Meeting Mina in Singapore

Mina V. Esguerra, author of some of my favorite Filipino fiction novels, is here in Singapore for the weekend. She’s on vacation with her family and I was glad that she made time to meet up with me. We decided to meet in front of the National Library because their hotel was near there:

It was my first time to visit the National Library and I had to go inside to return (unread) books. Of course, I couldn’t resist borrowing some of the titles that I’ve been wanting to read:

Blame It On Paris by Laura Florand
Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson
The Secret of Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (our next YAckers read)

Let’s see if I can read all of these before they’re due. I really should visit the National Library more often! They have better stocks that the library near our flat. We had dinner at the nearby mall (sorry, no pictures of our Japanese dinner and cupcakes for dessert) and here’s Little Boss, Mina and me:

I’m so glad I got to see you while you’re here, Mina! Had fun chatting with you and M. Hope you enjoy your vacation in Singapore.

If you haven’t read any of Mina’s books, feel free to check out my reviews:
Fairy Tale Fail
Interim Goddess of Love, Queen of the Clueless
My Imaginary Ex, Love Your Frenemies
No Strings Attached, That Kind of Guy

You can even get Smashwords discount coupons through this link.

Blogger Meet Up: Maggie of Young Adult Anonymous

The other day I met up with my friend Michelle of See Michelle Read and yesterday, I was lucky enough to have dinner with another blogging buddy, Maggie of Young Adult Anonymous! I’m thrilled that I was able to meet two lovely ladies during my brief stay here in California. I had so much fun chatting about books with Maggie, no awkward silences at all. We talked about our mutual love for Megan Whalen Turner, some books and series that we recently enjoyed reading, the ups and downs of being a book blogger and so much more. We had dinner at Umami Burger, which I’ve never tried before:

We both had the truffle burger and shared the thin fries. The food was delicious. Even the umami ketchup was good and I’m not usually a fan of ketchup.

Maggie was nice enpugh to get me a signed copy of The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding when she went to the launch:

I can’t wait to read it! I’ve been hearing good things about this book and I love that it’s set in LA. It will probably remind me of my vacation when I read it.

After dinner, we stopped by Downtown Disney because Maggie wanted me to try beignets but unfortunately, the store was closed. We did stop by a Disney store and I was able to get postcards and a keychain:

I also took pictures of some of the artwork outside the Lego store:

All in all, a great way to spend time with a bookish friend. Thank you so much for meeting up with me, Maggie! If it isn’t obvious yet, I love hanging out and meeting book bloggers in person. I wish I could do it more often. If I was based in LA, I’d probably get an annual pass to Disneyland and join Maggie’s book club.

Just a note that I wrote this post on the WordPress app on my phone so I apologize if formatting is a bit wonky. I won’t have wifi access the whole weekend so I wanted to put this up before I lose connection from the interwebs.

Blogger Meet Up: Michelle of See Michelle Read

Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days, I’ve been busy getting together and catching up with family here in Southern California. My cousin had a lovely wedding last Friday and I’m so glad I was able to attend that special day. Anyway, I wanted to interrupt my blogging silence to let you all know about something that I’ve been waiting for since I started my blog a few years ago: I finally met one of my US blogging buddies in person! Before flying to the States, I sent an email to my good friend Michelle of See Michelle Read if it would be possible for us to meet up. She mentioned that she was about two hours away from where I would be but that she was willing to make the drive down. I’m thankful that she wanted to do that and we got to hang out today:

Michelle is just so nice – as if it wasn’t enough that she made arrangements to meet up with me, she also gave me this package (which includes a copy of The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty, one of the books in my wishlist. I though it wasn’t available in the US but she got a copy through PaperpackSwap):

We had lunch at Chick-fil-A because my cousins kept saying that I had to try that place. We kept talking about books that we’ve recently read, what are the ones that we loved and the ones that we thought were just okay. We also talked about books and authors that were all-time favorites. We gave each other updates on our lives outside of blogging and reading, which was nice because it made me feel like I got to know her better.

After lunch, we dropped by Barnes and Noble, where we kept pointing at books that we’ve read to ask “Hey, have you read this? What do you think of it?” We didn’t end up buying anything there because they didn’t have the books that we wanted.

We did get to buy some bargain books at the nearby Goodwill:

I had such a great time with Michelle. I told her that it felt a bit surreal to finally meet her in person. We both talked about how difficult it is to explain to other people how you develop friendships through the internet. I can’t even remember when I first started talking to Michelle online, I just know that we’ve known each other for years. Thanks again for a wonderful day, Michelle! I know I keep saying this but I wish I could go around the US and meet up with all of my American blogging buddies.

What Book Blogging Means To Me

The past few weeks have been really difficult for me in terms of keeping up with reading and blogging. I recently moved from Manila to Singapore for a new job and I believe this has been the toughest time that I’ve had, blog-wise. I’ve been in slumps before but I’ve never thought about quitting altogether, until now. But I didn’t and I don’t think I ever will because blogging means a lot to me. Even though I’m still struggling to find the time to squeeze in blog posts, I think it’s worth the trouble (who needs sleep, right?)

I’ve said this before and I will keep saying it – my blog is my happy place. It’s where I get to rant or gush about the books that I read and that’s something that I can’t do with my friends and family. They do understand that I’m passionate about reading but they don’t really get it like bloggers do. Through my blog, I’ve been able to connect with readers all over the world! I feel like I’ve made some real friends even though I’ve never met some of them in person. Also, it’s so good to find readers who share my tastes in books because that makes it a lot easier for me to decide what to add to the ever-increasing TBR pile. Most of the books that I read are recommendations from fellow bloggers. And can I just say how amazing it is that I’ve been able to reach out to authors through my blog? That’s something that still surprises me – I’m thrilled whenever an author replies to a tweet, leaves a comment on a blog post or says yes to doing a guest pot.

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive.” ― James Baldwin

I love this quote because it talks about reading opening up your eyes and making you realize that you’re not alone – the same can be said for blogging. It was blogging that taught me that the things that I loved the most were the very things that connected me with readers all over the world. I feel like my blog keeps me grounded because I get to focus on something that I love. It helps me unwind at the end of the day. I have a feeling that I’ll be a lot more homesick and more than a little lonely if I didn’t have my blog.

What does book blogging mean to you? Feel free to answer even if you’re not participating in BBAW this week.

BBAW Interview Swap: Mindy of Magical Urban Fantasy Reads

For today’s Book Blogger Appreciation Week topic, we get to host interview swaps! Now, this is a fun aspect of BBAW because we get to meet new bloggers. This year, my interview swap partner is Mindy from Magical Urban Fantasy Reads.

Hi Mindy, always nice to meet a new-to-me blogger! Based on your blog’s name, looks like you focus on paranormal and urban fantasy reads. What are your favorite books from those genres?
Yes, I do primarily read paranormal and urban fantasy, but I also read a lot of dystopian, post-apocalyptic and, recently, I’ve been reading a lot of sci-fi. I’ll give you some of my favorites based off of genre.

Urban Fantasy: Vampire Academy and Bloodlines by Richelle Mead; The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare.

Fantasy: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling; Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa; Wicked Lovely and Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr.

Dystopian/ Sci-Fi: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins; Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi; Divergent by Veronica Roth.

I haven’t read a lot of urban fantasy but I do love Ilona Andrews’ novels (and so do a lot of readers), would you happen to have recommendations similar to Ilona and Gordon’s writing?

I primarily read young adult (I’ve read very few adult) so, unfortunately, I have not read any of Ilona & Gordon’s books. I do have Ilona’s The Edge series sitting on my bookshelf, and I hope that I will get a chance to read them very soon.

Oooh I hope you get to read the Edge books soon! What are some the books that have stood out to you this year?

Insurgent by Veronica Roth; Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins; Embers and Echoes by Karsten Knight; Cinder by Marissa Meyer; The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa; Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris; and Eve and Adam by Katherine Applegate.

Can you give us an idea of what’s it like to be a blogger in your area? I’d like to know where you usually buy your books and whether you attend book events or meet up with fellow bloggers.

My favorite bookish events I’ve attended are: Smart Chicks Kick It Tour in Seattle, WA; NCIBA Conference in San Francisco; and ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA.

I attend a lot of book events in San Francisco. I live in Sacramento and the drive (without traffic) is about 2 hours. There are a handful of bloggers (and a few local authors) who attend those events, so I get to see a lot and meet a lot of bloggers when I go. A lot of times, the bloggers (and even authors) will meet up for dinner before an event, or go out afterwards. I have a few blogger friends who live here in Sacramento, and I carpool with them to San Francisco as well.

I purchase my books on amazon.com because that is mainly where I find the best deals. But I occasionally buy a book at the bookstores that host the events I attend.

First picture is a bookstore in SF that hosts a lot of events I attend. The next is a picture of one of the many awesome events they host that I attended. On the top row, the picture includes some of my favorite bloggers.
And the second row is authors: Bree Despain, Brodi Ashton and Cynthia Hand

The host at the event at Books Inc, allowed a few bloggers to interview an author 1 on 1 in the back room and I was able to interview Bree Despain.

Wow, you’ve been to awesome events! Blogging isn’t always fun because it takes a lot of time and effort – have you ever experienced a blogging slump and what did you do to get out of it?
I actually experienced a blogging slump very recently, and I just barely pulled myself out of it probably a week and a half, to two weeks ago.

I, for one, had to come to terms with what put me in that blogging slump. Mine were actually emotional reasons, reasons that put me in what I call “a funk,” and they had me pretty much hiding from the blogging atmosphere. Luckily, I have a few blogging friends who helped me snap out of it, and I’m determined to fight against it ever re-occurring with a vengeance.

Finally, this is something that I’ve asked in past BBAW interview swaps since I’m a Filipino book blogger based in Singapore – what are your thoughts about international book bloggers? Do you follow any foreign bloggers?

That’s one reason I’m so excited to get to know you!!! I think connecting with book bloggers all over the world is amazing! My first blogger friend outside the US was in England, and I found it extremely entertaining that when I would be saying, “Goodnight,” she would be saying, “Good morning.” And one of my favorite indie authors (who I talk to all the time), as well as quite of few of my blogger friends, are actually in Canada. Lastly, everyone needs to get to know Alba with Book Pics, she’s from El Salvador! She is hilarious, fun, and she has never failed to put a smile on my face!

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Thank you so much for the lovely answers, Mindy! Be sure to drop by her blog to check out my answers to her questions. Happy BBAW, everyone.

BBAW Kick Off: Appreciation

I’ve been participating in Book Blogger Appreciation Week the past two years so I couldn’t pass up the chance to join this year’s celebration. Today’s topic is this:

Appreciation! There are no awards this year, but it can still be hard to navigate the huge universe of book blogging. Share with your readers some of the blogs you enjoy reading daily and why.

I feel like I’m a broken record when it comes to highlighting my favorite blogs because I keep talking about the same blogs over and over again. Hey, I can’t help that they continue to be awesome. Just check my blogroll on the left sidebar and you’ll see the blogs that I regularly visit. In particular, I want to show my appreciation for three bloggers who have become read along buddies in the past year or so:

Holly of Book Harbinger

Janice of Janicu’s Book Blog

Michelle of See Michelle Read

I had so much fun doing those read alongs because we got to discuss the books in more detail than with just reviews and comments. We might not always agree on how we feel about all of the novels that we read but I feel like our tastes are pretty similar. Which is why I’m easily convinced to pick up a book when one of them recommends it. They also write insightful reviews that give me a better idea of whether a book will work for me or not. Be sure to drop by and browse through their blogs!

What about the rest of you, who are some of the bloggers that you love to follow? Happy BBAW everyone!

Bookish Event: The 1st Kwentillion Young Adult Reader Carnival

Remember Kwentillion? There’s going to be a bookish event this weekend in relation to the magazine:

Kwentillion Magazine, in cooperation with National Book Store, would like to invite fans and readers of Young Adult books to the 1st Kwentillion Young Adult Readers Conference, to be held on July 21 (Saturday), from 1-5PM, at the National Book Store Bestsellers branch at Robinson’s Galleria.

Learn more about the event over at Rocket Kapre. I would love to attend but sadly, I’ll be pretty busy in the next couple of days. I bet it’s going to be a really fun event. Hope you can drop by to check it out!

#Bloggiesta Finish Line

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to cross off all of the tasks in my to-do list for this weekend but I was able to accomplish several things:

• published several posts: Getting Excited About Reading and Blogging, a Postcard Love post and a Want Books post
• participated in the Goodreads mini-challenge hosted by Janice
• participated in the Facebook mini-challenge hosted by Liza
• participated in this old Backing up your Blog mini-challenge
• tweaked sidebar, changed the type of buttons that I use for social networking sites, had to make one for Goodreads to match the rest (they’re in the upper right corner of the sidebar for now)
• replied to the comments in my posts (not sure if this is counted since I always do this anyway and I’m still in the process of replying to everyone)
• dropped by other blogs participating in Bloggiesta to comment
• joined the Bloggiesta Sunday chat

I thought I’d have more time to spend on the blog this weekend but real life got in the way of things. There’s a long weekend coming up so I’m looking forward to working on more blog-related tasks even if Bloggiesta is over. My favorite thing this weekend is probably going through all the mini-challenges. I wanted to do so many of them but didn’t have enough time for everything! Oh and the Twitter chat was also a lot of fun. I’m glad I got to participate in Bloggiesta even if I wasn’t able to finish all of the things that I wanted to do. Again, thanks to Suey and Danielle for hosting this event! I’m planning to participate in the next one scheduled for September 28, 29 and 30.

Edited to add: here’s a print screen of what my blog looks like now (just so I have an idea because I keep changing themes):

#Bloggiesta Want Books: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Want Books? is a weekly meme hosted here at Chachic’s Book Nook and features released books that you want but you can’t have for some reason. It can be because it’s not available in your country, in your library or you don’t have the money for it right now. Everyone is free to join, just grab the image above. Leave a comment with a link to your post so I can do a roundup with each post.

Since I created my Want Books meme during the first time I participated in Bloggiesta back in 2010, I knew I had to put up a post this weekend. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer has been on my radar for a while now. I’ve heard so many good things about this book and other bloggers have mentioned that it’s something every book lover will enjoy reading. It’s also one of Elizabeth Wein’s inspirations for Code Name Verity, still my favorite book in 2012 so far. I also think I’ll like this book because I love getting snail mail. And look at that cover, it’s so pretty.

Here’s the summary from Goodreads:

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society — born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island — boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Looks lovely, right? I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy reading this. Just need to grab a copy. What about you, what book is in your wishlist?

#Bloggiesta Weekend: Postcard Love

I’m participating in Bloggiesta (hosted by Suey and Danielle) so I’m adding “Bloggiesta” to the title of all my posts this weekend. To those who are participating, hope you guys are having fun checking things off your to-do lists! I still have several on my list that I need to accomplish. If you’re visiting the blog for the first time or dropping by care of Bloggiesta, Postcard Love is a feature focusing on my enthusiasm for snail mail. Anyway, I was surprised to get mail this Saturday afternoon because I just received a couple of postcards the other day. This is what I received:

The two postcards on top are from Postcrossing – one from Germany and one from Thailand. If you love getting snail mail then I recommend signing up for Postcrossing. You get assigned to send postcards to random people all over the world and for every postcard that you send, you get to received one as well. Getting a postcard from Postcrossing is always a nice surprise because you never know when it’s going to arrive and where it will come from. The USA postcard on the bottom left is a Ladybird postcard that I sent to myself (yep, I send postcards to myself, usually when I travel or when I find a nice one that I’d like to keep). The orange card is another one from Steph! That’s three postcards this week from her – thank you, Steph, I hope you had a wonderful birthday and that you had a great time in Taipei. Last but not the least, the birthday card is from two lovely blog buddies Holly and Angie. Thank you for sending me something for my birthday, Holly and Angie! Love the camera theme of the card and how bright and happy it looks.