Foot and Fire

Ghosts by Daylight Janine Di Giovanni Memoir, 2011 When everyone at one time or another dreamed of becoming an archaeologist, thanks to Indiana Jones movies, I, dreamed of becoming a war reporter though international news is far and wide then. I was in high school when the Bosnia and Herzegovina happened and it opened my eyes to the bitter consequences of war. While I read memoirs about lives while the wars were on-going, this is the first time that I got hold of a love story between two war reporters. Their love story started in Sarajevo. What I liked about the memoir is that how the author makes her function as war reporter seem so easy and natural to her, and the settling down and creating a home as difficult as it can get for her. It all lies in her honesty.  I also liked how the author and her spouse wanted to have a child who will bring them to a state of normalcy. Both struggled to put on their new roles. The author survived the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder be...

Stieg (From Activist to Author) Jan-Erik Petterson Translated by Tom Geddes I have not read the novel or seen the movie on any of the Millenium Trilogy by Swede author Steig Larsson. A friend once offered to send me the three crime thriller novels but I declined as I got no burning interest for novels and I don't want to stack books which I probably not read.  But now that I got a closer look at the journalistic/ activist/ political life of author Stieg Larsson, understood the historical milieu of Sweden through this book, I got interested with the novels. Steig Larsson died of heart attack in 2004 and his books were posthumously published and they became popular and turned into movies, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), The Girl Who Played with Fire (2012) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (2013) and the Swedish versions in 2009. This book is not really a biography written by Steig's Swede publisher because this book defines the public and political li...

The Fly Trap Fredrik Sjoberg Translated by Thomas Teal Translation Copyright 2014 Pantheon Books, New York, 278 pages I don't want to admit this but I was trapped like fly to the storytelling of the author. After I finished reading The Fly Trap, I wanted to put names to the birds that visit our subdivision these days, they were varied. This is our second year in our new location. My sister thinks that our place is a birdpath for migratory birds. My theory is whether the presence of varied birds is connected to the activity of Mt. Kanlaon which is in Warning #2 for a long while already. Plus, I can't see Mt. Kanlaon right now from our place because it appears to be surrounded by clouds or replaced by clouds from my point of location. Last year, I definitely looked far because I can see Mt. Kanlaon with vivid outline but now, all can see are the white cottons with mix of blue or black depending when it shines or about to rain which may be clouds or ashes or smoke or mixt...

I still read nonfiction from time to time but I am now fascinated with nonfiction that I bought memoirs, bios and autobios at the recent BIG BAD WOLF BOOK SALE in Cebu City, all for myself. Here, I'm sharing to you my provisions for the next two years, hahahahha!! Oliver Sacks is a classic read. BBW carried other titles there, though not all of his works (I can't find his bestselling The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat!!!). So I chose Hallucinations and An Anthropologist from Mars. He was a physician and taught neurology. I read reviews of his books in Brain Pickings and saw the movie Awakenings (based on Sacks' book of same title) which features Robin Williams as Sacks. I can't wait to start even one book of his. If i can, i'll pick up Hallucinations first. Now, I'm hallucinating that I can do that real soon. Stanley, The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer by Tim Jeal.  Who does not love Africa when one was still small and full of wonde...

Furiously Happy (A funny book about horrible things) Jenny Lawson Picador 2015, 329 pages I bought this book in order to have a peek with what a depressive, anxiety-filled blogess can share so I can have a little understanding about her journey in life. I am committed to finish because I know the reason why I bought this book in the first place. First, she's a pain in the ass. One has to have patience for this book because I can't stand highly detached ideas and simply go and laugh hard. If insight is to be held, one has to wade through the dark comedy to get through the gem of understanding, I know, I get that. If you are like me, I recommend that you read page 111 and 263 first and give this book a chance. Skip pages 11, 199, and 247 so you won't get mental indigestion. Second, one has to love dead, furry buddies. And I still can't even after reading this book. Third, be forgiving of all Jenny Lawsons out there, on the premise that they don't hurt peop...