Gift Guide 2011 Part 1: Book Tower Edition

It's no secret that I spend endless hours in my week walking around Fully Booked. For the first edition of my holiday gift guide this year, I decided to focus on something that everyone would be able to easily find in our store: book towers. 

Ever since I started hanging around here, I always noticed how creative the staff is in presenting the books. I think they have a lot of fun when we get a lot of stock of a particular title, making different patterns with the spine side and page side.  I, for one, love noticing how the book towers evolve as the stock lessens each week. 

So here, as the first part of many, I present the most easily found titles and for whom I think they would make appropriate gifts. Let the holiday shopping hoopla begin!

The atrium of the Fort branch is always the perfect place to find a book tower -- whether very tall from the floor, or very simple from just a table. Here, we see the different tables dedicated to the Childrens section, with The Graveyard Book, Envy, Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Beastly, Torment, and Zombies vs. Unicorns in plain sight!

For the Collector: I always find myself staring at special editions of titles, wanting to add them to my shelf, but never willing to spend as much as they cost to actually own them.  After all, they're like a nice bonus: a story you already know, but you would also love to browse through the pages of illustrations and symbols and maps that are related to it.  This special illustrated edition of The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown would be the perfect holiday gift for a loved one who you know loves mystery and adventure fiction and would enjoy the story and images this particular printing of the book offers.

 

For the Fantastical Feel: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin has been a best seller for almost the entire year, mainly because of the release of its television counterpart. We always try to have a lot of stock of the book (and always run out, still!), and now, we also have multiple copies of the UK edition box set. Take a friend into the world of dragons and direwolves and have them experience a real winter this Christmas!

For the Fiction Fanatic: I remember when this book tower was as tall as me! Hahahaha! :-) Now, a few inches are all that is left of the mass market edition of Jonathan Franzen's Freedom. Only a few more copies left for the book-loving friend you have! 

For the Fiction Fanatic: A Moment in the Sun by John Sayles was also another book that had an intricate display before now consolidated into a mini-tower. Take a friend through the turn of the century, from World War and from different points of view of Americans, Europeans and fellow Filipinos. Were you able to catch Amigo, John Sayles' film, this year?

Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 is another of this year's hot topics in literature. For any Murakami fan that you know (if they hadn't already grabbed a copy of this), this double-cover hardbound printing of the book would be a great gift.

For the Motion Picture Maven:  Two book titles with movie adaptations and a lot of stock in our stores: World War Z by Max Brooks is a fun first person narration of a zombie apocalypse (whose movie version will star Brad Pitt), while Drive by James Sallis is a sullen story of a stunt driver turned dark knight, whose film counterpart is played with so much charm by Ryan Gosling. Both short, easy reads for the film fanatic getting ready to watch the cinema release! Drive is actually in theaters now!

 

For the Business-Minded Buddy: The 4-Hour Workweek sounds like a dream to anyone who works (at least) nine hours a day. But thankfully, here is a way to achieve that stability in one's career. For the business-minded buddy who always knew there is so much in life to work towards, this would be the perfect present to plan his future!

For the Business-Minded Buddy: Robert Kiyosaki has been a large player in the business book market since Rich Dad, Poor Dad.  In Unfair Advantage, he talks about getting on top in the financial world, and being able to reach the same success as those with experience and education in banking have.

For the Curious Cat:  Freakonomics has been around for maybe five or so years now, and it is always a mainstay in our list of top 20 business books! This pile was one of those that was as tall as me as well, and here, it now lies beside one of the shelves in our third floor. Perfect for the curious cat in all of us!

For the Music and Media Lover: Steven Tyler's all-access pass to his mind, misadventures and musings would be a great holiday addition to one's bookshelf, especially for rock fans and Aerosmith fans. Parked right beside the hilarious My Book Wook 2 by Russell Brand, these two would make a great pairing for holiday gifts!
 

For the Music and Media Lover: Two of music's most mysterious figures, Lady Gaga and Keith Richards, and their books! Give your Lady Gaga loving friend a dose of the inner-workings of her mind, or let the rock and roll fan have his share of the Rolling Stones' debauchery in Life by Keith Richards. The legendary guitarist pens his own story, and even wins a GQ Writer of the Year recognition for his effort.

Stay tuned for more of holiday gift items available at Fully Booked fullybookedonline.com!

The titles and book towers featured in this entry are all available as of Sunday, November 13, 2011. Please call 8587000 or e-mail me at lucy@fullybookedonline.com to reserve or request a transfer to your branch of choice.

A Cool Thing on a Thursday

With the crazy season of Christmas coming up, I find myself walking through Fully Booked more and more.  This time though, I look for gadgets and gift options rather than titles to browse through.  Today, I found a cute Lego-themed planner.  Its rubber covers have the texture of the early childhood toy, but it's also soft and light enough to carry around everyday.

With weekly and monthly views to match! Lovely.

My favorite feature: a Lego-themed lock!

Do I have to give it as a present? Can I keep it instead? :-)

BOOK PEEK: Modernist Cuisine

Breathtaking photography, scientifically-refined cooking tips, and a compilation of the best plated dishes make up the five hefty volumes of Modernist Cuisine. Hailed as the most important cookbook of its contemporaries, this 2,500 page masterpiece is a work of art in itself, having been written and researched on with the utmost care, much like a scientist with his inventions. Rightly so, as its principal author, Dr. Nathan Myhrvold is the former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer and founder of Intellectual Ventures.

Unsatisfied with the information he needed to find about “sous vide,” a French cooking technique, Myhrvold took it upon himself to research and contribute the steps in making his desired meal. In his retirement, he took a serious interest in culinary arts and participated in online cooking forums. Soon, upon suggestion and prodding from his readers, he decided to make his contribution to the culinary world official by penning a cookbook himself. 

 

Dr. Myhrvold literally cuts to the core of every meal he teaches us to prepare, by showing us exactly how to lay out ingredients, and portraying all the ingredients in such a vivid manner. The photography is undeniably one of the highlights of the book, while his background as a scientist molded the very unique approach he took in compiling cooking tips and techniques to share. With its images and content at top quality, Modernist Cuisine is a cookbook that both professional chefs and home-cooking mavens will appreciate and learn from. 

Modernist Cuisine is available in Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street and Rockwell in very limited quantities. Please call 8587046 (BHS) or 8980968 (RW) to inquire. Price is available upon request.

Learn more about Modernist Cuisine by visiting their blog: http://modernistcuisine.com/, and their YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ModernistCuisine. Photos in this entry are from the official book blog and the blog of Dr. Myrhvold's old colleagues, Bill Gates: TheGatesNotes.com.

A Different Skine

They are finally here! :-) 

Moleskine ventures into new projects with classic labels, this time with one of my all-time favorite franchises, Star Wars.  Now, they've released collections with Peanuts and Pac-Man designs as well, leaving fans everywhere looking for this notebook, with its style both sleek and youthful at the same time. I want to buy everything! Haha!





I also spotted some cute Moleskine planners in earth tones. A bit of a difference from the usual red and black. :-)

Star Wars Moleskine notebooks are available in all Fully Booked branches nationwide (Davao will receive their shipment SOON!). The Pac-Man collection is available in the Fort, Greenhills, Rockwell and Katipunan, while the Peanuts collection can be found in the Fort, Greenhills, Katipunan, Rockwell, Cebu, Eastwood and Greenbelt 5.

BOOK PICK + GIVEAWAY: Some Thoughts on The Son of Neptune

I will try to write the first part of this entry without any spoilers for The Son of Neptune.

When I first read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, I read all five books in one week. It wasn’t because I was so hooked; I just felt I had to catch up with the rest of the world, especially with the release of The Lost Hero, and just recently, The Son of Neptune.

Reading a series that fast doesn’t allow a reader to become a fan right away. Don’t get me wrong, I love the series now, having read until The Son of Neptune. But upon a first reading, I looked at facts and events rather than characters and motives. It was only when I reached The Last Olympian, when the final battle and ultimate conflict was about to be faced, that I actually stopped and thought about Percy having grown up so much since first meeting him, Luke having become so desperate since my first impression of him, and Kronos having built a real physical presence around himself since his haunting shadow in The Lightning Thief. The flashbacks in that book also helped in growing emotionally close to the characters, especially to Luke, Thalia and Annabeth. I’m such a sucker for flashbacks, I really am.

It’s funny; just as in Harry Potter we find a huge chunk of the story is about Dumbledore, here we find that in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, much of the events had transpired because of Luke Castellan.

By the end of the series, I didn’t know whether or not to believe Luke was still a hero inside (though the series does angle it towards his redemption), but I was left wishing I had read a little more slowly and perhaps gotten to know him a little more.

Thankfully, with the Heroes of Olympus series, we don’t have to say good-bye to everyone we grew to love before. And to continue the story with fans of the series, I am giving away:

1. One hardbound copy of The Son of Neptune 
2. One hardbound copy of The Son of Neptune with a Rick Riordan signed Percy Jackson and the Olympians book plate
3. One hardbound copy of The Son of Neptune with a Rick Riordan signed Heroes of Olympus book plate 
   

Simply e-mail your full name, and contact number to lucyscontests@fullybookedonline.com, with the subject I CAN'T WAIT TO READ SON OF NEPTUNE! You have until 12:00 nn on Monday, October 17, 2011 to e-mail your entries, and the winners will be chosen via Random.org. Only one entry per person will be counted. :-)

This giveaway is open to Metro Manila, Philippines residents only, as all winning books and book plates will be claimed at the Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street branch. Entries with incomplete or wrong information indicated will not be qualified for the contest, and requests for pick up in other branches will not be entertained. Please be patient with me as this is one of my first giveaways in a long time, and I would like to see how it goes before opening more giveaways to other areas there are Fully Booked branches in!  Hope you guys understand!!

Now for the real reason for this entry: some thoughts on The Son of Neptune. (Spoilers after this cut, so don't read the rest if you haven't finished the book!)

BOOK PEEK: George Harrison: Living in a Material World

I don't think anyone can ever say they are too young for The Beatles. Even for someone like me, who didn't live during the pinnacle of their fame, The Beatles will always be a monument of rock music, a quartet of musicians that meshed so well musically.

Just a few days ago, Martin Scorsese's documentary on the life of the late George Harrison, Living in a Material World debuted on HBO in the UK and the US, and that was just about the time I spotted two books about the band, on the fourth floor of our Fort branch: John, Paul, George, Ringo & Me by Tony Barrow, and George Harrison: Living in a Material World.

The first title, penned by the band's former Press Officer, is a retelling of how the author knew the Beatles the best, and how the four boys from Liverpool lived during their most famous days.  I haven't been able to browse through it so much yet, but I've already taken so much time today just looking through the second book! Edited and curated by Harrison's widow, Olivia Harrison, George Harrison: Living in a Material World compiles the quiet Beatle's most reflective quotes, most personal moments and most memorable relationships as told by the people who knew him best. Here is a book peek into the 400-page coffee table book that I can't seem to stop looking through over and over again:
 

A stolen shot, a golden moment, one with Bob Dylan!

 A billboard for one of his solo albums with the same title as the book and documentary. 

 A memory written on a folded napkin: With many old letters and scanned tickets from his concerts, Living in a Material World documents Harrison's life in such poignant detail. 

Lastly, the most interesting part of the book: that it contains Harrison's personal photographs, those that he took to record his life, those that others took with his camera. Here, he is with Eric Clapton in a garden, in what looks to be a legendary moment lost in time. 

I leave you now with the trailer for the documentary, and wait and pray that HBO Philippines shows it as well!





George Harrison: Living in a Material World by Olivia Harrison, is available at P1899 in select Fully Booked branches.  John, Paul, George, Ringo & Me by Tony Barrow is also available at P1099.  Check www.fullybookedonline.com for more details.

Severus Snape, a Great Teacher

Disclaimer: Though I can't imagine this as a real warning to anyone, I must mention that you should not read the following entry if you have not yet finished the entire Harry Potter series, or if you care about important and life-changing plot points in the series being spoiled for you.  :-)

To remember World Teachers' Day on Facebook and Twitter, I asked "Who is your favorite literary student-mentor duo?" Though I came across many characters from young adult literature (Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, etc.), what intrigued me most was a response with the tandem of Harry Potter and Professor Snape. The pairing was most unlikely to me, due to the fact that they disdained each other almost until the very end of Snape's life, and they had no real student-mentor interaction that proved to be productive for Harry (except the failed stint when Snape was to teach Occlumency).  However, upon reflection, Harry must have learned lessons from Snape that he had not encountered from any of the many mentors he had growing up.

Though Snape did not directly teach Harry what a hero wanted to know and learn in his teenage years, Snape did protect him and in the end, save his life.  Despite the complicated past Snape had with Harry's parents, he knew that Lily Potter, whom he loved and cherished was more important a memory to uphold than all the pride he wanted to keep.  Harry would never forget Snape, and we know that through his children, how he named one of them, and what he told them about Snape. Harry will always carry Snape's memory, and how he was saved by the man he would have never pegged to even care about him. That is, undoubtedly, a sign of a great teacher: one that leaves students with an impression that they will never forget, no matter how painful the road going there must have been, and no matter how deep the battle scars are from that fight.  A great teacher is one who knows that sometimes, a student must learn lessons on his own.  Though it may be easy to dictate what values to uphold or how to make the right choices, the real lessons taken to heart are from the mistakes one commits himself.  The real way one grows is through experience.

Severus Snape by Sally Avernier, on DeviantArt.com. World Teachers' Day is celebrated every October 5th of the year.

What's on Sale?

I was able to take a peek into what Fully Booked is putting on sale in their Fort branch this week! I love book sales. I love the random books I find in them that always, for some reason, come in handy for future use. Whether I pick up a travel book that I use for a future trip, or a popular classics title that takes me weeks to finish, I always feel like I get more than my money's worth!

 Some travel books are on sale for P50! Though they're not updated, I'm sure some tourist spots will always remain a must-see in big cities like London, Boston and New York.

 Another long table of P50 books! 

 Hardbound copies go for P100 only! 

That's almost just 10% of what I would usually spend on a nice, hardbound book. 

 This table got me really excited! Cookbooks and some design books for 60%-90% off!!

 Calendars are going for 90% off as well. I feel like buying them all and making a huge collage! I spotted an Edward Hopper 2010 one... Might just get it so I can imagine I own one of his paintings!!

The Fully Booked sale in the Fort branch is for Discount Card holders only from today until tomorrow. It will be open to the public on Thursday and runs until next week! See you at the Forum! :-)

For more details, visit www.fullybookedonline.com.

Rainy Day Reads

We were so overwhelmed by the response generated when we asked for what rainy day reads everyone was curling up with the other day! From the epic sword fighting in Game of Thrones, to the young adult drama in Thirteen Reasons Why, to the intellect of Sherlock Holmes and the supernatural romance in, well, a LOT of children's titles, stories in any form or genre, are always a good companion for comfort. I had to share this with everyone; the list is so diverse!

What is your favorite from these titles? What have you read already? :-) Definitely looking forward to the next batch of suggested reads to call out, soon. :-)

Take care, and stay safe everyone! :-) 

ELY BUENDIA: MUSIC, LOVE

The purpose of this blog entry is to introduce Fully Booked music ambassador, muscian Ely Buendia.

I am enormous fan of Ely Buendia and his music, from the Eraserheads to The Mongols to Pupil. I must admit that I am particularly fond of Pupil and have a deep admiration for the other band members, including Wendell Garcia, who I believe to be one of the best drummers in Manila.

It was only natural for Fully Booked to approach Ely to be their music ambassador. He is a familiar figure in the store, and can often be found prowling the graphic novels section, the architecture section, and of course, the music section.


His upcoming workshop for Fully Booked entitled Aural X (click on the link for details) is original and unique, just like the musician who conceptualized it. Ten individuals will be selected to participate in a workshop and be closely guided by Ely Buendia into creating their own musical masterpieces with an iPad and the GarageBand application, and will involve everything from creating beats to recording and engineering the music to the lyrics of the song!  

This blog entry features the article of guest blogger and Fully Booked Zine contributor, Yvette U. Tan, a Manila-based award-winning writer. Her works have been published in The Philippines Free Press, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, UNO Magazine, Story Magazine, and Philippine Genre Stories, among others. She released Waking the Dead, her first collection of short stories in 2010. Here, her article in the June-July 2011 issue of the Fully Booked Zine, is republished with express permission from the editorial staff.

***

Music, Love

How does Ely Buendia come up with ultra catchy songs? What made him want to make music—and

stick with it? Fully Booked sits down with one of the country’s biggest rock stars, and find out what

makes him tick

By Yvette U.  Tan 

Photos courtesy of Ely Buendia

“My biggest challenge was overcoming biases. Every artist’s innate fear of being typecast is both a gift and a curse”

Ely Buendia’s love for music started out, like most of us, in childhood. “I started learning how to write songs very early on when I was still in grade school,” the musician says. “My hobby was to invent verses and melodies for songs I only knew a couple of lines from and sing them in front of class.” It is from this semi-composing, this amateur inventing of words and tunes that one of the country’s most respected musicians found his voice, his niche. He took inspiration in pop culture, first mimicking bands that he looked up to, later moving on to make music that was wholly his own. “When I became a teenager I mimicked the songs of bands like the Cure, (David Bowie) and the Smiths,” he says. “I credit my penchant for unpredictability to those artists.”

These two bands, along with The Beatles, were what pushed him to make music then. Now, he says that his influences have changed to bands “whose works aren’t that popular” but have “lasting power.”

Media exposure—TV, magazines, radio made him see that it was possible to live a life dedicated to his passion of making music. “Watching bands on MTV made me want to be in a band,” he says. You can imagine this being at the back of his mind when he entered college and began forming bands, though the one that would make his name a by-word in Philippine music was his third outfit, making true rock stars out of him and the rest of the Eraserheads. Buendia began making music at a time just before Pinoy rock was about to rise once again. He had no way of knowing that his band would be instrumental in the country’s embracing of original Filipino rock music, nor that he would be at the forefront of the movement until today. Back then he was just a kid who loved music enough to want to make some himself. He says that it was “sheer ignorance” that pushed him to form a band and play at clubs and school programs instead of doing something more sensible like, say, studying.

“My biggest challenge was overcoming biases. Every artist’s innate fear of being typecast is both a gift and a curse,” he says. Buendia has defied the preconceptions that have formed around him by always doing his own thing. The only true constant in his life is his freedom to make music.

Buendia has always had a knack for writing music that speaks directly to the Filipino experience, and has done so without being self-conscious. When asked about this, he demurs, “I come from a provincial background where everything is still steeped in tradition, and there’s a strong communal identity, but I’m a city boy at heart. I only write about the things I’ve done and seen in the streets. I don’t know if that has anything to do with the Filipino psyche.”

Here we come to the crux of the matter. To paraphrase a well-known saying, there is no I in band. Everything, from the name to the finished songs on an award-winning album, is the product of different minds at work together. At times, it can get tough. “Usually writing a song with a partner yields awesome results. See Lennon/McCartney, Morrisey/Marr. But it’s a double-edged sword. Sometimes it’s just more practical and liberating to do things on your own. I still can’t make up my mind about it. This has given me more than my own share of headaches.”

But find the right people, like Buendia has in his band Pupil, and working together can be the sweetest thing in the world. As Buendia puts it, “The best part is the collaborative process. The worst part is the collaborative process.”

Buendia’s songwriting process is deceptively simple, yet you wouldn’t think so to hear his compositions. They’re ingeniously complex, yet catchy enough to be radio-friendly and perfect for a drunken sing along. “There are several possible catalysts: a good song I want to emulate or top, an awesome title, a phrase I pick up from reading, a genre I want to dabble in or adopt, a strong guitar riff, a melody I suddenly hear in my head. Once I have that, the biggest obstacle for me is the lyrics. When all else fails I use the loop trick where I record a rough demo of the music without lyrics and play it over and over. Your mind will eventually fill in the blanks. I use this trick as a last resort, though,” he says. “Usually an idea arrives in my head when I’m driving or on a long trip. Almost all my songs started out this way.”

Has he ever suffered from writer’s block? “I don’t believe I have ever experienced mental block, just bouts of depression, in which case your work is greatly affected. How do you get past depression? Eat! Kidding. I believe that is for a different workshop altogether.” Two things that genuinely put him in a good mood are “perusing modern architecture wherever I can find it and watching comedies withmy kids.”

All this, one imagines, feeds into his songwriting process and his performances. It is interesting to note that until now, going onstage is still a magical experience for Buendia in which he carefully grants a reveal of his soul. “It’s a combination of nerves and anticipation and adrenaline. I guess going onstage is like bungee jumping or confession (both of which I have not tried) where you ego splits in two and only the strongest triumphs,” he says, adding that what he loves about it is, “The immediacy, the sense that everything can fall apart any second, the ultimate high when everything goes right.”

Songwriting, he believes, is both a product of talent and perseverance. “I believe we are born with a set of specific talents but I also believe things can be learned, as long as one is passionate enough about them,” he says. “There’s so much talent out there it’s astonishing.”

Between the digital tools that are at the disposal of the current generation and the digital distribution technologies of the Internet, it’s a lot easier to get a band started. However, that doesn’t mean it’s any easier to get to the top, let alone stay there. Among the many things that Buendia aims to impart in his upcoming workshop for Fully Booked is to guide students through the songwriting process from genesis to completion, and most importantly, to help them acquire the ability to work under pressure. “The chance to challenge myself and others,” is what excites Buendia the most about helming this first-ofits-kind workshop in Fully Booked. “[Students] will learn that making music has nothing to do with real life. This will benefit them immensely.”

Music is still very much a part of Buendia’s life, both professionally and personally. You cannot separate the music from the man. “We [Pupil] just did a an Eheads themed show in the States, and we’re gearing up for the release of the second single from the Limiters of the Infinity Pool album, “20/20” the music video for which we shot in the middle of EDSA. I’m also pretty excited about the vinyl version of Limiters,” he says. And for a man who loves music so much he figured out a way to spend his lifetime playing it, teaching others to do so is but the next logical step in his life’s ode.