Whenever I get the chance to visit the Philippines, I never leave the country without buying books, because it's cheaper and easier to buy books there. I sometimes buy book(s) when I travel too, you know how airports can be a lonely place! I don't have that much books, I used to just borrow them from friends, or libraries. I only started buying them when my budget finally allowed it, 4-5 years ago.

These are the books I have, most of them I've read more than once, and others I haven't read yet:



And yes, I have too much books that I still need to read. Four of these still have their plastic covers.


Hand-me-down books:




Archie!!! I mean c'mon, who doesn't like Archie??!



The two times I've been to the U.S., I bought these (airports can get looooneeelyy eh):

• The first time (I was with Papà), I bought "Chicken Soup For The Teenage Soul on Love & Friendship"

• And the second time, I got stuck in London (stupid stopover) by myself. I brought home "How To Read A Person Like A Book" (I've already finished the book before the plane took off.)
  

Now, this is a gift from a friend when the hype was still all about "The Da Vinci Code".


I was on page 30 when my (then) favourite teacher saw me reading it, and told me to stop, mainly because it was trash. So, I stopped reading it. I know I will get back to it, when I'm finally done with my book backlog. Yes, I can be easily convinced most of the time. I mean, I have 2 Wiccan books. You get the idea?



Though most of the time I judge a book by its back cover (a.k.a. plot summary), sometimes, I judge a book by its cover. Here's The Surrender by Toni Bentley:


I stopped reading this in public (I'm actually not done with this book yet, hehehe) because I caught 4 people staring at the book. Find the book, and you'll probably understand the reason why. :-P



I usually read 3-4 books at a time, because.. I don't know, I tell myself I do it because I don't want to get bored with whatever book I'm reading.

Lately, I've been reading...

(1) Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom, this is actually the 2nd time I read this book. The movie got me disappointed, of course.



(2) For One More Day by Mitch Albom.



(3) I Do or I Die! RJ Ledesma’s Imaginary Guide to Getting Married and Other Man-Made Disasters (As Told to him by his Yaya) by RJ Ledesma, obviously. [Probably the longest book title I've ever seen!]



I finished "Tuesdays With Morrie" 2 days ago, last night I finished "I Do or I Die [...] (As Told to him by his Yaya)", will try to finish "For One More Day" before next week ends.


Anyway, I've been hearing and reading a lot about Haruki Murakami, who at first I thought was a Manga writer. I've been wanting to read him for the longest time, but I always get discouraged by people surrounding me, they keep telling me that I will most probably be depressed for at least a year if I read him. Until I met a friend, Kumi, who finally encouraged me to go ahead and read him. As I was afraid to end up terminally depressed, I asked her to suggest what book I should start with. She suggested "Sputnik Sweetheart", and "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle". Kumi also suggested reading Rachel York's "Chasing Lightning". Now the hunting starts...

Here, it's hard to find the books I want to read in English. Sobrang macha-challenge ka. Yes, I want to read them in English because I'm starting to be bobo in English already. Yesterday morning, I had to take Andi (my Shih Tzu) to the vet. I went home and felt sad about having to eat lunch by myself, so I decided to start book hunting, and just skip lunch.

I went to 3 bookstores where I found not one book.

First bookstore, I found (we're talking Haruki Murakami, okei?):

(1) Kafka on the Shore, and (2) After Dark. Both are not on my list, so... Nothing.



I met up with a friend, and then went on to the second bookstore, they didn't have a single Murakami book. My friend saw I was disappointed and suggested I buy this book:

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert



I was hesitant to buy it, because I'd like to watch the film and not get disappointed. When they turn books to movies, I usually don't like the film as much as I like the book, and always get disappointed.

On to the third bookstore, where I found this:

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - A memoir by Haruki Murakami



And this:

Eat, Pray, Love. by Elizabeth Gilbert





Kumi decided to start an online book club, so that means plus one on my list. I need to look for "One Day" by David Nicholls. I'm tempted to go back to Ebay where it's easier to buy, but it takes so long to finally smell and touch the books...

On Monday, the book hunt continues.

Labels: Book Porn, Friends, Lights Camera Action, Si Dindin