Seveneves

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Our book for the month over at Flips Flipping Pages is Neal Stephenson’s “Seveneves,” which is quite a doorstopper so I carved out time a couple of weeks ago to read it.

It begins quite ominously: “The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason,” which basically is a drawn-out disaster scenario, where fragments of the moon are set to rain down on Earth in around two years, rendering it inhabitable for 5,000 years. Evacuation into space is determined as the best hope for humanity, and the world’s powers and scientists quickly assemble the Cloud Ark. The International Space Station is transformed into a hub for smaller vehicles (arklets), to house two representatives from each nation, as well as a handful of specialists to ensure the survival of the human race.

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Boy Meets Boy

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Today I came from the Flips Flipping Pages book discussion for June, David Levithan’s “Boy Meets Boy,” which was chosen by this month’s moderator Orly in celebration of Pride Month, and came right on the heels of the historic decision on same-sex marriage laid down by the Supreme Court of the United States.

(I was going to say this is my first David Levithan, but a search on this blog revealed that back in 2009 I apparently read (and enjoyed) a lesser-known work of his: “Marly’s Ghost,” a clever take on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol, set around Valentine’s Day and with teen characters. )

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More Hemingway

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Hey hey! Apologies for being away for a couple of weeks — things have only just started calming down in my world, following several events at work, my sister coming home for a week-long visit, and two of our pets getting sick (and on a strict medication and diet schedule for the next month or so).

Anywaaay, as you might have read a few weeks back, my May was spent on Hemingway, because the Flips Flipping Pages discussion for the month required us to read at least one fictional work by Hemingway, and another biographical or autobiographical work on (or by) Hemingway.

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The Old Man and the Sea

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I’ve started on Hemingway for Flips Flipping Pages’ May book discussion, which requires us to read at least one work by Hemingway and one biography (including memoirs, letter collections and the like).

I’ve decided to start with “The Old Man and the Sea,” mainly because I’ve never read it — the only Hemingway I’ve read is “Fiesta”/ “The Sun Also Rises” for my Great Books class in university. I’m still deciding which biographical work I’ll read (also I am trying to recall whether I already have one in Mount TBR).

The book that won him the Pulitzer in 1953 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, “The Old Man and the Sea” is set in the Gulf Stream off Cuba, and tells of an old fisherman, Santiago, who, after a long, dry spell, manages to hook a large marlin.

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We Captured the Castle

IMG_0688-001 As most of you may have read in my previous entry, I moderated this month’s book discussion for Flips Flipping Pages. I chose one of my favorite books, “I Capture the Castle” and we hied off to Bacolod City for a change of scenery and a complete countryside experience.

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