I promised myself to read more this year and make a review of some books I have encountered. Last January, I started making a list of the books I have started reading and clearly forgot to update it. It’s somehow pathetic that I was not able to keep my promise to read at least three or four books a month. I feel lazy at times to hold one, but I still regularly go to bookstores to buy more books. We are slowly replenishing the books we have lost during the flood last year but I still can’t find some good replacements for my collection. At least now, my daughter and I have become more selective, choosing hard bound copies over mass market read.
1. The Mermaid Chair – Sue Monk Kidd (Midlife crisis and self-awakening)
2. The Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follett (historical – 12th century England)
3. Mr. Write – M.D. Balangue (local chick lit)
4. The Breakup Diaries – May Calica (local chick lit)
5. King of Torts – John Grisham (legal/suspense novel)
6. The Secret – Rhonda Byrne (the secret to prosperity, health,relationships and happiness)
7. Candle Creations – arts and crafts
8. Between Blinks – Jim Paredes ( insights, poetry, stories)
9. Love Rosie – Cecelia Ahern
10. The Thorn Bird – Colleen McCullough (my third copy, I think, the first two were borrowed and were not returned).
11. Love the One You’re With – Emily Giffin ( have you ever thought of the one that got away?)
12. Gone Baby Gone – Dennis Lehane (thriller)
13. Sundays at Tiffany’s – James Patterson
14. Sam’s Letters to Jennifer – James Patterson
15. The Valley of Light – Terry Kay
16. Girl With A Pearl Earring – Tracy Chevalier
17. Loving Through Heartsongs – Mattie J.T. Stepanek (book of inspirational poems, made a review of this earlier).
18. How Do You Know If Your Pearls Are Real? – Barbara C. Gonzalez (family relationships)
19. Grace – Richard Paul Evans
20. The Interruption of Everything – Terry McMillan
21. Under The Tuscan Sun – Frances Mayes
22. Resistance – Anita Shreve
23. Cause Celeb – Helen Fielding (read some chapters by candlelight because I could not put it down)
24. Sail – James Patterson
I will update this from time to time and here’s a list of the unread ones:
1. Critical – Robin Cook
2. Coming Home – Rosamund Pilcher
3. Cell – Stephen King
4. A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
5. Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert
6. Julie and Julia – Julie Powell (watched the movie but half way through reading it, I got bored)
7. Atonement – Ian McEwan
8. Favorite Poems of Emily Dickinson – ( I read the poems at random)
9. If Life Were a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits- Erma Bombeck
10. From Beginning to End – Robert Fulghum
11. It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It – Robert Fulghum
12. Coraline – Neil Gaiman
13. Three Cups of Tea – Greg Mortenson (can’t wait to read this one)
14. Ilustrado – Miguel Syjuco (and this one too)
15. The Glass Castle – Jeannette Wells ( a memoir of resilience and redemption)
16. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte ( a reread)
17. The Prophet – Kahil Gibran (lost my first copy to flood Ondoy)
18. Irish Linen – Andrew Greeley
19. Judge and Jury – James Patterson
20. Breathing Lessons – Anne Tyler
I’ve meant to update my virtual library at Shelfari.com but just thinking of removing the titles which are now gone sort of depresses me.
Dreams And Escapes 