Reading something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue
I’m not much of a meme person, but once in a while, a good meme makes for great bookish discussions. Was fascinated by this meme posted by Honey the other day, so I’m doing it too!
The instructions: Using only books you have read this year (2009), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title.
Five more days to go until the 30th Manila International Book Fair (MIBF), the biggest and longest-running book fair in the Philippines!
Set on Sept. 16-20, at the SMX Convention Center, Seashell Drive, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City, the 30th MIBF once again unites local and foreign publishers, wholesalers, retailers, book lovers and collectors, librarians, authors, publishers’ representatives, and every major player in the publishing industry in its continuing efforts to promote books and reading.
I’ve been marking off the special events I want to attend. I love how there’s always something for every sort of reader at the MIBF. Check out the special events schedule beyond the cut — those in bold are the events I’m interested in, although I probably won’t be able to attend all of them.
I’m also breaking out the recyclable bags for the MIBF (last year I busted two with the sheer number of books I carted out!), although I think it’s really time I brought a wheelie bag with me this year so I won’t hurt my back like last year (hehehe).
Will probably be covering events throughout the five days of the book fair, so if you’re out there on any of the days, just holler so we can talk books!
Continue reading “Book lovers: Mark your calendars! (Special events at the MIBF)”
Finally, I got my hands on a copy of The Black Circle by Patrick Carman, Book 5 of The 39 Clues.
It’s a bit delayed because I miscounted the months and thought it was coming out in September, when the worldwide release was actually August 11. Whoopsies.
Anyway, readers of this blog know I’m a big fan of the series, comprised of The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan, One False Note by Gordon Korman, The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis, Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson, and now this latest installment by Carman.
Continue reading “Now reading: The Black Circle (The 39 Clues Book 5)”
Last weekend I caught one of the last shows of the 2nd run of the local production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the RCBC theater (Atlantis Productions).
It’s a short musical comedy revolving around a spelling bee, featuring contestants Chip Tolentino, Leaf Coneybear, Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, Olive Ostrovsky, Marcy Park, and William Barfee, some guest spellers from the audience, and the adults Rona Lisa Peretti, Vice Principal Panch, and comfort counselor Mitch Mahoney
While Avenue Q is still my favorite, Spelling Bee was hilarious too and we were laughing our heads off the whole time. I really loved Leaf Coneybear’s trance-like spelling of names of South American rodents and William Barfee’s magic foot. The girl characters weren’t as funny though, and sometimes even annoying.
The reason I mention this musical is because it reminded me of the book Bee Season by Myla Goldberg, which I read last year, and realized I haven’t reviewed it here yet.
I was rummaging in the bargain bin at Book Sale when a jacketless hardcover book caught my eye — creamy ochre with a red spine. The title, the girl who played go by Shan Sa (book # 111 of 2009, #18 for the FFP Diversity Challenge) sounded interesting, and as the summary was lost to the missing dust jacket, I decided to get it anyway, because it was only P50 (around $1).
I knew that Go is the Chinese strategy game comparable to chess (or checkers), and because I’ve read some novels that revolve around chess, such as The Eight by Katherine Neville and The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte, I was quite intrigued by this book.