Book Tidbits 13: Local Book News

Been three months since I made a Book Tidbit post. This particular one excites me, though, not just because it's been so long, but because these tidbits are all from the local (Philippine) book scene. Seems like lots of things are going on locally these days (or maybe I'm just paying more attention?) In any case, here are the tidbits:

• The first ever Filipino Book Bloggers meet-up is happening this Saturday, September 25. Yep, since Chachic put up the site where Filipino book bloggers meet each other (aside from our own blogs, that is), seems natural that the next step is for us bloggers see each other face-to-face. Anyway, in case you're a Filipino book blogger or just a book lover, you're welcome to join. It's just an informal gathering, but who knows--it may lead to bigger things.

• Last Sept. 6, Carljoe Javier, launched his independently published book, the Kobayashi Maru of Love. Which I was interested in for two reasons: first, he was my classmate in one grad course; second, I'm a Trekkie. You slap Kobayashi Maru on the title, and you immediately get my attention. And because I'd like to help promote the local independent publishers, I'm telling you about it. You can buy his book from Avalon.ph, too.

• Also, Kobayashi Maru, along with more than a hundred other books, were launched as ebooks by Vee Press, the country's first digital publisher. Go check out their catalog. Yep, you can now buy all those books for your Kindle or Ipad. Coolness. Except I don't have a Kindle nor an Ipad yet. Ah well...

• Earlier on Twitter, Mrs. B from The Literary Stew was asking if any book bloggers were interested in participating in an NYRB classics week. So I said, yes! And so now we're trying to plan one. Anyway, if you're interested, let me or Mrs. B know. It's still in its very early stages, but it can't hurt to find out how many want to participate. It'll also be the first kind of blogging activity I'll help out with, hence I'm nervous. But excited, too.

• I wrote about the Future of the Book conference that I attended a couple of weeks ago. But here are videos of some of the talks. You'll find these videos on the Rocket Kapre site, an independent digital publisher of Philippine Speculative Fiction written in English. It also publishes Usok, a web-based mag of really cool spec-fic short stories. 

Yup, all this is part of my ongoing effort to expose myself and others to more Filipino works, writers, and readers. By the way, you can also check out my list of Filipino Book Bloggers up there on menu. Adding more and more blogs as I discover them, but if I haven't seen you yet and you fit the profile, just leave a comment.:)