Still here!

Been nearly a year since I last posted, but what can I say? Life and all that jazz. But you already know that, so let's skip the excuses preliminaries and proceed to the updates.

2019 was an OK year for reading, for me. Not spectacular as when I used to have a lot more free time on my hands but not shabby either. According to my Goodreads account, I was able to read 27 books and my average rating was 3.7 in 2019. Here's a summary.

I've read some really notable books last year like Madeline Miller's novels "The Song of Achilles" and "Circe," Shirley Jackson's collection of short stories "The Lottery and Other Stories," and Elie Wiesel's "Night," a non-fiction book on the author's experiences during the Holocaust. I also read N.K. Jemisin's "The Fifth Season," the first book in her Broken Earth trilogy, but I haven't gotten around to following through just yet with the sequel. Maybe this year.

I need to mention that the reason I have extra time to post something here right now is because of the ongoing "enhanced community quarantine" that my country's president has imposed only last night. Everyone already knows about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic that has the entire world practically in hysteria; as I write this, the number of confirmed cases is at 170,000+ and death toll has reached 6,800+ globally. It's a depressing and urgent situation, really. But I'd rather not dwell on that...

Will post more on the books I've read this year so far. Meantime, updating my sidebar and Goodreads app over to your right to reflect recent reads and ratings. In a bit!

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Still here!

“Clothes” for books, anyone?

Recently I discovered this dainty little Instagram account called “Book Shields,” which sells sleeves (with matching bookmarks!) for books and e-book readers. Apprarently they also sell laptop sleeves, although I haven’t been checking those out.

I bought one for myself and gifted some good friends with them, as well. The material is soft and light, so it didn’t add to the weight of my already heavy bag. Which is good, since I can’t go anywhere without a book inside my bag. It also serves its purpose of protecting the pages of the book, especially since my bag is always a mess.

This here is the one I got. Cute, right? :)

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“Clothes” for books, anyone?

Here's an update

My old (paid) template went all bonkers, for whatever reason, so I had to get another one because, despite the latest post being three months old, the blog was an eyesore. So here's yet another new look, with the flowers and blue sidebars. What do you think? Fancy, eh?

On the reading front, I'm doing not so good but not so bad, either. Still acquiring more books than I could read but I've long given up trying to whittle down the TBR to a manageable number. But hey, remember the January post where I said I'll be having a new bingo challenge with some friends? Here's an update:

Got a bingo! Here's the list of books so far:

For the 1st bingo pattern:
Published in the 19th century - "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne
Award-winner by a Female Author - "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gale Honeyman
Short Stories - "The Lottery and Other Stories" by Shirley Jackson
British Author - "The Buried Giant" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Asian Author - "Nightfall" by Eliza Victoria

And for the scattered squares:
LGBTQ - "The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller
Water in the cover - "The Beach" by Alex Garland
Part of a series - "The Fifth Season" by N.K. Jemisin
Pulitzer winner - "Less" by Andrew Sean Greer
Mythology - "Circe" by Madeline Miller

I'm currently on to the Science Fiction square, reading "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut. Will try to get that next pattern next time! :)

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Here's an update

Hey, bingo!

I haven't done any reading challenges in a while, whether it be a personal challenge or one from the book club. But because I fell into a reading rut sometime during the last half of 2018, failing to finish any of the books I started reading for the book club discussions, I thought, perhaps, that it's time I challenge myself this year. It's nearly impossible now to make a dent on my TBR shelf, but at least I'd try to read and finish the books I set to read this time around.

Enter my amigas in the book club and this bingo challenge I cooked up for us.

The last time we had a bingo like this in the book club, the four of us had a sort of bet: whoever doesn't make a blackout at the end of the reading challenge will treat the rest to dinner. I achieved a blackout that time, and I intend to enjoy another free dinner again this year.

Any suggestions on what to read for each square? :)

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Hey, bingo!

Giving up

I am done forcing myself trying to finish the books on my bedside table (see post before this one) before the year ends. Quite obviously. It's the last day of 2018 and I haven't moved forward with any of the books I've begun reading sometime during the year.

Perhaps they're just not that interesting? Or I'm now officially in a reading rut?

So, in the meantime, I've resolved to put those books on hold until such time I find that I'd like to read them again.

Image from Pinterest

The last book I actually finished "reading" is Kevin Kwan's "Crazy Rich Asians," an audiobook. I listened to it on my drive to and from work everyday, so it wasn't really a time I devoted exclusively to "reading." I don't even know how I'm going to find time to actually hold a physical book (or yes, my Kindle) again long enough to finish it. *sigh*

Perhaps 2019 will be a new and better reading year for me, yes? Having said that, Happy New Year and enjoy the rest of the holidays, folks!

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Giving up

Currently on the bedside table

... *still* reading. Sigh. I seem to be good at picking up and starting books but not finishing them. Here are exhibits A and B.

I started "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" last September. I can't remember why I picked it up in the first place. I got as far as the first couple of chapters and then October came in, and then I had to pick up a non-fiction title for the book club discussion of the month. Enter "H is for Hawk," which, because it is non-fiction, I failed to finish in time for the discussion. FAIL.

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Currently on the bedside table

On audiobooks

Reporting back to work when my maternity leave ended in April meant one of many things: enduring two-hour stretches of traffic going home in the afternoon, and that's not even the worst of it because I try to avoid the rush hour as much as I can. Imagine those two-hour drives extending to three during rush hour... just thinking about it makes me ill already.

But because Manila traffic is one of those things that, so far, has no ready or apparent solution (ergo, you just have to grit your teeth and bear it), I decided I had to do something with my sanity -- at least on that part, I have some control over. Enter audiobooks.

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On audiobooks