2013 Book Challenge

[talkplaylove]

Because I achieved my 100 books goal last year (in addition to novel-length fanfics...I'm actually sure I read better plotted and longer fics than actual published books) and I am no longer a freelancer (cough bum cough) this year (12 hours a day at work @.@), my goals for 2013 are:

- Minimum of 25 books (maximum of whatever)
- Write better reviews (Standards should be the kind I wrote for my papers in school for Lit, History or Philo when I was studying, hindi yung pipitsugin lang na ginawa ko dito para mafulfill ang requirements ng thread Must. use. brain. cells! )
- Read Illustrado by Miguel de Cervantes

I've actually already finished a book for 2013, pero nakakahiya ilagay kasi simula ng taon yun agad natapos ko sa tatlong binabasa ko. HAHA I'll post it when I finish my second book, so kunyari hindi yun yung unang natapos ko. =))

P.S. I have an extensive e-book library, so PM me if you want any (fiction & nonfiction) This was last updated September 2012.

[nozmail]

I personally thought that The Alchemist was extremely overrated (but that's an unpopular opinion, obviously. I guess it stemmed from the exaggerated praises it got and the comparison to the Little Prince [w/c is my favorite book of all time] and it didn't even match up to that. So I agree with korrigan, Veronikka Decides to Die is a good start.

I read a Wild Sheep Chase for Murakami first, but I recommend starting with his short stories. Try 'Seeing the 100% perfect girl...'

talagang napapapost ako pag si HM ang usapan.

una kong nabasa sa kanya, kafka on the shore.

finished my first (audio)book: the concrete blonde by michael connelly.

parang walang ibang readers ni michael connelly dito?

[tetrisaddict]

Basahin mo, nakakatuwa siya. Tsaka simple pagkasulat hindi masyadong 'old language' kaya hindi mabigat basahin. Not that I don't appreciate those kinds of books too. Mukhang pareho din tayo ng taste kasi isa sa favorites ko yan Good Omens. Sobrang laughtrip.

Mukhang mahilig ka sa young adult books, ako din. Babasahin ko din yang Louis Sachar this year. Nagbabasa ako dati ng Lemony Snickett pero di ko natapos buong series, tatapusin ko din this year. Mahilig ako sa children's books. There was a time puro ganon binabasa ko.

Re: benjamin button oo nagulat ako na maiksi pala yun. Okay din pero parang bitin, one of those rare few na mas nagandahan ako sa movie adaptation. Mas gusto kong gawa ni Fitzgerald yung Great Gatsby.

Gagawa pa ako ng reviews for Life of Pi and Eckhart Tolle, exercise na din ng writing skills eh hehe. Pero tsaka na tinatamad pa ako

found a copy na of unholy night!!! basahin ko na next haha tapusin ko lang tong fanfic na binabasa ko. lately sa fanfic na ko nahuhumaling, haha.
sana sipagin ka na gumawa ng review. hehehe. i like the way you write.
ps. yung small steps na sequel ng holes ni louis sachar, di sya ganun kaganda. ok lang siguro kung yun una mong basahin, para di madisappoint. compared to holes kasi, parang mababaw sya.

[tetrisaddict]

joby, yup pasok ang bob ong, pasok yung mga PHRs but fanpic no unless na-published siya.

Anyway, I will be posting the revised and complete guidelines for this year's book challenge. Already sent it to Nakura, awaiting for his comments and approval.

ahaha nasali talaga ang phr?
sad naman na di kasali ang fanfics.. infernez meron din magagandang ff na mas ok pa sa published buks. may mga natisod akong super lafftrip at mga sobrang nakakatouch at meron ding mega crayola ako habang binabasa.
pero keribels lang hehe kahit di un kasali.
papost naman ng marerecommend nyong buks..
thanks sooo much!

[tetrisaddict]

Because I achieved my 100 books goal last year (in addition to novel-length fanfics...I'm actually sure I read better plotted and longer fics than actual published books) and I am no longer a freelancer (cough bum cough) this year (12 hours a day at work @.@), my goals for 2013 are:

- Minimum of 25 books (maximum of whatever)
- Write better reviews (Standards should be the kind I wrote for my papers in school for Lit, History or Philo when I was studying, hindi yung pipitsugin lang na ginawa ko dito para mafulfill ang requirements ng thread Must. use. brain. cells! )
- Read Illustrado by Miguel de Cervantes

I've actually already finished a book for 2013, pero nakakahiya ilagay kasi simula ng taon yun agad natapos ko sa tatlong binabasa ko. HAHA I'll post it when I finish my second book, so kunyari hindi yun yung unang natapos ko. =))

P.S. I have an extensive e-book library, so PM me if you want any (fiction & nonfiction) This was last updated September 2012.

like ko yan!! wooooow ang dami mo palang collections. hehe ipiPM kita.

[adiposethoughts]

Read at least 1 Classic by the following:

Soren Kierkegaard
Marcel Proust
Charles Darwin
Friedrich Nietzche
Sigmund Freud
Plato
Descartes


Alvin Toppler's Future Shock
Karl Marx
More Lao Tzu

And finish the other 10-20 books that I have started but haven't finished yet. Incl. 2 Robert Kiyosaki's Cashflow Quadrant, Rich Bro Rich Sis. And (not RK's) Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.


Handaaaame. I'm a book wh0re. Hehehe..

[adiposethoughts]

Because I achieved my 100 books goal last year (in addition to novel-length fanfics...I'm actually sure I read better plotted and longer fics than actual published books) and I am no longer a freelancer (cough bum cough) this year (12 hours a day at work @.@), my goals for 2013 are:

- Minimum of 25 books (maximum of whatever)
- Write better reviews (Standards should be the kind I wrote for my papers in school for Lit, History or Philo when I was studying, hindi yung pipitsugin lang na ginawa ko dito para mafulfill ang requirements ng thread Must. use. brain. cells! )
- Read Illustrado by Miguel de Cervantes

I've actually already finished a book for 2013, pero nakakahiya ilagay kasi simula ng taon yun agad natapos ko sa tatlong binabasa ko. HAHA I'll post it when I finish my second book, so kunyari hindi yun yung unang natapos ko. =))

P.S. I have an extensive e-book library, so PM me if you want any (fiction & nonfiction) This was last updated September 2012.

Awww... Do you have a full list of Eckhart Tolle's books? May I request for them if you have? ^_^


And I've been looking for Ray Grasse. New thought topics niya. He's SUPER hard to find.

[adiposethoughts]

I personally thought that The Alchemist was extremely overrated (but that's an unpopular opinion, obviously. I guess it stemmed from the exaggerated praises it got and the comparison to the Little Prince [w/c is my favorite book of all time] and it didn't even match up to that. So I agree with korrigan, Veronikka Decides to Die is a good start.

I read a Wild Sheep Chase for Murakami first, but I recommend starting with his short stories. Try 'Seeing the 100% perfect girl...'

Yes. Mas maraming magagandang books than The Alchemist that had that same kind of denominator / theme.

[pinoy2781]

Parang mas maikli pa nga yung Curious Case of Benjamin Button kesa sa mga Bob Ong books eh..

'Di ba pwedeng isama sa challenge yung pagbabasa ng Filipino books. May number of Pinoy books na required para masabing nakumpleto mo ang 2013 Book Challenge. Para na rin ma-promote ang Filipino litt. )

good idea. sana mabasa ni hethler.

[tiger_lily1]

found a copy na of unholy night!!! basahin ko na next haha tapusin ko lang tong fanfic na binabasa ko. lately sa fanfic na ko nahuhumaling, haha.
sana sipagin ka na gumawa ng review. hehehe. i like the way you write.
ps. yung small steps na sequel ng holes ni louis sachar, di sya ganun kaganda. ok lang siguro kung yun una mong basahin, para di madisappoint. compared to holes kasi, parang mababaw sya.

Thank you

I will post my pending reviews soon

[michymichymoo]

1. The Time Keeper - Mitch Albom
Genre: Fiction / Inspirational
224 pages
Rating: out of 5



Review:
The story begins with Dor, known at present time as Father Time, on how he tried counting the days and hours. He was punished by God to be trapped in a cave for all eternity. He was given a chance to help two people: Sarah Lemon, a teenager who wants to stop time and Victor, a dying old man who wants to live forever.

This book touched me more than I expected it to. It will teach you to stop counting the hours and make each hour count. It's another masterpiece of Mitch Albom that everyone should read.

[peanut08]

1. The Time Keeper - Mitch Albom
Genre: Fiction / Inspirational
224 pages
Rating: out of 5

http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1340478576l/13624688.jpg

Review:
The story begins with Dor, known at present time as Father Time, on how he tried counting the days and hours. He was punished by God to be trapped in a cave for all eternity. He was given a chance to help two people: Sarah Lemon, a teenager who wants to stop time and Victor, a dying old man who wants to live forever.

This book touched me more than I expected it to. It will teach you to stop counting the hours and make each hour count. It's another masterpiece of Mitch Albom that everyone should read.

I really like Mitch Albom's novel. Every time I read his books, I almost end-up crying in the end. I'm still waiting for the paperback version though. Pero kung napadaan siguro ako ulit sa anumang bookstore, I might buy one alongside with Life of Pi and Les Miserable.

[tiger_lily1]

2. Life of Pi, fiction adventure inspirational, my rating 4/5 (been weeks since I read this book, forgive me if I might not remember some details but I will try my best )

Imagine being a survivor of a ship sinking tragedy, on a lifeboat lost at sea, the blue horizon offering nothing but water, extending far beyond what your eyes can see, and food and drinking water on a scarcity; now add an unexpected companion, a fellow survivor with whom you must share this life-threatening ordeal -- might his presence pacify the situation somehow? Maybe... or maybe not. Alas, your companion is not human but a hungry, temperemental, flesh-eating beast sitting curiously on the same boat, ready to pounce, as beasts would normally do. You may die of dehydration, or of a sea storm, but what are you thinking? Most likely your death would be at the mercy of this beast when he answers to the inevitable call of his nature -- his vicious animal instinct that keeps on growling 'human = food'.

Piscine Patel (aka 'Pi', as in the number 3.14...) lives to tell this extraordinary tale of survival, faith, and an unusual bond that he now shares with a certain 'Richard Parker' -- an adult bengal tiger that was once an attraction at their family-owned zoo in India. Pi and Richard Parker are both survivors of a shipwreck supposedly on a voyage to Canada for a better life -- Pi with his family, R.P. with his fellow zoo animals.

The terror of Pi's day by day account sent me over the edge as I read through his hopeless experience in the presence of R.P.; however, a part of me couldn't help but feel oddly at ease that at least he was not alone for the 200+ days his flimsy lifeboat rode the waves of the pacific ocean. As undesirable, not to mention, dangerous a companion as he was-- R.P. somehow provided a strange comfort, a challenge, notwithstanding, that kept the boy occupied as both struggled to stay alive. What Pi went through was a true test of his intellect, therefore, his power over R.P. as a human being; his instincts as a co-animal; and his faith as God's creation. And as fate would have it -- just prior to their voyage, Pi had been dabbling in several different religious teachings (Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam) in his desire to learn about the God(s) of different faiths and to absorb the values in all beliefs, however unorthodox it is to be a 'man of all religions'.

Yann Martel is a beautiful writer, more than able to give life to an incredible tale with such a vivid picture. He makes your heart leap, wets your eyes of tears, and fills your mind with helpful survival tactics and facts and questions on the differences/similarities of man and beast. Life of Pi is an unusual survival story that is almost impossible, almost; its coherence and rich factual details tell you, amazingly, that maybe it's not so impossible after all.

[michymichymoo]

Di ko matapos tapos yung binabasa ko ngayon. Too sad yung story.

[hethler]

Hi friends,

Nakura gave me the go signal. It's a go!
Will post the official guidelines later today.

Thanks!

[hethler]

PinoyExchange presents: "The 2013 Book Challenge"

DESCRIPTION
We all live in a busy world where there are so many things to do yet with so little time to finish them and oftentimes we forget to feed our mind. Every activity seemed to be borne out of habits, too mundane, too common, and too acquainted. Sometimes we should find a portion of our time away from the rigors of our work and from the complicities of the roles that befall on our shoulder in our everyday living. We should know how to distract ourselves to keep our sanity intact. Arguably there’s no better way to do just that but by reading.

Some may not be accustomed to reading many books in a year, some may even find a hard time to finish even a couple of books and there are also some who just can’t find time to sit down and read a book. There’s no denying however that we can feel a sense of accomplishment every time we are able to finish a book. You know what, it’s never too late to form a habit of reading book.

Setting a goal say, a particular number of books is a good start.

The 2013 Book Challenge is a personal challenge by each person to himself to read as many books as his time permits him. This is not to say that merely reading the book on its surface will suffice, participants are expected to digest what the book is all about.

The challenge shall work as a reward system for bookworms and for those who wants to establish this habit. This challenge shall also operate with an honesty system such that participants will have to police themselves. Books one will be listing should be the books that one has read and understood. As a corollary goal to the challenge, participants are expected to articulate their thoughts about the book that they have just read. Participants will not only get to feed their minds but they will also get to think critically and brush-up their writing skills.

Be reminded that this is not a competition so there’s no need to ‘outperform’ fellow participants in the challenge. While yes, speed-reading is a wonderful skill to have, we should consider that not everyone reads a book in the same pace nor do people have the same amount of time at their disposal. As mentioned above, this is a personal challenge by a participant to himself, only this time he gets to share his milestones to everybody one book at a time.

The main objective of this challenge is to be able to read 50 books. Once reached, one can still add to his list if only for the sake of possible discussions.


ELIGIBILITY
Registered PinoyExchange members can join the challenge regardless of ‘join date’ anytime within the year.

What books can we include in our list?

1. Everything that falls under the common definition of a book shall count. The challenge organizer/coordinator/s shall be liberal in determining which books are allowed.
2. Electronic books and audio books are allowed.
3. The challenge shall make no distinction between book genres. Any genre will do.
4. Graphic novels are allowed however serialized mangas or comics shall be listed in volumes, not in chapters.
5. Blog or journal entries may be considered as literature but they are not books hence they cannot be included.
6. Magazines, newspapers and journals cannot be included in the list.
7. There shall be no maximum or minimum number of pages.
   We shall make no distinction as per what language the book was written.

General Guidelines

1. Participants must finish 50 books and must be able to write a six-sentence review for each book.
2. The challenge organizer/coordinator/s shall go over your list. They will determine who has legitimately reached particular milestones.
3. Questions about the challenge should be addressed to the challenge organizer/coordinator/s preferably through private message but you may also post them in the thread. Give the challenge organizer/coordinator/s at least three (3) days to answer your queries.
4. Pins will not be awarded automatically upon reaching a milestone. Awarding of pins may take a few days at most.
5. Should the challenge organizer/coordinator/s need to take some time off the boards, the challenge organizer/coordinator/s will assign his responsibilities to one of the administrators of the PinoyExchange forum. Announcement will be made should this happen.
6. Participants are allowed to discuss anything related to the books listed in the thread.

How do we make our list?

• Interested PExer can either send a Private Message to the challenge organizer/coordinator/s or by expressing their intent on the official 2013 Book Challenge Thread.
• Participants who have already listed their titles prior to this post shall include in their private message the current list of books that they have read.
• Participants must list titles that he has finished. The participants can list down the details of the book like the one below:

• 1/50
• Title:
• Genre:
• Author:
• No. of pages:
• Rating:
• Image:
• Review:

NOTE: Author; No. of Pages; Rating; and Image are all optional but the REST ARE MANADOTRY.

• Aside from book count, title and genre, the six-sentence review is needed for this challenge – it will be the basis of the challenge coordinator/s because one can easily claim that he/she read this book but proving is it a different story hence the six-sentence review is the very least proof of the challengers to the coordinator/s.
• When writing your six sentence review, try not to dish-out spoilers that could potentially ruin other participants’ reading experience. If spoilers are really necessary in the review make sure you use spoiler tags.
• If the book is written in English, participants should write a review in the same language. If the book is written in Filipino, participants should write a review in the vernacular. If the book is in French or any other language besides English and Filipino and you happen to understand the said language, the review must still be in English. Always bear in mind that other participants might be interested to the book you listed so it is imperative that you pen your review in a manner that any person can understand.
• If you happen to have picked an adult material please be careful when constructing your review since these boards might be accessible
• Before and after the review, make sure to list down the cumulative list of books you have read.
• Since this challenge is an incentive system that will reward participants, pins will be awarded each time they reach predetermined until they have completed the challenge.
• To complete the challenge, participants must be able to read 50 books by the end of the year.
• The participants are responsible to track their own list.

Milestones

• 5 Books – Challengers’ pin
• 10 Books – “I read 10 Books” pin
• 20 Books – “I read 20 Books” pin
• 30 Books – “I read 30 Books" pin
• 40 Books – "I read 40 Books" pin
• 50 Books – “I completed the 2013 Book Challenge” pin

Plagiarism

• If it is proven that a participant has posted content that does not have proper citation or has not followed known rules on citing sources, said participant will be subject to the rules of the user agreement and his pins will be removed from his profile. The organizer and PinoyExchange will not be held responsible once a participant has committed plagiarism.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What if prior to joining this challenge I have already read some books; can I include them in my list?
   Yes, provided that you shall still make a six-sentence review and include the time frame you have read each of the books.
2. If I am not sure that the material I have picked is considered a book, how would I know if said material can be counted?
   The challenge coordinator will be liberal on what should count as book and if in case you are not sure, you may leave a message on the challenge coordinator’s inbox any time.
3. Could I still list a book in this thread even if I don’t have an intention to join the challenge?
   Of course it would be better if you challenge yourself to write a review of the book you have just read. This is a way of reassuring yourself that you have actually understood what you have read but if you really don’t have the time to spare some time to write a review, you may still list down the titles that you have just read however those titles without review shall not be acknowledged as part of your list.
4. If I think I have reached a milestone, how do I make sure that I get to be awarded with the pin?
   The challenge coordinator/s will be monitoring the thread at least three to five times a week and he will coordinate with PEx Administrator for the distribution of pins.
5. If I have read 50 books and I have completed the challenge, should I still continue with my list?
   Yes. Surprises are in store for those who opted to take the extra mile.
6. Aside from the pins, would there be other prizes and if so, how will the winner be determined?
   We don’t want to use the word ‘prizes’ to describe the incentives of this challenge because this is not a competition, this is a personal challenge; however as the challenge rolls there will be surprises in store.
7. Sounds boring, will there be twists in this challenge?
   We will be throwing a little something in here during the course of the challenge.

PEx Choice Books of 2013
By December, those who have included in their list, books that will be released within this year shall be included in a team who will determine 12 of the best books of 2013.

[pinoy2781]

Hi friends,

Nakura gave me the go signal. It's a go!
Will post the official guidelines later today.

Thanks!

good luck sa ating lahat!!!

[michymichymoo]

Will try for 50.

Thanks hethler!

[genre914]

Kalurks. Di ako BookWorm. Mukhang ma-challenge akong magbasa ng books nito.

So far, Angels & Demos lang ang nabasa kung book. Hmmm....yung iba erotic genre pero di ko tinapos.

[hethler]

Hi All,

Now that we've officially launched this year's Book Challenge, I will be reviewing the final book count for last year's challenge and will notify Nakura for distributions of pin/s.

Thanks!