10 Books

List 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don't take more than a few minutes and don't think too hard-they don't have to be "great" works, just ones that have touched you. Tag 10 friends, including me so I can see your list too.

1. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

2. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

4. A Breach in the Watershed - Douglas Niles

5. A Song of Ice and Fire - George Martin

6. Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan - Bob Ong

7. Brida - Paulo Coelho

8. Eleven Minutes - Paulo Coelho

9. Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Salman Rushdie

10. Para Kay B - Ricky Lee

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PS. Facebook survey yay! This section is not really part of the survey. I'll just talk about why I've chosen the ones listed above.

I'm not really a big fan of reading. Cause. I. Read. Too. Slow. Like I can read a 21 page chapter in 2 days. Partly because I get distracted easily... I have an attention span of 11 minutes, prolly like Luka Khalifa from Salman Rushdie. Also, the only time I get to read is during my trip to the office. That's like a 45 minute travel time. It's good that I don't have motion sickness though. So that's rough 4 breaks in between readings to check my notifs.

Anyway, as you can see I read mostly fiction. I don't like inspirational or self-help books. If I need to get motivated I'd talk to someone rather than just read it. I'd get the chance to talk it over than just swallowing what the author feeds us.

The Little Prince is a novel for grownups and non-grownups. It's a fun and colorful adventure for kids, else it's a really emotional story for adults.

I only read one book from Douglas Niles but that probably hooked me with the fiction series. I haven't ready any Dragon Lance novels though. The closes thing I have are stories from video games... Final Fantasies and Xenogears and Breath of Fires. Those sort. Anyway I've been tracking down the rest of the books in the trilogy from Douglas Niles. Maybe what hooked me with this is not just the story itself but the eagerness to find out what happens next. It's out there and I need to find it. Luckily I got to find those at a local Book Sale, after 10 years or so. 

I'm a big fan of George Martin so instead of writing all five in the list, I listed the entire series. Because it's a good read. Plus he gets to describe meat and mead like a food blogger, maybe even better than some.

I didn't put in Dan Brown because although I like how he writes, he usually frustrates me in the last chapters of his novels.

The only novels I've read of Coelho are the 3 above. There are a couple others he'd written which are probably better. But I felt I've connected with the three. Searching for your personal treasure, your soulmate, and your inner light. Haven't found them. I'm still searching.

Bob Ong is funny. On his first book. The rest took me a while to read because it felt he was trying to be funny and witty and whatnot but felt short. Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan felt like a 90s Shake Rattle and Roll. It was exciting and creepy. I'd like to see that in a movie format. Maybe in an indie format, not the trashy kind Mother Lily or Star Cinema produces.

I've read Perks because I felt I'm one. A wallflower. Maybe I connected except for the sexual abuse part. Charlie is weird and he expresses himself through writing. Plus, I loved the film version. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite! In hindsight, doesn't that film feel kinda Rebecca Black Fridayish in a way?

Para Kay B. A mixture of emotions. It started sad. Then sad and weird. Then just plain weird, and funny. And then funny. And then hopeful. After reading through all five stories you'd hope for a better ending. But then you'll think that's your life. You are all five of the stories. Because life is a B, bitch! Bakit nga ba dinedevastate ng pag-ibig ang 4 out 5 sa atin? Dahil may natitira pang 20% hope. Umasa ka lang.

Photo by shutterhacks via Flickr.