Here’s an announcement from Scholastic, one I know my bookish friends have been eagerly awaiting:
Cats!
I read T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats last year and found out it was the book on which the musical Cats was based. I didn’t think I would get to see the musical on its Manila run because the tickets are fabulously expensive, but a couple of orchestra tickets magically fell into my hands on Friday afternoon, courtesy of my boss (thank you! thank you!), so my sister and I got to watch the musical that same night.
Cats is one of the longest-running shows in the history of musical theater. Its composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, counts Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats as one of his favorite childhood books, and most of the musical is based on the cats in Eliot’s verse, except mainly Grizabella the glamor cat (who has grown old and gray) and a few other cats, who (presumably) were written in to tie the story together.
Mockingjay Launch Party!
Calling all Hunger Games fans!
Join Flips Flipping Pages, New Worlds Alliance, Scholastic Philippines, and National Book Store as we celebrate the release of Mockingjay, the highly-anticipated third book in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy. It’ll be an afternoon of fun fandom on Sunday, Aug. 29th, 1-5 pm at NBS Bestsellers, Robinsons Galleria, packed with activities for all Hunger Games fans!
Suzanne Collins Marathon
Still counting down to Mockingjay!
In an attempt to slake my excitement over Mockingjay, I brought out all the Suzanne Collins books in my possession (and bought one more) and have been reading voraciously for the past five days. I started with Gregor the Overlander, the first book of the Underland Chronicles last Friday, but I didn’t have book 2 yet so I decided to reread Hunger Games and Catching Fire on Saturday. By Sunday, I was already reaching for the copy of Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane that I’d bought the day before. And then I started reading Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods yesterday, and now I’m out of the Underland Chronicles, so the marathon’s on hold (at least until I can find myself copies of Gregor and the Marks of Secret and Gregor and the Code of the Claw).
Hearing Voices
I like good, strong voices in fiction. I like characters that ring true, make a distinct impression, and keep me engaged in the story.
In the past week, I read The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides and The Lacemaker and the Princess by Kimberley Brubaker Bradley. These two novels each offered a unique point of view: one from the outside looking in, and the other from inside looking out.