national book store – Page 8

Fated and Alyson Noel

Before I left on my Angkor Wat vacation in late July, I got to interview New York Times bestselling YA author Alyson Noel, who was in Manila to promote her latest book, Fated, with a book signing organized by National Book Store and Powerbooks.

It was a rainy night, but we paid no heed to the downpour, as we were having a sumptuous Filipino dinner at Cafe Juanita. Alyson very gamely tried out the spread of local dishes, including crispy pata, kare-kare, torta and many more, while we discussed our mutual love for Judy Blume (squee!), the Hispanic influence on Filipino culture, and of course, her books and her work as a writer.

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Cut-Price Loot!

Life seems to be passing me by in a blur all year. This morning I realized it was the last weekend of the National Book Store Cut-Price Sale (and I hadn’t shopped since the first week) hence I squeezed in a panic trip to a couple branches today.

Technically, I shouldn’t be book shopping, as I’m in the middle of packing all my books in boxes (20 boxes so far, and not even halfway through!), as the bulk of our home renovation is about to begin and my books have to go into storage. But my sister has been warning me I can’t buy any books while the renovation is ongoing so I’m currently in panic mode (because yes, how will I get through book fair?!?).

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Alyson Noel in Manila

Just came from dinner at Cafe Juanita with YA author Alyson Noel and the lovely folks of National Book Store (and Powerbooks), who have brought her over to Manila to meet and greet her fans and talk about her latest book, Fated.

Alyson Noel is a prolific NY Times bestselling author, most famous for her Immortals series (Evermore, Blue Moon, Shadowland, Dark Flame, Night Star, and Everlasting) and Riley Bloom series (Radiance, Shimmer, Dreamland, Whisper). The multi-awarded books are translated in 37 languages and have sold over 6 million copies worldwide. Both series are optioned for movie adaptations.

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Happy Hunger Games!

All weekend, people have been asking me how I found the Hunger Games movie so I decided a blog post was in order for the occasion.

I think I’ve been half-excited, half-scared ever since the movie was announced, the way I am whenever a favorite book hits the big screen. Everyone knows I’m not a big fan of film adaptations — I’d be perfectly happy leaving my favorite books as they are, in my imagination, where, in my experience, they’re a whole lot better.

Lately, though, I’ve been quite, erm, reckless (hehe!) in watching film adaptations — I think, now that Harry Potter is over, I’ve conditioned myself to thinking it can’t get any worse. I’ve caught quite a number of them in the past few months — and of books I love, too! — and I admit it hasn’t been half bad. The Adventures of Tintin was awesome (but underappreciated, I think!); The Girl with A Dragon Tattoo was a bit too Hollywood for my taste (too pretty!), and Noomi Rapace will always be my choice for Lisbeth Salander, but the Hollywood version did work well as a narrative. and Hugo — it was, hands down one of the best movies I have ever seen, and *gasp* I actually enjoyed it more than the book!

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Liesl and Po

Lauren Oliver, New York Times bestselling author of books Before I Fall, Delirium, and Liesl and Po, is coming to the Philippines this March to launch her newest book, Pandemonium.

I’m scheduled for an interview, so I’m reading her books in preparation, starting with her children’s story, Liesl and Po.

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