Pulitzers

The 28th Edition of The Bookworms' Carnival is up at Book Club Classics. The theme for this edition is Pulitzer Prize winners.

It's been a week since the Read-A-Thon and I haven't posted anything! Things are pretty busy on my end that I mostly spend my internet time simply playing Mafia Wars or WereWolves on Facebook! Duh! So not me! Next thing I know, I used up a couple of hours I could have used typing up a post or two on my backlogs. Still, a post requires more than the minimal thinking I do simply clicking on buttons on Facebook. Hahaha!

I'll be pretty busy next week still so I think I'll just lump my Read-A-Thon reads (err, listened to, hahaha) sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Have a pleasant rainy summer ahead for those of you in the Philippines! And have a great week too, to anyone actually!

Channeling Alanis

Here's a shout out to all those who kindly dropped by and egged me on for the duration of Dewey's Read-A-Thon last weekend. My heartfelt thanks for the kind words and for the cheers!

Thank you, thank you, thank you:

3M of 1 More Chapter
Amanda of The Ramblings of a Hopeful Artist...
Anna of Diary of an Eccentric
Beth F of Beth Fish Reads
Blodeuedd of Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell
Book Psmith
Bybee of Naked Without Books
Care of Care's Online Book Club
Christina of Reading Through The Night
Debnance of Readerbuzz
Eva of A Striped Armchair
Fantaghiro23 of Coffeespoons
Joanne of The Book Zombie
Jodie of Book Gazing Visit her lovely Etsy Page: Blinking Mouse too!
Joy Renee of Joystory
Kailana of The Written World
Kim of Sophisticated Dorkiness
Kim L of Bold. Blue. Adventure
Lorin of Arch Thinking
Melissa of Melissa's Bookshelf
Memory of Stella Matutina
Natasha of Maw Books Blog
Nymeth of Things Mean A Lot
Robin of A Fondness for Reading
Shanra of Libri Touches
Teddy Rose of So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
That's The Book
Vasilly of 1330V
Violet of Violet Crush
Wendy of Caribousmom

I'm still groggy from reading memory aids so it's quite possible some links aren't working. If there are problems with the links I'm sure to fix that later tonight when I get back online. Hopefully, that is. If not then this weekend. Promise.

Hope all you Read-A-Thoners had your well-deserved sleep!

Oh and well, reviews for the books I listened to, hahaha, to follow soon. I guess. Hahaha!

The Last Hour

It's 7:01PM and Dewey's Read-A-Thon is over! Whew!

And I'm still up! Well, considering that I'm in a different time zone I should be. Dinner will be ready in an hour or so. Hahaha. And I won't pass up the chance for dinner.

I had fun with this break. Gave me some time off my reading legal stuff and by tomorrow I'm back to ignoring this blog until later this year. Kidding. Well, half-kidding. Well, I'll try not to ignore this blog. At least not until I put up the reviews to the books I already finished, including the ones I read (listened to) on this activity.

What are my stats? Did I even manage to finish a book? Let's put it this way, I practically joined a Listen-A-Thon. Hahaha! I'll just go through the meme posted on the Read-A-Thon page:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

It was the hour between 3AM and 4AM Philippine time. I was really tired by then. I switched from listening to one audiobook to another. And after finishing that other audiobook, I think I barely popped in the cd and well, woke up past 8AM already. I think. Hahaha!

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

Hmmm, it would depend on the reader really. I think graphic novels are good suggestions. Or fantasy books. At least if you want to stay up or if you want short and sweet reads. But I take that all back and say that it's easy to keep a Reader engaged if s/he's reading something s/he's comfortable with. Like a favorite genre or author. Of course that's my analytic mind responding to the question.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

This is my first time and I had fun with it even if I didn't update that much or heck, never really read that much (I picked audiobooks, hahaha) and I think that the hosts all had things lined-up well to keep the readers up with all the mini-challenges so I'd say they (and the cheerleaders) did a great job!

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

Uh, newbie here so I can't really say what was the difference between then and now. I do like the RSS Feeds though. Easier to visit other blogs when I was on a break this afternoon.

5. How many books did you read?

I finished two audiobooks. Read a handful of pages from two other books.

6. What were the names of the books you read?

I listened and finished two audiobooks: Neil Gaiman's Audio Collection and Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl: Time Paradox. If I want to stretch my number of books a bit I'll say that the Gaiman cd has two full-blown children's book in them: The Wolves in the Walls and The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish which I have read previously. The two others, Crazy Hair and Cinnamon are quite new to me. I know of them though. Of course the interview with Maddy Gaiman is charming.

Never got around to finishing Chelsea Handler's My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands. And Scott Westerfeld's Peeps.

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox probably because I've been looking forward to this and it never disappointed me.

8. Which did you enjoy least?

I pretty much had fun with the stuff I started and never got around to finishing.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

I still don't know how the cheerleading stuff went through but I'm mighty glad for all the wonderful comments egging me on everytime I post. So yes, more of that to keep us readers hanging on!

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

If my schedule permits it I'd join again the next time. Maybe I'll try out to be a cheerleader also. I think it has something to do with my time zone. I'm wide awake by the time most readers are nodding off to sleep. Hahaha!

So that's it. It was fun while it lasted. I can see myself going through something like this again although I'll plan better next time. For one thing I think I shouldn't be awake for most of the day before it starts. Hahaha!

Thank you to the hosts: Hannah, Nymeth and Trish. You guys are wonderful for continuing this activity started by Dewey. Hats off to all three of you!

It's 7:32PM and I'm officially ending my Read-A-Thon day by preparing my meal. Hahaha!

The 23rd Hour

It's 6:08 here in the Philippines.

I'm a fourth into Peeps by Scott Westerfeld. I didn't expect to be reading slowly but I'm quite sure I won't be able to finish it within the hour. Still, that's fine. I'm glad for the more than positive response coming from you all the last time I posted. Also to the fact that Westerfeld has yet to disappoint me. While I won't be able to count it in my Read-A-Thon total, I'll finish it still hopefully before the day ends here. Because uh, tomorrow I doubt if I could.

This post is for Dewey though.

My favorite memory of Dewey is obvious; she was my Secret Santa in Nymeth's Secret Santa Christmas Exchange last 2007. The funny thing about it is that I got her box of loot a week into the year of 2008. By that time she (and Nymeth) were a bit worried about delivery stuff here in the Philippines. Well, that's another topic altogether and I won't go into that now.

To say that I enjoyed her gifts was an understatement. I was actually touched by her thoughtfulness. See, I was reading her blog by then and she was careful in mentioning not to drop hints as to who was her Secret Santa. Little did I know it was me. But I'm going in circles. I was surprised that by visiting my blog upon learning I was her Secret Santa, she came up with stuff that left me positively in awe.

It wasn't the gift but her thoughtfulness. I could say that again and again and bloggers who knew her will understand. She was there for all of us; commenting on books, coming up with activities and yet somehow making each word she shared with us special. It's all because she paid attention to each of us. She became a good source of comfort to the book blogging world and her book posts made our shelves a lot more heavier. That from just a handful or so interactions with her in this virtual world.

I still have her gifts though and they're all special. I still have the photos she printed of Neil Gaiman posters I raved about. Her short letter. The book I haven't gotten around to reading and the Santa bookmark I use on one of my pending reads. And of course I carry the copy of the cd with me everywhere I go. It's R.E.M.'s Unplugged and it's already uploaded on both of my phones and my PC.

Her passing is a big loss to those of us who were touched by her presence. But each day that I blog a part of me tries to be as kind, as generous, as thoughtful and as kind as she was. I will never be but I try.

The time is now 6:39PM.

The 19th Hour

Past the nineteenth hour actually. It's 2:39PM here in the Philippines. I'll be wide awake until the end. I think I'll have another post before my final one. But before that I'd like to pick up a real, physical book this time for the last stretches of the challenge. I mean gee, I joined a Read-A-Thon and not a Listen-A-Thon, right?

Ergo, I'll be picking up Peeps by Scott Westerfeld by 3:00PM or thereabouts.

That's it for now.

It's 2:44PM. Hang in there readers. I'm indeed having fun with my break. This is fun to go through. Too bad I didn't get to join any challenges. But the spoken voice beckons. Hahaha!

The 13th Hour

It's 9:00AM here in the Philippines. And gee, my first update! I'm taking a break on reading (mostly listening, hahaha) to focus on my two mugs of coffee and a piece of Choco-Vanilla Twiggies, Philippine's version of a Twinkies!

Offhand I must say it's disadvantageous having a favorite author in my list. I said I planned to listen Neil Gaiman's Audio Collection as part of my planned intermittent breaks. I listened to it in one sitting. Oops!

I also picked up and read a handful of essays from Chelsea Handler's My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands. It's funny really. Handler's the host of Chelsea Lately and when I'm up at 11:30PM on weekdays here (I usually am but my tv's turned off by then) I watch her when I feel like I could use a laugh.

I'm more than halfway through Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox. I could have been finished with it but the sad thing about having earplugs stuck to your ear instead of flipping pages of books and reading is that you're at the mercy of the spoken voice. I love spoken voice, don't get me wrong. But I know I could read faster than that.

Also, having earplugs stuck to your ear gives you all the reason in the world to nod off. Especially after having been lulled by the voice of one of your favorite authors sometime earlier, after taking a break with Artemis and Holly sometime after 3:00AM. Hahaha! Short of saying I have to search now for the last thread I remember (I think they're now in Morocco) and that Holly's been taken by Butler. The rest of the cd was spent probably snoring my way to dreamland. Ooops!

But now I'm back. With caffeine! And chocolates! Hahaha!

It's now 9:13AM and I'm hungry.

Ready, Get Set....

I'm counting minutes (probably seconds by the time this gets published) before Dewey's Read-A-Thon starts at 8PM here in Manila, Philippines. Actually I'm counting minutes before I start my dinner. Hahaha! Actually I'll be listening to Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox first while eating. I mean gee, the last thing I want is to listen to Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club while something in the story might make me want to forget my meal. I've seen the movie, I know how graphic it can get. And I've read a couple other Palahniuks already. So maybe that one's ripe when I'm close to nodding off. Hahaha!

To all participants, let's all have fun reading! And to those in Manila as well, let's eat and read! Hahaha!

24

This is more like my last hurrah of sorts. I'm knee-deep in readings but I have three days free starting today so I'll spend sometime off legal matters for some light reading.

So this is me finally joining the Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon! I've seen this event for sometime in the book blogging world but never really thought of joining. For one, I don't always have internet (like hello dial-up way back then). And I keep my virtual life to a minimum. At least now I'm on broadband so updating won't be a problem. I think my main problem is reading. Hahaha! I haven't read much fiction since the Lenten break last week but I've been reading. Hopefully I can finish my required reading and chores today so I could at least finish some books tomorrow.

Thing is, I don't know what to read. Tsk tsk tsk. I do know I plan to listen to Chuck Palahniuk's The Fight Club. I could read it but I'd like to listen to it. That and Neil Gaiman's Audio Collection. I'm hoping the short stories will tide me over times I might find it difficult to go through a book I picked. Also in the audio lineup is Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox. I started it last year (I think) and somehow never got the time to pop in the second cd. Hahaha!

I took advantage and downloaded a free copy of The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King. Maybe I could squeeze that in while I'm on my PC once the read-a-thon starts.

I plan on starting the graphic novel Y: The Last Man. I've been hearing superlative things about it and it's good that the series is actually finished (I won't have to worry about future issues, hahaha, assuming I'd like it).

But I still can't figure out the "physical" books part. I have tons and I don't know which ones to pick. I'd probably start on Scott Westerfeld's Peeps. Finish Patrick McCabe's Breakfast on Pluto, hopefully. And then try to see what else fits. Well, I'll be updating occasionally so let's see what I choose, right?

I don't think I can stay up for 24 hours reading full-time. Actually I can with legal stuff, hahaha, but my mind knows it's on a break starting today so let's see how far I can go. Thing is, I won't be online all the time. I live in a tropical country and it's summer time now so my PC won't survive a 24-hour continuous operation. Good thing is, by the time the read-a-thon starts, it will be around my dinner time here so hopefully I could squeeze in an update or two before I turn it off and read in the wee small hours of the morning.

La di da.

Off the Tasks List Again

Ten award winners in ten months? Easy-peasy. Probably the first time I decided to end this with just ten books and two months left in the challenge because later on I probably won't have the time to remember to post this. Hahaha! Obviously this is a wrap-up post for the Book Awards Reading Challenge II. The rules are simple: read ten award-winning books from August 1, 2008 to June 1, 2009. And while I posted my pool way back I guess it's quite obvious that I deviated from it. Totally. Hahaha!

Here's what I accomplished though:

1. The Story of O by Pauline Réage [Prix des Deux Magots 1955]
2. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yan [Michael Printz 2007]
3. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris [Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original 2001]
4. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan [Man Booker Prize 1998]
5. Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham, et al. [Eisner Award for Best Anthology 2007]
6. Midnighters: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld [Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Novel 2004]
7. The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler [Edgar Award for Best Novel 1955]
8. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan [Cybils Award for Best Young Adult Fiction 2006]
9. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz [Pulitzer Prize 2008]
10. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman [Newbery Medal 2009]

Sure is hard to pick a favorite. Please don't make me. Please?

If I go by my total, absolute enjoyment factor I'd pick Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. It's fun, funny and absolutely enjoyable (I mean gee, look at the rating factor: absolute enjoyment). Music, love, nightlife, eating, what's not to love? But I don't exactly read to just have fun. I'd like to learn more about the human condition, about what moves us hence Amsterdam tops the list. McEwan's a master in pulling out that sinister gene in us, easily mixing it to the lives of his characters. There's also Pauline Réage' tale of submission which gave me pause.

There's this science fiction thing in Scott Westerfeld's tale of course and it's a fast-paced, intriguing read I picked up the succeeding books in the trilogy soon after. Then there's Gaiman's tale of an orphan brought up by dead people.

There's also history: Junot's Dominican Republic and growing up an immigrant in the US. And Yang's tale of being an American-born Chinese in graphic form. So much lessons to pick up and learn. So much trivia to take in and make me smile.

Plus a telepath waitress with a vampire boyfriend, a noir-ish tale of deception, and a backstory on our favorite Fables! You really want to make me choose?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I had a pretty good time going through this challenge. It's a good thing I pick books from different genres (though at times it wasn't much of a conscious choice, hahaha). It's not a good thing I never really read anything from the 30 books I initially pooled for the challenge (well, I read just one from the list actually). At least I can go through them some other time.

With this post I end all my reading challenges. Whew. I had fun and that's the good thing. Go read books - be they award-winners or not. The important thing is to read. I'll do that now, only with my legal stuff. Hahaha!

Cemetery Pet

The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman

The original plan was this: read Peter S. Beagle's A Fine and Private Place first before I pick this up. A good plan really, except that the box bearing that and four other books bought from the States that I can't find here (among other things) is missing. Hmmm. So while I pack up a handful of books (read: clutter) for my trip last week, I finally decided to read this and hopefully get back to Beagle's tale sometime in the future.

I like that this lovely little tale starts with a knife. You open up your mind to the sinister forces at work from the get-go and then wait for the rest of the narrative to flow. The man Jack murdered a family save for a tiny baby who managed to find himself in a graveyard. And it's a wonderful graveyeard filled with uh, dead people. Hahaha! It's a lovely little tale indeed. Ooh, I said that earlier.

I remember reading The Witch's Headstone in M is for Magic awhile back and rambling that it's a novel waiting to happen. Or that I couldn't wait for the novel to finish (though apparently I can, since I practically had the book with me for more than five months now, hahaha). That being said, it's a fun ride through life in a graveyard. Surely I'm the last Gaiman fan who has read this. And I don't quite know how to put my disjointed thoughts into proper words. Let me try.

I like the imagined world of the graveyard. Actually, I like the part with the ghoul-gate and the ghouls with the characters like Victor Hugo and the 33rd President of the United States. It's funny and scary and I feel like I'm in the middle of a Jim Henson movie (oops, that I get from just watching Labyrinth again after ages). I like Danse Macabre. I love Silas but given my affinity to characters such as his, that comes as a no-brainer. I like what's written on the graveyards. I like the stories and lessons the dead tell Bod. I adore the drawings of Dave McKean, particularly the ones on black background (yes, the ones with Jack). Mainly because I like doodling in silver ink on black paper. It's a Gaiman story so what's not to like?

And I think that's just it: I just like it. I had a lovely good time reading it in between stuff I had to do. I wasn't compelled to finish it in one sitting and it's not because I relish each word to pieces (though I have to say the words in the story are quite delicious to read indeed, hahaha). I love the humor. I love the imagery. I love the fantastic elements. But I just like the story. Somewhat predictable ending but still worth the ride.

Go read the other interesting points of view below:

1 More Chapter
A Life in Books
As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves
Avid Book Reader
Bart's Bookshelf
Booknotes by Lisa
Books and Movies
Bookshelves of Doom
Devourer of Books
Fantasy Book Critic
Fyrefly's Book Blog
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Lesa's Book Critiques
Maw Books Blog
Melody's Reading Corner
Nothing of Importance
Rob Around Books
Save Ophelia
Stainless Steel Droppings
Stuff As Dreams Are Made On
The Book Zombie
The Deus Ex Machina Complex
The Hidden Side of a Leaf
The Novel World
Things Mean A Lot
What Came Down Today
Worducopia

If I missed yours do leave your link and I'll put it up as well.

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The Graveyard Book won the Newbery Medal for 2009. This is my tenth and final book for the Book Awards Challenge II.

What's the Buzz? Tell Me What's Happening*

While I pack my stuff for a bit of traveling I realized I do have a blog I haven't updated in a bit! Oh well, not that I had the time. A lot of things are clamoring for attention in my head and I'd rather spend my internet bloghopping and looking at some stuff.

Among them a change in my template. The lovely fishies of my former header are now gone and I have to say my thanks to Final Sense for providing me with that for the better part of my three years of book blogging. I still have a copy on file, just in case I get tired of this one fast. I mean, the only thing I wanted earlier this morning was to have a green background. I didn't plan on the flowers or the craft-y look.

I also put up a link to all my book ramblings so far. The tab All Reviews above takes you to a Google document I made available for everyone to see. I was actually inspired by Joanne who has a master list of her book reviews outside of the blog page. Seeing that I don't exactly have time to tweak my own blog or even get my own domain for that matter, the nifty publishable document is the answer. So thank you Joanne! I probably would not have tinkered with Google Docs if I didn't see your list.

Hopefully I could come up with posts for the books and/or comics I finished the past week or so. Hopefully. I do know I will have my hands full starting Easter so this is more like my post to say I won't be posting that much. I will be reserving a post for the only reading challenge I've yet to finish and that will be up not later than two weeks. I will be visiting blogs still, though not as often as I'd like.

And with that I bid you all goodbye. Have a meaningful Lenten season to all of you.

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*First two lines from the song What's the Buzz? from the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack. A film I like to watch during Christmas. Go figure.