Twelve Books and Eight Backstories (My 2008 Book Log)

I read more than 12 books this year, but I guess some of them fell into the category of "trashy," as Rica and Jaja called them back in college. So, here are the dozen that I really enjoyed:

Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andre Makine

Q&A by Vikas Swarup

Saturday by Ian McEwan

White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
The Complete Works of Mark Twain
The Shining by Stephen King
Zorro, A Novel by Isabel Allende
Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa
The Time of the Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa
Windows of the World by Frederic Beigbeder
The Noodle Maker by Ma Jian
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

In awards night fashion, let me summarize the books with one liners: an ode to a Russian grandmother, a lucky Mumbaikar slum dweller accused of cheating in the country’s biggest TV game show, a usual weekend of a London family gone awry, the machinations of a country boy on his way to India’s elite, a father’s seasonal job in a picturesque Colorado hotel gone morbid, a collection of one of the world’s greatest literary geniuses, the adventures of a well-loved swashbuckler, a successful woman returns to her native Dominican Republic to confront her dark past, teenage Preuvian military academy brats commit a mistake with grand repercussions, various lives of people present in an iconic restaurant before its literal fall, the melancholic lives of a blood donor, a poet, and the people around them in China, and a young, rich Afghan boy ruins his servant with effects to last them their whole lives. There! Now, some things that I remember about them:

· Most expensive of the list: The Kite Runner at PhP250.00, bought at National Book Store Superbranch, Cubao (4th floor, with the other Brit bookstore overruns); Cheapest: Dreams of My Russian Summers, bought at Booksale Goldcrest for PhP45.00. The White Tiger is not included as it was a gift.

· My copy of The Kite Runner was borrowed by Alvin, who a week later, figured in a hold-up incident in the Baclaran Area. According to him, he surrendered his backpack to a big, burly man with a gun. My book was in that backpack. Geez, I wouldn't wonder if one day, I'll just see some big, burly guy using my signature while reading The Kite Runner. All I can say is, a good read does not, and should not discriminate, hold-uppers included.

· I finally got to finish a full novel in Spanish, thanks to Ms. Allende. Yes, it took eight months for me to finish it, but it was worth it, albeit headaches and my trusty Bantam Spanish-English dictionary growing dog ears. Also, I had to settle who I wanted Zorro to be in my imagination - Christian Meier, the current Latinamerican telenovela version, or good 'ole Mang Tonio Banderas. Good thing I got to finish the book before my mind would entertain thoughts of Richard Gutierrez being Zorro as he would be in the upcoming Philippine telenovela. Lo siento, Richard G., pero Zorro es un hombre, no es un niño. Oh yes, hardbound copy was bought in the kasagsagan of NBS Cutprice 2007 for PhP99.00 and has been gathering dust until April of 2008.

· Mario Vargas Llosa has this penchant for broken timelines and lead characters narrating which is so messy for someone like me, who prefers order in his novels' narratives. Both Feast of the Goat and Time of the Hero proved to be challenges which ended with me feeling rewarded for braving 'em both.

· Yes, as much as I devoured anything Stephen King in high school, The Shining, was, for some universal glitch, the only book I haven't read. That is, until last year. My eyes were transfixed at the shiny, shimmery cover of the paperback copy I bought at Booksale MCS for PhP65. I downloaded the movie and saw it first before reading the book, and the book still wins, although the movie had its merits, being Kubrick-directed, Nicholson-starred and all.

· Q and A was one book I've always eyed in Powerbooks and Fully Booked years before, and I my hands got into action faster than you can say "Slumdog Millionaire" when I saw a copy of it December 2007 in the discount bin of Powerbooks Megamall. I read it in New Years and was confident that the book was movie material. Fast forward November and I began seeing teasers of a new Danny Boyle movie about an Indian slum dweller who wins in a game show. That got me superduperexcited. After watching the movie, I have to say there's no comparison (considering the storylines diverge at some point). Both movie and book are tops on my list. Tip: I saw another copy on sale in Powerbooks Megamall for PhP200++ last month. It's probably gone by now.

· The White Tiger is a Christmas gift from the best person in the world upon my oh-not-so-subtle hints that I haven't seen a copy of the Booker Prize winner in a local bookstore and all ebooks are crappy. Come to think of it, this is my 6th (?) Booker Prize book, the others being: The English Patient (bought myself), In the Line of Beauty (bought myself), The Inheritance of Loss (given by Angelo), The Life of Pi (given by mom), and Midnight's Children (bought myself).

· Only last year did I finally recognize Mark Twain's genius. And what genius it is. I was so entertained by Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. For 100 bucks, not bad… not bad at all.