After a very hectic January, we finally pushed through with the Flips Flipping Pages new year tradition: the Best and Worst discussion. Due to conflicting schedules, we had to push it down to the first week of February, but we had a grand time nonetheless, going over our best and worst reads for 2009 at the mezzanine level of National Bestsellers (thank you NBS!) in Robinson’s Galleria.
This is the second year we’ve done this sort of discussion — it’s basically a show and tell of our best and worst reads for the past year, starting off the year light before plunging into the subsequent book discussions of the year. And we’ve got a bunch of great discussions lined up, too — The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon this Feb. 20; High Fidelity by Nick Hornby in March; The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins in April; an artsy book in May; The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin in June; comics and graphic novels in July; and some more interesting discussions lined up for the rest of the year.
What made it to the Flippers’ best and worst? Find out after the cut!
Here are the lists, after the discussion
Flippers’ Worst Reads of 2009 also known as the books in the book swap pile
1) Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen – GnP
2) Blank, the Power of Not Actually Thinking at All by Noah Tall – Czar
3) Twilight by Stephanie Meyer – Wil
4) Gate Crasher by Madeline Wickham – Ajie
5) Lost Boy Lost Girl by Peter Straub – Airam
6) B2B: How to Build a Profitable E-Commerce Strategy by Michael Cunningham – MayDiwayata
7) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins – PivNoj (and I obviously, violently disagree!)
8) Mina by Marie Kiraly – Blooey
9) The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler – IHop and akaShy
10) Bad Money by Kevin Phillips – Joel G
11) The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell – Paolo
12) Para Kay B by Ricky Lee – Jan
13) Sexual Chemistry by James J Schlesselman – Fredda
14) May Langit Din ang Mahirap by Nick Joaquin – Marie
15) White Noise by Don DeLillo – Fantaghiro
16) The Twilight Saga – Dyoklako
17) The Tropical Gothic by Nick Joaquin – Sana
18) Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger- Welski
19) The Ideal Wife by Mary Balogh – Maydayeve
20) Ferdinand E. Marcos, an Epic by Guillermo C. de Vega – Annapi
21) The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan- Peter
22) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer- Ruby
and here are the books on the other side of the spectrum:
Flippers’ Best Reads of 2009
1) Over the Edge of the World by Lawrence Bergreen – GnP
2) The Crisis of Criticism by Maurice Berger – Czar
3) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – Wil
4) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon – Ajie
5) Inamorata by Joseph Gangemi – Airam
6) fan fiction for Jim Henson’s Labyrinth – MayDiwayata
7) Snakes and Earrings by Hitomi Kanehara – PivNoj
8) Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don’t Float by Sarah Schmelling – Blooey
9) The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg – Psaz Lady
10) The 39 Clues: Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan – Patrick
11) Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal, translated by Soleda Lacson-Locsin – IHop
12) Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi – JoelG
13) Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan – Paolo
14) The Secret History by Donna Tartt – Fredda
15) Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon – aka Shy & Jan
16) Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen – Marie
17) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – Welski
18) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – Maydayeve
19) The King’s English: Adventures of an Independent Bookseller by Betsy Burton – Fantaghiro
20) 2666 by Roberto Bolaño – Rise
21) The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak – Sana
22) The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson- Annapi
23) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman- Narj
24) The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters- Peter
25) Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran- Ruby
Aside from the discussion, we had our monthly book swap, which was a trumped-up lottery this month!
I made a bookmark for the discussion, but the file’s not on my laptop at the moment (argh, left my flash drive at the office again!), so I’ll just add the bookmark here when I get it back.
The bookmark I made for the discussion is posted above. The white space is for members to fill in their choice for best and worst books!
Oh, and we got these nifty little battery-free LED flashlights as a belated Christmas present from Ihop — and I must say, I’ve made excellent use of it since I got it!!! (Thank you Gege!)
It was another memorable book discussion for the Flippers, and I look forward to another year of reading with my book club friends!
*cover image courtesy of sxc.hu
[amazonify]::omakase::300:250[/amazonify]
Looks like it was a fun time :)
Wasn’t able to attend — watched Rent and the musicfest after!
Can’t attend the 20th as well cos I’m meeting a friend I haven’t seen in a while. Hopefully I’ll see you guys soon! :)
Sweet! Bet ang March at April :D
I was surprised to find Catching Fire by S. Collins on the list of worst reads. Had to look at the heading again to confirm I was reading the list of worst not the best reads. I haven’t read the Hunger Games series yet but I haven’t come across a single review that hated the series.
Will get into Hunger Games this summer and find out for myself.
Hi Ruby! We miss you! See you soon!
@Kubi- you should join us!!!
@Jo- That’s the beauty of FFP (and book clubs for that matter)– one person’s trash is another one’s treasure. We can’t all like the same books, but we all share that love for reading, so we respect how other people feel about what they read :)
And even though Piv didn’t like Catching Fire, it doesnt make me like the book any less. I loved it, and I count it as one of the best books I read in 2009.
Oh, and HG#3, Mockingjay, will be out in August!!!! Aiee!!!
Oh my goodness! Catching Fire as one member’s worst read for 2009? Ayayay! Oh well, probably he was just disappointed that it wasn’t as good as The Hunger Games.
This seemed a very fun activity, Blooey! Too bad I couldn’t join you guys. I’ll see you soon. The last time I was in Paco Park was when I was 11 years old, although I pass by that area every time we go to Malate.
Which reminds me — since I read The Shadow of the Wind almost 5 years ago, I think I need to reread it. I can’t seem to recall the details anymore.
Hi Peter! Hahaha, maybe book 3 will make Piv change his mind :D
I will have to catch up with the group for the SOTW discussion. It’s one of my favorite books but I have an event to attend that afternoon. I haven’t been to Paco Park in years as well! My last time there was for an outreach activity for streetchildren back in college!
Ferdinand E. Marcos, an Epic by Guillermo C. de Vega – haha may nagbabasa pa pala nito?! tsk! tsk! Though I haven’t read Para kay B, I didn’t like it by the title of the book alone… I just hate the word “Dinevastate.” Luckily, I don’t have a worst read last year.
Hey Narj! I’ve added you to my blogroll! :) Great blog!
I read Para Kay B last year as well, and while I don’t count it as one of my best reads, it wasn’t the worst either. Haha, but then again, I read a lot of abysmal books last year :D
Hope you can join us for a face to face discussion soon!