“Even God can be felt in the heat of the sun or the bliss of the ocean. But what happens to your crypto when the circuits or blockchains are broken? What happens when the power goes out?” Sci-fi books are scarily prophetic. From the modern physics-defying vehicles and gadgets we take for granted, to the… Read More “God’s Ashes” is Sci-Fi with a Call to Action
Summit Books Editor and The Colonial Dept. podcaster Lio Mangubat has written a collection of thirteen essays which were originally broadcast in podcast form during the pandemic. Dalgona coffees and avocado toast lockdown projects are great, but perhaps don’t come close to what Mangubat has done: leave behind a tangible record of esoteric learning that… Read More Local yet Global : A Fun Book on Forgotten Tales from Philippine Colonial History
Don’t you sometimes worry about what passes for YA nowadays? From toxic relationships to obscene violence (yes I’m glaring at you, ACOTAR, and let’s not even touch the steamy scenes), to books embracing woke-ness and every rage-filled controversy for the sake of being “edgy,” one can understand the controversy when discussing healthy book diets for… Read More For The Win is a rare drop of a YA book both computer gamers and their parents will love
Smart readers like to think we’re not shallow enough to judge books by their covers but admit it, we all do. We can’t help it! It’s the same way we have first impressions about people based on outfit / makeup / facial expressions. My first thought based on Claire Betita De Guzman’s eye-catching cover was… Read More Sudden Superstar is NOT a romance… and that’s a good thing
It’s always a thrill when an author signs a copy of her book, leaving an imprint of ink that will outlive her. It’s never just a signature; it’s a magical piece of an immortal soul. When Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta signed my copy, she wrote: “Hope you enjoy this glimpse into our history.” When seen against the… Read More When A Poet Writes Prose: A review of ASSEMBLING ALICE
In a nation rich with artists and artistry (the pantheon of National Artists that students study number eighty-six as of today), we have lost one of our best. There are many of us who claimed, within his lifetime, that Floy Quintos (director, playwright, and above all, a wonderful human being) is/ was well deserving of… Read More An Artist for the Nation : Floy Quintos
In Filipino folklore, there are creatures that are reviled as often as they are revered. Among them, you have some big baddies like the manananggal (a winged shapeshifter that can detach its upper torso from its lower body and feeds on unborn babies), the mangkukulam (a witch for hire should you need to place a… Read More Get Cozy with the Supernatural: FLY BY NIGHT AND OTHER STORIES
“Why is it that we all share a single vision, but no one knows how to get there?”“How can we know? We do not even have an idea who we are.” Vin dela Serna Lopez’s historical novel 1762 seems bowed down by the weight of its author’s baroque prose. Throughout the entire novel, this reader… Read More 1762 by Vin dela Serna Lopez : When the Philippines Almost Became British
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 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
Ex Libris Philippines 