Reading something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue
I’m not really one to read periodicals, but there’s one magazine I’ve been reading for years — Reader’s Digest.
I was introduced to Reader’s Digest in third grade, because my dad had a subscription to Reader’s Digest. In fact, one of my fondest memories of my dad is related to the magazine: every time we got a new issue, we would tear into the plastic and go straight to the Word Power section, and he’d rattle off the new vocabulary words to test me on the month’s vocabulary items.
I was squealing all over the bar tonight when I finally read what I was waiting for all day — the announcement of the new Nook!
After checking in on our flight home from Hong Kong, I was bemoaning the fact that I was not — cue those gasps now! — able to buy any books on the trip. Nope, not one. Zilch. Our itinerary was packed, and I squeezed in some bookstores at the malls, but the selection of English titles wasn’t that extensive; I couldn’t find any books that weren’t outrageously expensive or were not available to me here in Manila (which makes me glad about how local bookstores have improved in terms of getting the new titles in over the years).
I also did a marathon trek (loaded down with a backpack and two canvas totebags, and streets were going uphill!) from IFC mall to the bargain bookstores in the Central area in two hours (because that’s all the time my siblings gave me — unaccompanied, too, and they left me to find my way to Causeway! Harr, It’s hard to go book hunting when you’re with people with different agendas!) and I spent about ten minutes in each store. Don’t worry, though, I documented everything, and I’ll write a separate post about my book trek later.
My friend Stanley Chi (top photo, left) is launching his book, Suplado Tips today (3 pm) at National Book Store Shangri-la Plaza Mall with special guest Ramon Bautista (right).
A few weeks earlier, Stan sent me a copy of the book to review, but I went on a couple of trips so my brother ended up reading it first!
Phew, I finally got some free time in front of my laptop, and I’ve just drawn the winners of my latest giveaway!
