Author: Sumthinblue

Twisted fate

When I learned I was scheduled to interview Lauren Kate, I knew I had to read Fallen, not only so I could ask questions about the book, but mostly because I was pressured by the fact that I was going with a 12-year old fan girl who knew a lot more about the series (and Lauren Kate) than I did!

The interview went well; Daniela was over the moon, and Lauren Kate is one of the most down-to-earth authors I’ve interviewed. But because I’m not really a fan  or a frequent reader of the paranormal genre, I decided I needed another book as a counterpoint for my review. I found a copy of Lauren Kate’s first book, The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove, and read it so I could review them side by side in this last installment of a series of posts on Lauren Kate.

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Bookish presents

This Christmas, I prepared something special for my book club friends — bookmarks!

Bookmarks are always a big hit over at Flips Flipping Pages. We have bookmarks for every book discussion we have every month, and we like to give out bookmarks on special occasions, too — we all never seem to have enough of them!

Last year, at the 2009 FFP Christmas party, I set up a bookmark station with leather thongs and charms at our Christmas party so people could make their own bookmarks, but this year, I wanted to try out something different.

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Early Christmas Surprise

An early Christmas surprise came on the day before the prom — my Flips Flipping Pages exchange gift got delivered to the office.

Every year our book club holds a gift exchange for members who want to participate, and this is the third year I’ve joined. We assign the gifters and the giftees, set the budget, post our wishlists, and it’s up to the generosity and resourcefulness of the gifter to get the books on the giftee’s wishlist. We’ve been doing it for three years now, and it’s always a huge success. Some gifters even manage to find books the giftee is having trouble finding!

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Bookish Bonifacio

November 30 is Bonifacio Day, a day that commemorates the birth of Andres Bonifacio, Father of the Philippine Revolution. I’d been saving a book for this very occasion: Supremo by Sylvia Mendez Ventura, with drawings by Egai Fernandez, which I got at this year’s Manila International Book Fair.

While I’m predisposed towards being partial to Jose Rizal (I can’t help it — the educational system leans heavily on the national hero, but I also went to a school that counts Rizal among its alumni, and oh yes, I love Rizal’s geekiness), I’ve had a soft spot for Bonifacio when my high school Filipino teacher revealed he was a bookworm.

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Flips Flipping Pages Bloody Prom Night 2010

When we were brainstorming for the Flips Flipping Pages 2010 Christmas party, we couldn’t help but look back at last year’s heinous murder mystery Christmas party, and we were thinking about how we could top that. Not easy, when we had a Flippers “dying,” a full-blown investigation, an orchestrated blackout, and some more casualties last year.

I don’t remember how we got to the concept of prom, but let me just say, I wasn’t thrilled — prom was an unpleasant experience and so was the grad ball that followed the year after.

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