(Today’s column)
Some people collect shoes, others collect trinkets, I collect books. See, I have a bad habit. I can’t seem to pass by a bookstore without buying a book. And since I buy books faster than I can read them, and because I tend to read what seems to be the most interesting at the moment, it is inevitable that some of them would get pushed to parts of the bookshelves that require a high chair to reach.
Before marriage and motherhood, when I had the luxury of time, I painstakingly cataloged my books so that I’d know if something was missing from the shelves – a natural reaction, I suppose, after discovering how many books were no longer there what with the constant borrowing by friends whom I have since lost touch with.
After marriage and motherhood, and having moved five times since 1991, I have lost so many books and it pains me that I’ll have to buy new copies if I want to reread them and if I want to introduce my daughters to them. Some of these lost books I had to give away due to space constraints; others were left unpacked for years, in boxes in the garage, and humidity took its toll on them. It’s been over 17 years since I got married and it looks like the constant moving is finally over. After we moved to this house last July and I started unpacking what was left of my books, I swore I would start the process of cataloging them again.
I am starting with an initial list of six books, some of the ones on the shelf right above my computer desk but these are not necessarily the ones I bought most recently. After I finish with the books on this shelf, I will move to those in other parts of the house, including my daughters’ bedrooms. The books that I have read contain my personal notes. What I haven’t contain only a description from the books’ back cover.
1. Nefertiti: Unlocking the Mystery Surrounding Egypt’s Most Famous and Beautiful Queen by Joyce Tyldesley (Penguin Books). My personal note: A scholarly book, rich in details and incorporates archeo-medical research. For someone like me who is not very well versed in Egyptian history, it was a struggle to read and I felt that the only way to get through this book was to have a dozen other reference books by my side. And that was just to keep the names and periods straight.
2. The Soong Dynasty by Sterling Seagrave (Harper Perennial). Description: “Sterling Seagrave describes for the first time the intricate and fascinating rise to power of Charlie Soong and his children: daughters Ai-ling, who married one of China’s richest men, H. H. Kung; Ching-ling, who married Sun Yat-sen; leader of China’s republican revolution; May-ling, who married Chiang Kai-shek, the autocratic ruler of Nationalist China whose ties to the Shanghai underworld the author has documented; and son T. V. Soong, who at various times serves as Chiang’s economic minister, foreign minister, and premier…”
3. Henderson’s Spear by Ronald Wright (Picador). Description: “Olivia is writing from a Tahitian jail, piecing together her troubled past and her family’s buried history for the daughter she gave up for adoption years before… ponders the meaning of the secret journals she discovered after her mother’s death… [of] Frank Henderson, a British naval officer who, as a young man, came to these same waters a hundred years before. What unfolds are twin tales spanning the globe and history, reaching back through the turbulent waters of Olivia’s family…”
My personal note: I bought my copy of Henderson’s Spear in a book sale for P50 and I must admit my bias in picking the title. I love any story that involves the South Seas. I was expecting romance and swashbuckling adventure but what I got was much, much more. Beautiful story. Beautifully written.
4. The Constant Gardener by John le Carré (Pocket Star Books). My personal note: Unlike the romantic film version, the novel is very political and has more punch. It is the story of a British diplomat whose activist wife was murdered after she threatened to expose the conspiracy involving drug tests conducted on poor Africans and how governments turned a blind eye in anticipation of profiting from the drug as the test subjects died from side effects. The author claims, “By comparison with the reality, my story [is] as tame as a holiday postcard.” You are free to research on your own whether the author exaggerates. I have done my own reading and noted down some of my observations in the column “Exploiting Poverty” (October 11, 2008) The bottom line: Le Carré was not exaggerating.
5. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins (Black Swan). My personal note: The author is a biologist. I loved his arguments and the way he presented them. The book is something every thinking man ought to read with an open mind to understand why religion is not necessary for the existence of a moral man.
6. Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot by Antonia Fraser (Anchor Books). This is what I am currently reading. Description: “With a narrative that grips the reader like a detective story, Antonia Fraser brings the characters and events of the Gunpowder Plot to life. Dramatically recreating the conditions and motives that surrounded the fateful night of 5 November 1605, she unravels the tangles web of religion and politics which spawned the plot.”
If you have good books to recommend, ones that won’t fry nor freeze my brain, I’m open to suggestions.
Hi. Long time lurker – i’m reading And the Money Kept Rolling In (and Out) [Wall Street, the IMF, and the Bankrupting of Argentina] by PAUL BLUSTEIN that is “gripping” although since a bit intellectual, i have to read only a few pages at a time; also finished Sex,Time and Power [How women’s sexuality shaped human evolution by Leonard Shlain. The latter combines science and historical theories, it was great! blew open the dusty cobwebs of ideas about evolution for me.
Wow, both sound interesting. But especially the first title probably because I found Den of Thieves so interesting. I hope I can find both. Thanks, t0ni.
naipon na rin ang to read books ko simula nang lumipat kami sa amerika. nakaka bobo talaga tumira roon kasi wala ka ng time.
ngayon, may long trip ako kaya may chance magbasa habang nasa eroplano at airport. dala ko yung “The Thief of Always” ni clive barker, “the reader” ni bernhard schlink and finally (i am pretty sure you’ll like this dahil pareho tayong demonyito) “The Year of Living Biblically” ni aj jacobs.
Jay, “The Reader”? Yan ba yung ginawang movie starring Kate Winslet? Re “The Year of Living Biblically”: I’ll buy that. hahahahaha Seryoso, am surfing the sites of Powerbooks and Fully Booked already.
oo, si winslet na nga yung cover sa edition ng librong nabili ko.
si jet nag recommend sa akin ng “…living biblically” dahil according to her, “i am one of those people who can relate to books that does not take the bible too seriously even if the person who wrote the book literally took the bible seriously.”
or words to that effect.
I tried cataloging our books when I was in college. Put stickers on them and tagged them as a library would. I never finished. Good luck on your project, Connie!
Ah, reading. I’m an addict. I can’t end the day without reading. I’m halfway through Joshua Ferris’s Then we came to the end. It’s hilarious. The author paints a very vivid picture of what it’s like to work in an office for billable hours. I’m also reading Neruda’s Cien sonetos de amor. Cataloging, huh? That sounds like a lot of work. I just divide my books into novels, poetry, and the rest, doesn’t matter the language.
Hmm..I’m interested in reading “The God Delusion.” Will have to look for it at the library.
Hey connie, are you on LibraryThing?
Ako naman po hilig ko magcollect ng mga pinoy na nasa abroad at may blogsites, hehe. Kasama po kau sa aggregating site na KA-Blogs or Kabayan Blogs sa http://thoughtsmoto.blogspot.com under US Region.
Everytime you post a new blog entry nasa pinakauna kau. Sana po marami pang pinoy magpalista kasi libre lang po ito.
I am fond of collecting books too, more of inspirational type like Og Mandino and Stephen R. Covey at Book of Virtues.
Micketymoc, no… kasi I was thinking of creating a sub-blog for my book catalog.
Mr. Thoughtskoto, ummmm… I’m in Antipolo, not in America…
Well I’m really fond of reading books, especially inspirational ones. But this 5 days, starting today, I need to force myself to read 2 books! The Animal Farm by George Orwell and The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. Not only do I have to read it but I have to analyze it.. Don’t get me wrong I am very fond of these books but it is totally required in our 1 subject. Not only these books shall I read but also EL Filibusterismo and 1984 by George Orwell and do the same thing as the former. Hay, I don’t know If I can get through it. These are mind boggling books. But I do recommend for you Mam Connnie to read The Prince if you haven’t read it and you can just watch The Animal Farm the movie. It is all about power politics..
Also the book of Paulo Coelho “Veronika Decides to die..” It is a very amazing book about life..
Ah, books. They have become my instant “English-speaking friends” upon migration to a non-English-speaking country.
All the best in your book cataloging project! It’s a very tedious task, but will all be worth it.
I’ve lost so many copies of great books (e.g. “Like Water to Chocolate” and “Gone with the Wind”), which I had loaned to friends and officemates in Pinas. Never again! Books here in Switzerland are bl**dy expensive (excuse the language).
Connie – I am an American male, early 50′s married to a lovely Filipina. We live in Japan now, but plan on retiring to Manila (Malate area) in a few years. I really enjoy reading your blogs. You are one smart lady with a keen insight into the crazy world we live in nowadays. I was wondering if your demographics are mainly male or female? Keep up the great work!
Both. And thanks.