The annual World Book Day event organized by Instituto Cervantes de Manila is back! After 2023’s venue at Intramuros, this year it returns to the more familiar Ayala Triangle Gardens. From 9:30 AM to 11:00 PM, local publishers will be selling books with a special discount price of 20%. If you buy a book, you… Read More Día del Libro 2024
More than a hundred events will take place between April 25 (Thursday) and 28 (Sunday), 2024, at the World Trade Center in Pasay City! From cosplays to book signings by local authors, to storytelling and arts and crafts workshops, there’s fun to be had by all members of the family, regardless of age. It’s a… Read More Bookish Happenings at the 2nd Philippine Book Festival
Now that THE PREYING BIRDS (Mga Ibong Mandaragit) by Amado V. Hernandez has been translated into English by Danton Remoto for Penguin Random House SEA in 2022, this reader finally got the chance to read a book I’ve been hearing about for so long, by an author recognized as a National Artist for Literature. What… Read More The Preying Birds (Mga Ibong Mandaragit) is a Prayer Across Generations
The most prestigious literary award in the country is accepting entries again, after two years. They are accepting entries until May 31, 2024. Open to Filipino authors of all ages, writers may turn in entries written in English (8 categories) or Filipino (9 categories), with short stories in Cebuano, Hiligaynon, and Ilokano. There is also… Read More The 72nd Palanca Awards are now accepting entries until May 31, 2024
The Doulos Hope, a ship full of books for sale, has docked in Manila Port Area. The ship, operated by GBA Ships, is known for its Christian and children’s books sold to international readers all over the world. Coming from Bangkok, Thailand, The Doulos Hope has four stops in its Philippine tour. Manila is its… Read More The Floating Bookstore has docked in Manila!
“The chief glory of every people arises from its authors.” Debatable to some, for sure. But I am inclined to agree with Samuel Johnson, and with Susan Sontag. Especially after having read The Three-Cornered Sun. The Philippine War of Independence is usually summed up as a racial conflict that the Filipino Katipuneros waged against Spanish… Read More Exploding Galaxies’ “The Three-Cornered Sun” by Linda Ty-Casper : A Contrapuntal Composition
Reading both Marga Ortigas’ books is a lesson on the myriad of ways truth can be told, whether thinly disguised as fiction, or in outright non-fiction. Marga Ortigas has two books out by Penguin Random House SEA, and this reader’s reactions couldn’t have been more different to them both. I had to force myself to… Read More The Truth According to Marga Ortigas
Four Filipina authors published by Penguin Random House SEA held a panel discussion in Fully Booked on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. Booklover Kate Heceta-Arellano moderated the hour-long discussion, asking questions of the four distinguished guests before the second hour of book signing and picture-taking. This reader arrived early, with two books in tow, eagerly awaiting… Read More Fully Booked’s Panel Discussion: Four Filipinas Embodying Feminine Awesomeness in Literature
(Photo credit : Philippine Book Festival Facebook page) There’s now more than one book fair to watch out for, bookworms! The first Philippine Book Festival was held last year in two venues: Manila (June 2023) and Davao (August 2023). Organized by the National Book Development Board (NBDB), it brought together purely local talents and publishers… Read More The 2nd Philippine Book Festival comes to the World Trade Center Manila in April 2024
I love romance books. There was a time I used to read nothing but romance. I read romance back when it was looked down upon, so my book club friends and I took to wrapping those bodice ripper covers in opaque wrapping paper. (Today, if you dare raise an eyebrow at romance readers, it’s YOU… Read More All’s Fair in Love and Work: A Romance Set in the Philippine Publishing World
Ex Libris Philippines 