This meme is hosted by the official Filipino Reader Conference site to promote the 1st ever Filipino Reader Con on September 14th.
Introduce Yourself: This being the first topic, let’s all get to know each other better. Tell us what kind of reader you are. What are your favorite genres and books? Who are your favorite authors? Do you have a comfort read? And what’s the best book you’ve read so far this year? You can also include links of where other readers can find you online, such as your book social networking sites, etc.
I was raised on Pinoy Funny Komiks. I thank you. Bow.
Kidding! But yeah, I read that a lot when I was a kid. 😛
I read mostly YA, fantasy, science fiction, and some alternate history and historical fiction.
My favorite authors are Neil Gaiman (too awesome to be described further), J.K. Rowling (no further descriptions required either), Scott Westerfeld (I like him; he’s quirky), Brandon Sanderson (he’s hilarious and his brand of fantasy always turns up pleasant surprises), Jane Austen (classic! <3), Michael Crichton (dense science stuff, but I love it!), Margaret Weis (her stories are epic!), and Rick Riordan (he’s funny and his books are fun).
When I need a break from going through my To Read pile or from the books that I have to write about, I like picking up certain books to re-read: Pride and Prejudice, Memoirs of a Geisha, or any Harry Potter book that suits my fancy. I really don’t know why, I just do. Kinda like I occasionally just have to watch Sabrina (the Julia Ormond/Harrison Ford version) or The Holiday.
Ummm… yeah. Moving on.
I think the best among the books I’ve read so far this year is Brandon Sanderson’s The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) followed closely by Scott Westerfeld’s Behemoth (Leviathan #2).
You can learn more about my reading exploits here on the blog or over at Goodreads, where you can get an almost-page-by-page account of what I think of what I’m currently reading.
That’s it! I look forward to getting to know more Pinoy readers! 🙂
~*~*~*~
Featured Front Page Image Credit: Frank the Comic by Ryan Estrada
The Girl Who Read and Other Stories 
CHEERS FOR NEIL GAIMAN! There are times, people say to me that Gaiman is boring. I’m, like, WHAT?! He’s that awesome, can’t they see that? Haha still reading his novels one by one, then his graphic novels (if I can afford na :p).
I remember the first time I read Scott Westerfield when I was in high school, he just released Pretties that time and I didn’t know that it’s the 2nd book but, I can’t believe that I still remember the story, the scene and some characters! There is something with Westerfield. :DD
thanks for the heads up with other authors you mentioned! I’ll definitely read them if I’ll be able to have a copy 🙂
Thanks for dropping by, Ishay!
Gaiman is not for everybody, I think. It always takes me a while to get into his books, esp. Anansi Boys and American Gods; I really had to work to get through the first quarter of those books. What I like about Gaiman is the way he uses certain words to express his ideas–there’s just something about it that sets him apart from other authors. But I can see how people might think he’s boring. I think you really have to get used to his style first, so I normally recommend the easier books like Stardust or Coraline to first timers.
Re: Westerfeld – I will admit that I haven’t read The Uglies Series yet. I’m a huge fan of his Leviathan series, and I’m currently in the middle of Midnighters. I think I’ll tackle Uglies after I finish Midnighters and after Goliath comes out. 😀
Have you tried listening to Brandon’s writing podcast, “Writing Excuses”? When you listen to the interaction between him, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler, I think you’ll see a lot more of that humor you like.
I’ve been meaning to finally read the entire Mistborn trilogy now that the new novel is coming out, but I think I’ll hold off on Behemoth until Goliath is released 🙂
I haven’t listened to Writing Excuses yet. I am currently home-computer-deprived, so I can’t download the audio files.
How far have you gotten with Mistborn? I had to go hunting for the last 2 books so that they’ll all be the same edition as my Book 1, so it took a while, but I’m going to start with Book 2 soon. 🙂
I love Gaiman. And Memoirs of A Geisha, too. 🙂
Nice to meet you. 🙂
It’s great to meet you too, Monique! Sorry I’m unable to comment on your post. My firewall does not like Blogger.com. 😦
I just bought a copy of A Game of Thrones, but I haven’t started it yet. I’ve gone ahead and watched the HBO series, though. Have you seen it? 🙂
Yay Meann, thanks for joining Filipino Friday! We share some similar favorites – Gaiman, Rowling and Sanderson (although I’ve only read Elantris). Love Austen too and I’ve started to read a few Austen retellings this year, let me know if you’re interested and I’ll recommend some titles. Have you seen the BBC Pride and Prejudice mini-series? I think Colin Firth is perfect as Mr. Darcy. I like that series a lot more than the movie.
I know from our Twitter conversations that you’re also a fan of YA and I really hope you can find a copy of Anna and the French Kiss soon. 😛 LOL let me know also if you want more contemporary recs. See you on Twitter!
Thanks, Chachic! Re: Austen — Sure, rec some retellings! They’re fun. I’ve only ever read Me and Mr. Darcy. I’m trying to find Shannon Hale’s Austenland.
Re: BBC — Yup, I’ve seen it. My friends and I had an Austen In The Den marathon of the 1940s P&P, the BBC series, and the Keira movie. The BBC series is great, yeah. It’s the most accurate one too, I think, among the adaptations. While Colin was awesome, I’m partial to Matthew Macfadyen for some reason. Oh, have you heard Matthew read an excerpt from the P&P book? *swoons*
Re: Anna and the French Kiss — Definitely on the lookout. Lots of people have recommended it to me na. I’ll ask you for more recs after I read that and a couple of John Greens. 🙂
Yes to Shannon Hale’s Austenland! I’ve seen several copies of those from Multiply sellers. Other than that, you can also try Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field. 🙂 The Fortune Family is a Persuasion retelling, if you’re interested in that.
Have you seen the BBC mini-series for North and South? I haven’t even read the book but I LOVE that series. I ❤ Richard Armitage.
I saw several paperback copies of Anna and the French Kiss in the Fort branch of Fully Booked when I was there last weekend. You can give them a call at 858-7000 (yes, I have their number memorized).
Re: Austenland – It’s gonna be a movie na, yay! 🙂 Sige, will also keep an eye out on the other retellings.
Re: North and South – Haven’t seen that series nor read the book.
Re: Anna – Yay! Thanks for the number, I’ll likely ask for a transfer to the Greenbelt branch or to Bibliarch. 😀
I’m a huge fan of Gaiman and Austen, too! And I reread Pride and Prejudice often as well. I like Rowling and Riordan. Have great respect for the latter since I know he’s a teacher who meant to write something that reluctant readers, especially male reluctant readers, would want to read.
I’ve never really read Sanderson. Was reading your twitter discussion yesterday and it’s made me interested. Glad to have met you, Meann!
Thanks, Honey!
Riordan is a librarian as well, I think. Imagine if we had teachers and librarians like him! Literature classes would’ve been a lot more fun. 🙂
I came across Sanderson by accident because I don’t read The Wheel of Time. I think I just visited his website once when a friend tweeted the link, saw that he had a free novel up there and read it. That was “Warbreaker,” which was the subject of the Twitter discussion. It was hilarious, but it was also a good fantasy novel. I started to collect his books after that.
I’m glad to have met you too (sort of). I look forward to reading your answer to the meme. 😀