The Flippers' Best and Worst Discussion

Best and Worst poster care of Ajie.
The blue door is the entrance to Libreria.

Last Saturday, our book club, Flips Flipping Pages, had our yearly Best and Worst Reads discussion at Libreria bookstore. This is the third FFP Best and Worst discussion, and I think it's safe to say that it's the most well-attended one. A few reasons for that: some book club members whom we haven't seen in a while have made a long-awaited appearance and we also had some members of the Filipino Book Bloggers over.

We were also hoping to have author Marianne Villanueva with us, but her flight for the day was delayed, so she couldn't make it to the discussion. I later found out that the only reason she was flying over to Manila from her family home in Bacolod (another Philippine province) was to attend the discussion and meet up again with the Filipino Book Bloggers. I thought that was very sweet of her and was disappointed not to have her over. We really enjoyed the last meet-up we had with her in the same bookstore.

Nevertheless, the meeting was a blast all the same. Because of the large number of participants this time around (more than 35, if I'm not mistaken), we had to resort to giving each person 1 minute each to give a brief spiel about his or her best and worst read. Gege, mother Flipper and FFP founder, organized and coordinated everything. In spite of some teasing about lots of red tape (we asked people to write down their best read on yellow paper and worst read on pink paper, then post it on the wall), I'd say things went pretty smoothly. Everyone got to have their say, in more or less one minute. Then there was time left over for a more freewheeling discussion. Some questions were thrown about the books mentioned and a few reading recommendations were given.

What I liked about the sharing was that some people loved books that appeared in someone else's "worst" read. There was the usual ribbing, such as "You didn't love [insert book title here]?!" I liked the different viewpoints because it shows the wonderful diversity among readers. Discussing would be boring if we all thought the same way.

After the discussion was the traditional book swap, in which we usually follow the rules for the white elephant swap. This time, I got the book I wanted, though there was a little bit of deviousness involved.;)

Lest I forget, there was a lot of eating going on. In truth, I occasionally get the feeling our book club is actually a food club. We love to eat, and in great quantities (well, some of us, at least.:D)

I also think the discussion wouldn't have been as fun if it weren't for the venue, Libreria, which is a haven for book geeks. And Triccie, the owner, cannot be outdone in generosity.

I hope these pictures tell the story better than I do, though. All photos are courtesy of Rhett, photographer extraordinaire.

Getting the bookmark exhibit ready. The bookmarks are from different FFP discussions. (Photo courtesy of Rhett.)

Bookmarks for the 2011 Book Lineup and the "Best and Worst" discussion (Photo from Rhett)

The "red tape" (Photo from Rhett)

Wall of best and worst reads (Photo from Rhett)

The spread. Fruits, cheesy chorvas, dates wrapped in bacon, kakanin, and lots of nachos! (Photo from Rhett)

Blooey writing on her placemat. The placemats served as our guestbook. Each participant got one to write on and decorate. (Photo from Rhett)  

Paolo's new comic, Kataastaasan, on Paolo's Kindle.

Michelle picking out raffle winners. Jayson, Aaron, and Tina looking on. (Photo from Rhett)

Raffle prizes. Notebooks made and donated by Ajie. (Photo from Rhett)

Tarie showing off New York Trilogy. (Photo from Rhett)

Book swap in action. Everyone's thinking about their strategy. (Photo from Rhett)

People with the books they won from the swap. (Photo from Rhett)

The Flippers and Filipino Book Bloggers. (Photo from Rhett)

Now, look at those pictures and tell me that readers aren't cool.