Reading something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue
Search results for 39 clues
Figgs and Phantoms
Jul 17th
Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game is one of my all-time favorite books, and one of the books in contention for the most number of readings award on my bookshelf. Recently, I realized I haven’t read anything else written by Raskin so I decided to mooch a copy of Figgs and Phantoms. I read this a few months ago and was waiting to read a book I could match with it for a thematic review, but I don’t think that will happen soon, so here I am reviewing it solo.
Figgs and Phantoms won the Newbery Honor in 1975 before Westing Game won the Newbery Medal in 1979.
Flippers name their best and worst for 2009
Feb 13th
After a very hectic January, we finally pushed through with the Flips Flipping Pages new year tradition: the Best and Worst discussion. Due to conflicting schedules, we had to push it down to the first week of February, but we had a grand time nonetheless, going over our best and worst reads for 2009 at the mezzanine level of National Bestsellers (thank you NBS!) in Robinson’s Galleria.
This is the second year we’ve done this sort of discussion — it’s basically a show and tell of our best and worst reads for the past year, starting off the year light before plunging into the subsequent book discussions of the year. And we’ve got a bunch of great discussions lined up, too — The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon this Feb. 20; High Fidelity by Nick Hornby in March; The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins in April; an artsy book in May; The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin in June; comics and graphic novels in July; and some more interesting discussions lined up for the rest of the year.
What made it to the Flippers’ best and worst? Find out after the cut!
Preview: The Viper’s Nest (39 Clues #7)
Feb 11th
I’m writing a newspaper review of The 39 Clues book 7: The Viper’s Nest by Peter Lerangis, but I just finished it tonight (I couldn’t put it down, even while getting my hair done at the salon) and I’m dying to spill the beans on what happens in this one, but of course I won’t, so here’s a sneak peek instead.
(Spoiler free sneak peek after the cut).
Bah, Humbug!
Nov 29th
I saw the Christmas Carol movie this weekend, and I have mixed feelings about it.
On the one hand the animation was amazing! Five years has certainly done wonders for 3D performance capture — compared to Zemeckis’ 2004 Polar Express, Christmas Carol looks phenomenal! The musical score (especially Bocelli’s God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen) was hauntingly beautiful too.
I’m glad Disney didn’t “cutesify” this movie, but for a holiday flick, it didn’t do much for my holiday spirit, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come terrified quite a few kids in the audience — a bunch of parents had to take their kids out of the theater because they started screaming and bawling. I think the film lacked the warmth and goodwill that the classic story evoked.
Anyway, this post isn’t the start of my Christmas posts, but it is related to A Christmas Carol.
More Cahill secrets revealed in “In Too Deep”
Nov 16th
Surprising revelations are in store for 39 Clues treasure hunters as Scholastic’s landmark multimedia action-adventure series comes out with the sixth volume, In Too Deep, in the race to uncover the Cahill family legacy.
Jude Watson (a pen name for Judy Blundell) returns with her second book in the multi-authored ten-book series. Watson previously penned the fourth volume, Beyond the Grave, which led the series to jump on to the US national bestseller lists, hitting the highest bestseller list ranking for the series to date on USA Today.
In In Too Deep, Dan and Amy Cahill find themselves in the Pacific, where the adventure takes them out on the Australian surf, then deep into the Australian outback, and eventually in the tropics of Indonesia.
Some last minute book fair tips
Sep 20th
One last day at the book fair, and if you havent gone to SMX for this paramount event yet, there‘s still time — it’s closing at 9pm for the last day.
Now, the last day of the book fair is a good time to go; for some it’s even the best day to catch it, as this is when the exhibitors bring out previously overlooked stock, or stock they’ve been reserving particularly for the last day, so you may see items that weren’t out on previous days.
Some exhibitors also prefer to let go of as much of their stock as they can rather than taking it all back to their warehouse, so watch out for price slashes. The last day is also when cutthroat competition sets in, especially for exhibitors carrying the same book — this year it appears to be Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol spotted in three different booths — so I am waiting to see if they’ll have a price war tomorrow (er later today).
A rough guide to the Manila International Book Fair
Sep 14th
Three days to go until the Manila International Book Fair! A lot of people have been asking me for tips about the Manila International Book Fair, so I decided to create this (unofficial) guide based on what I’ve seen over recent years.
I’ve been attending the MIBF for five years running now, covering events, shopping, and just generally enjoying the flurry of bookish activity around me. And every year, the exhibitors offer something new, and there is always a different lineup of special events to look forward to.
My life, in book titles
Sep 12th
I’m not much of a meme person, but once in a while, a good meme makes for great bookish discussions. Was fascinated by this meme posted by Honey the other day, so I’m doing it too!
The instructions: Using only books you have read this year (2009), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title.
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