books 7 through 14

These are the books that I read from April to August. I'm going much slower than I expected.

My short reviews:

1. Agatha Christie's Murder On The Orient Express: Ah, nothing beats an old-fashioned whodunit for maximum reading pleasure, and this one is the perfect specimen. I got it at a secondhand store for about 100 pesos.

2. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett: I really enjoyed the first Discworld book that I read, Equal Rites. This one is cute, but not as good. Maybe I should just stop reading Pratchett.

3, 4 & 5. Ever since I discovered Philippa Gregory, I have become hopelessly addicted to her books.  She writes about the Plantagenets and Tudors as if they were tabloid fodder. Wait, their descendants the Windsors ARE tabloid fodder.

6. Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco: Perhaps the author should have waited a few more decades before he wrote this. The parts where he writes as himself are brilliant, but when he writes from the point of view of the much older Crispin Salvador, it comes off as trying too hard. There's an odd disconnect.

7. Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters: The style is reminiscent of One Hundred Years Of Solitude or Like Water For Chocolate, but unlike them, Dogeaters is an account of real historical events thinly disguised as fiction. I want to watch the movie.

8. The Compass by Tammy Kling & John Spencer Ellis: The book's message is OK, but the writing is just atrocious. Remind me to stop buying self-help books.

Note to self: I shall strive to read at least one book a week for the rest of the year.