Category: Blog Post

It’s now 2018, which means it’s time to review my reading progress for last year. For the first time since joining the Goodreads Reading Challenge, I completed it! I read 52 books last year and completed my goal. There were some cheats there, like marking compilation books as “read” as well which adds to the number of finished books. But since those are real books that I bought and are sitting in my bookshelves, then they’re one less book that I have to pick up and read, and therefore marking them as read is just right.

My 2017 Year in Books

Another milestone for last year was finally reading all canon Sherlock Holmes stories (4 novels and 56 short stories)! And also buying tons of Filipino published books which I hope to read this year.

For this year, I set my goal same as last year, 52 books (1 book a week). The real plan is to pass that goal and also buy less books. Right now my to-read pile is at 402 books, so even if I read 100 books a year, it will take me more than 4 years to go through my to-read pile!

For the “I should read them this year” list, there are several 2017 releases that I didn’t get to read last year, so I will add them to this list. There are also those books that I marked as “currently reading” but haven’t really started reading yet, so they go to this list as well. And of course, there are the books that I added to this list at the start of 2017 that I still haven’t read yet, so they go to this list too.

1. The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry (the next book in the Cotton Malone series.)
2. Broken by Karin Slaughter (the next book in the Will Trent series)
3. Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter (first book in the Grant County series.)
4. When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block (Matthew Scudder series)
5. Hollow City Graphic Novel by Ransom Riggs
6. The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian by Lawrence Block (Bernie Rhodenbarr series)
7. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke (Hannah Swensen series)
8. The People vs Alex Cross by James Patterson
9. Artemis by Andy Weir
10. Manhunt (Bookshots) by James Patterson
11. Origin by Dan Brown
12. Haunted by James Patterson and James O. Born
13. Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
14. The Medical Examiner (Bookshots) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
15. 16th Seduction by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

That should keep me occupied for the next 3 to 4 months!

I forgot to post a half-year update in July so I’m doing it now!

On the 2015 Reading Challenge which I am STILL doing this year, there are only 2 books left! If I still don’t finish this list this year I need to punish myself, maybe by not buying a book for 6 months.

1. A classic romance – Persuasion by Jane Austen
2. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t – Noli Me Tangere

For the “I should read them this year” list, it’s the same, nothing’s changed.

1. The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry (the next book in the Cotton Malone series.)
2. Broken by Karin Slaughter (the next book in the Will Trent series)
3. Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter (first book in the Grant County series.)
4. When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block (Matthew Scudder series)
5. Dance of Death by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Pendergast series)

The reason that list above didn’t change was because I decided to finally read ALL Sherlock Holmes novel and short stories. I already read A Study in Scarlet a couple of years ago, so next on my list was The Sign of Four. Some books were quick reads and some were slow, especially if I had travel plans or I was occupied with a TV series. I’m now at the 2nd-to-last book, His Last Bow. Hopefully I can finish the last 2 books if not this week, then hopefully in September. Then maybe I can go back to my “should read” list above.

I am currently 6 books behind my Goodreads challenge of 52 books this year. I’m currently at 27 out of 52 books, or 1 book over half. I’m thinking of reading my Marvel comics just to catch up to this list.

The 38th Manila International Book Fair is next month, on September 13-17. I have travel plans on that weekend, so I will only have a day or two of book buying in my schedule. I’ll hopefully post an update of the books I bought on the event.

On August 12, 2017 (Saturday), my sister and I went to the Books for Less Warehouse Sale in Pasig. It’s located at 643 Frankfurt St., Mercedes Ave., San Miguel, Pasig City, in front of La Consolacion College. The warehouse is huge, but it was hot inside, as there were only a few industrial fans to keep everyone from suffocating. Luckily the weather was a bit gloomy so the heat wasn’t unbearable. Only book lovers will have the patience to sift through their stocks of books! It seems like all books are just 20 pesos, but I didn’t pick hardcover books because those that I wanted to buy had price tags at the back that say they were not 20 pesos. I didn’t went back for them because I was already tired. In the end, I bought 5 paperbacks for only 100 pesos. It’s few, but I already have a lot of books, and I only bought those that add to a series I’m following, or those that seems interesting based on their synopsis. I also picked up a French book because I’m currently studying French.

Below are some pics of the warehouse and the books I bought.

Me in front of the Books for Less Warehouse

2017 is here! That means 2016 is over, and it’s time to review my progress in reading. Even though I read 45 books, it’s still short of my target of 52 books. Earlier in 2016 I told myself I will allot 2 hours every day for reading, but I didn’t stick to it. I blame Netflix and other TV shows. Maybe for 2017 I should create a schedule for how I will spend every hour of every day and (try to) stick to it?

On the 2015 Reading Challenge which I continued last year, here’s what’s left of the list. I really need to finish this one this year or I will just look pathetic.

1. A classic romance – Persuasion by Jane Austen
2. A book your mum loves – Little Girl Blue (a book about Karen Carpenter)
3. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t – Noli Me Tangere
4. A book with antonyms in the title – Catch and Release
5. A book with bad reviews – Bad Twin
6. A book with a love triangle – A Tale of Two Cities
7. A book with a colour in the title – The Color Purple

For the “I should read them this year” list, here’s what I didn’t get to read last year and should read this year.

1. The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry (the next book in the Cotton Malone series.)
2. Broken by Karin Slaughter (the next book in the Will Trent series)
3. Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter (first book in the Grant County series.)
4. When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block (Matthew Scudder series)
5. Dance of Death by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Pendergast series)

Maybe for 2017 instead of trying to read more books I should try not to buy any more books? That’s probably better for me.

We’re on the halfway point for the year so here’s another reading update from me.

I am on track with my Goodreads challenge. I have read 26 out of my target 52 books. I will admit though that some are “cheat reads” like a couple of comic books. However, my strict reading time is doing me good so far. I was able to read 12 “real” books in my to-read pile. I am caught up now with Robert Galbraith’s books, so I am just waiting on the 4th one.

On the 2015 Reading Challenge which I continued this year, here’s an update of the 11 remaining tasks that I posted in my previous update.

1. *DONE* A memoir – I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
2. *DONE* A book more than 100 years old – Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
3. *DONE* A banned book (or previously banned) – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
4. A classic romance – Persuasion by Jane Austen
5. A book your mum loves – Find a book about The Carpenters?
6. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t – Noli Me Tangere
7. A book with antonyms in the title – Catch and Release?
8. A book with bad reviews – Bad Twin
9. A book from your childhood – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
10. A book with a love triangle – A Tale of Two Cities
11. A book with a colour in the title – The Color Purple

For the rest of the year, here are the books that I should finish:

1. Burn by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
2. Alert by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
3. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom
4. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
5. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
6. The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry (the next book in the Cotton Malone series. Maybe I should read a couple more from this series)
7. Broken by Karin Slaughter (the next book in the Will Trent series)
8. Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter (first book in the Grant County series. I first read the 5th book, not knowing it’s part of the series. I now have all 6 books so I should start with #1 this year)
9. When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block (Matthew Scudder series)
10. Burglars Can’t Be Choosers by Lawrence Block (first book in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series. I’ve already read 3 books from this series but out-of-order.)
11. Dance of Death by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Pendergast series)

I realized that one of the reasons I am buried in books right now is because if I like a book in the series, I tend to buy the rest of them. There are 6 series in my list above, and I already have all the books in the series waiting to be read! (Except the Pendergast and Cotton Malone series, but that’s like 3 or 4 books I haven’t bought yet).

I also want to put here to remind myself not to buy James Patterson books when they come out. I feel like he releases too fast now and some of his stories lately aren’t that great. So even though the latest book in Women’s Murder Club is already out, I’m waiting for the mass market paperback edition before I buy it. I am liking the Michael Bennett series though, so maybe that’s the one series I will splurge on.

I have a 1-year subscription to Marvel Unlimited which I bought last November, but I haven’t really used it until last week when I started reading some of the important Marvel events like Civil War, Age of Ultron, and Infinity War. I think it’s a good subscription because there are thousands of comics that I can read now from my iPad.

I am hoping I will be able to beat my reading challenge this year. Maybe 60 books read? I wish!

Time flew fast for me this year. 3 months have already gone, so let’s see how I am doing with my reading.

I only read 9 books so far. For this year’s Goodreads challenge I told myself I will read 52 books. That’s 1 book a week, and according to Goodreads I’m 5 books behind schedule.

Of the 15 remaining tasks in the 2015 Reading Challenge, I already did 4:

1. A book set in the future – Anthem by Ayn Rand
2. A book by an Author you’ve never read before – The Man With the Golden Gun by Ian Fleming
3. A book written by an author with you same initials – Cross Justice by James Patterson
4. A book based on a true story – The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi

So the 11 remaining tasks for the 2015 Reading Challenge are:

1. A classic romance – Persuasion by Jane Austen
2. A book your mum loves – Find a book about The Carpenters?
3. A book more than 100 years old – Louisa May Alcott
4. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t – Noli Me Tangere
5. A memoir – I am Malala / The Road Ahead
6. A book with antonyms in the title – Catch and Release?
7. A book with bad reviews – Bad Twin
8. A book from your childhood – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
9. A book with a love triangle – A Tale of Two Cities
10. A book with a colour in the title – Snow White and Rose Red: The Curse of the Huntsman (Kindle)
11. A banned book (or previously banned) – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Last week I started allotting 1 to 2 hours of strict reading time to improve my reading habit. I finished 2 books last week, so I guess that’s a good idea. Hopefully I can keep this up.

There are some authors that I follow regularly. When a new book of theirs comes out, I buy them immediately. Unfortunately, last year I’ve been very lazy with my reading, so some of those new books still sit in my bookshelves unread. I told myself to finish these books this year so that I am up to date with the authors.

1. 14th Deadly Sin by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro – done
2. Hope to Die by James Patterson – done
3. Cross Justice by James Patterson – done
4. Burn by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
5. Alert by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
6. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
7. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
8. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom

My target this year is to beat my Goodreads goal of 52 books, and buy less books! My TBR pile is at 316, so even if I don’t buy new books, at the rate of 50 books per year it will take me 6 years to read everything!

Happy New Year! It’s now 2016 here in the Philippines, so 2015 is officially over. With the closing of the past year, the 2015 Reading Challenge is also now over. I didn’t get to finish the whole list, but I am thinking of continuing it through 2016.

Here are the challenges I’ve done and the books I read, in order of when I finished them.

1. A book based on or turned into a TV Show – Alias: Free Fall by Christa Roberts
2. A book with more than 500 pages – The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry
3. A funny book – Stupid is Forever by Miriam Defensor-Santiago
4. A mystery or thriller – I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson
5. A book with a one word title – Gone by James Patterson
6. A book from an author that you love but you haven’t read yet – Cross My Heart by James Patterson
7. A book a friend recommended – The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
8. A book with non-human characters – Maus by Art Spiegelman
9. A graphic novel – The Walking Dead Book Nine
10. A book you can finish in a day – Once Upon a Time: The Shadow of the Queen
11. A book with a number in the title – 12th of Never by James Patterson
12. A book you own but have never read – The Associate by John Grisham
13. A Pulitzer Prize winning book – The Road by Cormac McCarthy
14. A play – Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
15. A book published this year (2015) – Solitude Creek by Jeffery Deaver
16. A popular authors first book – A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
17. A book that came out the year you were born – A Stab in the Dark by Lawrence Block
18. A book at the bottom of your to read list – Brimstone by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
19. A book of short stories – The Night and the Music by Lawrence Block
20. A book that was originally written in a different language – The Little Prince (originally in French)
21. A book that scares you – Maligayang Pagdating sa Sitio Catacutan
22. A book set in high school – Heist School Freshmen (Kindle)
23. A book you started but never finished – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (Audiobook)
24. A book that takes place in your hometown – Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan
25. A book that made you cry – Ask Him Why by Catherine Ryan Hyde
26. A book with magic – Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
27. A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit – Eight Million Ways to Die by Lawrence Block (set in New York)
28. A book by a female author – Kwentaxi by Juana Change
29. A book written by someone under 30 – Four by Veronica Roth
30. A book based entirely on its cover – Burning Girls (Kindle)
31. A book that became a movie – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
32. A non-fiction book – Very Good Lives by J.K. Rowling
33. A book set during Christmas – The Gift by Richard Paul Evans
34. A trilogy – The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories (Volumes 1 to 3)
35. A book set in a different country – Unlucky 13 by James Patterson (US)

Here are the tasks that I’m currently working on.

1. A book set in the future – Anthem by Ayn Rand

Here are my remaining challenges for 2016, with possible books (which might change).

1. A classic romance – Persuasion by Jane Austen
2. A book based on a true story – The Monster of Florence
3. A book your mum loves – Find a book about The Carpenters?
4. A book more than 100 years old – Louisa May Alcott
5. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t – Noli Me Tangere
6. A memoir – I am Malala / The Road Ahead
7. A book with antonyms in the title – Catch and Release?
8. A book with bad reviews – Bad Twin
9. A book from your childhood – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
10. A book with a love triangle – A Tale of Two Cities
11. A book with a colour in the title – Snow White and Rose Red: The Curse of the Huntsman (Kindle)
12. A book by an Author you’ve never read before – William Diehl or Brad Meltzer
13. A book written by an author with you same initials – James Patterson? Jean-Paul Sartre? John Sanford?
14. A banned book (or previously banned) – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

It’s the 36th Manila International Book Fair! It’s an event where dozens of publishing houses and book sellers come together at SMX Convention Center (beside SM Mall of Asia) to sell their products, usually with discounts. The event runs from September 16 (Wednesday) to 20 (Sunday), 2015. 2 years ago, I went on a weekend, and there weren’t a lot of choices for me. This year, I made sure I went on opening day, so that I had better options. Also, last time I was only looking for familiar books, but this time I got more adventurous and purchased Filipino books.

Ticket to the event is 20 pesos I think, 50% off on students, but I got my free ticket from OMF Literature (where I got my ticket last time). There are other publishing houses and book sellers that give away free tickets, you just have to search them online.

I arrived at SMX at 1.30 pm, and left at around 6 pm. Traffic wasn’t too good so I got home at around 8.30 pm. Very tired, but very satisfied!

Below are the books I purchased, grouped by publishing houses/book sellers. Asterisks mean they’re for the niece and nephews.

Anvil Publishing

1. Fast Food Fiction Delivery – (Original: P 220) P 176
2. Kwentaxi by Mae Paner aka Juana Change – (Original: P 175) P 140
3. My Penmanship – Nursery * – (Original: P 365) P 292
4. Soledad’s Sister by Jose Dalisay- (Original: P 275) P 220
   Total: P 828
   

Church Strengthening Ministry

1. For Richer & For Poorer by Chinkee Tan – (Original: P 400) P 100
2. Till Debt Do Us Part by Chinkee Tan – (Original: P 300) P 100
   Total: P 200
   

Fully Booked
– They provided raffle coupons for every P 500 purchase. I got 9 coupons. They’re going to give away 3 Samsung Tabs. Or something like that.

1. Deadpool Volume 1 – (Original: P 1,470) P 1,176
2. Divergent Series Boxed Set Hardbound by Veronica Roth – (Original: P 2,599) P 2,079.20
3. X-Men: Days of Future Past – (Original: P 1,720) P 1,376
   Total: P 4,631.20
   

Mindwerks – The Toy Shoppe

1. Creative Blocks * – (Original: P 350) P 315 x 2
   Total: P 630

Vibal Group*

1. Ang Bago Kong Kalaro – P 60
2. Ang Hardinerong Tipaklong – P 56
3. Big World for Little People – P 60
4. Elisa Explores – P 56
5. Halimaw – P 60
6. Handog Kay Isabella – P 60
7. Hayan na si Kidlat – P 60
8. Jose Rizal – P 52
9. Klekkluk – P 60
10. May Lakad Kami ni Tatay – P 60
11. Noah and the Great Flash Flood – P 60
12. Noong Nakaraang Taon – P 60
13. Piyesta sa Hardin ni Lola Benita – P 60
14. Si Puyinggot at si Puyanggit – P 60
15. Si Tak-Tu – P 60
16. The Empty Window – P 52
17. The Little Red Hen – P 48
18. The Proud Little Island – P 60
19. Uldok, The War Hero – P 56
20. Why Do Birds Build Nests – P 56
21. Why Do Squids Squirt Ink – P 56
    Total: P 1,212
    

Grant Total: P 7,501.20

I used my credit cards for my purchases from Fully Booked, Mindwerks, and Vibal Group, so I will feel the hit next month. I’m still undecided if I will come back. On the one hand, I want to go back and search for Filipino books. I was particularly looking for crime novels, but only found Soledad’s Sister from the list I made before going to MIBF. On the other hand, National Book Store will have another sale next week, in all their branches, so maybe I will just save my money for that one. And, the traffic going home from Mall of Asia was terrible, so I don’t want to experience that again any time soon.

Have you been to MIBF? What were your purchases?

I went to National Book Store’s Great Warehouse Sale in Crossings Department Store in Quezon City last week, August 16 (Sunday). Here were the books I bought:

1. Inside Larry & Sergey’s Brain – 1,049 -> 250 pesos
2. Twilight Saga Official Illustrated Guide – 995 -> 100 pesos *
3. 2 Tony Perez books – 50 pesos each, dunno original price
4. Eclipse Movie Companion – 695 -> 10 pesos! *
5. LOST Encyclopedia – 500 -> 250 pesos
6. Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Choir – 30 pesos
7. Hunger Games Movie Companion – 100 pesos *
8. Stranded 2: Trial By Fire – 285 > 30 pesos
9. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner – 100 pesos *

* for my sister

There weren’t too many great books left, since the sale started on Thursday August 13. And there were a lot of people since it was a Sunday.

My book haul from National Book Store’s Great Warehouse Sale. The Twilight books are for my sister. #books #sale #twilight #lost #google #filipino

A photo posted by John Paul Solatorio (@jaypeesol) on Aug 16, 2015 at 3:43am PDT

I went back to the National Book Store Warehouse sale this morning, but I wasn’t able to buy a lot books because I only had like 30 minutes to look around. The cashier line was also long. Next time I’ll go there on the first day. #books #sale #hungergames

A photo posted by John Paul Solatorio (@jaypeesol) on Aug 17, 2015 at 12:12am PDT