King of convenience

A couple of days ago, the books I ordered from Book Depository finally arrived. I lurrrrrrve that online bookshop. Two words—free delivery. The timings of order fulfillment could be better though, as my orders usually arrive in 6 weeks at the earliest. Fortunately, that really isn't a big issue for me. I'm in no hurry to read particular books. My TBR is limitless, and literally half of my bed is covered in books, which can be a pain when I make it every morning. Come to think of it, I'm probably just using a third of it as sleeping space; the rest is books and pillows. I need at least 4 large pillows at least to get a good night's sleep. When I'm at the bf's, I have two, which isn't a problem as I have the bf's sexy body and a dog (usually Coco the poodle or, rarely, Boolet the chihuahua) to compensate for the missing pillows.

Anyway, what I love about Book Depository and other online stores is the wide selection of titles. Here, I feel that local bookstores focus more on young adult and bestsellers (thrillers and romance), which is understandable as these are the ones that really sell. And I feel that customer service isn't as efficient as before. It's tedious to call repeatedly or make more follow-ups, no? One time, I reserved a book and never even received a text or email that the book's available. I only knew that they had it in stock when I saw the book in their shelves. So frustrating. So online I go, and online is where I've been getting my book fix. It's kinda weird that I still haven't corresponded directly with an actual human in any of my transactions, but hey, no complaints so far. I'm easy to please, I think. Put a cupcake on my desk and we're, like, bffs already. Give me a teeny tiny bar of chocolate and I'll be your bitch.

And don't get me started on LGBT titles in our local bookstores. They're practically nonexistent. Do people have the notion that gays don't read? Or that we just spend all our money on clothes and killer shoes? Well, okay, maybe 50% true, and probably like 75% for a few of us. Still, why the dearth of gay titles, huh? I guess it has something to do with us not being vocal that bookstores should have a few LGBT fiction in their shelves. With these online bookstores, this has become a non-issue. So, yay. Now the only thing that's holding me back is disposable income, and that mountain of a TBR that will kill me should it topple down.

So do I still check out the bookstores in the metro? Of course. But there's another thing that ruined the buying experience for me, and that has something to do with price. Why the sudden jump in price? Sometimes, a trade paperback almost costs as much as a hardback. Is it the recently enacted TRAIN law, which resulted in inflation? Hmmmm... Unfortunately, I can't find the answers to these from the books I ordered.

Books from the "mail," all gay titles
Although, full disclosure, these didn't arrive at my doorstop.
I just received a notice from the post office that I have a parcel for pick up.
Which is kinda weird, as there's another person here at the office
whose order arrived directly to the office, which is also my delivery address. 

Book hunting for 2015

A work in progress

Before the year ends, the book club finalizes its lineup of the books to be discussed for next year. But for this year, I believe we just set a record. For the first time, we've picked the books for 2015 in July! And to think we still have 5 months to go before the year ends!

Technically, we select only 10 books instead of 12. Our book discussion for January is sort of a show-and-tell of our best and worst reads for the past year. And then we reserve one month to talk about a recent publication (i.e., something published within that year).

Out of the 10 books for 2015, I found 4 novels in my shelves: Galbraith's The Cuckoo's Calling, Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians, and Pratchett's Hogfather. It looks like 2015 will be heavy on novels and fiction for us! Woot, woot!

There are still 2 more books that I know I have somewhere—Levithan's Boy Meets Boy and Smith's I Capture the Castle. I can't even remember if I loaned out these books. Argh! I just have to keep looking then. They're probably in a corner, gathering dust bunnies.

I do know that I have to hunt for a couple of titles: the Super Freakonomics business book and a locally published title, which I haven't seen in bookstores lately. Here's hoping that it's still in print. I don't want to break tradition. I've been doing this book hunting thing for 5 years now.

Even though I've already read 6 out of the 10 books for next year, I'm still feeling excited about the book discussions. Most especially for Boy Meets Boy, which is the first time that the book club will discuss an LGBT-themed work.

So now the book hunting begins again. Ah, these are the moments that make life worth living.

Neighborhood book sales are the best

This rainy Monday, I decided to check out the book sale that a church near my office was having. I've always been curious about this church. I've never been inside it, which is a bit weird since I pass by it every day for several years now.

So during our afternoon coffee break, a few of my officemates and I went there, with absolutely no expectations whatsoever. And, who would've thunk?! I was pleasantly surprised with the books they're selling!

They've lots of fiction and nonfiction titles. The paperbacks were going at 20 pesos each (around half a US dollar), and the hardbacks were 50 pesos each (just a little bit over a dollar). Now that's a bargain, yes? I took a few pictures of the book sale, and you click on each one to enlarge.

One of the fiction tables

Of course, being a church-sponsored activity,
I was expecting a table of books on religion and spirituality.

Another table containing fiction
Lots of sci-fi, thrillers, and literary fiction

They even had a table on literary criticism books.

The obligatory used magazine corner

The book sale floor
I believe the people manning the cashier were volunteers.

A few of their nonfiction titles

And what did I get for myself? I got only 2 books. (Yay for restraint!) But the 2 books that I bought were a keeper—the complete Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell and The Golden Bough by Sir James Frazer. And my purchases amounted to just less than a dollar! Woot woot!

Now under my radar

When the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction was handed out this week, I was relieved to find out that they actually picked a winner. Last year, they just had a list of 3 nominated novels. For shame! Oh well, we couldn't really nitpick on the judges' reasons.

Now The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson. A novel about North Korea. The books seems eerily familiar to me. So familiar that I recall having bought it. And that's how I spent part of my Wednesday night—me and my big fat ass riffling through my shelves. Damn silverfish and dust bunnies everywhere.

And then I found it! Woot! So now The Orphan Master's Son is my Mt. Everest. I will read it because it's there. Now I understand how important these awards are. They bring to our attention books that we wouldn't have picked up. In my case, it just gave me the motivation to lessen the number of books that I have to read, by 1.

Hooray for impulsive book purchases! One never knows if the book one gets will end up being a keeper.

I enjoyed the hunt

Every year, as soon as the book club finalizes its list of books of the month for the next year, I go on a hunt. A couple of months ago, I barely had half of the books for 2013. But this week, I managed to find the final book in the lineup. Woot!

Tra la la!

This year has been particularly challenging. First was the Vonnegut. I called up every bookstore in the country to find out that The Sirens of Titan is out of stock. So I asked my officemate to get it for me from Kinokuniya in Singapore. Then after a few weeks, the same novel shows up in bookstores here in the metro! Twilight Zone stuff, I think.

Then there's Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. Lots of mass market paperbacks around, yes. But this is translated work, and the fact that the translators aren't credited in these widely available editions somehow leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

So I was determined to get the award-winning translation of Crime and Punishment by Pevear and Volokhonsky. On the last day of the year, while my mom and I came from the moviehouse, I checked out the bargain bin of the mall's bookstore, which isn't really known for good inventory. But, my goodness, there was the book, with its cover in blood red, screaming at me to get it!

I do would like to get a trade paperback of Stephen King's Night Shift though. The one that I have is almost 20 years old, and I think it'll fall to pieces when I open it. Mass market paperbacks are well and good for travel, but the trade off is that they don't really last long.

How I managed to get a copy of Talking to Girls about Duran Duran is pretty interesting. I called up my favorite bookstore and was informed that their last copy was in a province that's a 1-hour plane ride away from Manila. Good thing that I've a friend there who bought the book for me and kindly shipped it to my home. However, like the scenario with The Sirens of Titan, as soon as my friend bought the copy, I saw paperback editions in the same bookstore after a few days. Universe, why are you taunting me?! But I couldn't complain though, as I got the hardback.

If you want to find out more about which books will be featured each month in our book club, check out my initial post here. And if you have nothing to do during the 3rd or 4th Saturdays of the month and you're in the metro, then why not join us. We don't bite, at least not the newbies.

I love a book hunt challenge

So the book club has now finalized the list of books for discussion for 2013. Yes, we don't believe that the world will end this month, for we still have a lot of books to talk about.

Here's the 2013 list:

• January - Best and worst reads of 2012 discussion
• February - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
• March - It's a Mens World by Bebang Sy
• April - "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare
• May - Neither Here Nor There: Travels around Europe (audiobook) by Bill Bryson
• June - Talking to Girls About Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield and Salingkit by Cyan Abad-Jugo
• July - Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• August - The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
• September - The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
• October - Night Shift by Stephen King
• November - The Sandman Book 4: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman
• December - Godfather-themed Christmas party

I've been a happy camper doing the book hunting. Some books are proving to be quite a challenge to find. I'd go for trade paperbacks, but I'll take what I can get. So far, what I have are these.

A work in progress

I did, however, find a copy of Sheffield's memoir. And that copy will come all the way from Cebu, which is a province quite far from Manila. See the effort one makes just to get a book! (Which reminds me, I have to deposit payment. Thanks a lot, Chloe, for getting the book for me.)

We're also discussing an audiobook next year. So I guess I wouldn't be getting a printed copy of Bryson's travel book. The moderator said that she'd like to get the members' opinions on their audiobook experience. Frankly, I'm intrigued.

So this month and probably the next will have me visiting bookstores. Hopefully, I'll be able to tick off everything n the list.

Book hunting in Bangkok

Last week, I found myself in Bangkok for the 2nd time this year for work-related stuff, and I thought the trip would be a good opportunity for me to finally get a copy of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. Hey, if I can't get a copy in Manila, I might as well try somewhere else, right? So off I go.

During my 2nd day, I had some free time off in the early evening, so I decided to head to the nearest mall, which is the humongous Central World. I checked out two bookstores. The first, Asia Books, seem to carry only new fiction titles.

The Kinokuniya bookstore looked promising, but it didn't have the Mitchell. They did have lots of erotica, apparently riding on the Fifty Shades bandwagon. Kinokuniya is one of my favorite book haunts. I can spend an entire day in a Kinokuniya.

Erotic fiction at the Kinokuniya Central World branch 

On my 3rd day, I checked out another Kinokuniya branch in Siam Paragon. Again, no luck. Good thing I asked the customer service department to find out if they do have Mitchell in other branches. Just my luck, they have it in Prom Phong, which is 6 train stations away from Siam Paragon. They'll hold the book for me for 3 days. I did buy two books: Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, George Eliot's Middlemarch, and E. M. Foster's Howard's End. They came in Penguin editions. I couldn't resist.

When I get back at the hotel, I received an email from the Fully Booked bookstore in Manila, telling me that they finally have it in stock. Great! I figured I can it cheaper back home. And they told me that they also have it in their book fair booth, which was until Sunday. Perfect! I'll be back in Manila by Sunday, just in time to finally get my hands on a copy.

On my 4th day, I hopped on the train and went to Prom Phong, just to check out their Kinokuniya branch. They did have it in stock, and it's in the cover that I want! Thinking, thinking. Should I get it? It costs almost double the price. Nah, I'll just get the book in Manila, I said to myself. I did get 4 more books: John Wyndham's The Kraken Wakes, Diana Wynne Jones's Castle in the Air, Paul Buckley's Penguin 75, and a book about useless Japanese inventions.

 The Kinokuniya Prom Phong branch

My flight on my 5th and final day in Bangkok was at 11.35 pm, and the last order of business ended at noon. Yay! Free time! And where else will I kill free time? Why, at a bookstore of course! But it dawned on me that I have no reading material while waiting for boarding later! You see, all my stuff have been packed. Packing for me is a science, requiring proper positioning of the items to maximize space. I don't want to bother anymore unpacking just to get a book to read for later. So I bought Jo Nesbo's The Leopard, which was my last book purchase in this city (or so I hope).

So yesterday, I dropped by the Manila International Book Fair to help out with manning our booth. (I work for a book publishing house.) Then I went to the Fully Booked booth to get a copy of Cloud Atlas. But they ran out! Can you effing believe it?! Oh well, I've always wanted a copy of Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, so I just bought that to console myself.

My book loot last week

Heavy on the classics, no?

Addendum:
I emailed my contact at Fully Booked about what happened and she told me that they probably have some stocks left and they'll reserve one for me. Thank goodness!