Reading something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue
I’ve always been a fan of Peter Mayle, because he’s a wonderful foodie writer, and I love books set in the idyllic South of France.
I haven’t read any of Mayle’s fictional works since Chasing Cezanne, though, as lately I’ve been reading his non-fiction: Acquired Tastes, A Year in Provence, and A Dog’s Life.
I was yearning for something light and soothing one night, so I picked up one of Mayle’s novels, A Good Year.
Continue reading “Wining and Dining in Provence (A Good Year by Peter Mayle)”
Growing up, one of the most read books on my shelves was a well-thumbed copy of Johann Wyss’ Swiss Family Robinson. It was one of those cheap, watered down illustrated classic editions, but it provided me many long hours of entertainment as I fantasized about what I would do if I were shipwrecked on an exotic island.
That old book has long been missing — I think it was donated to a book drive, and I sorely missed it, so I’d been looking for a nice replacement for the longest time.
Last year, at one of my bargain book haunts (the Book Sale branch in Mall of Asia) I was able to unearth an exquisite Everyman’s Library Classic edition, with a cloth bound, gilded cover, a gold bookmark ribbon, vintage endpapers, and lovely illustrations by Louis Rhead! The best part? It was only P90 (less than $2)!
Because the last month has been particularly stressful, you may have noticed I’ve been reading a variety of comics – from Tintin to some shoujo manga.
I needed some more heavy-duty stress relief, so I decided to read the 5 volumes of Pugad Baboy comics that I recently mooched locally (books 124-128 of 2009).
Pugad Baboy (roughly translated: Swine’s Nest) by Pol Medina, Jr. , is one of the Philippines’ most famous and longest-running comic strip on a daily broadsheet (Philippine Daily Inquirer).
As described in the foreword of one of the books, the comic series is about “a community of fatsos and a dog named Polgas.”
Written in colloquial Filipino, the series features the neighborhood and the interactions of its residents, everyday domestic situations, political issues, and current events.
Before, I didn’t really read manga, because the multiple book format makes it hard to collect. I like reading series books in order and from start to finish, and with manga, it’s hard to complete a set because they’re expensive to buy brand new and at full price, and difficult to find at bargain stores or on BookMooch.
But recently I’ve been drawn to some titles based on their storyline, and I really enjoy comical manga humor, so I’ve started to read them in the past couple of years or so, hunting down bargain copies at National Book Store and scouring the manga selection at Book Sale and on BookMooch.
The upside is that if you really can’t wait to find out what happens next, and if the series you’re reading isn’t a brand new release, you can usually read it online, on websites such as 9Panels, or onemanga.
Some manga series are adapted to Western book formats, but most use the authentic manga format, read top to bottom and right to left. It’s interesting, because having been raised and educated in a Westernized Asian country such as the Philippines, I automatically read from left to right. I initially had trouble reading manga panels, but I believe I’ve been getting the hang of it now, although every once in a while I tend to lapse into left to right reading when I get caught up in the story.
Continue reading “Manga! Manga! (Kare Kano 3, Kitchen Princess)”
I had just posted an entry about Herge’s The Adventures of Tintin a month ago when the copy of Flight 714 (#120 for 2009) I mooched arrived and I couldn’t resist reading it straightaway. I also recently acquired The Pocket Essential Tintin (#121 for 2009) at a Goodwill sale in Tiendesitas, and decided to read it right after Flight 714.
In The Adventures of Tintin: Flight 714, Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus are en route to Australia to attend an international astronautical congress. At a stopover in Jakarta they run into their friend Skut (from Red Sea Sharks) who is now a pilot for the multimillionaire Laszlo Carreidas. Carreidas invites the party on his private plane, and the next thing they know, they’re adrift at sea in a rowboat with no recollection of what happened.