Filipino Friday 1: Introductions

The 2nd Filipino Reader Conference is happening on August 18 at the Filipinas Heritage Library.  I did not know about this event last but I'm really glad to have read about it early enough from OMFLit's Facebook page.  There's such a thing? Cool!

Fillipino Friday is a meme done in the weeks leading up to ReaderCon and this week's topic is Introductions.

Introductions. As with every start of a weekly meme, we need to know a bit about you! Talk about your top 3-5 (or more!) favorite books of all time, the genres you read and would never read, the books that surprised you this year. You can also talk about how you became a reader and why you love it so much! And finally, if you were in the ReaderCon last year, talk about your experience too! If you weren’t there, but you’re planning to go this year, then what do you expect for the upcoming ReaderCon?

About me:  A few words -- Christian, wife, mom to a 4-year old boy, industrial engineer, operations research analyst, code writer, Makati-based, Iligan-born, middle child, photography enthusiast, kitchen scientist (I experiment!), optimist+realist, introvert, reader.

Unlike the other meme participants, this blog is not all about books.  I used to maintain a separate one called Bookwati ('wati' is Bisaya for 'worm') but I updated very rarely so decided to consolidate everything in this space.  All book-related posts are labeled books.

My favorite books: The Bible would be my # 1.  I read Anthem and The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand years ago and they are still favorites.  I also liked the A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and his other titles like Cider House Rules, Hotel New Hampshire and The World According to Garp.  I haven't picked up his more recent books after reading The Fourth Hand, which I did not like as much as the older ones.

These days I read mostly non-fiction, the most recent being Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua, The Introvert Advantage by Marti Olsen Laney, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer.  I enjoyed all of them.

My choices are less risky these days because free time is a luxury and I don't want to spend it on a book I might not enjoy while there are so many good ones out there.  I refer to recommendations and also read the first few pages before I buy anything.  That said, I also tend to stay away from chick lit, romance and horror.

I briefly talked about the start of my love for reading here.  I feel lucky to be born in the province before the Internet age because there wasn't a lot of distractions.  That allowed my love for reading to take root.  It's a lot harder for kids these days.

I was not in ReaderCon last year because I did not know about it and I was also out of the country that time.  I hope everything works out (family schedule) so I'm able to attend this year.  I expect a fun event (because books bring fun!) with lively and interesting discussions.  I'm ashamed to say I don't read a lot of books by Filipino authors so this would be the perfect event to get recommendations as well.


Official website: http://filipinoreadercon.tk OR http://filipinoreadercon.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/filipinoreadercon
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/PinoyReaderCon

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