Reading something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue
A few months ago, I blogged about the book parade at my brother’s school (he teaches English and Religion), Tuloy sa Don Bosco Foundation, where they had a book parade to celebrate Book Month.
Last week the Tuloy Kids had a read-along with teen actor, champion racer and commercial model Matteo Guidicelli. I promised Enzo I’d blog about this, because this is his pet project and he’s worked so hard just to make this happen for the kids.
I was dragging my feet about reading this month’s selection, Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth (henceforth to be referred to as POTE), primarily because I didn’t expect to like it. I first mooched a copy of the book when Patti, one of my BookMoochers Pilipinas friends proclaimed it as her all-time favorite book and my curiosity was piqued, but I had the book languishing in my TBR for over a year until I lost my first copy in last year’s flood. I got a replacement a several months later, but I have to admit that if it wasn’t assigned for the book discussion, I wouldn’t have picked it up.
I’m not one to shy away from chunksters, but given the length of the book (973 pages), I started POTE one week before the discussion, figuring I’d have to read around 200 pages a day. I read the first chapter late Thursday night, and finished a few more chapters on Friday night.
On Saturday, I read the book after breakfast and on to the afternoon. I had planned to go to a friend’s bookshop opening that night, but it rained heavily and I got stuck at home because the street was flooded, and all my plans went awry. I figured I might as well make a dent in the novel (I was waiting for the street to clear out, but it didn’t until late that night), and I was reading and reading, and before I knew it, I had finished 900 pages — right up to the end of the book!
I hope you’ll indulge the lengthy post; it’s possible this book may be my best book for 2010 and I want to share the experience with you. Don’t worry, no spoilers!
Continue reading “Pillars of the Earth: Flips Flipping Pages October book discussion”
I am so glad it stopped raining last Tuesday, because I got to attend the launch of “Trash” by Andy Mulligan at National Book Store Glorietta 5. I came from work so by the time I got there, a bevy of eager fans were already queued up to get their books signed so I was able to browse through the book while waiting for my turn.
Less than an hour later, I got to meet Andy Mulligan himself, and we were able to chat a bit about his latest novel “Trash,” a young adult novel loosely based on the Philippines, an adventure story featuring three dumpsite boys.
Check out what he has to say about the book!
My teen years were filled with many hours of reading. I spent almost all my afternoons at the library — an after-school habit that started in grade school — up until closing time! I was one of the few girls who managed to fill up multiple borrowers’ cards in a school year, and I trawled the shelves on a daily basis that I would know when a new book was added to the collection!
I write about this because this week is Teen Read Week, another initiative by the American Library Association (ALA) that encourages teens to read — “because it’s free, fun, and can be done anywhere!”
Here we go! It’s the end of the 24-Hour Readathon, and I’m posting my report.
I actually joined the Readathon at the last minute this year, because I realized I couldn’t let the year go by without me joining at least one Readathon. I hadn’t counting on making it home in time for the event, and I did, so I hurriedly grabbed some books from the shelf, took a photo, booted up my lappy and joined the Readathon. And I’m so glad I did. The Readathon is a really fun event that fosters the community spirit across the globe, and I’m always happy to be part of it.
October 2010 marks my 3rd readathon, and I’m looking forward to the next one.
