Best + Worst 2014

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Last Saturday, we Flippers found ourselves in Angono, the art capital of the Philippines, for our book club’s annual Best and Worst discussion, a tradition we uphold every January in place of our monthly book discussion.

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The discussion wasn’t until the afternoon so we scheduled a walking tour in the morning. Here are some snapshots:

Welcome to Angono!

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We dropped by National Artist Botong Francisco’s studio:

And here we are with Botong’s grandson, Carlos “Totong” Francisco:
We went down the art walk:
Had a sumptuous lunch at Balaw-Balaw:
Stir-fried ants, anyone?
We then proceeded to the Blanco Museum, where we bemoaned our utter lack of talent in the face of such a prodigious family.
We were lucky to meet one member of the family, Michael Blanco, who gamely signed our postcards:
And even joined our group photo:
We then proceeded to the Nemiranda Cafe for the book discussion, where we attempted to eke out our (now floundering) artistic inclinations in a session moderated by Cecille:
And the results (including those posted by members online):
BEST
  • The Lady with a Dog and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov
  • The Eight by Katherine Neville
  • Kanonization by Scott Garceau
  • An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
  • Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
  • Paula by Isabel Allende
  • Child of the Dark by Carolina Maria de Jesus
  • The Maze Runner by James Dashner
  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
  • Po-on by F. Sionil Jose*
  • A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
  • Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
  • Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
  • Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
  • Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi
  • Train Man by Hitori Nakano
  • Trese vols. 1-3 by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo
  • The Color Purpke by Alice Walker
  • In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  • Lullabies by Lang Leav
  • The Secret HIstory by Donna Tart
  • The Martian by Andy Weir
  • The Amber Furt by Natalie Haynes
  • The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddharta Mukherjee
  • Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
  • Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
  • Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress
  • Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
  • House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
WORST
  • Gastronaut by Stephan Gates
  • Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
  • One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
  • The Lost Years of Pepe by Ron Mendoza
  • Manuscripts found in Accra by Paolo Coehlo
  • Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
  • Dump that Chump by Dr. Debra Mandel
  • The Death Cure by James Dashner
  • The White Bull by Fred Saberhagen
  • The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin*
  • Attempting Elizabeth by Jessica Grey
  • Timeline by Michael Crichton
  • The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
  • To Love Her by Esri Rose
  • The Naked Lunch by William Burroughs
  • The Lovers Dictionary by David Levithan
  • Allegiant by Veronica Roth
  • Ulysses by James Joyce
  • Forrest Gump by Winston Groom
  • Of Love and Lemons by Katrina Stuart Santiago

*voted by 3 or more

It’s always a lovely exercise, sharing books withe the Flippers. And quitr a few books got added to my TBR, too.
Until next year, Flippers!

 

 

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