Book Reviews – Page 35

Linamnam

I’m a foodie as much as a bookworm (just ask the members of my book club, with whom monthly book discussions end up as gastronomic exercises), and local travel here in the Philippines, however, is almost synonymous to food trip, and I’m lucky work has taken me to various places around the country that I never would have gone to — I covered an interisland race for two years, so that checked off quite a few places in my Lakbayan map (check out the bottom of this post: I’m currently a B-, not bad as I was a C when the widget thingy was first released), but I do plan on exploring more of our islands — and eat around the Philippines! –before this lifetime is over.

One of my last book purchases last year is an investment towards that goal: Linamnam: Eating One’s Way Around the Philippines.

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The Scorpio Races

I can’t really say I’m all that fond of horses, although I’ve read my share of horses when I was younger, like Black Beauty and The Summer of the Dancing Horse. I also haven’t had a lot of exposure to equines, other than the requisite carriage rides in Vigan or Old Manila, and long-ago pony rides in the highlands. In fact, of late, the closest I’ve gotten to these four-legged creatures is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, to keep up with my *ahem* brony friends.

I’ve read Maggie Stiefvater‘s werewolf novels Shiver and Linger, and while they did not make a paranormal romance fan out of me, I thought they were among the better-written books in the genre. But when I first saw her latest novel, I honestly did not know what to make of it. Mainly because of the nondescript brown cover — you all know I judge a book by the cover! — and well, you’ve got to admit there is something off-putting about a story featuring flesh-eating water horses! Nevertheless, I decided to give it a chance.

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

A couple of weeks ago, I introduced eight year old E. (one of the kids I am tutoring) to Roald Dahl via Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was the first time he was reading it, while I’ve read the book more times than I can count (and once more while he was reading it!), and I must say I don’t think I’ll ever outgrow this book — it’s still as magical as the first time I read it.

I was in third grade, and by then legally allowed into the library sections for big kids (although I had managed to smuggle myself in many times in previous years), and I was making my way through the shelves alphabetically. The battered hardcover copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory instantly caught my attention because we had a betamax tape of the 70’s Gene Wilder movie, and I grew up looking for a golden ticket in practically every chocolate bar I tore open.

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The Night Circus

I read most of Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus curled up on the divan under a fleecy blanket, nursing a steaming mug of milk tea. I was halfway through the book, work was cancelled because of the storm wreaking havoc through the metro, and the power was out, hence I finally got some much-needed quality reading time — my favorite kind! :p

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More Wardstone Chronicles

Here are another couple of books I had reserved for Halloween: The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane, and The Last Apprentice: Night of the Soul Stealer, books 2 and 3 of The Wardstone Chronicles by Joseph Delaney.

I discovered this series by chance — I randomly got it off Bookmooch a couple of years ago (mainly because and read it for Halloween last year. I liked the first book so much, and as luck would have it, the series is available here (P289 each at National Book Store!) so I immediately put the next two books on my Christmas wishlist last year, and got them via the Flips Flipping Pages Kris Kringle. And here came Halloween again, so I broke out books 2 and 3!

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