Rabbitin

March 2016: Required Reading Report 1. Siglo: Freedom (Siglo #1) by Dean Francis Alfar (Editor), Michael Vincent Simbulan (Editor) - (3/5 Stars)  This is one of those things where "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". I mean as a collection, I like how varied the stories are, and how it showcases that freedom can mean different things to different people. Individually, however, the stories doesn't seem to hold much weight. There is no strong feelings generated from any of them, not from me, at least.  2. The Penelopiad by Margaret Attwood - (5/5 Stars) I love how funny The Penelopiad is, which I was quite surprised to find in an Attwood work. But come to think of it, her short story Happy Endings (my first and only Attwood experience) has comedic elements. So yeah, I guess I shouldn't be surprised after all. I love her dark humor, and how she was able to create such a compelling and inventive narrarive from the perspective of a character whom we al...

February 2016: Required Reading Report: 1. The Narrow Road To The Deep North by Richard Flanagan - (5/5 Stars) A Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes still remains to be my number one Man Booker Winner read to date, but The Narrow Road is among the top three, definitely. Man, I am changing my views on Booker winners being entirely too stuffy and high brow and whatnot. This particular Flanagan book is such a page-turner. And it is so intense and tumultous and passionate and visceral and lyrical. Although there are moments when the lyricism turns a bit cheesy and unsubtle. But well, in the end, I love how the book made me feel. Which is a combination of disgust and awe and bewilderment and heart-break.      2. Persuasion by Jane Austen - (4.5/5 Stars) Okay, I was resistant to reading Persuasion to be honest. It has nothing to do with Austen. I had a pleasant experience with Pride and Prejudice. But it's just that I usually find myself being reluctant and lazy when i...

Better late than never! January 2016: Required Reading Results: 1. The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber - (4/5 Stars)  I love how reflective this book is, and I realize that the best science-fiction are of this sort. Outrageous worlds and creatures are but secondary. And Faber's most recent sci-fi offering is less concerned about the extraterrestrials and their worlds, but more about the workings of communication, the intricacies of language. And religious faith is also theme to be remarked upon, and Faber has such an open-minded view of Christianity that you don't have to worry things turning entirely too preachy.     2. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt- (4/5 Stars) What's amazing about   Gary D. Schmidt's writing is how skilled he is in making the setting the pop. I pretty much got a very clear picture in my head of Malaga Island even down to it's weather. At one point I even felt chilly just reading about the sea breeze. T...

2015 Reading Year : Fiction : 22 Short Story Collection : 3 Poetry Collection : 1 Essay/Non Fiction : 2  Graphic Novel : 3   Total: 31 I think I did okay in 2015. While I seem to be reading less and less each year, but still 31 ain't too shabby. Besides I read some pretty good stuff. So here's my top ten books of 2015. That is, books read during the year 2015 and not necesarily books released during said year. Top Ten Fiction Books of 2015: 1.  The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending came like a tornado. It sort of upended how I look at life. You know, like after you've read it, you hold your hands up to the heavens and you give a despairing cry of something along the lines of: What does life even mean?! What does my existence mean?! Then thunder, then lightning, then a massive downpour, and then you see Ryan Gosling hauling a canoe, and then you...this is moving in another direction, a diffe...

You know what my blog smells of? Neglect. I really have no explanations for it except for laziness. Just your everyday, average genral lack of drive to write down anything substantial about the stuff I've read. Even my reading has suffered, I mean quantity wise, if you compare it to last year. But who cares? No one! Okay, maybe I do care, a little bit. I wouldn't be writing this down if I didn't. But still, I am as chill as the cold breeze blowing outside today. Actually a typhoon is about to hit us, so yeah, I am not entirely "chill". I am making no sense so I am just going to stop now. Below are some mini-reviews for the awesome four-five star rated books I read from October until today.       1. Monstress by Lysley Tenorio - There is something "pop" about Lysley Tenorio's collection. I mean that in a good way. Monstress talks largely of the immigrant experience but told with a certain level of kookiness that reminds me of George Saun...

September 2015 Required Reading Report: 1. Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee - (4/5 Stars) I can't help but marvel at Harper Lee's grasp of the South, and the simplicity and clarity of her writing. It's no To Kill A Mockingbird (because what is?) but it is a lovely way of extending time in an old familiar world and revisiting beloved characters.  2. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - (3/5 Stars)  Things Fall Apart is compelling in the sheer amount of despair that comes with the story. A tribal life haunted by fears and changes and anxiety and aspirations.  3. Stitches: A Memoir by David Small - (5/5 Stars) A harrowing account of childhood abuse that's equal parts raw and whilsical.  October 2015 Required Reading: 1. Monstress by Lysley Tenorio - Our book club's book of the month. I just finished reading the titular story and I have a huge feeling that I will love the rest of the book.  2. Drown by Junot Diaz -  Another short story c...

Summary from Goodreads :  Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, and the X-Men—the list of names as familiar as our own. They are on our movie and television screens, in our videogames and in our dreams. But what are they trying to tell us? For Grant Morrison, one of the most acclaimed writers in the world of comics, these heroes are powerful archetypes who reflect and predict the course of human existence: Through them we tell the story of ourselves. In this exhilarating work of a lifetime, Morrison draws on art, archetypes, and his own astonishing journeys through this shadow universe to provide the first true history of our great modern myth: the superhero. Supergods, chronologically traces the evolution of caped crusaders through four eras: The Golden Age, The Silver Age, The Dark Age and the Renaissance in what I think is a thorough approach. Grant Morrison covers everything from the characters, the writers and creators, the cover and panel layout, the ...