Filipino Friday #1: Suprise, reader!

Well, what do you know, it's time for Filipino Fridays again! Filipino Fridays is a weekly meme that leads to the Filipino ReaderCon. This year, the ReaderCon will be held on 14 November at the Bayanihan Center, Mandaluyong.

Anyway, the first Filipino Friday has a theme of "Surprise, reader!" Along with this theme is a list of questions that hopes to introduce the person in terms of books that he or she has read. So let's get on with it, shall we?

Tell us about your favorite book discoveries for this year.
Ever since I started my A to Z dead guys challenge, I've been on a high after reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I fell in love with that book.

I'm not done with that particular challenge this year though, so I think I'll have more book discoveries for the last quarter of 2014. Just this year, I read my first Hardy, Kipling (Kim), Austen (Emma), Carroll (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), and Eliot (Silas Marner).

Any author you started reading this year that you can’t get enough of? 
Well, aside from Brontë, whose Shirley and Villette I want to read soon, I would have to say Thomas Hardy. I read The Return of the Native this year and I breezed through it. It started out slow, like most classics do, but I learned to go with the pace of Hardy's very moody writing.

I've been slowly building my Thomas Hardy collection. Just this year, I bought Far From the Madding Crowd, Jude the Obscure, and The Mayor of Casterbridge.

A book you think you wouldn't like, but you ended up liking/loving? 
Again, it's Jane Eyre. After I turned the final page, I felt bittersweet that it had to end. Such a headstrong character, that Jane Eyre.

I never thought that I'd like Jane Eyre that much, as I thought that it would be like an Austen novel, wherein everyone just gossiped the whole day. I read my first Austen, Emma, and I detested it. Thank goodness that Charlotte Brontë is such a totally different writer.

Any book series that you just have to get your hands on? 
Hmmm . . . None of the moment, to be honest. I'm not too keen on the next George R. R. Martin novel, nor the next Brandon Sanderson. I have my whole life for A Game of Thrones!

I guess I am particularly interested in reading the other Brontë sisters. I've always been curious about Wuthering Heights, supposedly the most passionate novel ever written. Also, Anne Brontë, is reputed to be the most realist (most non-romantic) among the sisters. So I'm curious about The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Have you discovered anything new from Filipino authors this year?
As part of the read-along for the book club, I read The Rosales Saga of F. Sionil Jose. I thoroughly enjoyed the 2nd book, Tree. It's rich with allegory and symbolism.

Unfortunately, my current worst read for the year is by a Filipino author, Bianca Bernardino, who wrote She's Dating the Gangster. That chick lit novel is hugely popular here in the Philippines, but I found the plot laughable and ridiculous.

So that's it for the first Filipino Friday, dear reader. Till next time!

Filipino Friday 2013 #4: Going digital

It's Filipino Friday again, dear readers, the weekly meme in line for this year, Filipino ReaderCon. This year's ReaderCon is just a few days away, so better clear up your calendars!

This week, it's all about reading books in other formats. Hmmmm. . . Tough. I love paper too much. I love touching it, smelling it, and even tasting it. I haven't read any books outside work that are in electronic format. The though of reading an ebook gives me goosebumps. Anyway, let's proceed with this week's Filipino Friday questions.

Do you read (or have at least tried to read) books in other formats aside from print?
I'll say it upfront—my preferred format has always been print. And my favorite print format is the hardback. I don't care that hardbacks take too much shelf space. When someone mentions a book, my mental image of it has always been a hardback.

But other than print, the only format that I've tried is audiobooks. Ebooks? I'd rather die.

How was your experience with this different book formats?
I've grown to love audiobooks. Listening to an audiobook takes longer than reading the print version though, but the experience is totally different. Listening to an audiobook is like hearing a musical performance, especially if the narrator has a dramatic voice.

I've read lots of audiobooks through the years. My favorite ones, interestingly enough, are those read by the authors themselves. I finished David Sedaris's When You Are Engulfed in Flames and Naked in audiobook format. Hearing Sedaris's squeaky voice just made the essays funnier.

Neil Gaiman is a wonderful narrator too. I finished the audiobooks of his Anansi Boys and Neverwhere.   And Chelsea Handler too! Handler's dead pan narration of her hilarious sexual escapades were a riot to listen to in My Horizontal Life and Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea.

So that's it! Not much variation in reading formats for old KyusiReader. It's like 99.99% print and 0.01% audiobooks. Still, I enjoy "reading" both. I guess I should find more audiobooks to go through, yes? And they do make the terrible commute just a little bit bearable.

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Join us next Saturday, 09 November, at the Rizal Library of the Ateneo De Manila University for the 3rd annual Filipino ReaderCon.

Filipino Friday 2013 #2: Kids and books

It's Filipino Friday once again, dear readers. This week, we're talking about children's books. I love children's books, despite being almost 40. They make me feel oh so young. And children's books, with their straightforward storytelling style and uncluttered dialogue, are the perfect books to read when you're in-between adult novels. Sort of a palate cleanser. Like lemon sorbet. And I love all things lemony.

So let's get on with the questions, shall we?

What were your favorite books as a kid?
I was a voracious reader when I was a kid. My parents told me that I started reading when I was 4. And since then, I have never looked back. I was one of those geeky kids who didn't throw a tantrum if I were given a book as a present.

Some of the children's books that became my favorite were the Bobbsey Twins mysteries by Laura Lee Hope and the Choose Your Own Adventure books. I couldn't get enough of them! I remember borrowing most of the Bobbsey Twins books from my grade school library.

The Bobbsey Twins and the Doodlebug Mystery was the first book in the series that I read.
As far as I recall, it was my favorite among the lot.

At one point, I think I must have had 20 of these.
Unfortunately, they were all lost when we moved house.

Do you still read children's books?
Well, I read almost anything, so yes, I still read children's books. In fact, I don't think there's a month that goes by without me not reading a children's book. They're quick reads, yes? And the children's books that I've finished recently have been very rewarding reads.

The more recent children's books that I've finished that I really, really liked include Wonder by R. J. Palacio and the Newbery-winning novels Moon Over Manifest by Claire Vanderpool and The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. I have yet to read a Newbery book that I don't like.

Recently, I discovered the joys of reading the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. The adventures of the Moomin family and their friends are terribly fun. Very wholesome but entertaining reads. If you read closely, they can get very philosophical too. It's no wonder that that Jansson (1914-2001), who was from Finland, became one of our greatest children's books author and illustrator.

Some of my Moomin novels
I believe there are 9 in all. 

The collected Moomin cartoon strips are also quite fun to read.

If you would give a book to your younger self, what would it be?
Hmmm. . . Tough question. I can't really decide which. There are just too many! Well, probably any book by Meindert DeJong. Last year, I read his The Wheel on the School and I found it quite heartwarming. It was still very relevant, even though it was first published in 1955.

But really, I don't think my younger self would be that choosy when it comes to books. I think he would have read any book thrown his way. It would be years before that kid would grow up and become more discriminating with his reading tastes. And he'd go through a Stephen King phase, a Jackie Collins phase, an Agatha Christie phase along the way.

So that's my 2nd Filipino Friday entry, dear readers. I'd love to hear about your favorite children's books too.

Oh, and if you're free on Saturday, 9 November, do drop by at the ReaderCon at the Rizal Library of Ateneo de Manila. It'll be a unique experience, especially if you love books and reading.

Filipino Friday 2013 #1: An introduction

Filipino Fridays, the only blog meme that I participate in, is back! This wonderful online event is actually part of the activities leading to this year's Filipino ReaderCon, which is happening next month. If you're in Manila on Saturday, 9 November, then I highly suggest that you drop by. There'll be panel discussions with authors and you'd get to meet book bloggers and your fellow bookworms.

There'll be 5 Filipino Friday posts, and this post kicks it off. It's all about introductions! This time, they wanted to shake things up a little bit. So instead of us bloggers just rambling about our love for books and what-not, they asked us to answer this question: What species of book reader are you? Which leads me to the infographic by Laura E. Kelly. See below. (You can click on the image to enlarge it.)

Image source

Oy, the details in this infographic! I die. It then occurred to me how difficult it is to describe my reading habits. I'm all of these: book preserver, book worshipper, hoarder, compulsive book buyer, promiscuous reader, omnireader, sharer screamer, and book clubber.

Also, I think of myself as being "free range." I have an issue with that term actually. It reminds me of organic poultry. Think free-range chickens. Anyway, I do believe that I read almost anything, and I don't really see myself as a genre reader.

Some of my friends see me as a book snob. When I hear this, I tell them one thing: I've read Fifty Shades of Grey, yes, the entire trilogy. I've had my fill of  stories involving spanking, ripped dresses, sex toys, and kinky role play, and I have no qualms sharing them with people who are willing to listen. Bring it on! Now that usually leaves them speechless.

I guess it doesn't really matter what "species" of book reader one is, no? Besides, I hate labels. But if there's one label that I want my big fat ass to be associated with, it's being a reader. Reading rocks. And readers rule.