My Blogspherical World of Living...

My mother portal is changing...having a mega makeover!

It is getting better and you will be part of it!

Welcome to my E-library

Im building up my e-library which provides lists of various books and authors which really inspired me to read more and be an avid fan of their characters.

Someday in my hometown, I will be able to have a mini-library of my own which everyone could visit and of course to spend time to read my collections for free!

Im hoping that this mini-library will look like in this photo (opposite).

Most of the time Im living abroad so I collected alot of these books and mags which give me headache when it comes to packing and sending home to Philippines. It costs me alot of money, BUT Im determined to collect more and share it with my kababayans...

My fav female writers...

Eighteen years ago, my first read was written by an American female author, Mary Higgins Clark. From then on, I love her style of writing and the characters. Few months ago, I started building up my collection and now Im adding Jodi Picoult in my list of female writers. She writes elaborately with slices of medical and family issues...



Recently, I read Clark's novel entitled, "I heard that song before". The book was a gift from my former boss, Ma'am Teng Suselo during my visit in Bangkok. With a medical issue as the focus, it is a page-turning story and I was wrong with the ending... nevertheless it was a happy one!

With Picoult's stories, I was fascinated with "Second Glance", much more interesting read than "My Sister's Keeper". Her "Perfect Match" is worth grabbing from the book stand - with perfectly a big twist at the end!

Another interesting bits of Jodi's books is that there are added pages to asnwer some basic questions which focus on her motivations to writes these stories...

Grab a copy.. not to be missed!

I HAVE ALREADY FINISHED READING this latest novel from Dan Brown. It is not exciting and thrilling compared to Angels and Demons, BUT it is worth flipping it! After a long anticipation, Mr. Brown finally shared Robert Langdon's adventure - searching for the lost symbol!

If you watched the film, National Treasure (Nicolas Cage), then this book somehow adds some extra treasures to be discovered...

The Lost Symbol somehow encourages me to read the BIBLE regularly... more things to be discovered hidden in the verses written by the apostles.

Note: I have also posted a journal when I got my copy of the book from National Bookstore (Philippines). CLICK HERE

About Thai...

Ive been to Bangkok for several times in the past, aside from my 2-year residency in the Buddhist country but I did not really bother to buy a book authored by a Thai writer or about Thailand! But during my recent visit to Bangkok, I definitely bought 3 books available in Asia Books.

These books include: Bangkok Tattoo (John Burdett), Phra Farang (Phra Peter Pannapadipo) and Bangkok Boy (Chai Pinit). I just finished reading Bangkok Boy and it is about the male prostitution in the country and how the author survived on this flesh slavery!


Unfortunately, I disagree with the statement of the author printed at back cover of the book...

"Bangkok Boy is a heart-rending account of a childhood lost to sexual abuse... Chai was a normal boy until he was molested by a school teacher...."

... this book is not about sexual abuse! It deals with male prostitution and Chai is not molested by his school teacher...he volunteered by "curiousity" to have sex with the man trying to find out what his friends doing to earn extra money to fund their vices (drinking and smoking)!

The story confirmed what Ive seen (for the first time) in the red district called: Patphong 18 years ago... Too long ago but the place is still the same - where you could find bars for sex lives shows/entertainment, including a night market for cheap branded products.

My obsession for knowledge!

After four years of residency in Belfast, I realised that I already accummulated quite a number of reading materials, from pocket books to magazines, from photography books to travel magazines, and from music to movies - everything (except porno!).

Well, Im sending these books to the Philippines and dreaming that someday I could be able to set-up my own mini-library in my hometown, Sibuyan Island. A reading centre where everyone, young and old can share these books and be inspired to read more and learn new stories and new places.

Sharing my passion in reading is something that I really wanted
to do and this is the reason why I spend so much money to collect them but I have so much pleasure and excitement reading these books written by my favourite authors.

ChickLit...Ladies' writers on the run!

I FOUND AN INTERESTING SITE just created few months ago set-up by one lady (Leah) and being powered by wordpress to share her passion in book reading. Another lady, Chloe (a dooyoo member like me) joined Leah to share her passion as well and this is the reason why I found this site thru Chloe's dooyoo profile.

As the site's name, ChickLitReviews.com provides reviews of books mostly written by female writers. The site has a dedicated section for additional information about these authors, including a section for future interviews of these writers.

Unfortunately, I have not read any of the books listed in the site, so maybe it is also time to choose some of them and have a go. Honestly, I seldom read books written by female writers without any descrimination in mind. I dont know, but the appeal of the stories written by them is not strong compared to my favourite writers like Jeffrey Archer, Harlan Coben, James Patterson and Stephen King. I could remember three female writers that Ive read their novels: Mary Higgins Clark (majority of her books), Sarah Waters (Tipping the Velvet) and one of the short stories of Annie Proulx, Brokeback Mountain.

Clark's style of writing and stories made her in my top list of female American authors. I was influenced by my female boss, 17 years ago to read her novels. From then on, I was hooked with her stories highlighting the personalities of female characters and the supporting role of men in the stories. (Updates: My former boss way back in AIT just created her own blog and worth reading it: Musings of a Retiree). I will also feature thru my blog her passion in making Japanese "Origami" paper dolls and the books she loved!

Anyway, try a look of Leah's reviews as well as Chloe's favourite books. I think the site will be my future source of information for upcoming books of authors like Jodi Picoult and Stephenie Meyer.