I wish every day were Saturday

While I wasn't able to spend the full day last Saturday at the 3rd annual Philippine ReaderCon, I did manage to catch the late afternoon sessions, which were all about book clubs. It's the 1st time that I didn't play an active role at the ReaderCon. During the 1st year, I moderated one of the sessions on book clubs here in the country. Then last year, I headed the Registration Committee. This year though, there were just too many things on my plate.

Anyway, this year, I did make it in time for the book club's discussion of Neil Gaiman's Season of Mists, which is the 4th volume of the acclaimed Sandman series. There weren't that many participants this year as compared with the almost fully packed room last year, when we talked about Rafe Bartholomew's nonfiction book about basketball in the Philippines, Pacific Rims. It was still a lovely way to spend the Saturday afternoon though.

Also, there were still several booths set up by the book clubs featuring the wide array of books that they're recommending to readers. I did the usual rounds, picking up several of the lists and bookmarks along the way. Unfortunately, the bookmarks being given away by my book club ran out! Nevertheless, I ended up with lots and lots of bookmarks in my tote.

I also purchased a few books. I bought my very first Filipino chick lit novel, Mina V. Esguerra's My Imaginary Ex. Mina was actually there in her romance class booth, and I asked her which among her novels is a good place to start. But the ones that I was truly excited about is the series of comic books about crime-fighting call center agents, which were appropriately titled Crime-Fighting Call Center Agents. The first 4 issues are just so hilarious!

My ReaderCon loot
Bookmarks and reco lists! Woot woot!

Of course, the book club still didn't want to call it a day, even though the ReaderCon ended at around 5 pm. We ended up having dinner at a newly opened strip mall nearby. R.'s birthday was just next day, so I thought it would be the perfect time to surprise him with a simple birthday cake. It was a 5-layer chocolate cake! It was a very fun Saturday indeed.

So: ReaderCon, Sandman, bookmarks, new books, dinner with the book club, and a birthday cake. It was a great Saturday indeed.

R. was completely surprised with his birthday cake.
I'm giddily clapping as well. :-)
(Photo credit: Jan Ruiz)

Behind the scenes at the ReaderCon

All events happened on Saturday, 18 August 2012

4:30 am   Holy s**t! I remembered setting my alarm at 4:00 am, since I do like to take my sweet time in the shower. What the hell happened? Hmmmm... must remember to turn the alarm volume in full. Okay, showered in 10 minutes, got dressed in 15.

The Filipinas Heritage Library

Venue for this year's ReaderCon

5:45 am   Arrived at Filipinas Heritage Library. I'm 15 minutes early for the set time for the Registration Committee, which I'm heading this year. Guard is still sleepy but lets me in. Two things I noticed when I stepped in—I'm the first one at the venue and it's unbearably hot. No airconditioning yet! I can't be sweating like a pig at 6 am. Sheesh! I'm wearing white!

5:50 am   Checked the registration kits to see if they're numbered correctly. Yes. Thank goodness for Joko, Shani, and Iya who went yesterday to help assemble them. Peered at the contents. Program, check. Stubs, check.

6:00 am   I see Iya's car in the driveway. Good, she's on time. Ever dependable Iya, who's heading the Logistics Committee this year. Why is she in white? Then it hits me, we all agreed to come in white to make it easier for us to spot one another.

6:10 am   Joko, Angus, and Jason arrive. Now it gets tricky, I think. I didn't require the Registration Team to meet prior to the event and most of these guys don't know one another. It was also my first time to meet Angus and Monique, another volunteer who's coming in the afternoon. Made quick introductions and hopes that everyone remembers one another's name. It'll be really ironic if we, the ones who keep track of the names of the people coming in, won't be able to remember our team mates' names, no?

6:15 am   Gave Jason and Angus a quick tour of the venue. We all head out for breakfast at McDonald's. Victor (a fellow book club member) and Verne (from FHL) follow us at around 6:45 am.

7:00 am   Back at venue. Took out the registration folders that I prepared days before and showed them to the team. "People sign here, and then here and here and another time here." The team's undermanned. Had to quickly resort to plan B, which basically means that all of us do double tasks. Had to rearrange the registration setup as well. Feels like a headache is coming.

7:20 am   Another round of briefing. Seems like everyone gets their tasks. Headache appears to be going away.

7:30 am   First participant arrives! It's a girl! Volunteers swarm her. No, no, no! Had to literally brush some people off so that girl can register in peace.

8:30 am   Registration now in full swing. Everything seems to be going as planned. Not much human traffic. I'm in the sidelines observing everything. Thinking I haven't had my caffeine fix yet. The Coke I had for breakfast does not count.

9:00 am   Finally getting my 1st cup of coffee. The coffee from Amici, one of the sponsors, is good! I have 3 more cups.

10:00 am   At the sidelines again. Observing, herding people in, doing some ushering. Angus appears to know everyone. He's so cheery with his "Hello." I actually thought that he knows these people personally. I can't imagine myself being that cheery for several hours. Jason is doing a superb job at ushering. He's very personable. Must get him again for next year.

10:30 am    Registration storm seems to have passed. We've survived! Idle talk with my team mates. Idle talk with fellow book club members. Idle talk with some of the vendors. Checked out a couple of booths selling books. Bought 3. Angus gave me a book as well. Thanks!

11:00 am    I see Bebang Siy! Fanboy moment! Asked R to take my picture with her. And then I got my book signed quickly and covertly as well.

12:15 pm   One of the sessions running late. Headache! And some people are registering for the afternoon sessions. We still charge the full fee. Surprisingly, they don't complain. I gather the first batch of volunteers for lunch.

12:20 pm   Eating my McDonald's lunch and then momentarily stopped when I noticed that there were just a couple of packed lunches left. Oh dear. I think there must be more than 10 volunteers who have still yet to have lunch. Found the guy at FHL and told him we need to buy more food. Got back to the pantry and hurriedly finished eating. Talked to the other volunteers if they'd just wait for a few more minutes for the food to arrive. Was kinda expecting bloodshed when delivering this news.

1:10 pm   People are arriving for the afternoon sessions in trickles. In my mind: "Look at the program, people! It says 1:00!" I usher them in and suggest to the Program Committee volunteers to might as well start. Punctuality is the politeness of kings! The people from my book club are getting fidgety for their sessions at 2 pm.

1:45 pm   Quick photo with the Registration Committee while we're still complete. Had to temporarily drag R away from his photographer duties to take our picture. They are all so awesome!

This year's Registration Team

We all look so wholesome in white, no?

2:20 pm   Extremely late start for the book discussion, which should've started at 2 pm. But no worries. We have a live chat with the author, Rafe Bartholomew, who's in New York. Goodness, he's such a looker. Screaming girls (and a few boys) everywhere! I feel like I'm in a rock band concert. Checked out the other book club discussion below. That one's eerily quiet.

3:00 pm   We close registration and pack up everything. Dropped by at the discussion for Fifty Shades of Grey. People are giggly and appear to be having fun. Good! Also checked out the discussion for The Little Prince. Very formal discussion, I must say.

3:30 pm   Suddenly remembered to finalize my writeup for the Readers' Choice Awards. I'm a judge for the essay anthology category and all I have for the citation is a draft in my head. Wrote something within 15 minutes. Hope this is good enough. I don't want to sound amateur-ish in front of Bebang Siy and all these people.

4:45 pm   Awards ceremony in full swing. Went to the podium and announced the winner and read my citation. They seem to find it funny, thank God.

5:30 pm   I am hungry. So hungry that I queued 3 times for the heavy snack of pasta, kani sandwiches, and chicken lollipops.

6:00 pm   Everyone had fun at the socials. But I'm just tired. It's been a long day, but it certainly was fun! The ReaderCon is one of the few events in the metro where readers, book bloggers, book lovers, writers, and publishers come together. I definitely am looking forward to next year's.

Thank you, Scholastic Philippines, Lampara Books, McDonald’s, Flipreads, Anvil Publishing, Inc, Hachette Philippines, Amici Philippines, OMF Literature, Inc, and Adarna House for sponsoring this very book-ish event!

And thanks, R, for taking these wonderful pictures!

R in red during the ReaderCon

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.

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.

Filipino Friday (2): School of Reading

Hello, fellow bibliophiles! Well, what do you know? It's Friday again! So it's time for another post on Filipino Fridays, a weekly meme that I'm participating in line with this year, ReaderCon. This week, it's all about how we got started on reading.

Who got you into reading?
Naturally, the ones who got me into reading were my parents. There were loads of paperbacks in the house. My mom was into Sidney Sheldon, Stephen King, and romance novels; my dad's books were mostly about chess and some thrillers.

Hmmmm.... Now I'm thinking. It's weird that I've never read any novels by Sheldon. I'm not too keen on playing chess either. But hey, I did have a Stephen King phase when I was in my early teens.

How helpful was your school in helping your reading habit and fueling your book addiction?
Oh, if it weren't for the school library, I wouldn't have finished my first read. It was The Bobbsey Twins and the Doodlebug Mystery. I think I was 8 or 9 then. I was so into The Bobbsey Twins series, more so than I was into The Hardy Boys.

Pretty soon, my parents were buying me my own copies of The Hardy Boys books. For some reason, we couldn't find any of The Bobbsey Twins. 

Filipino Friday (1): Introductions

Hello, dear reader! In line with the 2012 ReaderCon happening this 18 August, I'm taking part in this meme called Filipino Friday. To kick things off, this first post is naturally all about introductions. 

My favorite books of all time 
Robert Graves's I, Claudius is my all-time favorite book. Philip Gourevitch's account of the conflict between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda entitled We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families is a close second. Halldor Laxness's Independent People is also a favorite.

Genres I read and would never read
I read anything and everything. If it's on paper, I'll read it. But I reiterate: it must be on paper.

Books that surprised me this year
A lot of books surprised me this year, especially debut fiction. I enjoyed Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles, Karen Thompson Walker's The Age of Miracles, and Daniel O'Malley's The Rook.

Why I became a reader
I'd like to think that I was born to be a reader! Hehehehe. I can't recall an age when I haven't been reading.

My experience in last year's ReaderCon
Last year's ReaderCon, the first ever actually, was fun! I facilitated the session on some of the book clubs in Manila and it was wonderful that the attendees were eager to learn more about these clubs.

What I expect in this year's ReaderCon
Last year was only a half day event. This year would definitely be bigger, with sessions starting early in the morning and culminating in the first ever Readers' Choice Awards in the late afternoon. I'm also heading the Registration Committee this year, by the way, which would make things more interesting. And the book club would also hold this month's discussion in the ReaderCon.

Here are some pics from last year's ReaderCon, which are courtesy of my good friend R.

Me, during the panel for book clubs

Why on earth do I have that expression?

Gege, during her awesome presentation on the book club

Gege's slides had pictures!

And that's me, with my Saramago collection.

With the founders of the active book clubs in Manila:

Jzhun of Goodreads, Tata of Ex Libris, and Gege of Flips Flipping Pages