In My Mailbox (21): Sales and Komikon

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Tina

In My Mailbox is a weekly book meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren, where bloggers post about what books received that week, be it via mailbox, library or store. I wasn’t expecting to write an In My Mailbox post this week, but three things happened:

I finally reached my word count quota for NaNoWriMo.
Eastwood went on sale.
I went to Komikon 2011.

And so, I ended up with these:

The Song of the Quarkbest by Jasper Fforde (Fully Booked) – Aaron told me last week that this book was already available in Fully Booked, just on the same day I wrote a Want Books post about it. I had a copy transferred while making a personal deal with myself to catch up to quota before it arrived. And I just that. I cannot wait to read this. :D
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (Fully Booked) – I borrowed a copy of this book from my friend RE early this year and I loved it. He told me that if I see a copy of this, I should grab it immediately. I saw one and grabbed one. :) I can reread this book anytime I want now, yay!
Filipino Heroes League Book 1: Sticks and Stones by Paolo Fabregas(Komikon) – I already bought a copy of this months before which I lent to my brother and is currently missing. Anyway, yesterday I got to meet the author, Paolo Fabregas, at Komikon, so I bought another copy so he could sign it. And he remembered my review, too, so yay!
My FHL copy signed by the author :)
High Society by Paolo Chikiamco and Hannah Buena (Komikon) – Of course I had to get a copy of this, after reviewing it just recently. :) Dibs on a pretty special colored cover because of that review too. Thanks Pao! I had it signed by him, but not by Hannah because we don’t know how she looks like and so we weren’t able t “stalk” her during Komikon. :( Maybe next time, then. :)
Signed High Society
Tabi Po by Mervin Malonzo (Komikon) – We were hanging by the Flipside booth talking to Honey when she plugged this comic to us. It was the black and white version, and it seems pretty scary given the illustrations shown in the colored version in the iPad. Eep. Still, it looks interesting (and it was only P30, so why not buy, right?) If you’re more of a colored comic person, you can buy a copy from Flipreads.com :) I hope to read and review this sometime soon.
Signed!

And being a Trese fan, I cannot pass up something like this:

Signed glossy Trese poster in plastic case :)

It’s so pretty. :) Actually, we call it a placemat because it kinda looks like one. But this is going on my wall, once I’ve organized my room. Gotta love the detail in this one. :)

And there goes my week. Before I reward myself with anything else, I must get to 50,000 words on my NaNoWriMo novel first. Onward!

In My Mailbox (20): Where did all these books come from?

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Tina

This is me catching up on a couple of weeks of In My Mailbox posts again. It’s always more fun to post when you have more books to post about, right? :) Plus, I was out of town last weekend and I was just too exhausted to take photos and come up with an IMM post. Anyway, so many books in the past weeks — even I am surprised at my stash. Look:

Wee~

So, what did we get in the past few weeks?

I attended the launch of the fourth (and much-awaited!) Trese graphic novel at Robinsons Bestsellers two weeks ago. I’m not really a graphic novel person, but I loved Trese and I’ve been waiting for the fourth book ever since I finished all three a few months ago. :) The event was a success if you were to judge only with the number of people who attended (dress code was black, apparently :P). I do think it was an overall success because not only was it a full-house event, but also we got our books signed. :)

Continue reading →

In My Mailbox (19): Weak-willed

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Tina

So this week was a little crazy as far as I was concerned. Monday to Tuesday had us cowering in the midst of Typhoon Nesat, the strongest typhoon we’ve had this year. Wednesday to Saturday had me running on 12 hours of sleep all in all, with shift adjustments and reunion dinners and friend’s weddings…no wonder I feel so tired until now.

But anyway, there shouldn’t have been any reason to make an In My Mailbox post today, but then I realized that I was kind of a weakling when it comes to new and well-reviewed books by several friends and trusted bloggers. So, when I had the chance to visit Fully Booked this week to look for a wedding gift for my friend, I chanced upon this:

Daugther of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor...and a new bag behind it. :D

It was a lone hardcover copy in the branch near my office. And I’ve been curious about his book after all the glowing reviews around me. I debated for about five minutes before finally picking it up, and walking straight to the cashier and making my purchase.

*hangs head* I know, I am weak. But…I just couldn’t leave without it!

Okay, I don’t regret it at all. :P I scanned the first page and I almost didn’t want to put it down…but I promised myself I’ll start reading this once I finish reading my first Required Reading book for October. I hope I find it as good as everyone else did. :)

P.S. The new bag behind the book was a purchase from Paris that only got to me last Friday. Hello new bag. :)

In My Mailbox (18): MIBF (or, okay, not really)

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Tina

It’s been a very bookish week since I arrived from Europe, and I am definitely not complaining. This week was special for Filipino readers because The First Filipino Reader Conference happened last Wednesday, and it was also the 32nd Manila International Book Fair (it’s still happening at SMX now, so if you haven’t been there, you still have time!). If you missed the ReaderCon, you can read what happened at the @PinoyReaderCon twitter (tweeted by yours truly :) ).

However, despite my two-day attendance at the Book Fair (the most I’ve did since I started attending), I did not get any book from the fair itself! I was supposed to, but I was terribly late yesterday and I was just too tired to look for a book (or beads for jewelry making), and most of what I wanted was gone. So this week’s (and last week, actually) stash includes some books I got from Book Depository, a book I borrowed and a book I bought during but outside the Book Fair. :P

The loot

Oh, and a lot of bookmarks, too, from the ReaderCon.

Anyway, the books:

The books

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin – yes, I’m jumping into the bandwagon. I got this from National Bookstore in Mall of Asia. I wanted to get the boxed set, but I ran out of them in the Book Fair. I was supposed to get all four books, but man, they’re thick. So I decided to get just the first book for now and I’ll decide later on if I want the others. Again: man, this book is thick. 835 pages!
Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood – borrowed from Chachic! And her personal Aussie library book tour continues. :)
A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner – yay paperback! And thanks, Book Depository. :) I had this pre-ordered a few weeks back.
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta – pre-ordered this from Book Depository a few months back, too. :) Thanks to Nomes for the heads up of the paperback edition. Plus, I heard its sequel is coming out soon, so I should bump this up my TBR. :)

Oh, and I also got my blog business cards, which I had printed in a rush just for the ReaderCon. Features Steve Emond‘s drawing, and designed by my lovely friend Jana from Jana Styles. :)

Blog business card!

Talk about taking all the book blogging thing seriously. But hey, this is good for networking, and making friends. :)

I remember those days when I’d go crazy during Book Fair season, but I think I’ve mellowed out. That, and after paying for some Europe bills, I need to be more prudent with my book spending. That, and I really still have too many books in my TBR pile, and I really want to whittle it down further. Is this me maturing as a book hoarder? Gasp.

What did you get in your mailbox this week? :)

In My Mailbox (17): Goodreads Meet-Up

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Tina

A day and a year ago, I met some of my now favorite people, the Filipino Group from Goodreads. Back then, we were just 12 in the meet-up:

Yesterday was the 5th meet-up of the group, and it was…well, monumental. I mean, compare the number last year to this year (thanks to Book Elf for the photo):

Class picture? :P

It was loads of fun, as usual, and like all other meet-ups, we were all crazy talking to each other and grabbing books everywhere. I was a zombie that day because I just came from night shift, but that didn’t mean it was less fun. I was just a ~~bit~~ lot loopy while it was all happening. :P We ended up staying until closing time in SM Megamall, and then some more walking after that before I finally crashed at my brother’s place to sleep and prepare for the 10k race the next day. See why I’m so sleepy now? :D

But I digress. As with all Goodreads meet-ups I’ve been to, there is always a rainshower of books. I don’t have a picture of the stash, but it was huge, to the point that some people don’t want to take the remaining ones anymore. And to those who got so many were all complaining of heavy baggage. :P

Anyway, I really liked my book stash yesterday. All of them were books that I really wanted to read:

What is Goodbye by Nikki Grimes – thanks Kuya Doni!
Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell – I don’t know who put this in the book pile, but thank you! I was already eying this one during the interview with the guests, and when our team won in the literary quiz, this was the first book I grabbed. :D
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro – I don’t know who put this in the pile either, but I didn’t see it. Monique saw it, though, and she was kind enough to grab it for me. :)
Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock – thanks again to Monique! :) She saw this in Book Sale just as I put it on my wish list and got it for me.
The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty – from Aaron. He was putting this up for swap, I think? I used my “charms” to get it from him instead. LOL.
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley – borrowed from Chachic. I cannot wait to read this. :)
Pink by Lili Wilkinson – borrowed from Celina. Yay Aussie YA. :)

I also finally got to meet Mina V. Esguerra in person, as well as Samantha Sotto, who will launch her debut, Before Ever After, this week. I got my copy of My Imaginary Ex signed by Mina (someone has a picture of us somewhere, so I’ll get that when they post it :D), and while I wasn’t able to get a book signed by Samantha, I’m definitely picking it up soon. :)

Oh, I also got some ebooks this week, and again, they’re books I am really excited about:

Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee
Saving June by Hannah Harrington

I still badly need sleep now, but this weekend is definitely one for the books — literally, and figuratively. ;)

I hope you all had an awesome weekend! Have a great week everybody! :)

In My Mailbox (16): Free and Awesome Stuff

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Tina

I got a bunch of books a few weeks ago, but I was too lazy to make an IMM post. I was at home, but I was just plain lazy — sorry about that. :) I got some pretty awesome stuff the past weeks, some of them free, so I figure it’s time to write one. But better late than never, right? :)

Bought:

Deadline by Mira Grant (Fully Booked) – I also got the Kindle copy of this one first, but I can’t pass the print one up of course. Like my print copy of Feed, this is mainly for borrowing. :D
The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan (Book Depository) – I ordered this about three weeks ago as a reward for finishing an article. It took a while to get here, and I dropped everything else to read this when I received it. Talk about excited. :) I have a line of people waiting to borrow this already.
Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews (Fully Booked) – I got this at the same time as Deadline but I only got to read it during the rainy weekend. So much Kate + Curran goodness! :)

Won:

Audiobook of Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson (won from Helen’s Book Blog) – this is my first audio book ever, which I won during the Twitter party during Armchair BEA. Thankyou so much, Helen! :)

For review:

Last Friday, Blooey invited some local book bloggers for a dinner with some people from Scholastic. It was such a fun night eating and talking about books and blogs and travel and everything else in between. :) It was also the first time I had dinner with publishers and received books for review too! Yay free books (almost as exciting as cool grad gifts). :D

Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater – now I’m not a paranormal romance person anymore and truth be told, I have no plans of reading these books. But Chachic and Tarie told me it’s good, so I’m hoping I will like it well enough too. :)
The Cry of the Icemark, Blade of Fire and Last Battle of the Icemark by Stuart Hill – I have no idea what this is about, except that Blooey blogged about it recently. I’m glad they gave us the entire set, though, because at least I won’t have to scramble for the copies. :)

The fun thing is, not all book packages were the same. While I think all of us got all the Icemark books, everyone else got different stuff, depending on what we’ve read. Case in point: Chachic and Tarie got Linger because they’ve already read Shiver, while Aaron didn’t get any of Stiefvater’s books because they’re not his type. Thanks again to Blooey for inviting us and to Joyce and Roselle from Scholastic for the dinner and the books. :)

Photo c/o Tarie

And that’s all for the past weeks’ haul. I have another book buying fast happening now to prepare myself for my big trip this August, so no additions to my TBR unless they’re gifts. Not to worry, anyway since I still have a very big reading mountain to conquer. :D I’ll be back tomorrow for my mid-year recap, so for the meantime, do share in the comment section what you got this week. :)

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