I was so taken up cooking yesterday's adobo that I forgot to add my bit about the observation of International Book Lovers Day, normally landing on the ninth of August of every year.
My husband Rolly and I share a computer so when he's busy reading and working online, I take it as my cue to read. When it's my turn to use the PC, he brings out his current reading fare--Adrian E. Cristobal's The Tragedy of the Revolution. He likes reading history, non-fiction generally.
Which suits me well because when I want a current and complicated political issue explained, he gives the historical context of why Filipinos behave the way they/we do, with lessons from the past unlearned or ignored.
My reading preference veers towards fiction and creative non-fiction or the essay. I am currently reading Yiyun Li's novel The Vagrants set in post-Mao Zedong China. I keep remembering the expatriate lives that Alma Cruz Miclat and Mario Ignacio Miclat led there as they carried out their patriotic duty to our own unfinished Revolution.
The book is a Christmas present from Delfin Tolentino, and he has been checking up on me if I've opened it. One of the fulfilling pleasures of my life is talking book talk with this retired professor.
I must confess I read slowly and in snatches. My eyes tire easily which is my cue to look after my grandchild and watch her at play.
The second photo shows my pile of books left unread or half-read--all Filipiniana that I acquired either at Mt Cloud Bookshop or at the Philippine International Readers and Writers Festival last year.
Another festival is going online this weekend, the First All-Filipino Online Bookfair Aug. 16-18. But at the rate I'm reading my pile of books at turtle's pace, I'll resist the temptation to peek at the latest titles available.
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