Book Reviews – Page 48

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 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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The Princess Academy

A couple of weeks ago, I had just finished posting my recap of the Filipino Book Bloggers’ Meetup and it was well past midnight when I reached for the book I’d started that morning: my signed copy of The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale.

I had started to read the first chapter, but it was a busy day so it got stashed in my bag until I got home. I meant to read just a few chapters before going to bed, but before I knew it, it was 4 in the morning and I’d finished the book!

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The End of the Affair (FFP November Book Discussion)

Last Saturday was the Flips Flipping Pages November book discussion featuring Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair.

Earlier in the day, a bunch of us met up at the University of Santo Tomas to view the Lumina Pandit exhibit (more about that in a separate post!), which took us through the history of books in the Philippines. We then proceeded to the Gayuma restaurant in UP Village for the discussion to be moderated by Fredda.

I must confess that I wasn’t able to finish the book before the day of the discussion (gasp!). I’d borrowed my boss’ copy of the book (it was hard to find in the local bookstores) but I thought it would be an easy read so I kept putting it off until it was too late. That morning I tried my best to finish the novel, but I didn’t want to be late for the exhibit tour so I read in the cab, but by the time we had lunch after the tour, I still had one third of the novel to go. And then for some strange reason, on our way to the discussion, Gege’s car overheated and we had to take it to a roadside garage, and so I ended up finishing the novel right there!

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Sticky tape and post-its

I’m an office slash art supply junkie, and I must confess that whenever I hit the bookstore,I spend as much time in the supplies section as I do browsing books. And I end up carting out a bagful of supplies I don’t actually need — from yet another set of soft paintbrushes, or a new set of markers, or a nifty paper cutter — but I can’t seem to help myself!

Two supplies I really need to constantly replenish, however, are sticky tape (I’m partial to the Tartan brand) and post-its. I use, maybe, a roll of sticky tape a week for covering books (of course, I also use plastic cover), removing sticky price tags, and other random tasks (taping down a half-eaten bag of chips, labeling items in the fridge — I scrawl on the tape with a marker, etc), while I use post-its for marking passages I like in the books I’m reading and making notes about them, as well as putting up everyday reminders on my computer station at the office.

I write about sticky tape and post-its because I just read two books about them: Transparent Tape: Over 350 Super, Simple, and Surprising Uses You’ve Probably Never Thought Of by Vicki Lansky, and the Post-it book Ideas that Stick: 222 Ingenious, Creative, Practical, and Simply Preposterous Ways of Using Post-it Notes.

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