Wallflower’s Wisdom

An eight-hour zig-zag ride to Isabela gave me the eye-damaging opportunity to finish Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This collection of “Dear Diary” entries is perfectly stitched together in a very creative 90’s fashion. The anthology of daily thoughts is owned by Charlie who confides a bunch of secrets in his diary [...]

A complicated (new) way of storytelling

Maybe the judges of the Man Asian Literary Prize are amazed by how Miguel Syjuco’s version of telling a real story in a fictional manner. The trend of “fiction-tied-with-facts” style of writing has been the greatest advantage for Dan Brown. But I have never felt so close to reality while reading a book until I [...]

Two J’s and a bunch of laughter

I am talking about Jessica and Julie. Their books are perfect breathers since my mind is already saturated because of Garisson’s Managerial Accounting. Jessica should rule the universe A month ago, Mark (a schoolmate) invited me to become one of the minions of Jessica Zafra through Facebook. I felt that Jessica and I have some [...]

Best Lines from ‘Kafka’

Here are some of the best lines I picked from Haruki Murakami’s “Kafka on the Shore.” Some came from famous writers, philosophers and leaders. Others were from the brilliant mind of the author: – In traveling, a companion; in life, compassion. – Even chance meetings are the result of karma. – It’s not a good [...]

Seven Hours

What happens in Tokyo from 11:55 at night up to 6:55 at daybreak? Haruki Murakami tells it all in his captivating novel entitled “After Dark.” Night life in Tokyo is portrayed in a vivid manner through Murakami’s narration in “After Dark.” The story revolves mainly around a girl named Mari and her 7-hour experience around [...]

Books with Pinoy Touch

A lunchbreak stroll at WalterMart gave me the opportunity of coming across a store selling second-hand books. While looking for a good title, a small black paperback caught my attention. It was Joseph Gangemi’s INAMORATA. It is a story set in the 1920′s and the characters were historical and familiar (which included the name of [...]

Greater Scheme of Things

This is not just a ‘How-to’ book or a ‘Dr. Phil guide on self-improvement.’ Scanning through the contents of Paulo Coelho’s The Pilgrimage will make you think that this book is for the psychologically-stressed, over-sentimental readers who are in need of another tear-jerker from the author of The Alchemist. This is half-true. Paulo’s travel to [...]

An Epic Ends

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. At 12:20pm of July 22, I finished reading the last installment of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. I never thought the book would gain so much popularity when I first bought a paperback ‘The Sorcerer’s Stone’ when I was in high school. A few hours after [...]

Codes

Dan Brown has levitated me to heights of excitement. Right after closing the book “Angels and Demons,” I saw myself sitting alongside volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica. I was taking down notes… on Michaelangelo, Raphael, Bernini… immersing myself into Art. I observed that my taste for fiction has shifted from imaginary, funny and unbelievable stories to [...]

O.W.L.

O.W.L. – Overwhelming and Worse Long Exams. That’s it! At last, the four tough days of our Preliminary Exams ended. Now, it’s time for me to leave academic books (for a while) and grab my brother’s copy of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I expected too much, I believe. Well, as everyone [...]