A Quick Ballscratching: A Post About Books

It was also July 25 last year when I posted this. That’s purely coincidental. I have less number of books on the list this year compared to last year. But I’m busier and got more writing gigs than last year. So let’s just leave it at that.

My Little Nook and Mini-Library

Why I am blogging about this again? Primarily to encourage myself to keep on reading, because there are zillion of books out there I haven’t known and read yet. And I want them all, or at least hoard as many as I can, read them, sleep with them, know the characters who live in them, live their worlds, breathe the air they breathe, witness their suffering, see their lives go to pieces, watch them put their lives back together, a sweet dose of shock of recognition after shock of recognition, facing challenges and overcoming hurdles, backing away and heading on, leaving me hungrier and thirstier, as I reach out for a cold bottle of Red Horse, and a hearty smoke outside.

Damn good books do that to you, and you’re damn glad they did.

So nothing’s change with my target. The goal is still to read 100 books this year. It could be biographies, how-to books (very rarely these days), and novels. Mostly novels are on the list this time. It’s a very short list, too. But still a list and I love a reading list especially when there are new authors in them. I’m happy to see them there because that means I’m making some progress. Qlso vhey make my list a bit nicer.

Again, I am far behind from hitting my target, much far behind than last time, coincidentally, also July 25 when I posted it. Oh, I've said that already? Wtf. Must be the Red Horse. But, you see, list like this is good. I mean it’s good to see some efforts you put into it, unless you're just creating a fake list. Mine isn't a fake list. It's honest list of an honest reader, who loves to list books he's read and see if he's exerted enough efforts, good enough efforts to pat his back and scratch his balls just for the heck of it.

So here are the books I’ve read since the start of January this year:

1. The Paladin of the Lost Hour (Harlan Ellison)
2. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Haruki Murakami)
3. Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins)
4. Dubliners (James Joyce)
5. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (Judy Blume)
6. Galloway (Louis L’Amour)
7. Mockingjay (Suzanne Collins)
8. Kafka On The Shore (Haruki Murakami)
9. The Sky-Liners (Louis L’Amour)
10. Woody Allen: A Biography (Eric Lax)
11. The Art of the Deal (Donald Trump)
12. Neuromancer (William Gibson)
13. The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)
14. Here Comes, There Goes, You Know Who (William Saroyan)
15. Rickles’ Letters (Don Rickles with David Ritz)
16. Now and Then (Joseph Heller)
17. To Have and Have Not (Ernest Hemingway)
18. The Big Sleep (Raymond Chandler)
19. Farewell, My Lovely (Raymond Chandler)

Enough for ballscratching, I’ll stop here. If you have some things to say, just anything, let me know on the comment below. If not, just go away.                                   

Threading the Murakami Landscape

Reading Murakami brings back that feeling I had the first time I read Gabriel Garcia Marquez (One Hundred Years of Solitude). Both writers when you've just first read them dare you to think they’re full of shit, with all their mystery, magical realism and other frigging realm where people are mugged, raped, get laid, and marked. Yet you couldn't stop reading them.

You want more of their shit, and when you’re finished, you realize the joke is on you, and you get an unmistakable feeling that those wicked authors are laughing at you somewhere, and you cannot but love them for making that joke, and admire their wickedness as well.

Drunk with the ideas they put on the pages make you want to pillage bookstores and spend your last penny on their books, only if you really want it. I don't really want it.

That’s why if my sister reads this (only she doesn't read anything I write), the post explains why I drunkenly threatened her one time (actually a lot of times) to buy me Haruki Murakami books. I read Murakami's two colossal books (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka On The Shore) this way, and those of Gabriel as well. Both authors are simply magisterial in their own magical way. And as you know, dear reader, I dig everything magisterially magical.

Other books I've read since January:

The Paladin of the Lost Hour (novelette) by Harlan Ellison
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Dubliners by James Joyce
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Galloway by Louis L’Amour
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Sky-Liners by Louis L’Amour
Woody Allen: A Biography by Eric Lax

Books I’m reading right now:

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White (First time that I really enjoy reading a book that has something to do with grammar rules. As you know, I hate it since Elementary. Maybe that’s something to do with that cranky old teacher we had in Elementary.)

The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump (Need to read this for my day job.)

Books on my queue (actually, it’s frighteningly long, but here are just five of them):

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, Neuromancer by William Gibson, Fifty Years of American Poetry, A Passage to India by E. M. Forster, and Now & Then by Joseph Heller

Sleep well tonight, my internet darlings.

Impulse In The Afternoon

Brewed coffee, tall, luv, said to the girl.

I settled warmly on a comfortable chair and examined my treasures. One of my life’s deepest regrets is that I read books very late in life. No one ever told me it’s important. I was already in college when one afternoon impulse made me pick up a book I found in a dusty library. I was 17. I’ve never stopped reading since then, playing catching up. And there’s a lot to catch up.

I bought James Joyce’s Dubliners and Mozart, a biography by Maynard Solomon, in Booksale.

Impulse brought my legs to a Jag boutique. Doted on some new designs of tee shirts. But decided I need no new shirts. So glimpsed for the nth time at the woman behind the counter, sighed and got out. Same impulse (or was it a new one) said to my brain, hey, Brain, how about a new notebook and pencils. Said right. So went straight to National Bookstore, passed a P100 below books sign, ran my eyes over the titles. Eyes stopped at Frank McCourt’s Teacher Man for only P99. I had a copy once which I gave to a good friend, bought it for P245. Tempted to buy a new copy but I don’t like buying books I have already read. Put the book back on the shelf, saw Hermione Lee’s Biography of Edith Wharton and bought it.

Found the notebook I was looking, a small cutter, and a set of Mongol 2 pencils. Paid for them at the counter and started hunting for a good coffee shop to spend the afternoon. I found a cozy place called Coffee Dream.

Plain or flavored, Sir? asked the girl.

Plain. Make it extra black, luv.

Sharpened a pencil, read some pages of Joyce and a blurb of Mozart's biography. Put the book back on the table, tasted the brewed, and commenced to write.

Impulse in the afternoon is the dog's bollocks...

IOU A Post Internet

Arrived an hour from SM. Withdrew some cash, bought my vitamins, a can of powdered milk, and two books. One is a biography of Woody Allen by Eric Lax. The other is a novel by Norman Mailer, The Gospel According to the Son.

I was thinking of filing some articles this evening, but I don’t feel like doing it. I read Watchmen instead, which goes without saying is much greater than the movie. Cripes, I should have read the graphic novel first, then watch the movie. But I keep doing things backwards. A handicap.

I was not reading much the past weeks. Except plenty of comic books. I finished one fine book though, which I think deserves a whole post. The book is called Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. Don’t be discouraged by that title as I was when Louie told me about this book. It took exactly a month before I picked that book again, and read it till wee hours in the morning.

If you are like me, you should read the book. It can do you good. It has done me some good, to say the least. Because we all deserve better in life. And because of that book, I now have a plan, which I am now really hoping to achieve, one day at a time. But these things are best for another post.

I still did not finish reading Look Homeward, Angel or rather I stopped after reading half of that thick book, and put it back to the bookshelf. Speaking of bookshelf, I fail to mention it in my last post that I have a new bookshelf. I finally have a decent shelf for my books which some of them were damaged by dampness and pests (sigh!).

That’s that for now. Need a smoke outside. When I get back, I’ll watch A Clockwork Orange. If I like it, which I think I will, I’ll go find the book. Also saw The Bridge of San Luis Rey last night, and have yet to read the book. Yes, I am doing everything backwards these days.

Miscellaneous: Quick Shopping, Graphic Novels, Books, Centrum & Magic Potion Cup

This should have also appeared in the previous post, but it had gone too long. So I decided to make a separate one. Because I want this blog to appear like I update it regularly, and also because I was in a hurry that time.

The thing is I wrote A Boned Life, Books, Comics, & My New Job (Yay!) in Neotopia, an internet café you usually found in malls. I was in SM that time where, after I published said article, I had a quick shopping. When I said quick shopping, it means buying these sorts of things below that have kept me going as a poor wordslinger.

If you are like a doomed-souled troglodyte like me, a Hierophant of the Church of Awesome, an epitome of Machiavellian proportion if you will, your existence will not be as closer as living in The Sprawl or tasting a life of a well-off Coruscantian, and your life will be cut off short, without a regular supply of these great lores, or at least it is in my case:

Yes, kids, aside from my nightly glass of milk, I also take Centrum after breakfast. I bought 3 graphic novels (or so I thought they were all graphic novels) at discounted prices. Two novels at 15 pesos each. One written by Louis L”Amour, the other is by E. M. Forster. There’s a green neat cup right there which was purchased at only 82 pesos. Also just click on the picture to see it bigger, and awesomer!

These are three graphic novels. One of them I found out at home is not. Guess which one? It’s author is one of my latest discovery. Although I’d always heard of his name mentioned with great reverence in the nerd world, I’ve just started to devour his great tales of awezomse.

Say hello! to my water-slash-coffee-slash-gin cup I now use in the office. Isn't it a beauty? Will drink my daily dose of magic potion from it. Especially when the Boss is not around. Now, maybe you want to tell me about some special things that have kept you going everyday, or maybe about your cup too?

A Boned Life, Books, Comics, & My New Job (Yay!)

After some writing stints in various companies (8 all in all) for almost 3 years, I am once again in this mood to re-examine my life. Like that old fish in a story told by David Foster Wallace, I ask myself this question: So, Jonas, how's the water? Well, there's only one word to describe it: BONED. Yes, boned water. Go figure.

Also here are some updates of latest happenings since my last post:

Read two books

1. The Tombs of Atuan (Ursula K. Le Guin)
2. Side Effects (Woody Allen)

I was quite busy this past two weeks. I wrote my last article for Rambo, which he will probably hate or love (that depends on his mood). And last July 30, Friday, was a blast night with my former officemates in Kitteric. Here, let Xan tells you the story. You’ll love her blog, too. I'm especially digging this:

I... remember him coming to the office ever so timid and silent, smoking a stick or two, and wearing the most decent clothes among us all, he looked boring to me. But it didn't last long, thank jeebuz! The real Jonas was pretty much an alcoholic and talks of so many things in a span of, oh I don't know, let's just exaggerate it to 5 minutes. He's got tons of stories to tell, books to share, and words that sends me to look them up in google.

Xan's story complete with pictures explains why that Saturday morning didn’t do well for me to open a book. And I just realized again that two cappuccinos and a couple of biogesics won’t go well with a hangover, or maybe still don’t enough. But I may again forget.

The hangover was still with me till Sunday. The rest of the day was spent trying to stay sober till evening, and succeeded, of course. Monday was my first day on the new job. So you can surely get the picture. I did finally find to chuck some minutes to read the second book of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle in the weekdays.

And I have to tell you, Woody Allen’s Side Effects is pure hilarious. But still, in my opinion, the man is a lot funnier and more wicked in movies.


I am now again starting to read Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe. Maybe this is the best time to read him. I am also nibbling some pages of Tribute, a true treasure to me, thanks to Genica for this great gift. Also gave her one of my favorites, Frank McCourt’s Teacher Man.

Read 15 comic books

Yes, kids, I am an awesome hoarder of comic books. And I don’t want to finish them off in just one go. That wouldn't be proper. The best thing to do with comic books is to consume them one dose at a time. You have no idea how it weakens me trying to keep myself from taking more than two comics a day. I have to control my impulse. And I tell you, it takes a lot of discipline.

Put up a new blog about SEO

I know it would be a boring site to keep. But when I started toying with the idea in my head, I was surprised when I find my self loaded with ideas to put there. I already have some rough drafts in my laptop that I’ll soon publish there. I am also reading blogs about passive income. Maybe writing articles about SEO content is my best niche to generate some dollars in the internet. Yes, Internet, you can’t keep me from getting rich someday.

Got a new job

My 8th job in three years since I left the university. This time I am the staff writer of Live2Sell Group of Companies. I average 7 articles a day and I think I can improve on that. I am targeting to produce 10 500-word articles, SEO techniques applied, per day. The company pays me higher than my previous jobs in the past, and I can still do some freelance writing on the side.

It’s early yet to tell, but I love the location and the environment in the office. The Boss seems a good man, too. I also work with an awesome team of SEO specialists. SEO people are best kind of people in the world. I have never met one whom I don’t like, except perhaps the one side of Rambo when he’s on one of his epiphanic moods, which could turn you to stone or bore you to death as they put it, deluding himself to think that he is the fricking Justin Bieber of SEO. Maybe he is. Or at least he has that spirit.

A Tale of Two Piles

You see, I started late. I was not much of a reader till one book changed all that. Said book led me to another, and then that another to another till it's too late. I am hooked and became aware of the gaping horrible void in my life. And I think only through reading the great lore of awesomese can save me from total self-destruction.

Those two piles above show the earnestness of my goal to read 100 books this year. I have yet to get past that number since I discovered my passion for reading only in college.

Like any virgin bloke to reading and with no one to guide me which one is a good read and which is not, I read any books available in a library near me. Or when one good soul told me that I could find cheap books in Booksale shops and when I have enough money to buy them, I would pick ones that have fancy titles and covers in them regardless of who wrote them. More reading made me wised up a bit, and became more informed, biased, and a little intelligent in my taste on books.

That said, here are the books I've read so far since the start of the year. Apparently, I'm much behind schedule but there’s still enough time I think to catch up.

Since January 01, 2010

1. If You Really Want To Hear About It (Edited by Catherine Crawford)
2. Capote: A Biography (Gerald Clarke)
3. The Dark Side of Genius (Donald Spoto)
4. My Lost Mexico (James Michener)
5. V. S. Pritchett: A Working Life (Jeremy Treglown)
6. Siddhartha (Herman Hesse)
7. Of Human Bondage (W. Somerset Maugham)
8. A Moveable Feast (Ernest Hemingway)
9. 21 Great Stories (Edited by Abraham H. Laas & Norma L. Tasman)
10. Walden and On Civil Disobedience (Henry David Thoreau)
11. The Greatest Salesman In The World (Og Mandino)
12. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
13. A Century In His Life: Alexander Solzhenitsyn (D. M. Thomas)
14. Waiting For Godot (Samuel Beckett)
15. Where Angels Fear To Thread (E. M. Forster)
16. F’D Companies (Philip J. Kaplan)
17. Catch 22 (Joseph Heller)
18. Welcome to Hard Times (E. L. Doctorow)
19. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (Stephen King)
20. 99 Novels: The Best in English Since 1939 (Anthony Burgess)
21. A Portrait of The Artist as Filipino (Nick Joaquin)
22. Education of a Wandering Man (Louis L’Amour)
23. How The West Was Won (Louis L’Amour)
24. The Ferguson Rifle (Louis L’Amour)
25. Scott Fitzgerald: A Biography (Andrew Turnbull)
26. A Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula K. Le Guin)
27. Tropic of Cancer (Henry Miller)

Second pile comprises of some classics I've missed and contemporary books that I want to read. This is only a short list. I still need to find more books to include in it. If you have some titles in mind, kindly drop me some lines in the comment below.

Thanks guys as always for reading.

What do you read?

Been trying to catch up with my reading quota this year. My goal is to read 100 books before the end of 2010. To keep me going I'd occasionally buy supplies of good books from Booksale, or from other regular bookshops.

Some days ago, I went to La Belle Aurore, a modestly well-stocked bookstore located just about 600 meters away from our office. I walked that distance out of a whim, originally thinking of eating my lunch when I found that I wasn't really hungry for food, but of something else. So I skipped lunch and went to La Belle and was very lucky to find a rare copy of Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour. A good rush of delight swept over me. I've been trying to find that book for months and finally held it in my hands and would never part with it come hell 'n high water, till I claimed ownership to it. Mon, that's the name of the bookstore gay assistant, who is kind and very helpful, asked me if I have any particular author or title in mind. I doubted her at first if she knows John Cheever or Louis L'Amour, or Education of a Wandering Man. But she proved me wrong and commended her for it when she got me just exactly what I wanted and then more. I paid for Education of a Wandering Man. Also bought two of Louis L'Amour novels How the West was Won and The Ferguson Rifle, and Yondering, a collection of stories. While at it, I wasn't able to resist temptation and took two more books from the shelf. One is A Biography of John Cheever by Scott Donaldson, the other is A Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald by Andrew Turnbull.

It was raining hard when I got out from the bookstore. But the owner (whose name I should remember) was kind to offer me a cardboard which he procured from a stockroom somewhere and gave it to me. It would at least help you not to get too wet when you reached the next corner, he said. I said thanks and went my way with the books securely wrapped in cellophane.

The thick cardboard did help a lot.

After dinner, I took a quick bath, dressed, and commenced to reading Education of a Wandering Man. It tells about the author's journey to educating his self by leaving his home, his 10th grade school, for good, at age 15. He became a nomad and traveled the United States, embarked to many travels around the world as a seaman, and explore various places and times through his omnivorous reading. He said to have read over 20,000 books. Cripes, that's quite a lot.


(This post is still in progress. Will write some more after I eat my dinner and drink my milk. Thanks for following my own little journey to awesomeness.)