Coffeespoons

Was it a good reading year? Yep. I read what I could, so I read enough. And I read what I felt would give me joy. And, I got in my goal of reading 60 books a year. Sure, a couple were short picture books, but they were lovely. A few more stats for this reading year: Total books read: 60 80% of the authors of the books I read, as far as I know, are women. 9 or 15% of the books I read were written by Filipino authors. 28 or roughly 47% of the books I read were published in 2017; 9 or 15% have yet to be published in 2018. 34 or roughly 57% of the books I read were published by Penguin Random House publishers or clients And here are my best reads for 2017, organized according to when they were/are to be published: Love Irresistibly by Julie James - I only started reading Julie James this year, because I heard she was popular in my region. I see why. I've read a couple, but this one about a prosecutor and a hotshot corporate counsel who unwittingly fall in love was ...

If there's one thing I haven't missed in all these years of maintaining (or not) this blog, it's the annual best read post. And here it is! This year, too, I opted to summarize my reading year via a deck, which you can check out on Slideshare or here, if you're so inclined. To see all books I read this year, head on over to my Goodreads 2015 shelf. Honey's 2015 Year in Reading from Honey de Peralta As I mention in a Facebook post, I would love to do a more in depth reading habit analysis on a much bigger data set, so if you know of anyone who needs help with something like that, let me know. Anyway, on to my Ten Best Reads of 2015... The Neapolitan Serie s by Elena Ferrante - Ok, this is cheating because this is actually four books. But I promise you, they are a force of nature. It is basically the story of the friendship of two women, set in mid-20th century in Naples. But the women and the characterization...beyond words. If you are a woman...

Yesterday, I gave an overview of my reading year in 2014 (with charts!). It was mostly data, so here's the part where I talk about actual books that I loved this year: my yearly ten best reads. Been doing this since I started the blog in 2009, and if you're interested in finding out what books made it to my list each year, feel free to check out my best reads of the year label. Anyway, on to my most enjoyable reads of the year. "Enjoyable" is how I qualify my best reads, given that the term "best read" is such a subjective matter and highly susceptible to mental, psychological, and emotional status at the time of reading. So, if the book leaves me with a glow during and after reading, or made me say internally (occasionally externally, too), "Holy shit, this is awesome." then that usually makes it to my best reads list. And without further ado, in the order in which I read them during the year... Locke & Key (the entire series) ...

Quantity-wise, 2013 wasn't an awesome reading year for me. Read the least number of books in the five years that I've been counting the books I read per year. It was a measly 34 . Still, at the beginning of the year , I did think of reading less. Or more accurately, not to pressure myself to read a lot for the sake of reading a lot, what with the increasing demands of work and family and, oh, life. And though I did sign up for a challenge at the beginning of the year, somewhere towards the middle, I figured I'd just read what I wanted to read. I think not having a lot of time does that to you. So though quantity-wise, it wasn't a great year, I'm kind of happy with what I've read this year. Mainly because each minute spent reading was a hard-fought minute. Hard-fought. I carried books around for days without reading them, on the off-chance that I could get a free and relaxed minute to actually read. I spent more time in our bathroom than I had right to, jus...

Forty-five minutes before the clock strikes 12 here, and 2013 steps in. So, I've enough time to finally post my ten favorite reads from 2012. I actually read a lot of good books this year , but it's been a custom on this blog to post 10 of my favorite books for the year. My main criteria for choosing these books: I ponder on them until now and still have warm feelings when I see them. The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson - I found this story of a family of performance artists hilarious and moving, especially with the kids having to deal with their crazy parents. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides - I loved Middlesex, but this one, my God. It is beautiful. The language, the characters, the description of the house and community. House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - I still feel bad about Lily Bart. She was a rebel, but things just didn't work out her way. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - This is the book that made me want to read mor...

Of the 69 books I read last year, these were the most memorable. They're ordered according to when I read them. The El Bimbo Variations by Adam David  - Adam's a valued co-worker, but before he was a co-worker, I'd already read and loved this poetry collection of his. A year after reading it, I still count it as one of the most memorable books I read last 2011. Its humor, wit, and intelligence haven't faded with time for me. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill - At a time I was looking for satisfying ghost stories after reading a few disappointments, I came across this one. Sadly, I haven't gotten around to watching the movie version with little Danny Radcliffe, but if you're looking for a slow-burn scary read, I highly recommend this. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - This book has been in my TBR for a while, and I picked it up because, well, I don't really know. I think I was looking for a lyrical Oprah book. This one gladly fit the bi...

In six hours or so, 2010 will end for me. It's been a year of many great and grand changes in my life, and for that, I am truly grateful. And although I didn't even read half of the books that I did last year (I only made it to 41 books this year), I am grateful, too, that I did not meet a book this year that I didn't like. 2010 was a year of slow but beautiful reading. Unfortunately, this was also a year of lazy blogging. So, though I can rave about all 10 of these books, I do need to catch up with reviews for most of them. Especially the ones I read in the last two months of the year. Anyway, without further ado, here they are, in the order in which I read them: 1) Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel 2) The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell 3) Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness 4) Watership Down by Richard Adams 5) The Passage by Justin Cronin 6) Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart 7) A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes 8) The Woman in White b...