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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Around the Internet 12.09.11

Image
This week's notable links are related to world population.  I tend to be interested in a subject, read about it and discover these links. 7 Billion on National Geographic .  Special series on the world's 7B population, with stories and discussions.  They have a counter of world population as well. 7 Billion Actions .  A site where anyone can upload a story, highlighting positive action.  I was checking through the site and was encouraged by all the good work that people do.  Really, we can be hopeful.  It's just a pity that only the sensational negative stories get highlighted in the media.  Positive stories are found right here.  And thanks to the internet for making this possible. What's Your Number?   7 billion is an overwhelming number.  This site let's you enter your birthday and plots you on the population chart and identifies your specific number (datapoint).  Of course this is not perfect and employs some algorithm to estimate where you are on the cha
Read more

It's Not Complicated: Samson and Delilah, Ruth and Boaz

Image
The last two topics for the preaching series on love entitled 'It's Not Complicated' were on Samson and Delilah, and Ruth and Boaz. ( Podcast here ) Samson and Delilah .  The story of Samson and Delilah can be found in Judges 13.  Before Samson was born, his mother was visited by an angel who said to her, "You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razorbecause the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”  Samson was destined to lead and deliver Israel from its enemies.  But we know that his life was far from simple.  He made personal decisions that changed the course of his life, including marrying Delilah, which eventually led to his death.  It's a tragic story and Pastor Joe explained why it happened to Samson - wrong place, wrong standard, wrong person. Samson, although he was set apart as a Nazirite, spent time in Philistin
Read more

Filipino Friday 3: Reading Habits and Book Formats

Image
Reading Habits and Book Formats . Where and how do you read? Can you read anywhere and everywhere, or do you need a certain place/mood/state of mind to get reading? Do you read more in the morning or at night or any minute that you can? Where and how do you usually read? Are you exclusively for print, or do you go for ebooks more than print? Have you ever tried audiobooks? I am old school.  Even as most books now have digital versions, I still prefer the physical, ink-on-paper variety.  I like holding a real book, flipping the pages and being able to see my progress based on the thickness of read/unread pages.  Somehow, I feel more engaged and focused reading a physical book vs. from a gadget. I very rarely reread books so most of my collection just sit on the shelf after I'm done with them.  I feel it's a waste of precious trees if they are not shared with others.  So I started a Google doc at work where the team can list down their collections and anybody interested in
Read more