what will this day be like, i wonder. what will my future be, i wonder ;-)

happy tuesday to all, and to all a goodnight [or a good morn?] ;-)

Monday. Still praying for inspiration.

Cleaning out my shelves again, in preparation for digging into writing the next coffeetable book

multi-tasking on a sunday: bookmooch, facebook, twitter and researching for my next book project. life is good!

friday night at home, yay!!!

xfm is a great road trip companion. Love the monday mix

George Benson's Gonna Love You More sets the groove for the day... Nice and warm and easy

so far, so good. Normal traffic flow. Aurora Blvd nice and easy

Just another traffic wednesday

quick massage does wonders for a terrible back and headache... thank God for helping hands.

Cataloguing my books using cuecat, and trying hard to let go of some ;-)

kettle chips spicy thai flavor waiting for my midnight indulgence... weekends are for me!!!

An Invitation to Bookmooch

Been mentioning Bookmooch endlessly in most of my posts here, so I thought I would share with you how we whet up the appetites for mooching in this part of the bookmooch world. Hopefully, this will mean one, two or more new bookmoochers in the Philippines or the rest of the world.

The whole concept of Bookmooch is giving books you have and finding books you want. For bookworms, this is a great way to 'let go' of our fondest treasures because you are assured that your book is going to a new 'home', and just being dumped in a cold dark place [exaggeration for emphasis]. While the normal transaction is 1 book for 1 point if a local mooch or 3 points for international mooches, the more creative bookmoochers have devised promos and contests to spice up our mooching life. This is also a great way to make more friends and interact with fellow bookworms on a more personal basis.

In the Philippines this has meant that we have had mooching parties timed on special occasions. The first was our Halloween party, then a quick early Christmas get-together in November and the latest was our New Year bash which had the highest attendance of 30+ folks. 

The event is fun-filled with lots of food and goodies, mooching sessions, book swaps, the signature bookmooch jeopardy game and in the last party we even had a book auction to raise funds for our favorite Philippine bookmooch charity, the Quezon City Public Library. Click on the links to see what bookmooch parties are all about in the Philippines. 

So this time around, I have decided to start the new year by cleaning out my inventory through a promo. I am offering highly wishlisted books and bestsellers as a free giveaway for a corresponding number of mooches. Hopefully a great way to move my inventory and share great books for practically free. Some of the premium titles I am offering used to be on my bedside table [Thanks for the pix, Blooey!], but will eventually find their way to a new home.

Take a look at these offerings, and maybe you too can sign up... 

2009 CLEAN-OUT PROMO

Have 60 books left in my inventory, and would like to clean out. Following Blooey’s format, offering wishlisted titles, bestsellers and smaller size coffeetable books for the corresponding number of mooches as indicated. Plus free libreria bookmarks and scented highlighters, while supply lasts.

Mooch now!

Mooch 3 books and get 1 of the following:
1. Every Book Its Reader, Nicholas A. Basbanes, trade paperback, NBS Booksak
2. A History of Warfare, John Keegan, paperback, brand new
3. Great Novels of Jane Austen, paperback
4. The Portable MBA, hard cover
5. Boutique a 60s cultural phenomenon, Marnie Fogg, paperback

Mooch 4 books and get 1 of the following:
1. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak, hard cover
2. Lost, Gregory Maguire, trade paperback
3. Widdershins, Charles de Lint, trade paperback, like new
4. The Medici Conspiracy, Peter Watson, hard cover
5. Off The Cuff, Carson Kressley, hard cover

Mooch 5 books and get 1 of the following
1. The Historian, Elizabeth Kostovo, hard cover
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini, trade paperback, brand new
3. The Decoration of Houses, Edith Wharton, paperback, brand new
4. The Greeks & Greek Love, James Davidson, hard cover, brand new
5. Something Rotten, Jasper Fforde, hard cover, brand new

My Living Challenge

Just realized I am all set for the year with my many reading challenges, and the more important living challenge is as of yet undefined. While I made a simple promise to share the blessings in every way, every day, there are little things that will make the sharing even more fun.

One, I will see my floors and my tabletops again, there are way too many books and things in my house and in my shelves and in my closets. Letting go and sharing the blessings.

Two, I will learn new things: to make me more mobile, to have a more versatile menu, to go out of my comfort zone.

Three, I will be healthier. Whether I like it or not, the gym beckons, and perhaps the dance floor could be a more fun option.

Four, I will travel, oh yes. Greece in May, and New York again in the fall, who knows.

Five, I will always be thankful and I will always remember. Best friends never forget.

Guess you could say this is how I feel right now...
There are places i'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends i still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life i've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When i think of love as something new
Though i know i'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know i'll often stop and think about them
In my life i love you more

2009 Reading Challenges

When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.

In 2008, even as a reluctant unspoken good-bye was finally said, a torrent of hellos came rushing up to me in the form of the books that found their way into my home in the latter part of the year. One love lost, and a lost love found. Fair trade, I would say.

And the torrent has taken over with much cooperation from me. Among the finished reads in the last two months were Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, the first two books of The 39 Clues, John Dunning's Booked to Die, Seth Godin's Tribes, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book [my first Gaiman read!], Leonard Elmore's 10 Rules of Writing, and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. All magical works that reminded me why I opened a bookstore and why I love books so much.

So in 2009, to channel the continuing torrent of books, I have chosen to participate in reading challenges. These are well-defined reading tasks with specific quantitative or qualitative targets, sometimes focusing on genre or authors or a mix, depending on the creator of the challenge.

My chosen challenges are

- The Year of Readers
- The Rescue Challenge
- 1% Well-Read Challenge
- 50-Book Challenge on Library Thing
- The Olympic Challenge: London 2012

Will be blogging more about these challenges as the reading progresses. Found my way back home to me by getting lost in the world of books.

A Year of New Eyes and Quiet Industry

That is how I see this new year. A chance to enjoy my renewed reading energy and map out the how and the where and the why of what lies ahead.

The journey over the last few years has been larger than life, lit up by lights too bright to see what is real and true. Last year, the lights dimmed and things got back to normal, so wonderfully simple, down-to-earth and all-real. What a blessing to finally be comfortable in my own skin, blissfully surrounded by family, friends and a world of books. And to have lived and loved with everything you've got.

So this year, the task is to stick to the real and the true. To find one's way and to continue to make a life worthy of the gift of life itself.

This year I promise but one thing: to share the blessings in every way I can.

Taking on the reading challenge

It's 3:10 in the morning of January 1, 2009. And I finished reading The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren. What a great way to start this exciting year.

I have been pretty quiet over the holidays, took the time to settle down and breathe, take stock and be happy about this life I am living with gusto.

So to start the year right, I have also signed up for The Year of Readers, which raises funds for reading charities around the world. For every book I finish reading, I pledge P100, roughly US$2.00, to help a selected charity which I still have to work out.

My reading challenge journey is recorded at Shelfari. But I will be posting longer "reviews" here.

How nice to be able to help out while doing one of my most favorite things in the world --- getting lost in a book.