The other contenders for book of the month were Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies (moderator's choice), Junot Diaz's Drown, and Kazuo Ishiguro's Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall. Carver's most popular collection of short stories won in both the online and offline polls, and while it wasn't my personal choice, later on I actually felt thankful that it did win -- the stories, being highly subjective and open to interpretation, were a rich source for a stimulating discussion.
The face-to-face (or what we have coined as "F2F") discussion was held at Cafe Adriatico, Remedios Circle, Malate, Manila (when I'm F2F moderator, the choice of Manila as venue is a given) and was a well-attended affair -- I had counted 24 people, excluding myself, to be there based on the event RSVP and sign-ups for the activity that I prepared, but 27 people showed up! To be honest, I was worried that the area I reserved for our purpose might not hold our number, but thankfully, it did. But it was a huge challenge to be on top of the discussion when there are so many people wanting to talk all at the same time. We did create quite a racket that day, much to the obvious annoyance of the waitstaff.
Still, it was a fun discussion -- I'm glad that people were game in answering questions
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At the end of the discussion, I gave lootbags to everyone. (Okay, everyone who responded to the RSVP, that is.) Each lootbag contained the bookmarks that I have personally designed (featuring WWTAWWTAL book covers and other fan art), Microsoft Pain-ted, printed and cut (hence, the misaligned edges for some), chocolates, a Valentine bookmark with a cute, cute owl, and a handful of craft-punched paper hearts that my daughter helped me make. I sealed each bag with washi tape (note: they don't adhere all that well) and wrote each recipient's name in front of the bag. Everything was made with much care, and I hope they were appreciated. :)
For the nth time, thank you, my dear friends, for making it an afternoon to remember. Until the next time! :)
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The attendees of F2F26. Photo by Ella. |
7 comments:
I'm really sorry I missed this, Monique. i wanted so much to discuss Raymond Carver with you guys. It looks like a fun discussion.:)
No worries, Honey. There will be other book discussions -- and I hope I could attend one of yours in the future, as well! :)
Congrats, Buddy! It was indeed fun. And rowdy. :D
Oh envy! When will I ever attend an F2F? Sniff.
Again, thank you Monique! I'm glad I still received a lootbag even though I answered "maybe" to the event invite. :)
Congrats again, Monique! ♥
You all look so cute. And you're good with crafts pala. :) Congrats! :D
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