Daily reading & book adventures of a middle-aged mom from the Philippines. Subscribe via RSS feed. Most recent posts {{ posts|limit:5 }}...
I loved reading this book. It doesn’t have much of a plot, as it’s mostly about Summer’s (main character) search for the ideal ballroom dancing partner and the people she meets in her dancing classes. But I loved it for: • the insight into ballroom dancing and a comparison between it and seeking an actual life partner - I know little about ballroom dancing, so I loved learning more about it. • the…
Fourth book I finished this weekend. Frankly started it a while back, so picked it up again somewhere 40% in. I haven’t read Jenny Jackson’s first book, but I have definitely read a lot of the books she edited. Among people who know, it’s a selling point to say that Jenny Jackson is the editor of a title. Anyway, reading The Shampoo Effect has made me curious about her first book. To be clear,…
I told myself years ago that no one should be ashamed or feel the need to justify themselves when they add a picture book to their yearly book count (at least for those who still do a quantity challenge). My reasoning being that just because they’re written for children does not make them less as books. Any suggestion like that would be absurd, so why would it be absurd to include them in, say,…
Have always been curious about this “ambitious book-length poem set at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s information desk,” because every time I’m in New York (not that often, since the pandemic began), I did make it a point to always go to the Met. It may be cliche, but I found some peace in the midst of beauty there, so I try to grasp it again whenever I’m in that city. I remember the Info Desk…
8:00PM In my last post, I had to stop 50% in bec I honestly had to grieve a character that another character also grieved. I’m now 80% in, and it has become even more interesting with some character development of Takeru. Did feel that some parts could’ve been tighter, but wondering where this is all leading. I just need to take another break to breathe. I think it’s wonderful when a book does…
It’s a long weekend, and coming off seeing friends and preaching what I like to call “the gospel of the personal reading retreat”—basically just a short solo vacation where the only agenda is to read and sleep and eat—I felt like it was time to do one again myself. But I don’t want to spend money, so I’m just doing it at home. Cleared my inbox and all. So far, am halfway through THE SWORD OF…
I’m something like 40 pages away from the end of THE GREAT DIVIDE, but I felt like taking a break (it is still a lovely book with characters I care about, but there are a couple of beautifully-written useless men who annoy me). I was starting to scroll social media during the break, when I realized my time would be better spent here. I actually watched a movie last night, The Roses, which I…
I told a friend I felt like I’d been living life more on the surface the past couple of weeks. It’s mostly because of work and my other responsibilities. Funnily, this month was supposed to be a light month since I don’t have to go anywhere, but I’m not sure why it isn’t. Did I overbook my social calendar? I told myself I’d read slower, because I felt a bit of pressure to read more so that I can…
This is what I tried to do last Sunday. And I was actually successful. Had some preliminary discussions with I—- about whether reading Reddit on Feedly would break my ban, but I decided that it wouldn’t really. Because I picked my feed and it’s not an infinite scroll, and besides, we do set the parameters of our challenges anyway. So spent Sunday bringing my kid to their sports thing, napping,…
Was supposed to just lounge at home today, something I was absolutely looking forward to. But mid-afternoon, I finally open my IG to see a message from a friend at Silent Book Club-Manila . She was inviting me to a silent reading session with a small group of SBC members I’d been with before. Plus side was that it was quite near where I lived. I was actually surprised by how quickly I said yes. I…