Booktopia is proud to introduce five books by newcomer Fox Literary House, Inc. Fox is made up of young writers and editors who want to make their own brand of quality literary work accessible to Filipinos. Sarah G., editor of Fox, dropped off samples of their books at the store last week with a letter introducing their books and their company. Of course, I had to look at the books right away. There is something very exciting about reading a new book that I know was written by a Filipino. I feel this way because there are so few local writers and publishers and I know that when a book gets published and is in my hands ready to be passed on to your hands, this is done against overwhelming odds with heaps of hope and enthusiasm. I wrote back and this is what I told Sarah G. –

My first impression of your books was that they were physically well-made. They looked and felt better in my hands than most local publications, although they are digest-type books so the covers tend to curl after several readings. The cover designs got my attention. The types/genres are interesting too. Just by looking at the books and reading the titles, I wanted to open and read them. I also think they are competitively priced. I just finished Palalim Nang Palalim and I liked it. (A good number of stories were actually creepy.) I started reading the Batjay book, which I also enjoyed, but I decided to pass it on to a friend I think will really enjoy it. (I particularly like the titles he puts on every page and sometimes it’s almost a game to relate the title to what’s on the page.) I look forward to reading the rest of your books.

The books are written by Filipinos and are mostly written in Filipino.

Sarah G. also adds in her letter that Fox authors are mostly writers and teachers from UP, Ateneo, and UST. Many have attended prestigious writers workshops and won literary awards.

Palalim Nang Palalim Padilim Nang Padilim
ni Beverly Siy (Ed.)
Mula sa tradisyon ng mga obra ni Gerardo de Leon, narito sa libro ang mahigit sa dalawampung maiikling kuwento ng kababalaghan at katatakutan. Sinulat upang ibahagi ang mga nakakahindik na pangyayari sa iba’t ibang uri ng sasakyan, sari-saring okasyon, at lunan, at ang mas malalim na usapin sa karahasan na madalas ay hindi pinag-uusapan.

Where Your Dreams Come True
ni Anna Ishikawa
Friend, huwag kang maniwala. Hindi totoong puro kalokohan ang laman ng utak ko. Gaya mo, punung-puno rin ito ng mga pangarap. Ako si Emily, simpleng dalaga, simple lang ang gusto. Ang makilala ang misteryosong lalaking napanaginipan. Yun lang naman.

Kaso, masyado akong busy sa pagse-xerox, pagfa-fax, pag-e-encode, pag-e-encrypt, pagtitimpla ng kape, pagtse-check ng appointments, pagse-xerox uli, at pagiging beautiful assistant ng may-ari ng isang travel agency para maghanap ng boys. Lalo pang dumami ang trabaho nang dumating itong bagong manager, na pogi nga, super antipatiko naman. Bagay sila ng maldita niyang girlfriend.

Dagta: Antolohiya ng Erotika
ni J. Luis Camacho (Ed.)
Iba’t ibang bagong tinig sa genre na erotika ang maririnig sa Dagta: Antolohiya ng Erotika – nakakalibog (dapat lang), nakakahindik, nakakakilig, nakakapagpa-isip, at sa maniwala man kayo o hindi, nakakatawa. Ang pantasya ng mga personang nagsisimula pa lamang diskubrihin ang mundo ng libog (at pag-ibig) ay nakakarating sa bagong mundo di lang ng laman-sa-lamang ugnayan kundi ng di maiwawaksing aspekto ng buhay nating mga Filipino ngayon. Nariyan lang sa kabilang kanto ang bagong kuwentong-libog at kuwentong-pag-ibig. Sa totoo lang, narito sa librong hawak ninyo ngayon.

Mga Kwento ng Batang Kaning Lamig
ni Nicanor David, Jr.
Ito ang naratibo ni Unkyel Batjay. Alanganing tula-essay-kwento ang mga akda. Mas malapit ito sa biographical creative nonfiction. Alanganin ang lumbay at himutok, na dinaan na lamang sa biro. Sa mga lumbay at biro naroon ang kaluluwa ng naratibo, ng pambansang naratibo. Kilala natin si Unkyel Batjay. Mahal natin siya. Ang kaniyang betlog ay sa atin rin. Ang kaniyang kulangot ay duming di natin naaamoy. Kung siya ay tayo rin, mahalaga nga ang kaniyang istorya. - Jun Cruz Reyes

Tres Amores
ni Layeta Bucoy, Ardee Sto. Domingo, Beverly Siy
Tatlong kuwento ng pag-ibig na tiyak na makapagbibigay ng kilig!

In Love kay Saddam
Si Isabella ay isang misunderstood na high school sophomore. “Saddam” ang tawag sa kaniya dahil sa mala-diktador na paraan niya sa pakikitungo sa mga kaklase. Lahat ay inis sa kaniya maliban sa isa, si Ziegler, ang romantikong binatang handang suungin ang kahit anong baha, makasukob lamang siya sas payong! Pero paano kung hindi tanggapin ang pag-ibig ni Ziegler, at tuluyan na siyang sirain ni Saddam?

Hambog na Pag-ibig
Matapos ang ilang taong hindi pagkikita, nagkatagpong muli ang magkababatang sina Sofia at James. Ngunit, sa pagkikita nila, agad na bumalik ang mga alaala ng lungkot at pighati: nagkahiyaan, nagkatampuhan, nagkunwari na lang na hindi magkakilala. Magkabati pa ba ang dalawa, o mananatiling limot ang masasayang alaala?

Express Makati
Kumplikado ang kani-kaniyang buhay nina Charisma at Russel: may boyfriend at anak na si Charisma habang hirap naman sa commitment si Russel. Pero what if magkasundong magkita ang dalawa? Isang araw lang. May mabubuo bang pag-iibigan o maglalaho ba ito sabay ng paglubog ng araw?

Miette’s Bedtime Story Podcast is a site where you can listen to or download audio versions of stories by authors like Truman Capote, Anton Chekhov, Rudyard Kipling, and more. Miette reads the stories herself (with an accent she does not feel she has to explain). And just like being read to while in bed, the person reading to you sometimes has a drink of water or clears her throat; in the background you can hear a dog barking.

Listen online or or better yet, download to your mp3 player or telephone. Convert the file and copy to CD and play it in the car. There’s no excuse not to “read” anymore.

There are links to similar sites from Miette’s site like Librivox, Maria Lectrix (public domain audiobooks six days a week - for people with Catholic tastes), and LoudLit, among others. Librivox has a larger database of stories and books as its aim is to release all books in the public domain in audio format. It’s Project Gutenberg that you listen to. You can even volunteer to read a book if you want.

El Ateneo (taken from argentinastravel.com)

I read an article recently about the most beautiful bookstores in the world. On top of that list is Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen in Maastricht, which is a bookstore inside what used to be a Dominican Church. View some pictures here.

Another bookstore is the El Ateneo in Buenos Aires, a bookstore in what used to be a theater. Pictures and a description here.

Both really, truly are beautiful settings for books. Ah, to be a bookstore that looked like that.  If you have a grand old church or theater you can spare, please let us know.

British newspaper, The Times, released their list of the 50 greatest British writers after the war.  Read more here.

J.K. Rowling will be the commencement speaker at Harvard University this year.
Read more here.
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Christopher Paolini’s third book in his Inheritance series, “Brisingr”, will follow in the footsteps of the Harry Potter books and have a midnight release on September 20 this year.
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The website Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books has exposed numerous similarities between romance novels by popular romance writer Cassie Edwards and works by other authors.
Read more here.
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In the comicbook world, a bizarre twist in the story of Spider-man and Mary Jane Watson. The two decided to split up to save the life of comatose Aunt May with the help of Mephisto. This reader has not read the current storyline and does not yet know what purpose it serves to erase the memory of their marriage or why two characters who are in love would decide to strike a deal like that with a very evil character to save the life of a woman who has already lived a very long and full life. It does make life easier for the comicbook writers because, according to the editors, an unmarried and youthful Spidey was a better hero for them to write about. Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-man, thinks it is a storyline that is creative and will generate a lot of interest.

Terry Pratchett, fantasy author, has been diagnosed with a form of Alzheimer’s disease at age 59.

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Amazon.com buys one of only seven handmade copies of J.K. Rowling’s book of fairy tales, “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” for £1.9 million. Proceeds of the sale of the book written and illustrated by Rowling will be donated to The Children’s Voice, a charity the author co-founded.

Jiang Rong, author of Wolf Totem, was awarded the first Man Asian Literary Prize. The Man Asian Literary Prize is the Asian version of the Man Booker Prize and one of its objectives is to bring Asian authors to the world literary scene. Our own Butch Dalisay was one of those shortlisted for the award for his novel, Soledad’s Sister. Mr. Dalisay’s blog includes an excerpt from Soledad’s Sister which will be published soon.

Other links: The Man Asian Literary Prize

• Oprah Winfrey chooses “Love in the Time of Cholera” as her next book club selection. A feature film based on the book is also set to be released next month in the United States. The novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez has always been a bestseller at the store. We are expecting a new batch of mass market paperbacks of the novel to arrive soon.
• The Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature will be announced on October 11. On the shortlist are: Claudio Magris (Italy), Les Murray (Australia), Philip Roth (USA), Thomas Transtromer (Sweden), Adonis (Syria).

Back in February, we hosted a book launch for Heartbreak, a collection of short stories from Cozy Reads Publishing. We are happy to announce that the young publishing company has come up with its second title (of a trilogy), another short story collection called “First Love: Unforgettable Stories of Getting Weak In The Knees And Falling.”

This cozy read is just as nicely printed as the first one. It has a shiny cover with eleven stories on thick creamy paper inside. Of the eleven, I enjoyed That Familiar Hand by Celestine Marie Trinidad the most. Of course all the stories are about first loves and this one was about that first feeling between two people in their sixties. Here is the complete list of eleven stories and authors:

Project Uno by Elyss G. Punsalan
- Three random words from the story: serendipity, returned, sign
That Familiar Hand by Celestine Marie Trinidad
- First line: His handwriting seemed vaguely familiar.
Room 101 by Belen Morabella
- The only line in italics: Why can’t you forget him?
Summer Interlude by Chona Suner-Narvadez
- Musical acts mentioned: Marilyn Manson, Black Sabbath, Mozart
A Certain Quality by I. P. Goze
- Theme song: Could It Be Magic by Barry Manilow
A Kiss Is A Kiss Is A Kiss by Karen Manalastas
- Lola says: Don’t be too hard on him.
What Ever Happened To…? by Sally Magdiwang
- Last line: Huy! Excuse me, are you still listening?
Meeting at San Agustin by Ana Maria S. Villanueva
- Last line: He didn’t ever want to let go.
Love, Digitally by Jason Paul Laxamana
- Online handles: Midnighter, Porkyupine
The Seatmate by Raymund P. Reyes
- Symptoms: daydreaming, loss of appetite, singing, restless tossing, pimples
Note to Self by Isabel Reoja
- Advice: Go for broke.

“First Love” is edited by Faye Ilogon.

Her A Wrinkle in Time was one of the first science fiction books I read. It was also one of the first books that upon reading the last page I found my heart and my mind exploding. This is the only way I can describe finishing a book with your heart beating fast and your thoughts going in every direction. Her books made the world seem bigger and the possibilities endless. She wrote with excitement, wonder, and compassion. We will miss her.