Filipino Fridays 2014: Surprise, Reader!
As I’m typing this, there’s only one hour left before Friday is over. So I will try to beat the buzzer and fork up a decent post for this year’s first Filipino Fridays meme, one of the activities pre-Filipino ReaderCon that I’ve always loved participating in for years now.
For this first salvo, here are the questions for the participants:
My name is Monique, and I’m an eclectic reader. I read both print and digital formats of books, and my Kindle Paperwhite’s name is Oscar, from my favorite Junot Diaz book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
My favorite book discoveries for this year are: (1) The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, which I was predisposed to like anyway because it won last year’s Man Booker prize, but the surprise was that I didn’t realize I would love it that much; and (2) A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li, because it was my first time to hear about both author and book, and I loved this work.
The author(s) I started reading this year that I can’t get enough of are: (1) Eleanor Catton, whose earlier work, The Rehearsal, I have just acquired a copy of today; (2) China Mieville, because I totally loved his The City & The City; (3) George Saunders, whose other books pre-Tenth of December and the Folio Prize are sitting pretty on my shelf; (4) Zadie Smith, whose White Teeth I adored; and (5) Yiyun Li, of course, whose recent short story, A Sheltered Woman, is featured as short story of the month over at The Short Story Station (excuse the shameless plugging).
I don’t have a book that I didn’t think I’d like but ended up liking/loving, although there’s one that I thought I’d love but didn’t: If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino. It just didn’t deliver.
Neither do I have any book series that I’m looking forward to reading this year. As for newly-discovered Filipino authors, of course there’s Ana Tejano (yay!) whose Fall Like Rain was released recently. I hope Eliza Victoria, my favorite Filipino author, comes out with more books.
For more information on the 4th Filipino Reader Conference, check out this link. See you there! :)
For this first salvo, here are the questions for the participants:
Surprise, Reader! Hello, it’s the first week of Filipino Fridays 2014! Whether it’s your first time to participate or not, tell us a bit about yourself. More specifically, tell us about your favorite book discoveries for this year. Any author you started reading this year that you can’t get enough of? A book you didn’t think you’d like, but you ended up liking/loving? Any book series that you just have to get your hands on? Have you discovered anything new from Filipino authors this year?
My name is Monique, and I’m an eclectic reader. I read both print and digital formats of books, and my Kindle Paperwhite’s name is Oscar, from my favorite Junot Diaz book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
My favorite book discoveries for this year are: (1) The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, which I was predisposed to like anyway because it won last year’s Man Booker prize, but the surprise was that I didn’t realize I would love it that much; and (2) A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li, because it was my first time to hear about both author and book, and I loved this work.
The author(s) I started reading this year that I can’t get enough of are: (1) Eleanor Catton, whose earlier work, The Rehearsal, I have just acquired a copy of today; (2) China Mieville, because I totally loved his The City & The City; (3) George Saunders, whose other books pre-Tenth of December and the Folio Prize are sitting pretty on my shelf; (4) Zadie Smith, whose White Teeth I adored; and (5) Yiyun Li, of course, whose recent short story, A Sheltered Woman, is featured as short story of the month over at The Short Story Station (excuse the shameless plugging).
I don’t have a book that I didn’t think I’d like but ended up liking/loving, although there’s one that I thought I’d love but didn’t: If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino. It just didn’t deliver.
Neither do I have any book series that I’m looking forward to reading this year. As for newly-discovered Filipino authors, of course there’s Ana Tejano (yay!) whose Fall Like Rain was released recently. I hope Eliza Victoria, my favorite Filipino author, comes out with more books.
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For more information on the 4th Filipino Reader Conference, check out this link. See you there! :)
Comments
BUDDY: With the exception of Ranee? Yah, can't remember, either.
TIN: I think you'll like Zadie Smith's wit and humor! :)
MELIZA: Yes, I'd love to join that buddy read. :)
So much so that I may not touch another Calvino for a very long while. :)