Coffeespoons

So, here's the presentation I showed during my section in National Book Development Board's Limbag Kapihan for writers. In it are the results for the Filipino Reading Habits Survey I conducted last Feb. One caveat I will emphasize: this is an informal survey, and I am no statistician. I am, however, a very curious individual, and I like facts and statistics. Hence, the survey. The rest of the caveats you'll find in the presentation. The first few slides are mostly pictures of the different activities Filipino readers are up to, at least those within my zone of awareness. And I think while I was showing these, my main message was: Can we please stop saying that Filipinos aren't readers? Please. Look at the pics. Look at the sites. Look at the stats. I mean, sure, our readership isn't like the readership in other countries, but I would say it's a stretch to say Filipinos don't read or don't read a lot. Anyway, I'll let the presentation sp...

Five new adult-ish titles Because everyone needs a little popcorn/potato chip lit once in a while. They might not be the healthiest alternative, but they're damn good in your mouth and on the way down. And sometimes, popcorn's just what you need. Case in point: before I started reading the top bestsellers on Amazon, I had not read a book for an entire month. I blame work. Loaded with it. The first book I had read after a month was J. Lynn's Wait For You . Not something I'd usually pick up, but I had two good reasons: 1) I know that New Adult is a trend in publishing, especially self-publishing, right now, so I figure I should sample at least one book; and 2) I just really needed a fast-paced, easy, and potentially exciting read. Because even though my days and nights are filled with work, family, or Candy Crush, not being able to finish a book in that long is like not being able to buy crack for a crack addict. It's nice when you can merge work and bin...

img src These books about books are difficult for book-lovers to ignore, I think. You put the word "bookstore" in the title, with a quirky name and, bam! Next bibliophile that comes across it is going to pick it up for sure. Well, in my case, I checked the Amazon page . I'd been seeing the hype around the novel. So, bookshop + quirky name + interesting book description + hype = Yes, I will get you. My initial question, though, was whether I'd get the print book or the ebook. I'd also read this interview of Robin Sloane implying that, in the age of ebooks, you have to find reasons for buyers to invest in the print book. I thought that was a pretty smart idea. There has to be added value to the print book, otherwise people like me, who try not to overburden our currently overburdened book shelves, are just going to get the ebook. So I checked out what added value the print book had. I usually get the print book if: 1) I know the book's going to be a...

My new Kindle Touch. Forgive the sucky picture. It was night, I was using my iPad camera, and I really take sucky pictures. I work in digital publishing. So, though I have my own trusty Kindle 3, now being rebranded as the Kindle Keyboard, I was issued today with this new office equipment. Yep, the Kindle Touch. Of course, I did a little happy dance inside.:) I've been giving the Touch a test run, and here's what I found so far... The Good: It's smaller and lighter. I can secure it with a numerical code. There seem to be more setting options. It's easier to transfer books into folders or collections. It's touch screen! The Not-so-good: The screen is deep, so there's a slight shadow on whichever side the light comes from, and it's a bit distracting. (In the picture, check out the shadow on the right edge of the screen. Sorry, I'm a nitpicker.) The keys on the screen are small. Even if the keys on the Kindle 3 are small, too, at le...

I don't intend to rehash a tired debate; I only mean to look at what formats I've been reading books this year and what this means. I got my Kindle last week of March and of the 20 books I've read since then, 7 have been Kindle ebooks. I think I'd be reading more of my Kindle books if not for that goal that I set for myself at the beginning of the year--that of cutting down my 2010 TBR to around half. However, what's more telling, I think, is how many books I've actually bought from brick-and-mortar bookstores since I got my Kindle. Ok, granted I also have that other challenge not to buy more than 12 print or e-books this year until I halve the TBR, I notice that I hardly show any interest when I pass by a bookstore anymore. Shocking, I know. Like other bibliophiles, I couldn't resist going inside a bookstore whenever I passed by one. And I couldn't resist buying at least one book whenever I entered one. Or if I didn't, I went through this...

Woman Reading by Pablo Picasso ( img src ) Yes, March was a mad month, both in good and not-so-good ways. So, March was a month of stringent deadlines, a lot of which I am still laboring under. However, it was also a month of family and celebration. My son celebrated his 7th birthday and my sister got married, all in the span of one week. Consequently, family came home from distant lands (some from local provinces and others from far-off countries) to celebrate with us. And, I gotta say, I love family reunions. Now that I think about it, I don't even live in the same hemisphere as some of my immediate family, whom I love very much, so I try to drop everything so we all can hang out together. Anyway, what all this means, too, is that I haven't been making much progress in my reading goals (not to mention my blogging, but I think you can tell). No matter, though. This is one time where I'm comfortable putting reading in the back seat. Although, with my new toy, I thi...