A Bookstore of My Own

Was browsing at Dymocks this afternoon and in the space of ten minutes I found 8 books I wanted to buy. And this was at the bestsellers and classics section alone. It's always like that when I'm at a bookstore. Joaquin cheerfully told me to buy the books I wanted since I looked so sad when we left, but when I asked him for money, he shrugged and showed me empty palms. He promised to build/buy me a bookstore of my own when he's older. I can't wait (gleeful rubbing of hands here).

Why didn't I purchase the latest Stephen King, the 3 horror books with deadly-sounding titles and cover pictures, Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Count of Monte Cristo, you ask? If you check out my bedside table, there are 8 books there I haven't even begun to thumb through. If some people are "takaw-mata/tingin" when it comes to food, then I'm the same way when it comes to books...and yes, sigh, food as well. So sue me.

On my table, some bought secondhand, some borrowed, some brand spanking-new:

The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren
for the times I need to learn a lesson or two about life and its conundrums
Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King
from Maya, whose eclectic taste in books I so admire. she lent me two of my most enjoyable reads in the past year: The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon and The Alienist by Caleb Carr.
Will and Me by Dominic Dromgoole
from Mida, another friend whose heavyweight taste in books are so varied. she reads the heaviest, deepest, most intellectually stimulating pages ever published. wish I had her patience, understanding and smarts.
The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh
i love reading about exotic locales and cultures. it ignites the adventuress/heroine in me. this one is set in Burma. also enjoyed The Kite Runner and a book about Bhutan. when I was in high school I hardly slept for a week finishing The Far Pavillions by MM Kaye. and I got to watch the DVD recently hooray! Ben Cross is so dashing. British India is so romantic. and brutal too.
Daughter of Heaven by Leslie Li
Asian-American writer. writing about family, heritage and Chinese food. delish.
Fried Eggs with Chopsticks by Polly Evans
travel. China. a Westerner. in China. funny. need I say more?
Love and Friendship by the incomparable Jane Austen
why did I ever waste so much time reading Mills and Boon, Barbara Cartland, Loveswept, Harlequin, Jude Deveraux and her like when I was younger? Jane Austen's Persuasion, Emma, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, now that's what I call romance.
Aphrodite by Isabel Allende
sex, food, eroticism, love, recipes. my kind of book.


When I'm stressed out I need easy reading. Not shallow, but light-hearted and entertaining nonetheless. Some good choices: Bel Canto, The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure, The House of Blue Mangoes, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.

Which reminds me. North and South, the BBC miniseries, is for me, the best, most "nakakakilig" romance ever. No sex scenes. No nudity. Just one tender kiss. Smoldering eyes that hint of passions within. And Richard Armitage. Check him out. I rest my case (dreamy-eyed look here along with fluttering butterflies in stomach and increased heart rate).

wonder what hubby will say about that last sentence? heehee