“It is in the everyday experiences of ordinary women that we find true history – the texture of our nation as lived, felt, and dreamed,” writes Zea Asis, one of the contributors to this book about women “navigating a world ablaze.” There is much that makes this book special. The cover alone is a clever… Read More UNWRITTEN WOMEN: You Can’t Spell “Heroism” Without “Her”
“You become the story you tell yourself.” Weddings are full of drama, and in one of those intersections of real life and reading life, I found myself reading “Mirror Marked” the week after my brother got married. With a whole new appreciation for the chutzpah unique to wedding planners, I found myself thoroughly charmed by… Read More Mirror Marked: A Reflection on Authenticity
The pleasure in realizing that you’ve been missing out on something absolutely wonderful usually comes when you close a book, sniffling back tears from the leaky teapot that is now your face. I had been hearing about Tori Tadiar for the longest time, as the bookish community was abuzz with joy and pride at her… Read More Twinkle, Twinkle: A Radiant Little Book
“For the world of tales is the land of legend and dream, even if the characters move and speak in the here and now. And sometimes, it seems to me that only sorcery and enchantment can capture the strangeness of ‘real life.’” ~ Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo It took reading this World Fantasy Award winning book… Read More MAPPING NEW STARS: The Theory and Practice of Filipino Speculative Fiction
Fil-Am author Elaine Castillo’s second novel is so woke, this reader had to read every other sentence twice to fully parse out the pointed inequalities marking even the most seemingly innocent exchanges. To Castillo, the pen is a sword, the page a battlefield in a story that is part-romance, part social critique with a dash… Read More Moderation: A Cynical Love Story
THE VANISHED (the English translation of author Chuckberry Pascual’s “Ang Nawawala”) has introduced this reader to one of the most unforgettable characters to ever grace the page. When things keep getting lost in a particular barangay, there’s only one person to call. Our hero/ine Bree solves seven capers in these tragicomic short stories (alternatively seen… Read More The Vanished: Mystery Meets Social Criticism
THE SECRET LIVES OF OFWs has an irresistible premise. What if the Filipino migrant worker is actually a mythological creature, with enough supernatural power to take revenge against abusive foreigners? Events creative (and former OFW) Jet Tagasa’s first book is a collection of eight horror stories, each featuring a kababayan who happens to be more… Read More The Secret Lives of OFWs: Here Be Monsters
“The status quo did not mean peace.” Glenn Diaz’s 2022 novel about a middle-aged teacher fleeing her violent past has been picked up by Tilted Axis Press, as well as shortlisted for the Novel Prize in 2020. It is many things: a literary crime novel, a concise history of Philippine contemporary history from the time… Read More Yñiga: A Literary Crime Novel that Tackles the Past and Future of Being Filipino
Sunlight and dust motes flooded the air as I cracked open the pages of Kenneth Yu’s sophomore short story collection. His earlier book featured a lot of stories that would comfortably be classified as horror. As a result, this reviewer purposefully read this second collection of stories during the day, expecting that it would have… Read More The Greatest Fight of Sunny Granada: Speculatively Hopeful Filipino Fiction
If you’re lucky, you get treated to a tarot reading when you have your book signed by Yvette Tan, whom fans are calling “The Queen of Philippine Horror.” Tan then explained what the three cards meant, then inscribed the book with the message of the fates, accompanied by her red stamp. (In this reader’s case,… Read More Insect Hag: Creepy Crawlies and Cultural Preservation
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