The Reader Digests

The year 2009 has driven me to pursue my love for books. It was in this year that I purchased books that are infamous. The past years, I was reading books of J.K. Rowling or Milan Kundera or Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, who are all famed writers. And this time, I decided to become more adventurous with my reading materials.

All in all I’ve read atleast 16 books in 2009; books that range from the unknown to the well-known. And now, I am going to list down the books that entertained and even bored me in 2009.

Eleanor Rigby – Douglas Coupland

I remembered buying this book in Powerbooks Greenbelt along with another book, Piece of my Heart. It was the time when I was doing my internship in Makati. It was on sale and I got it for 50 pesos. This book touched me. It started out a little boring, but it suddenly made sense to me when the lead character, Elizabeth, talked about her loneliness and loneliness in general. The twists of the story were heart-warming and relevant. I saw a part of myself in her. And that’s how a good book should be, something that creates a relation to yourself which eventually pushes you to see what the story is about beyond its given context. I’ve reread this book so many times, and it still doesn’t fail to make me sad on certain parts of the story. The emotion stays.

Piece of my Heart – Peter Robinson

I bought this book along with Eleanor Rigby. You see, I love watching CSI. I love detective works and everything else about it. When I read the synopsis of this book, I was thrilled to see that it is all about an inspector solving a crime that crosses to a crime from the past. The only thing is, this book is just a part of a collection of several books of the lead character, Inspector Allan Banks. That being said, some parts of the story refer to the previous books of the series and it got me lost. Still, it was good and got my criminal and detective cravings satisfied.

The Historian- Elizabeth Kostova

This book was referred to me by my good friend Mia. At first, I was hesitant to read it because I am not fond of “vampire” stories. Even on its first few pages, I was so bored because it was quite descriptive and “wordy”. But when the REAL story came up, it absolutely blew my socks off! (not that I’m wearing any) ok, when I was reading this book, I was also reading Eleanor Rigby. I read Rigby in broad daylight and this one at night. And that decision is so screwed up! When the story finally focused on the vampire Vlad the Impaler, I started getting paranoid of someone watching me at night. Haha! It was creepy and scary, and guess what, I decided finishing the book one late afternoon. I loved it! Nice one Mia!

Degrees of Guilt (trilogy)

In 2009, MV Doulos, a floating bookstore, reached the Philippine shores and splashed our hearts with glee. Being the bookworms that we were, my friends and I went to the ship to look for any good deals. It was a challenge looking for the perfect book to buy, but Noselyn and I split our money in this trilogy. Every book focuses on one major character and their views on the death of a teenage kid. Laced with moral values and life-changing situations, I think every teen should read this book.

Para kay B – Ricky Lee

I once attended a script writing seminar spearheaded by Mr. Ricky Lee. He is a genius and his previous works were really worth watching (he is a scriptwriter for TV and film). So this book, being his first in the publishing industry got me all excited and pumped up to read. With all due respects to Mr. Lee, I was quite disappointed on how this book was done. Sure it was casual and laidback, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. The concept was brilliant, but I just find some parts of it scandalous and irrelevant. (geez.) But nonetheless, I am still a fan of Mr. Ricky Lee. Maybe I will develop a liking on his next books. I’m looking forward to that.

Kapitan Sino – Bob Ong

Here is another Filipino writer that I admire. And another Filipino writer that disappointed me. Don’t get me wrong, the story was relevant, but it was way too relevant that it was quite boring and stiff. It makes a good indie film material though. Ok, I would say that I like this better than PkB, but I am still more of a fan of Bob Ong’s previous works.

Twilight – Stephenie Meyer

Yes, I too was driven into this twilight mania, but I am not the type who goes gaga over it. Before the film version of this book was even released, my friends are already fans of this saga. I am interested and I even went to the cinema with them to watch the film. The film, in my opinion was good, though I haven’t read the book, but my friends keep telling me that a lot of the real story wasn’t shown. Still, it took me quite a while to finally go to a bookstore and get myself a copy of it. It was a good story. I personally liked it, but I am not much of a romantic person. Romantic as in, super cheesy and emotional. That’s how I saw the story in the book. It was too romantic for me, but the storyline was really impressive. It’s a totally different read from the Harry Potter series (since people were comparing it). This book is aimed for teenagers and young adults, while HP is for kids and early teens (and those who feel that they are young). Romantic. Impressive. Not my cup of tea.

Becoming Madame Mao – Anchee Min

Another referral from my friend Mia. At this point, I just realized that she likes reading ancient relevant Asian history, especially from China. Luckily, I’m not. (haha!) Still, I was urged by her to go and read it. It was interesting. It’s all about the first lady of Mao Tse Tung. It narrated the sorrow, pain and pleasure of becoming and being Madame Mao. But, it probably took me two months to finish this book. Not because of its pages, but because I easily get bored with it. I read few pages from time to time so that I won’t get bored to finish the whole book, because I admit, it’s still about history. And history is interesting, but is sometimes boring. Despite my conclusions on history, the book is amazing and informative. Props to that!

Child 44 – Tom Rob Smith

This book is one of Mia’s favorites. This is an action-packed book from start to finish. The thrill and suspense it gave me was satisfying and I could probably say that this is written intellectually. It was smart and puzzling at the same time. But deep inside this thriller is a heartfelt story of brotherly love and being true to your commitment and priorities in life. (wait for the film adaptation of this book produced by Mia and me) Haha!

Zelda’s Cut – Philippa Gregory

Gregory is one of the famous book authors in the world. That’s why I was shocked to see a copy of her book on sale for 50 pesos. I was excited to read and indulge myself to a book that I supposed was a good one, but I was, for the third time disappointed by such a great writer. The story was too shallow and the ending was really, really disappointing. N-A-K-A-K-A-B-I-T-I-N. Haay.

Snuff – Chuck Palahniuck

I bumped into this book by accident. I just saw this online and got interested in it. It’s a soft porn book. Yes. It’s probably the shortest story that I’ve read. I was able to read the whole thing in one sitting (or lying). It is funny and sarcastic, but in the end, after all the “weird” stuff that’s been said, it all goes down to the concept of that one true and great love.

Of love and other demons – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

One of the books written by this phenomenal author of Love in the time of Cholera. This book is trivial. In its own right, it is also controversial. What got me interested to read this is that of the religious side and that of the ancient beliefs all mashed up in a sticky situation. The book could get boring, and I did a lot of scanning and jumping off some parts triggered by that. In the end, this book is a masterpiece.

Sputnik Sweetheart – Haruki Murakami

I love Haruki Murakami. His stories laced with poetry and feminism always attracts my attention. In this particular book, he depicted the relationship of two best friends of the opposite sex and the possibility of going beyond their limitations. The female, who discovered her desire for another woman was the scandal of the story. But in the end, the best friends still ended up with each other. It just goes to show that love is unpredictable and can take you to places and situations you’ve never expected in your life.

Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami

Another Murakami creation that got me all hooked up. This book is all about reminiscing with the past and trying to mash it up with the present time. Haruki Murakami, I noticed is also musical in his own right. This book refers to the familiarity of the lead, Toru, to a particular day through the Beatles song Norwegian Wood.

Don’t read this book if you’re stupid

I was able to read this book while I was in Vietnam. Tita Ana and I went to an international bazaar and got caught up with books from Australia. We bought four books and I was able to bring home two of them. This book is Tita Ana’s. She lend it to me because I got interested in it too. Well, this book is a collection of sarcastic stories from the mundane to the bizarre. It’s got a little bit of the Western humor, that’s why I did not like it too much, but it’s not bad at all.

Weird Sister – Kate Pullinger

This is one of the two books that I brought from Vietnam. Agnes Samuel is the lead of the story and Agnes Samuel changed my nights. She is the creepiest book character that I’ve encountered! Just by reading the synopsis, you can easily detect the flow of the story, but the chills that it gave me were really unforgettable. I was, then again afraid of sleeping with the lights off. Agnes Samuel is one creepy woman and she knows how to send me the chills. This book smartly combined the elements of eroticism, romance, Goth and thrill that knocked the wind out of me. Very impressive.

No time for Goodbye – Linwood Barclay

I was hesitant to read this book at first because Weird Sister really blew me away. But late one night, I got bored and decided to read it. This book is also full of suspense and has the kind of plot that would make you think. I just think that the characters of the story were quite older than I expected. This can also make a good movie material.

Those were the books that I was fortunate enough to explore in the past year. I hope that my cravings for good reading materials will still progress in the coming years. I am really a true believer that a good reader is a good thinker. (or maybe not, in my case..haha!)