The Big LitWit Fit: We’re giving away books today.
Saffy reviews our reading list.
So far it’s been an excellent year for travel and reading. Of course the two are connected, and not just because they keep one sane while sitting in airports.
Books and travel occupy the same head space, a kind of voluptuous solitude. Think of a novel as a parallel universe in which the characters are as real as you are, and the author gets to be Fate. Or a time machine in which months, years, centuries transpire in the time it takes you to finish a book…
Read Tennis Geeks, Stupid Aristocrats, Family Cruelty and Fashion Terrorists (a.k.a. the books we read in January-February) in Emotional Weather Report, our column in the Philippine Star.
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What books have you read this year so far? Let us know in Comments. Twenty (20) commenters will each get a free book. What titles? That would depend on what the commenters have been reading—we’ll match the books to the readers.
The winners will be announced at midnight.
The Weekly LitWit Challenge is brought to you by our friends at National Bookstore.
March 25th, 2012 at 20:47
Currently reading Murakami’s “Kafka On The Shore”. Love it so much, it’s already a guaranteed a re-read for when I feel like being lost. Chos.
March 25th, 2012 at 20:54
Books I’ve read this year so far:
1. Ironweed by William Kennedy – Si Meryl Streep kasi!
2. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood – Maganda gawing pelikula. Bagay kay Dame Judi Dench ang title character.
3. The Spoils of Poynton by Henry James – dapat basahin ng mahilig sa Downton Abbey. Lady Mary is so Fleda Vetch!
4. The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse – read in a public library while I was in Singapore
5. The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino – nakakaloka!
6. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – matagal kong inisnab ang librong ‘to, buti na lang binasa ko din. My top read this year so far. I don’t even want to see the movie version dahil baka mainis ako.
7. The Keep – kaumpisa ko pa lang. Nagustuhan ko kasi yung A Visit from the Goon Squad kaya nung nakita ko ‘to for only P90 sa NBS, binili ko agad. Actually, nakuha ko ng “libre”, salamat sa points ko sa Laking National
March 25th, 2012 at 21:13
Uncle Petros and Goldbach’s Conjecture
Parrot’s Theorem (Another Math novel)
Ender’s Game
Ender’s Shadow
Best American Short Stories (1999 and 2001)
(Favorite Short Story:Surrounded by Sleep by Akhil Sharma)
March 25th, 2012 at 21:18
Yay for reading & books! Glad to see that a lot of us still read ;)
March 25th, 2012 at 21:43
1. Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco
2. Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch
3. A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin
March 25th, 2012 at 21:48
Jessica, I envy most of your readers — it appears that they manage to read at the rate of something like one new book a week.
I have so far only finished Great Expectations, and have yet to start The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, which has been gathering dust on my desk.
March 25th, 2012 at 21:56
Seal Team Six by Howard Wasdin
The Fall by Guillermo del Toro
A Most Wanted Man by John Le Carre
An American Assassin by Vince Flynn
Naked by David Sedaris
March 25th, 2012 at 22:10
The Geography of Bliss by Rric Weiner
Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon
Farm City byNovella Carpenter
Life is Meals by James and Kay Salter
March 25th, 2012 at 22:14
@ruth, pano ba magkaron ng laking national card? Parang sa powerfully booked ba yan na you have to buy 100,000 pesos worth of books? They don’t seem to endorse it as much as other book stores.
March 25th, 2012 at 23:09
I’ve been on a Terry Pratchett Reading Spree since about October when I started with Small Gods.
So far this year:
Thud!
Feet of Clay
Monstrous Regiments
Equal Rites
A Hat Full of Sky
WinterSmith
I shall wear Midnight
Wee Free Men
The Last Hero
Non-Terry Pratchett Reading:
Ang Kagilagilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni ZsaZsa Zsaturnah (which I bought as a graduation gift for my Sister and read before giving it to her :D)
March 25th, 2012 at 23:43
Read this year:
1. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
2. Game of Thrones by George RR Matin
3. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Still reading:
1. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
2. Nudge by RThaler and CSunstein
March 26th, 2012 at 00:24
So far I’ve only read two and a half literary books this year:
The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Difficult Loves by Italo Calvino
I’m currently on p. 188 of Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
March 26th, 2012 at 02:47
1. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency- Alexander McCall Smith
2. Bel Canto- Ann Patchett
3. After Dark- Haruki Murukami
4. Sophie’s Choice- William Styron
5. The Hours- Michael Cunningham
6. The French Lieutenant’s Woman- John Fowles
7. Out of Africa- Isaak Dinesen
March 26th, 2012 at 09:14
Barrel Fever by David Sedaris
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
re-reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
March 26th, 2012 at 09:25
The books I have already read this year are:
The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
Skin and Other Stories by Roald Dahl
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut (reread)
Yellow Dog by Martin Amis
The Last of the Savages by Jay McInerney
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robbins
Extra Virgin by Annie Hawes
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
La Grande Therese:The Greatest Scandal of the Century by Hilary Spurling
Short Girls: A Novel by Bich Minh Nguyen
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Child of My Heart by Alice McDermott
The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History by Jonathan Franzen (reread)
Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman (reread)
The next book I have lined up is Satuday by Ian McEwan.
March 26th, 2012 at 10:51
Late na for the challenge but I still want to share, hehe. From Jan 2012 I’ve read:
– A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons, George RR Martin
– Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Fear and Trembling (short story collection)
– Pacific Rims, Rafe Bartholomew (had to put this on pause because I’m really not a basketball fan)
– House of Mirth, Edith Wharton (currently reading and enjoying; I need a break from the horror and fantasy stuff)
March 26th, 2012 at 13:47
Hi lestat! Punta ka lang sa customer service and you will be asked to fill out a form and pay P100. No minimum purchase or accumulate ek receipts required. I got mine mga five years ago na yata. Very useful siya! Ireremind ka pa ng cashier if you want to use your points to pay for the items you bought.
March 26th, 2012 at 13:58
*accumulateD ek receipts
lestat, nagsearch ako. Pwede na din pala to get it for free if you have an accumulated purchase of P5,000 in the past 12 months. Pero mas ok na to shell out P100 di ba? :)
March 29th, 2012 at 20:02
Snowdrops – nakita ko dito sa blog na ‘to
The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay – para lubos kong maunawaan ang pelikula. Natapos ko silang tatlo sa loob ng isang linggo.
Mondomanila – nakita ko kasi si Iwa Wilwayco sa peysbuk
1Q84 – dito ko rin yata nakita sa blog na ‘to
Balak kong simulan ngayong mahal na araw ang Norwegian Wood ni pareng Murakami at The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ni pareng Stieg.
Nasa kalagitnaan na ako ng The Summons ni pareng Grisham ng itigil ko ang pagbabasa, para kasing kulang sa angas yung kwento.