Coffeespoons

Because I've avoided John Green for a long time... since everybody seems to be talking about him... and the thing with authors or books that everyone's talking about... is that sometimes you want to avoid them... after all, if a LOT of people like them... that means they appeal to the masses... which means that it appeals to a pedestrian taste... but you don't want to be associated with anything pedestrian... because you're different, damn it, and you're smart... you think... smarter than the hoi polloi... so you avoid the book/author... until you can't because... you're actually curious... and you end up buying the book... but at the back of your mind, you think, "There must be something wrong with this book... and I'm going to find it. And call it out for everyone to see... or agree with a really smart detractor... because we smart folk need to stick together... and ...

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...

Before leaving work today, I spent some time looking at Amazon's current bestsellers on the Kindle store . This was prompted by this article that my boss posted on Facebook. Ever since I started working in trade publishing and ebook selling a year and a half ago, it's become difficult for me to separate what I do for fun (reading) from what I do for a living (publishing and selling books). And so when I read books now, even if I just want to lose myself in the story (which I sometimes accomplish if it's a writer I love or trust), I often find my mind drifting to things like, "I wonder what went into the acquisition decision." or "Man, this sucks, but they had a good marketing plan for this." or "I wonder what the publishing history of this book is." and so on. This also works vice-versa: my reading is increasingly influenced by my job. And not in the sense that I read marketing and psychology books (which I do, actually), but in ...

One of the videos in Fully Booked's What's My Story? campaign. I gush about John Williams' Stoner .:) In the country I live in, there are two major bookstore chains. One has been around for more than 50 years, devotes a large part of its business to selling school and office supplies, and definitely has wider penetration. The other is less than 20 years old, has a more diverse selection of titles, but caters to clientele with larger disposable incomes. I'd say both do their part in pushing a reading culture in my country. Whereas one has ventured into publishing popular local titles and selling a lot of other titles for cheap, the other provides its customers titles not usually found in the other store and actively engages its reading community. Now, I'm very big on engaging the reading community. As a reader, I like to watch what companies in the book industry do to engage their readers. As a heavy user of social media, I also like to watch these compani...

I think part of the growth of a reader is to start trying out books or genres which one doesn't usually read. The trial might result in a long-term love affair with the genre, temporary preference, mild tolerance, or outright rejection. Even if it's the last case, one can at least say, "I don't like ." and know whereof one speaks. Enter the Flips Flipping Pages (FFP) 2013 Diversity Reading Challenge . As I mentioned, we resurrected the challenge this year with new categories. Three years, after all, is enough time for new book trends to gain prominence. And given the changes in technology, I believe it's high time for us to explore the new ways that content is packaged. This Diversity Challenge is open to members of our book club, Flips Flipping Pages , an online/offline book club for Filipinos all over the world. If you're interested, you can head on over to Shelfari to join the club, with the click of a button. If you don't want to o...

The Princess and the Goblin , McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales , My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me , Kikomachine #1 , Hark! A Vagrant , Building Stories See these books (not my messy desk behind them)? I dipped into these lovelies last year, but I never got to finish them. For a few of them, such as My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me , McSweeney's Mammoth Book of Thrilling Tales , and Hark! A Vagrant , I did more than dip; I was halfway in. Was reading each of those a little at a time, until I was either distracted by work or by other books. A big part of this year's reading plan, then, is to ensure that I finish these books. Based on what I've read, these are all books worth my time. Besides, I'd like to get them off my messy desk. What else constitutes my reading plan this year? Well, because I purposely did not join any reading challenges last year, explicitly stated or otherwise, I'm going to swing the opposite ...

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...