Pambata.

Sana, one of the admins of FFP, holding that awesome book that she authored

Each of the kids got a copy! Thank you, Sana!

January (2)

Bowling night!

Don't let this pic fool you.

I'm no good at bowling.

February

Pampanga food trip!

A whole day of eating and eating and eating

Of course, we have to find the time to visit a bookstore.

March

We attended a surprise birthday party for Iya.

Just look at Iya's book-ish birthday cake! Love!

Some of the FFP peeps with the birthday girl.

Effortlessly fabulous Iya is the one standing in the middle.

April (1)

A lot of FFP members are creative, often participating in bazaars and flea markets around the metro to showcase their products.

Shani makes these wonderful solid perfumes. Look closely; some are quite book-ish!

My favorites are Sherlock, Everdeen, and Arrakis.

Marie sold her wonderful handmade hats during the same event.

April (2)

An impromptu out-of-town trip

Here's the gang at Gege's fabulous Bali-inspired summer house.

The requisite jump shot at the beach with some of the peeps

It looks like I was sucker punched!

(Picture courtesy of Dianne)

Oh my! It seems that I've uploaded tons of pictures already! And I haven't even mentioned the several instances of casual meetups. What can I say? Book clubs are a whole lotta fun.

Saying good-bye to Mr Melrose

When I turned the last page of the Edward St. Aubyn's last novel of the Patrick Melrose cycle, At Last, I breathed a sigh of relief. It's been one helluva ride, with events that I wouldn't want to happen to me nor to any of my friends for that matter.

I'd recommend all 5 of the Patrick Melrose novels to everyone. Here's a chronicle of a life, despite one of the upperclass English, that spiraled to hell and back.

In the early novels, we see Patrick as a victim of sexual abuse during his childhood. In the next 3 novels, we see him bury his father who molested him, be an alcoholic, get married, commit adultery, and basically throw his life away.

In the last novel, we at least see a process of healing. In At Last, Eleanor, Patrick's mother, has passed away. Could this be the answer to all of Patrick's unresolved issues? Maybe. I'm not sure the novel points to a direct answer, but I'd like to believe that Patrick is free at last of his parents who have subjected him to sexual and psychological abuse.

At Last is very redeeming. We see Patrick finally coming to terms with his own family: his two boys whom he seem to have neglected and his estranged wife, who left him because of his adulterous relationships, his drinking, and whatnot. At the end of the novel, Patrick realizes that maybe all is not lost and that, finally, he'd get the love that seemed to be rather elusive during his lifetime.

Edward St. Aubyn's prose is beautiful and effortlessly switches from acerbic humor to melancholic thoughts. The writing is very controlled, with the shifts in points of view so seamless that you can't help but get carried away with it. His humor reminds me of Evelyn Waugh, his drama of Julian Barnes and Graham Greene sometimes.

I hope that St. Aubyn comes up with another novel soon. I'll read anything he'd write. The Patrick Melrose novels, perhaps because of their semi-autobiographical nature, have a bittersweet tinge to them. But that's real life, no? We can't have everything all sugar and spice.

Read this book if:

1. You're into short but pithy novels.
2. You know that semi-autobiographical novels are usually great works of fiction.
3. You have a love-hate relationship with Patrick Melrose.

This needs more kink

Okay, let's get a few things out of the way. Yes, the writing's bad. Yes, there are a few phrases that can boggle the imagination (e.g., Laters, baby.). Yes, I fell into the hype. With that being said, let's focus on other things about Fifty Shades of Grey, shall we?

There's Christian Grey. One word—hot. But this hotness has its caveat, for Christian has this Red Room of Pain. The RRP is where he unleashes all his carnal desires on women (all of them brunettes) in BDSM scenarios. He's also filthy rich. You can't get wrong with hot and rich, no?

There's Anastasia Steele. One word—bland. Well, she appears bland in the first few chapters but somehow finds her own spirit at the latter half of the book. I find it unbelievable that she finds herself not good looking. After all, two apparently hunky guys have the hots for her.

So these two engage in a contract, where Ana becomes Christian's submissive. All subs need to sign a non-disclosure agreement. That's romance for you! A good chunk of Fifty Shades of Grey is about Ana's negotiations with Christian. The BDSM newbie will learn a lot here. Safewords, soft and hard limits, vaginal fisting, whatnot.

It is this contract which I find problematic, something that steers the reader toward a disappointment. With all the funky details in the contract, I was expecting something more, well, graphic and intense. I love vanilla. But I would really like to read BDSM, especially if the reader has been primed for it. But E L James holds out on the kink. The scenes are not just too kinky enough.

I've been restraining myself from counting all the sex scenes in FSoG and then categorizing them as vanilla or BDSM. But a quick scan through the pages made me think that, for all its hype, the book is rather tame. Women, you don't need your tissues.

So that's my main beef against this book. I wanted my kink! I wanted to read about Ana being slapped, whipped, and poked with toys. I wanted scenarios where Ana will scream the safeword. I wanted Christian to be uninhinbited.

I had no issues with what kind of relationship these two are in. Goodness, they've entered into a 'legal' agreement! I don't get why people are calling Ana a disgrace to women. Ana's intelligent. She's an adult who knows what she's getting into. She has spunk. In a way, she's with the man of her deepest desires.

All in all, I did find Fifty Shades of Grey rather entertaining. And I do get the hype. If you're prepared to not take particular attention to the narrative, you'll definitely be entertained to. Let's face it—sex sells, no matter how badly it is written.

Read this book if:

1. You want to find out what all the fuss is about.
2. You love your vanilla, but you crave for rocky road sometimes.
3. You have no problems with "Laters, baby."

My book-ish weekend (part 2)

I read Ernest Cline's superb novel, Ready Player One, almost one year ago. When the book club (Flips Flipping Pages) chose it for its July book discussion, naturally, I was excited. So the RPO discussion is the 2nd part of my book-ish weekend last week, and boy was it fun!

My good friend, R, was the moderator, and I was the designated photographer of the day. We decided to have the book discussion at an '80s-themed restaurant in line with the themes of the sci-fi novel which had a lot of 80s references.

The discussion started at around 2 pm and finished by 5.30. Of course, we need to have dinner somewhere (even though we have been eating the whole time during the discussion). After dinner, there's the obligatory coffee and conversation, which lasted until almost midnight.

Here are some pics of the discussion, dear readers.

Me with my almost-yellowing RPO hardback.

The Wayfarers were part of R's giveaways.

Contrary to what my T-shirt says, I was never big on video games.

That's R, busy with the preparations for the discussion.

He went all out for the event!

The interior of Cafe 80s had a lot of 80s memorabilia.

That gigantic Rubiks cube was made by the owners.

And you gotta love that bike with E.T.!

This Pac-Man wallpaper was just too cute. I want it for my room!

Some members even came in costume for the discussion.

That's my good friend Fredda. Her pink socks are love, no?

Would you believe that these members are actually moms?

I'll say it again: FFP members are just too gorgeous!

One of those hot moms in the picture, Iya, gave me a bunch of books during the discussion.

She knows of my fascination with all things Penguin.

So she also gave me this Penguin mouse pad!

 The requisite group shot

Woot woot! I think I counted more than 30 attendees!

And here I am hamming it up with Orly.

What can I say? I just love the 80s!

Those cool glasses are just one of R's props for the discussion.

At the end, each member got 3 bookmarks.

I was fortunate enough to get the complete set of 24!

Aren't these bookmarks awesome?

Filipino Friday (3): Reading Habits and Book Formats

Hello again, fellow bibliophiles! There's just 2 more weeks left before the ReaderCon! Aren't you all excited? I know I am.  So today's Friday, which means another entry for the event's meme, Filipino Fridays. This week, it's all about reading habits and book formats.

Can you read anywhere and everywhere? Do you need a certain place/mood/state of mind to get reading? 
For some reason, there are two things that I need to have a pleasant reading experience: (1) silence and (2) absence of any moving objects. I easily get distracted, so I can't even concentrate on my reading when there's music in the background. Also, I can't read in the same room with a lot of people.

So that pretty much explains why I find it difficult to read in cafes, restaurants, bookstores, or even libraries. But I guess it can't be helped, especially if I'm waiting for someone so I might as well while away the time reading. But goodness, I read so slow when there are just too many distractions.

I was a panelist during the Mockingjay launch.

And here I am being distracted by I-don't-know-what.
See what I mean by getting distracted? Oy!

Are you exclusively for print, or do you go for ebooks more than print? Have you ever tried audiobooks?
Now this I feel strongly about. I just love printed copies so much. I can't imagine reading an ebook, much less owning an ebook reader. There are just too many sensory experiences that go with reading an actual book. I have listened to a couple of audiobooks though. They helped make my long commute to work bearable.

What can I say, I love them printed copies so much.

Understatement: Books make me really, really happy.

Doing the missionary position

Is nothing ever sacred with Christopher Hitchens? Apparently not, as even Mother Teresa isn't spared by Hitchens. I must admit that this is quite a difficult read, one that I approach with trepidation, being Catholic myself.

Christopher Hitchens was known for his bias against organized religion, blaming it for its indifference or inaction to the solutions of some of the world's problems. His god Is Not Great (lowercase on the 'god', please) is a wonderful read regardless whether you're an atheist or not. I 'read' the audiobook format, with Hitchens narrating. It was a fascinating experience.

The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice is an earlier work than gING, as it was published in 1995. But it still rings fresh, especially after Mother Teresa's beatification in 2003 and her seemingly inevitable canonization. And Hitchens doesn't hold out. He's here to present the case against Mother Teresa. Such chutzpah, no? To think that Mother Teresa was even alive at the time the book was published.

So what comprises Hitchens's case against Mother Teresa? First is Mother Teresa's attitude toward poverty. Hitchens feels that she seems to encourage it, telling people that their poverty and suffering bring them closer to God. Even the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity, the group founded by Mother Teresa, appear to be content with this poverty.

Second is the fact that Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity may not even be poor. They've received hundreds of thousands of dollars in aid, and Mother Teresa has been the recipient of several prizes from organizations. Surely, that would bring in the money, right? But no, the centers where they care for children and the dying still appear to be rundown, with hardly any medical facilities. Also, Mother Teresa has been seen together with political despots and tyrants simply because these persons have generously donated to her cause.

Third is Mother Teresa's stance against abortion and contraceptives. We know that all Catholics should be against these unnatural methods, but Mother Teresa was always vehemently opposed to it. She believed that God always provides for everyone. Here is where Hitchens makes a good point. If God always provides, then there wouldn't be any need for the efforts of Mother Teresa and her organization, would it? Also, Hitchens points out that Mother Teresa's initiatives aren't even a drop in the bucket in the whole scheme of things.

So does The Missionary Position have a good case? Yes, I believe so. It does present Mother Teresa in a very unflattering light. But the true Catholic, or any rational person for that matter, would explore further. Hitchens was our devil's advocate, and we loved him for it.

Read this book if:

1. You'll read anything by Christopher Hitchens.
2. You've always been curious about this little lady.
3. You love controversial books.