I couldn’t imagine what life was in Afghanistan but A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini gave the readers a peek into the lives of its men and women. Published 15 years ago, Hosseini shared with us the tragedy, desperation, hope, and humanity among his lead characters. This was with a backdrop of fear of… Read More A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Today, I am remembering Nick Joaquin. Seventeen years ago on April 29, 2004, the Philippines’ National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin died of cardiac arrest. He was 86 years old. It isn’t easy to forget a very interesting man. My reason for remembering Nick Joaquin today is even more personal. He was a huge personality in… Read More Remembering Nick Joaquin
In The Typhoon’s Eye brings to mind Stevan Javellana’s Without Seeing the Dawn. Anyone who has read the Stevan Javellana novel would know how vividly he describes the places in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo particularly Brgy. Manhayang and Brgy. Lacadon. Bles Chavez-Bernstein’s “In The Typhoon’s Eye” brings us to Sandig, Pili, San Jose, and Ocampo. These… Read More In The Typhoon’s Eye by Bles Chavez-Bernstein
I received the book from CheongWaDae yesterday. It contains the selected speeches of President Moon Jaein. Aside from the fact that it came from CheongWaDae, the official residence of the President of South Korea, it has something even more valuable. The package came with a personal note from First Lady Kim Jung-sook. That was more… Read More Book from CheongWaDae
“Cane River” by Lalita Tademy came to mind amidst all the chaos happening around the world these days. This is particularly striking when we think about the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) that gained attention two weeks ago. In reality, though, the BLM movement was founded back in 2013. The book Those who aren’t familiar… Read More Cane River by Lalita Tademy
My 11-year old found Thirteen Reasons Why in his cousins’ room. He was curious and read it. The curiosity was highlighted by the mystery why he can’t watch it on Netflix (I set the Netflix to Kids profile because they are always accessing it). When my son reads, he reads like there’s no tomorrow. So,… Read More 13 Reasons Why – From a Mother’s Perspective
One Sunday afternoon after church, the boys and I walked our way towards IFC Mall to visit the boys’ favorite hang-out: the YP Books! We each got our own books… over a cup of coffee for me and McFlurrys for the boys, we started reading. Sunday bonding. Missing one of us. #readers #palomobrothers #newbookstoread #bookstagram… Read More The Wonderful Effect of “Wonder”