Love the title: New James Bond Book

    Synopsis from Amazon.com:

 Devil May Care is the newest installment in the iconic James Bond series. The book will be released worldwide on Ian Fleming’s birthday, May 28. Written by novelist Sebastian Faulks, Devil May Care is set in the cold war, picking up where Fleming left off in 1966 with Octopussy and The Living Daylights. Faulks, writing as Ian Fleming, has created the perfect continuation of the James Bond legacy. Devil May Care features all the glamour, thrills, and excitement that one would expect from any adventure involving Bond . . . James Bond.

Hit or Miss? 

Go on a book treasure hunt!

       Bookcrossing.com is a website for book swapping or book hunting. The idea is that you can advertise your books for sharing and leave your books in a specific location where other members can find them. I found this website from a magazine months ago but haven’t got the time to try it out.

   There have been no books swapped in the Philippines yet. If you are able to try this book-swapping system already, please tell me if it works and what books were exchanged. Thanks

Summary from the website below

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Good Grief

       I got suckered into reading The Year of Magical Thinking by journalist Joan Didion because I was drawn to the title because The Year of Magical Thinking seem to oddly define an experience I been through. Then, I opened the book and realized it was an autobiography of Didion’s grief over her husband’s death and her daugther’s sickness.

         The writing is indeed solid but too heavy for my taste. However, I realized how tough it is to be a woman because they put meaning in everything. Anything can set them crying from specks of dust, a postcard to a whole city. I can’t imagine myself living in such hypermania. 

       Then, to add to their extreme sensitivity, life decides to give them the responsibility of raising a family. It is a meltdown just waiting to happen but it surprisingly doesn’t occur. This leaves me with nothing to do but greet all mamas out there a well deserved HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

The Year of Magical Thinking is available at National Bookstore

Official Play Website: The Year of Magical Thinking  

Will it be a Bright Shiny Morning for James Frey?

         Two years ago, contraversial author James Frey was Oprah-fied for fabricating his autobiography about recovering from substance abuse. He is now seeking real life redemption with his upcoming book Bright Shiny Morning that is now properly labeled under fiction. The new book looks like another redeption story about lost addicts trying to find salvation in Los Angeles.

   I have nothing against James Frey because I loved A Million Little Pieces. However, I think that it is a cheat to call Bright Shiny Morning as his debut into the world of fiction when his other two books were fabrications.

    Anyway, let’s see if the public and Oprah has already forgiven James Frey for toying with their emotions when his new books comes out this May 13.

Author Website: James Frey

Neil Gaiman’s Alphabet Adventure

     If you are a fan of Neil Gaiman, you must know that his favorite child now is his work called the The Graveyard Book. He has been plugging it a lot in his frequently updated blog.

 However, if you can’t wait for it, Neil just published his latest children’s book with Gris Grimly called The Dangerous Alphabet. It is odd that he didn’t even mention when he dropped by Manila late last year. I guess he is thinking that The Graveyard Book will be his cash cow so he is focusing all his energies on that project.

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Yeah, I am a Book Geek…

   You’ve officially reached the height of book geekiness when you’ve read…

    The book is a compilation of interviews from the San Francisco Literature magazine called The Believer.  I think you can inject a gallon of geekiness to your veins if sentences like

   _{Writing is physical for me. I always have the sense that words are coming out of my body…I can even hear the words being written.}

 seem to thrill you. What’s the geekiest thing you’ve read? Feel free to leave comments   below.

Bookmarks

        The Bookshelf wants to know how do you like bookmarking your favorite reads? The bookmark above records how long you have been reading. I personally don’t use bookmarks or time my literature. My quirk is that I usually start reading at beginning of a chapter  and  stop when that chapter ends.  How about you? Do you time your reading habits?  Do  you make dogears? Tell us all about it!