Coffeespoons

A bit late in the game, but I still want to celebrate Teen Read Week with the rest of the world. I left my teens almost half my life ago (now there's a mathematical conundrum for you), and I really have no desire of going back, except perhaps to reminisce about the books I read while I was at those turbulent years. This post, by the way, is inspired by Zarah Gagatiga's efforts over at School Librarian in Action . Let me qualify "teen reads" first. These will be books I read while I was a teenager. And considering most of the books I read when I was a teenager, some of these books aren't really meant for teens. But then, who really reads according to his or her age group anyway? I speak as one who now enjoys a lot of children's and young adult titles. More importantly, whether my parents wanted me to read them or not, these books were discoveries. They were my first forays into the concept of empowerment--no one told me to read them. I just did, out o...

End of readathon ! I didn't even finish half of the book I was reading, but I had fun trying. 1. Which hour was most daunting for you? The 2nd to 3rd hour. Only because I was expecting to concentrate on reading, but I had to attend to a phone call which I could not put down, even if I badly wanted to. 2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? The book I'm reading, Pillars of the Earth, turns out to be a very fast-paced read. At least, I found it engaging. Thing is, I don't think many people would take it on for the readathon, given the thickness. 3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I would love to have a countdown widget to the start of the Readathon, and another countdown widget for the full 24 hours of the Readathon. 4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I think the number of people who signed up for this readathon is amazing. First time...

Alas, I think I'm failing miserably in the Read-a-thon right now. My plan to stay up until 4AM, Manila time, kaput. Fell asleep at 1:30, woke up at 8:30AM and had to rush to my tutoring gig. Now, it's half past noon, Sunday, Manila time. And how am I doing? See for yourself...  1. What are you reading right now? Still Pillars of the Earth. 2. How many books have you read so far? Still reading that one. But I'm enjoying it, though.:) 3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? The rest of the pages of Pillars of the Earth? 4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? Unfortunately, I couldn't. I tutor on Sundays and, of course, we go to church as a family. Plus, we  usually go out for family time on Sundays. I think we'll forego the going out today, though.:) 5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Oh, many interruptions, aside from me ...

It's 12 midnight where I am, and four hours have passed since the Readathon started. My children and my husband are asleep, while I am here, struggling not to fall in with them. Although I started reading exactly at 8, which is when the Readathon started, I lost an hour and a half in between due to a long personal phone call. Goes to show that, no matter how well you plan things, life gets in the way. Ah well. So, how am I doing? Here are my stats, so far... Title of book read since last update: Still Pillars of the Earth (I'm only reading the one book, but I'm trying to finish it.) Pages read since last update: 90 pages of extremely tiny font Running total of pages read since you started: 90 pp. Amount of time spent reading since last update: 2 1/2 hrs. Mini-challenges completed: None. Not really planning to do any. Other participants you’ve visited: 10 Prize you’ve won: None yet, but if you give me one, then I can place something here.:) H...

I'm being good! I prepared this early on! Yay! That means I know what to do this time. And it only took two previous readathons.:D Where are you reading from today? As always, I'm reading from my house, here in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. 3 facts about me … I eat like a horse. I always cry at the end of Dead Poets Society, no matter how many times I've seen it. I'm a sucker for cake. How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? Like I mentioned in my previous post , I'd be happy just to finish the 900+ page Pillars of the Earth. But, for form's sake, I placed two other books. So that's a grand total of three! Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? Primary goal: to finish the first book on my list. Other goals: reconnect with blogs I used to comment on, meet interesting new bloggers. But basically, I just want a...

In the rush of everything--job, family, even the NYRB reading week , I almost forgot: I'm joining Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-thon this Oct. 9! I've joined this particular read-a-thon twice before . Both times, I think my performance was pathetic. Two and a half short books the first time ; three books the second . Well, at least there was some improvement. But I keep joining because hope springs eternal. That is, I hope I can actually get a lot of reading done. And because Dewey's Read-a-thon was the first blogging event that made me feel part of the Great Book Blogging Community (notice the capitalized letters. heehee.) This time, I join again as a reader. I leave the cheerleading to the eternally energetic ones. And I'm changing my strategy. Whereas before, I wanted to get as many books finished as I possibly could, this time, I shall not pressure myself with such lofty goals. Instead, I think I'll view this read-a-thon as an opportunity for me to final...

It is my pleasure to announce The NYRB Reading Week , to be held on November 7-13, 2010! From the 7th to the 13th of November, we're inviting you to join us as we read, review, and relish books from the NYRB Classics , NYRB Collections , or New York Review Children's Collection . This event is actually the brainchild of Mrs. B from The Literary Stew . A few weeks ago, she asked on Twitter whether anyone was interested in doing an NYRB Reading Week. I immediately said yes, and because I was the first one to respond, I was granted the honor of being co-host. It's my first time to do this kind of thing, so I hope you all can be patient with me. Anyway, we're very excited about this, thus we're announcing the event a month in advance. That way, those of you who'd like to participate can sign up right away (no frills--just leave a comment here or in Mrs. B's announcement post ) and start getting your reading list ready. We shall eventually summarize everyo...

T.S. Eliot, Edgar Allan Poe, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Mark Strand Do you like poetry? I do. And that definitely puts me in the minority. I know this because, in all the years that I taught English, I would be lucky if a fourth of my students actually said they liked poetry to begin with. So I want to talk about poetry now because, 1) I don't have a book to review and 2) I'm feeling a bit melancholic. Actually, I think I started feeling melancholic after reading a few poems. Yes, I like the sad kinds. I used to start my poetry units by asking my students who among them like poetry. As I explained, I'd feel lucky if 10 out of 40 say they do. Most of the time, around 5 raise their hands. Granted that majority of my teaching life was in a school for boys, these were the more well-off boys, so I sort of hoped for greater literary exposure. Ah, but who am I kidding? A lot of the well-off don't like poetry. A lot of voracious readers don't like poetry. I dar...

from GraphicNovelReporter I have run out of books to review, which is why I'm doing another Book Tidbit post. Not that I've reviewed every single book I've read. But the others I haven't reviewed were read months, if not a year ago, and I'm not inclined to review books read that far back in the past. And I'm still enjoying working my slow way through Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story,  so more on that when I'm through. But I did come across interesting stuff last week, such as... comic books or graphic novels to look forward to. Graphic Novel Reporter features the upcoming graphic novels for Fall 2010 . What I loved about it is that the list is segregated according to age group. Makes it easier to find something for my little boy and for my big boy. And me, of course. A couple of months ago, I posted something on a study that reflects gender differences when it comes to reading. Well, Book Bench recently asked, too, what we talk about ...