Kicking Off Another Year in Books

Six days into 2013. Seven books. And that's already interspersed with forays into Divisoria and Tagaytay. Not bad at all.

The Kindle has turned out to be one gadget that has worked waaay overtime for me. Out of the seven, six are electronic versions. The sheer convenience of carrying hundreds, even thousands, of books with you really ups the ante in favor of the Kindle.

That still doesn't diminish the allure of the printed book though -- at least for me. It's just made my physical book purchases more... streamlined, I guess, in that I only buy from the bookstores those volumes I would like as part of my bookshelves. There's no hard-and-fast rhyme nor reason, but in general, hardback reference tomes, recipe books, Filipiniana, and those volumes not readily available in electronic form -- these are the ones I physically go for nowadays.

Well, it reduces the impulse buys and the might-be-a-good-buy-but-not-sure-if-will-actually-be-a-good-read books.

On to what I've read so far this year:

1. The Christmas Cookie Club, by Ann Pearlman. I was searching for a light read, one that didn't require a lot of cerebral, philosophical musings. I wanted a feel-good book. I found it in this one. It was quite refreshing, showcasing vignettes in the lives of a dozen women who gather around Christmastime each year for their annual cookie fest, where each bakes thirteen dozen cookies to give to one another, plus an extra dozen for a charity of their choice. In this case, a hospice. Perfect for the holiday season, as it celebrates the warmth of female friendships. Oh, and the cookie recipes are a big bonus too!
2. The End of Your Life Book Club, by Will Schwalbe. It was the title that beckoned to me, at first glance. After reading a synopsis, my interest was piqued. This is a real-life account of one man's relationship with his mother who was suffering from terminal pancreatic cancer. A lot of their times together was spent dissecting books one or both had read, leading them to understand better what went on in each other's minds, and inadvertently forming a book club of two. As one who has lost a mother to breast cancer, this struck a bit close to home, albeit my mother and I didn't really have the book-based interactions that were the focus of the book.
3. I Wear the Shorts in this Family, by Charles Dowdy. The title hinted at a humorous view on family life. It was quite hilarious, really, with anecdotes that makes one think "Hmm, that one's verrrry familiar." It's like holding a mirror to one's family, seeing the quirks and sometimes-embarrassing eccentricities, and ultimately just accepting and enjoying it all.
4. Evergreen: A Christmas Tale, by Richard Taylor. Still in keeping with the just-finished holiday season, this was another take on the meaning of Christmas, of how to appreciate our blessings in the midst of difficulties. Told from the viewpoint of a man who recalled his grandfather's story of the very first Christmas tree. Short, but sweet.
5. Goodbye, Pert Breasts: The Diary of a Newborn Dad, by Ben Wakeling. Another funny title that caught my eye. However, this wasn't really an all-out laugh-fest as much as a roadmap for soon-to-be dads, like a "What to Expect When Your Wife is Expecting". Couched in humorous language, it actually is chock-full of facts, esp. for those living in the UK.
6. Why Me? by Sarah Burleton.  This was definitely not a feel-good book. It details the life of one girl at the hands of her violent mother and stepfather. While the author eventually was able to escape from her dangerous environment, the scars have remained. As a parent, it makes me ache to read the extent of her experiences with her physically abusive and emotionally distant mother who even encourages her husband (the stepdad) to take part in the punishments meted out to her. A sad story, but it eventually also celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.
7. The Children that Time Forgot, by Peter Harrison and Mary Harrison. A book about children, mostly under the age of ten, who surprise family and friends with facts about having lived before, citing specific times, places people. The authors have chronicled these accounts of reincarnation and have reportedly verified the stories of people not really being gone, but just going through a cycle of birth and death. I have to admit that after going through about a third of the book I then just skimmed through the remaining chapters. Maybe it was one too many stories of rebirth, or maybe I was just not in the mood for this at the moment.

Now excuse me while I try to make a dent at my to-read pile for the year. :)