I’m very happy to report that I had a very productive month in terms of reading. By the end of January, I’d been able to read five books (two audiobooks, two ebooks, and one graphic novel/komiks anthology). I’m not sure I’ll be able to post reviews about all of them, but I have two of them right here:
Reading Kaith C. Cimafranca’s Take Two reminded me of those cozy Star Cinema rom-coms in the 90s where stakes weren’t as high, but you still root for the main characters really hard. In Take Two, now-Canadian resident VJ meets her TOTGA (she will deny this if you call him that, btw) at a party 19 years after she left the Philippines to start anew. Marco instantly feels how aloof VJ is, but he doesn’t seem to mind, and we understand this little dynamic of theirs as the story brings us back and forth from their college years to the present.
Gabriel’s Checklist (or, How to Survive Your First Christmas in Manila) is a short and sweet story featuring Fi and Gabe of the Backstage Pass Series. This story first appeared as part of the #romanceclass Christmas anthology Make My Wish Come True and was eventually added to the Scandalized re-release in 2018.
In this story, Gabriel returns to the Philippines to spend Christmas with Fi…and hopefully get her to agree to become his girlfriend. Will Christmas be merry and bright for Gabriel, or will he return to Seoul brokenhearted?
Tags: christmas in manila, simbang gabi, holding hands sa ama namin, karaoke with friends, learning tagalog
I can’t believe how fast time flies sometimes. I mean…the first book I ever published, Paper Planes Back Home, turns 7 this month…and Waiting in the Wings turns 5!
Shocked? I know, right? I feel you. Where’d all that time go?
If I remember correctly, I began including Mt. Cloud Bookshop in my Baguio City itinerary in 2016, after I heard from Mina that they were interested to carry some #romanceclass titles on their shelves. They used occupy a small space in the Casa Vallejo compound (Upper Session Road) and recently moved to a much bigger, much nicer space. Holiday rush and traffic notwithstanding, I promised myself I’d visit Mt. Cloud again this year, and I did!
I’m so glad I did.