Coffeespoons

I started a new job last month, and it's more or less something I've been looking for for a long while. For as long as I can remember, I'd always dreamed of reading books for a living. I may have made career choices that led to that. Well now, the new job is sort of like that in what may be the best place possible: Penguin Random House . Yup, I now work as part of the international sales team of Penguin Random House US.  If you're a person who reads book blogs, I don't have to tell you that this is an awesome job. And though I also tell friends that I worked for it, I think a large part of it, too, was luck. Perhaps being in the right place at the right time, and maybe even doing the right things. Whatever it is, it's hard to look a gift-horse in the mouth, you know? The lobby uptown In any case, this great opportunity is still a job: a job I seem to be willing to spend hours and hours in. There's still a lot of stuff to learn (and unlearn) a...

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 ...

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 i...

A first, ladies and gentlemen, because I have NEVER won anything in a raffle or a game of chance. So, to echo Homer, "Woohoo!!!" Anyway,  Tina at One More Page  sponsored a book giveaway of Feed by Mira Grant. I figured I'd join this one because, 1) I like Tina's blog and 2) I thought it's high time for me to read a zombie novel, so I might as well try winning one. Yep, I've never read a zombie novel, cause zombies honestly freak me out, except for the cute ones on Plants vs. Zombies. Lo and behold, I get my wish! I win this book. And I get to read it, too! Funny, because the blurb and the reviews say that the book is about a couple of bloggers in a postapocalyptic zombie society who are covering the campaign of a presidential candidate. Blogging, new media, politics, and zombies. Awesome. Thank you so much for the contest and for the book, Tina! And since now the universe has conspired to let me win a little something, I'm thinking it might consp...

I have a new toy! Note the tag cloud above, which was generated from the words most often used in this blog. Yep, that's courtesy of my new toy, Wordle . Of course, Wordle isn't really a book tidbit. But hey, it does fun stuff with the printed word, so I deem it deserves a mention. In a previous post , I lamented other people's lament that Filipinos don't read. My position is that we do, though most of the reading is not what some people  would call high-brow. Then again, as a teacher, I've also often heard the complaint that youngsters nowadays don't read. Again, my position is, they do. They text a lot, they read online a lot, etc. However, this article at the Telegraph gives a good perspective on this issue. The main point? People read, but have become unused to good and difficult reading. Neil Gaiman throws his two cents in on the apparent dichotomy between literary fiction and "genre" fiction. This Guardian blog post examines his introductio...

A few posts ago, I mentioned books I'm looking forward to this 2010 . Well, the Guardian gives us more books to look forward to in the first six months of the year. From this long list, I'm especially looking forward to Diana Wynne Jones' Enchanted Glass , Markus Zusak's Fighting Ruben Wolfe , Ian McEwan's Solar , and Marilyn Chin's Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen . Speaking of upcoming books, here's another one that has an interesting concept-- memoirs in six words. Ever since I saw it, been trying to come up with mine. How's this--"Had a life before discovering internet"? Heard about that Warren Beatty biography that reveals he slept with 12,775 women? Well, here's a hilarious parody-- A Reading Slut's Confession . So, how many books have you slept with? Oh, and because I'm seriously worried about storage issues for my books (my house can only really have so many bookshelves), here's some advice from some authors and a bookst...

The Kindle has gone worldwide ! So, they'll finally ship to my neck of the woods, and I can get my own Kindle! Of course, soon as I work up the budget for one and figure out the other tech stuff which I barely understand. My take on whether the popularity of the Kindle will signal the demise of books: No. I myself really prefer ink and woodpulp. I can never give up on owning my books or adding to their already unmanageable number. And given the convenience and beauty of books that even a reader like the Kindle cannot match (books don't need power, books can have fantastic layouts and designs), I don't think that the book is one technology that will go away easily. So, personally, I don't mind purchasing another type of reading repository. I figure it's just another aspect of book collecting.:) The Man Booker Prize winner has been announced . This year, it's Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall , a historical fiction novel featuring Thomas Cromwell. Let's add that...

More interesting stuff I found online: Right on the heels of my guest blogger's review of a young adult novel with a teenage homosexual superhero, I read this news article about a group seeking the right to burn a gay teen novel , Francesca Lia Block's Baby Be Bop . I didn't think one could "sue for the right to burn" a book, nor that burning books was still an option in today's world. I mean, would you seriously burn a book even if you hated it? Brings to mind a very lucid quote I read recently: If you resist reading what you disagree with, how will you ever acquire deeper insights into what you believe? The things most worth reading are precisely those that challenge our convictions. ~Author Unknown Ever heard of the novel "The High-Bouncing Lover"? What about "Baa! Baa! Black Sheep"? No? I'd say, thank God for that. Those two were the working titles of The Great Gatsby and Gone With The Wind , respectively. Robert McCrum reveals...

Been wanting to post these tidbits for a while, so pardon me if some of them are old news already. Is technology ruining some of our favorite plot devices? According to this New York Times article, yes. Imagine if Romeo and Juliet had cellphones. The whole miscommuunication snafu would never have occurred, and we'd be one Shakespearean tragedy short. Carlos Ruiz Zafon's new book, Angel's Game , has been released. I haven't read it yet, to be honest, but I did come across Zafon's article, in which he talks about his intended quartet of novels, and why novels are still the best form of story-telling . The Publisher's Association is coming out with a new campaign to boost book sales . The concept? Bookaholism . No, the concept is not new to some of us. However, as a widespread marketing campaign, with chosen slogans to be pasted on book covers, I wonder how this will work out. Apparently, there is some concern about promoting a certain kind of addiction. So, Geo...

Haven't done one of these in a while, and I miss it. In his blog Kyusireader, Peter talked about Michael Crichton's unpublished manuscripts , one of them unfinished, and the possibility of getting someone else to finish them. Here's an interesting take on the issue of getting other authors to finish a dead author's work . For my money, I agree--leave dead author's unfinished work alone. In case you're like me, trying to read all the Pulitzer winners for fiction, this list of the Top 10 forgotten Pulitzer Prize-winning novels might be of interest to you. I often return library books late, so this story is inspiring. At least I know I'm not the worst there is.:P My apologies to fans of James Patterson, John Grisham or Dan Brown, but I totally agree with the advocacy of these British thriller writers . Enough with "production-line" thriller writing. Ooh, Carlos Ruiz Zafon's new novel The Angel's Game , is coming out in June. Check here for ...

Got this from my good friend and co-teacher, Joel . For those of you who live in Metro Manila and are book sale freaks (you know who you are:-D), here's an upcoming sale... COME TO SCHOLASTIC SUMMER WAREHOUSE SALE ! BOOK FIESTA! April 15-19, 2009 Wednesday-Sunday, 8am-8pm May 4-10, 2009 Monday-Sunday, 8am-8pm Scholastic Warehouse #70 C. Raymundo Ave., Rosario, Pasig City Tel. nos. 751-6714, 628-4487, 0922-8562077 Here's the map: Enjoy the shopping!

Here's what I found recently on my favorite book news sites: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, the series , debuted last Sunday at HBO. Check out this television review of the series. Here's the HBO teaser of the show: So, how well do you know fictional dysfunctional families? Take this quiz and find out. Guess what? Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series is finally going to be finished, albeit the tricky problem of the author's death. And is it going to end with Book 12? No! Strangely, the finale will be spread out to three books. Read more about the plans for the final books here . Finally, here's Steven Colbert interviewing Neil Gaiman about his Newbery Award winning and Hugo Award nominated work, The Graveyard Boo k . Gaiman's so charming.:)

Why a lot of Book Tidbits? Obviously because I haven't been able to finish a book since, well, the last time I reviewed a book.:) I am about to finish Jasper Fforde's Fourth Bear , though. More on that when I finally finish it. Anyways, here are the interesting AND fearsome things I found lately: Bookseller magazine has awarded this year's prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year to the book entitled The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-Milligram Containers of Fromage Frais. Check out the other contenders and some previous winners for the Oddest Book Title in this article. Do you play computer games? Well, would you count the narrative in the game as a literary genre? Here's a "he-said-he-said" take on the issue courtesy of the Guardian blog. My take as a one-time addict to Final Fantasy X and X-2: I loved both of them for the story. (Well, admittedly, X-2 was sort of flaky.) Finally, the fearsome thing I found...the trailer of Where the Wild Things Are ...le...

That is my response to all this repackaging of Jane Austen. I long for the days when Austen was just Austen, and not "the Grandmother of Chick Lit." For pity's sake, she's only the grandmother of chick lit because some marketing executive thought it would be great to cash in on the "intellectuality" of Jane Austen's novels. Point 1: Jane Austen never wrote just romance novels. Austen's novels were a highly incisive commentary and criticism of the foibles in her society. Point 2: Jane Austen did not write for the reader of the 21st century, so please, spare me the comment that "she's not readable" or "she's boring." Boring probably to a lot of us who have been weaned on the shallow prose of the Dan Browns, Sidney Sheldons and Stephenie Meyers of our day and age. (By the way, I have read and enjoyed these authors. Notwithstanding, I think their prose is shallow.) I'd like to reiterate that Austen's writing would be m...

I didn't name this blog Coffeespoons because I'm a coffee addict. If I'm addicted to anything, it's books and buying books. The name, actually, has more to do with a line from a favorite poem, but that's up to you guys to figure out.:) Nevertheless, I do like my coffee and my blog is named Coffeespoons, so I thought it proper to feature this in one of my book news tidbits... Presenting--the 10 best appearances of coffee in literature ! This article from Guardian cites coffee fanatic Benjamin Obler's list of books that mention coffee in the most meaningful way. I assume it's meaningful, because I can hardly describe the quotes as highly descriptive. Sadly, I haven't read any of the books. I'll have to remedy that eventually.

Today, when I should be writing things that will generate me some income, I'm here surfing again for book news, just because I like it. Sylvia Plath's son, Nicholas Hughes, also commits suicide . It was only now that I learned the full story of the deaths in Ted Hughes' family. Pretty tragic. Why aren't I a bestselling author? 'Cause if I were, I could make deals like Audrey Niffenegger's for her second book . Funny, funny rant on silly blurbs and why books won't change your life . Finally, a hilarious cartoon on how Harry Potter, the book, was really born:

This is a new kind of post that I'd like to do once in a while: aggregate interesting news in the world of books and publishing. By interesting, I mean interesting to me. But I certainly hope it interests others, too. Seems all is not hopeless for the good old codex. Apparently, even in the midst of global economic crisis, books, especially in Europe, are still selling and selling well. Check out this new series of children's classics illustrated by contemporary prize-winning illustrators . I'm not really well-versed in art, but these are books that I'd love to get for my kids. The first five titles in the series are Wind in the Willows , Classic Poetry , Alice in Wonderland , The Secret Garden , and Don Quixote . It seems Kenneth Branagh is set to direct an adaptation of yet another Marvel hero, Thor. Though they say the front runner for the Norse god character is Josh Hartnett, I'm still hoping studio execs will lean towards Alexander Skarsgaard. After all, as...