ReaderCon 2012 Filipino Friday 4: Books and Friends

Filipino FridayHappy Friday everyone! It feels like I’m waking up from a long, kind of unpleasant dream today, with the rains and floods that’s happened in Manila lately. I hope everyone’s okay, though, or at least, recovering well!

On another note, it’s a little over a week till the 2nd Filipino ReaderCon! Ahh, I’m so excited! Are you? :) It will be a very busy day for me, but I won’t mind. It’s going to be on August 18, at the Filipinas Heritage Library — if you haven’t pre-registered, make sure you do so now so you can secure your slot!

I also really like this week’s Filipino Friday topic — enough of the rambling now, let’s answer it. :)

August 10 – Books and Friends. We will have book discussions hosted by several book clubs during the ReaderCon, so to prepare us for that, let’s talk about books and friendships and book clubs. Are you a part of a book club? If yes, what made you join one? What’s your favorite activity that you have with them? If you’re not a part of one, will you consider joining one? Why or why not?

Or if you’re not (yet) a part of a book club, do you have friends who share the same passion for books as you do? Do you have a “bookish” best friend? If yes, tell us about them! How did you become friends? What’s your favorite memory with them?

I’ve been a part of Goodreads – The Filipino Group since late 2010. I’ve talked about the first meet-up I attended on the blog before, and like what I’ve kept on saying, it’s really one of the best decisions I’ve ever done. I’m a social person, and I really want to share the things I like with people who has the same interest. My online communities often die because I end up lurking forever, so I was kind of expecting that it would happen with this, too. But I guess meeting people in the flesh makes it different because ever since that first meet-up, I’ve been meeting with them quite regularly, and I can say that they really are my friends. *sniff*

gr-filipinos

The first meet-up I attended with TFG

It’s been two years since that meet-up, and we’ve done so many things as a group. We used to have palengke meet-ups, or just informal meet-ups where everyone talks and exchanges books and all that. We watched movies together, hunted for books together, attended conferences together, partied together, and even went on some trips out of town with each other. Our big meet-ups used to be four times a year, but just recently, we’ve been meeting more often because of our monthly face to face discussions.

*cue photo dump!*

GR-TFG F2F1: 1984 by George Orwell

GR-TFG F2F1: 1984 by George Orwell

GR-TFG F2F2: The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Goodreads Filipino Group - Face to Face Book Discussion # 3 (Photo c/o Kwesi)

GR-TFG F2F3: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

GR-TFG F2F4: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

GR-TFG F2F4: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (my discussion! :D)

GR-TFG F2F5: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

GR-TFG F2F5: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (I loved this discussion so much that I wrote a post about it in my personal blog :D)

GR-TFG F2F6: Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

GR-TFG F2F6: Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

GR-TFG F2F7: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

GR-TFG F2F7: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

I’ve always thought of our discussions as the highlight of my month, because where else can I be with like-minded people discussing something we all love? (Never mind if not all of us liked the book — the conflicting comments are part of the fun :D) It’s always nice to connect with kindred spirits, yes? I also love that we tend to stay after the discussions and talk endlessly about so many things — it’s no wonder we were in the receiving end of some glares of other patrons or waiters in restaurants we hang out in because we’re just a bit too noisy sometimes. ^^

Oh but my bookish friends are not just in the book club. I also have book blogger friends and writer friends who are also wide readers. And it’s also a good thing when you have colleagues who read the same books as you do, because even the bookish conversations don’t stop at work. :) Right, Kai?

With Kai of Amaterasu Reads. We’ve been friends and co-workers for 5 years, and we’ve talked about books for almost as long as that. :D

My reading experience definitely won’t be the same without my friends, and I’m really glad that books have led me to meet these really awesome people. :)

If you want to get a taste of how book club discussions go, make sure you join us at the 2nd Filipino ReaderCon on August 18, 2012 at the Filipinas Heritage Library! The afternoon activities include mini-book discussions hosted by several local book clubs and it’s the perfect time to get your feet wet if you’ve never been a part of a book club before. :) My book club will be doing a replay of our The Little Prince discussion, so if you’re dropping by there, do say hi! :)

7 Thoughts on “ReaderCon 2012 Filipino Friday 4: Books and Friends

  1. Tina, I love the pictures! Like you, the book discussions are one of the highlights of my month as well.

  2. I shouldn’t have taken off the blonde wig for the photo ops! :D

  3. I really really love not only Angus’ varying hairstyles in the pics but his poses as well! :))

  4. I see my face in your post and I am so touched. Haha! Would you look at that… friends for 5 years. Wow. Here’s to 5 more years! *throws confetti at Tina*

  5. It’s so fun seeing more and more people per picture! But I have to agree with the others – Angus’s poses and hairstyles are the most fun to look at of all! HAHA.

  6. It’s cool that you guys dressed up for the Remains of the Day discussion. It would have been cooler if you did that for FOTR…medieval attire. :D (But that would require too much effort.) I hope the TFG meet-ups would keep on coming. It’s fun to see you guys having fun even only in photos. I do hope I’ll get to attend one someday. Your parties are my kind of parties. :D

  7. Wow, these meet-ups are really something. I haven’t been to any so I have no idea what it’s like, but it looks like you guys are having so much fun.

Post Navigation