2013 reading goals

share a #virtualbeer with me. via bluemask2099

Over at Goodreads I gave myself another reading challenge. Last year, I challenged myself to read 12 books but read 20 instead. This year I am raising it to 25. I think that is manageable. I am planning to read at least 2 books a month with 1 “thick” book that I might not finish in a month.

Why such a low number as compared to other readers? I am a “slow” reader. I usually read for pleasure. For that my reading speed is almost equal to my speaking speed.

Over at Meann’s blog (The Girl Who Reads and Other Stories), she asked for specific reading goals. (By the way, she is currently running a book give-away.) Here is mine:

• As a Star Trek Lit fan, at least six of the 2013 releases.
• the novelization of Star Trek Into Darkness that I should read after I see the film
• the four book mini-series The Fall, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• and Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures, an Enterprise novel set on the years after the Federation was founded
• At least 2 science fiction classic novels. Books by H.G. Wells will fit the bill.
• At least one English translation of a non-English science fiction book. The English edition of Apocalipsis Z: Los días oscuros (Spanish original) that I bought already will qualify.
• A “thick” book. I already have Stephen King’s Under the Dome on by TBR list.
• At least 2 classic novels that are not science fiction or fantasy.
• The Hobbit and at least the first book The Lord of Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring.
• If possible, a science fiction or fantasy novel written by a Filipino. If I can’t find one, at least 2 novellas by a Filipino author or at least one anthology of short stories by a group of Filipino authors.

For the rest, any book from my TBR list. Most of it I bought from The Kindle Daily Deal (for e-books) or Booksale (for paperbacks).

Related articles

• 2012 in books
• New Year Giveaway: Mythos Academy #2-3 by Jennifer Estep

2012 in books

Device and device (Photo credit: icheb)

So, I remembered that I have a blog that I neglected for a long time. The last one I posted here was dated December 2011. A got a whole year of no posts! To compensate, I'll post what happened on my reading list during the year 2012... as far as what my Goodreads account tells me.

January: I posted a reading challenge for myself: read 12 books for the year 2012. I told myself, a book a month, I can do this. After posting this challenge, I failed the first month. I didn't start reading, I just procrastinated.

February: Fine, I'll start. I downloaded on my Kindle a copy of the first book of The Romulan Wars: Beneath the Raptor's Wing since I can't find a copy on local bookstores. I followed it up with the second book: To Brave the Storm. Good, I finished two books, I am on track. I challenged myself on reading a hard SF. Since I enjoyed reading on my Kindle, another e-book is in order. I downloaded the first book of The Uplift Saga: Sundiver. I find the concept of uplift intriguing.

March: I don't know why but I haven't finished Sundiver this month. Maybe because the story is dragging? I don't remember.

April: Finally finished Sundiver on the first week. After looking at my currently-reading list, I decided to finish The Time Traveler's Wife. I liked both the book and the movie versions actually. Also this month, I read American Gods. I asked myself why I didn't bought this book after reading Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys. Good thing this book was on a discount on the Amazon Kindle store during that month. Also on discount that month was the first book of the Sword of Truth: Wizard's First Rule. As a friend put it, this my first foray with thick books. I put it down for a few days to read the second Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations book: Forgotten History. Five stars goes to Mr. Bennett as usual.

May: Still reading Wizard's First Rule. I squeezed a few days reading Tune in Tokyo: The Gaijin Diaries that I bought on discount over at the Kindle store. After reading this, I imagined myself traveling to countries where English language is not as prevalent. It would be a challenge, I thought.

June to August: Real life interfered with my reading. I occasionally read Wizard's First Rule during those days. Again, that was a very “thick” book.

tonight 's pre and in flight reading material via bluemask2099

September: I was back at our main office, (in La Union for those who ask) and I had to stay on the family home while I was there. Since I don't have internet at home (my phone can only access Twitter), I was back on my reading list. First stop, the latest Star Trek release, the Voyager novel The Eternal Tide. I made an experiment by tweeting my side comments while reading this book. It was fun to do but it was slowing down my reading pace. After reading another Kindle book, I told myself to start making a dent on my paperback pile. I picked up The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks. Yes, I also read books other than science fiction and fantasy. I also picked up one of those Star Trek paperbacks that was collecting dust on my pile: Seize the Fire, a Typhon Pact novel featuring the crew of Star Trek: Titan. I previously blogged one of those novels in 2011. That was a long time between reading those books. I finished this one early October.

October: I decided to finally catch up with Star Trek novels, starting with Star Trek: Titan – Fallen Gods, the direct sequel of Sieze the Fire; and Star Trek: Typhon Pact novels Plagues of the Night, Raise the Dawn, and Brinkmanship, all on the Kindle since the local bookstore that might carry these books is in Metro Manila which is far from where I was that time. I also read the Doctor Who: The Angel's Kiss novella.

November: I returned to Wizard's First Rule only to put it down again to read the latest from Star Trek: the first book of Cold Equations, The Persistence of Memory. As usual, Mr. Mack delivers. Finally, I finished Mr. Goodkind's book this month. One word: “thick”.

December: I finished the second book of Cold Equations, Silent Weapons. Also finished this month was Supernatural: Bobby Singer's Guide to Hunting. I say, this is the best Supernatural tie-in book so far. Finally, I also got to finish reading The Halfling's Gem, the sixth book of The Legend of Drizzt. I read the last Drizzt book years ago and this book was collecting dust for quite a while now.

Also in 2012, I discovered The Book Depository where I can order books online and be delivered for free. The first book I bought was Idlewild by Nick Sagan. It will be on my 2013 reading list, I swear. In December, I won my first free book from Goodreads, Becoming a Superhero, signed by author Oliver Galang. I will resume reading this after the holiday break.

My signed copy of Becoming a Superhero by Oliver Galang arrived earlier this week. via bluemask2099

So, what happened to my reading challenge? I read 20 books in 2012, way past my 12 book mark. Not bad. I will raise that number for my 2013 challenge. Hope I can make it.

I also hope that I can maintain regularly posting on this blog this time around. See ya next time.

Review: New Year's Eve (2011)

What are your hopes for the new year?

From the director of Valentine's Day, the new film New Year's Eve also follows the lives of different people and how their lives intersect during a single day. Director Garry Marshall and writer Katherine Fugate present a new set of stories of people and their relationships. This time, most of the stories are not restricted to romantic relationships. While the storylines occurred simultaneously, only a few of them fully crossed over to another story with some only have the setting or familial relationship as the common denominator.

Here are some of my favorite storylines:

In the Jensen/Laura story, Jon Bon Jovi (Pucked) plays Jensen, a rock star, who want to reconcile with Laura, a chef, played by Katherine Heigl (Life as We Know It). I liked this storyline not because of the main characters but of the supporting cast. Sofia Vergara (Modern Family), played Chef Ava, is such a scene stealer.

In the Resolution Tour, Michelle Pfeiffer (Stardust) plays Ingrid, a receptionist who just quit her job and wanted to fulfill her resolution list. She met Paul, a bike messenger played by Zac Efron (Charlie St. Cloud), and asked him to help her. How Paul checked off her list is genius.

In the New Year Baby, Seth Myers (Saturday Night Live) and Jessica Biel (The A-Team) competes with another couple on a race to have their baby to be named as the hospital's New Year baby and win a prize. This is the comedy storyline of the film. Liked how this story ended.

The other storylines on this film features the following: Robert De Niro (Killer Elite), Halle Berry (X-Men: The Last Stand), Ashton Kutcher (What Happens in Vegas), Lea Michele (Glee), Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City), Josh Duhamel (Life as We Know It), Hilary Swank (Amelia), and Ludacris (Fast Five). I am surprised with the appearance of Alysa Milano (Charmed) and Joey McIntyre (NKOTB).

This is pretty much a feel good movie. Quick rating: 3.5 falling balls out of 5.

Please do watch the credits. It contains scenes during the New Year's party and hilarious outtakes.

New Year's Eve is now on cinemas. Distributed by Warner Brothers Philippines.

Poster and still images (c) 2011 Warner Bros.

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Review: In Time (2011)

"Time is gold." Cliché much?


In a future where the aging gene has been switched off, people don't age past 25. In order to prevent overpopulation, time becomes the currency used to pay for necessities and luxuries. It is a world where the rich live forever and the poor die young. This is the world of In Time, a new film by Andrew Niccol starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried and Cillian Murphy.

The film revolves around the character Will Salas, played by Justin Timberlake. I last saw Justin Timberlake in The Social Network. All I can say is, Timberlake can act.

Poor boy meets rich girl Sylvia Weis played by Amanda Seyfried. I last saw Seyfried in Red Riding Hood. She played different kinds of roles in her past films, and she played them well. Here, though, I wondered, "How did she run in those heels?"

Cillian Murphy (Inception) plays a Timekeeper--a kind of cop. Will's best friend is played by Johnny Galecki (Leonard of The Big Bang Theory), the rich "villain" is played by Vincent Kartheiser (Angel), the mysterious man that started it all is played by Matt Bomer (White Collar), and Olivia Wilde (House) is Will's mom. What can I say, the casting is great! I am familiar with, and loved these actors in their previous works.

What I loved about this film is it made me think, but at the same time, it kept me on the edge of my seat. The film runs for almost 2 hours (real time), but you won't notice it. The characterizations are used well to move the plot further between action sequences. And since this film is about time used as currency, there really was no time wasted.

People familiar with science fiction films can draw parallels and similarities with other works like Logan's Run, and the director's previous work, Gattaca. There are also parallels to real world events like Occupy Wall Street.

A character from the film asked, "If you had as much time as I have, what would you do with it?" My answer would be, "I'll make the most of it."

In Time opens in cinemas today, October 28.

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• Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Vincent Kartheiser, Matt Bomer and Writer/Director Andrew Niccol IN TIME Interview (collider.com)
• In Time: Justin Timberlake Tries to Beat the Clock (entertainment.time.com)
• Justin Timberlake & Amanda Seyfried: 'In Time' LA Premiere! (justjared.buzznet.com)

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Image via Wikipedia

The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.

Steve Jobs
1955-2011

[TrekLit] Review: Paths of Disharmony (Star Trek: Typhon Pact)

Author: Dayton Ward
Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation; Star Trek: Typhon Pact

A casual reader or Trek fan should not take a Star Trek novel lightly these days, especially when the novel is set on the late 24th century. Novels released by Pocket Books starting early 2000s fall into some sort of a continuity which fans call the “Novelverse” where events in one book might be referenced in another or a meta-story can drive the plotlines of multiple books. Some authors may or may not follow the novels continuity (you can spot continuity slip-ups and ret-cons here and there) but the story in the novels strive to be self-contained. Continuity may be good or bad for the books but some (like me) appreciates this and wants to follow where the new Star Trek lit universe go.

Paths of Disharmony is written by Dayton Ward and is part of the Star Trek: Typhon Pact miniseries featuring the characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Captain Picard was sent by Federation President Nanietta Bacco^[1] on a diplomatic mission to Andor. The reproductive crisis of the Andorian people^[2] was compounded by the devastation of the cities of the planet following the last Borg Invasion.^[3] Leading Andorian scientists struggle to solve the crisis with one solution^[4] seems promising but later discarded when number of failures became higher than successful births. The Enterprise' task is to bring leading scientists from the Federation and non-aligned worlds to a conference on Andor to help solve the crisis.

If your last Next Gen story was Star Trek Nemesis, here are some pointers on the current crew of the Enterprise. Will Riker left to command his own ship, the USS Titan.^[5] Counselor Troi followed Riker on Titan. Data's twin, B4, is not on board.^[6] Worf stayed as Picard's first officer. LaForge is still the chief engineer. Picard filled in the missing posts with new officers trying to find the perfect mix but almost every novel there is a change in the line-up. In this novel, the following are new faces are significant characters: Choudhurry the chief of security, Taurik a Vulcan assistant chief engineer, and T'Ryssa Chen a half-Vulcan contact specialist. By the way, Picard is already married and there is a little Picard crawling around.^[7]

The plot revolves around Andorian politics and the reaction of the Andorian people following the Borg Invasion to the Federation. Some groups felt that the Andorians was forsaken by the Federation or outright against the Federation.^[8] Some groups protesting that the new solution for the reproductive crisis is un-Andorian. When the Tholians, member of the Typhon Pact, announced that the possible solution to the crisis was held secret by the Federation^[9] the protests turned into violence, the Enterprise was caught in the middle but was able to quell both camps. In the end, the decision of Andor will rock the core of the Federation while the Typhon Pact watches.

The miniseries Star Trek: Typhon pact was supposed to feature a member of the new coalition called Typhon Pact^[10] that serves as the counterpart of the Federation. In this book, it is only revealed that the Tholians are doing something behind the scenes. Since the Tholians are already featured in the series Star Trek: Vanguard, I understand why they are not featured in full here.

This book also features the Andorian Thirishar ch'Thane back to the TrekLit^[11] although not much of “airtime” as I liked it to be. I hope his character will be revisited soon and in a Deep Space Nine book.

I get the feeling that Pocket Books is slowly closing the gap between the novels and the prime universe segment of the Star Trek (2009) movie, specially the Star Trek: Countdown comic by IDW. There are hints on the future role of Picard. On that note, I want a Data/B-4 story!

The novel started slow but it picked up the pace sometime after the midpoint up to the big decision near the end. I want to read the aftermath of this book soon.

Quick rating: 3 Borg Cubes (out of 5).

[1] first mentioned in A Time for War, A Time for Peace

[2] first discussed on the DS9 relaunch novels

[3] as seen in Star Trek: Destiny miniseries

[4] first presented in Mission Gamma miniseries

[5] follow his adventures on Star Trek: Titan series

[6] read what happened on Articles of the Federation

[7] more of that on Greater Than the Sum and Losing the Peace

[8] one of them was featured in the comic Alien Spotlight: Andorians by IDW

[9] this is the meta-story of the Star Trek: Vanguard series

[10] first mentioned in A Singular Destiny

[11] he was last seen on Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume One

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[Movies] One Day

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess
Director: Lone Scherfig

I have nothing to do this afternoon so I checked the local movie listings to find something to pass the time on. I saw One Day is showing and I remember Anne Hathaway on the movie poster I saw last week. I decided to watch this instead of Contagion. (Thanks Wil.)

Since this is a Hathaway movie, I have to watch it. I'm in love Anne since her first appearance on the movie Princess Diaries. I did a little digging on the internet about this movie so that at least I have something to look forward to. I restrained myself to read significant spoilers. She is paired with Jim Sturgess. I haven't seen his other films. Yes, I haven't seen 21 (thank you IMDB for the info). So according to sources I've read, this movie is based on a novel by David Nicholls. He also wrote the movie's screenplay. Since I haven't read the book, I will not comment on how it is faithful as an adaptation.

Cover of One Day

The movie is based on two “friends”, Emma and Dexter, whose lives keep on intersect on the anniversary of their first meeting. At first I thought, how will the movie pull this off telling 20 years worth of friendship with just one day for each year. Suffice to say, I was satisfied. I loved the evolution of the character of Dexter. Of course, the writer of the novel is a man that is why the male lead's character is full. (I also loved Nicholas Sparks' male leads.) Even though I can relate with Dexter (especially with his relationship with his mother), I say I can relate more with Emma. That is something to talk about with me over coffee (or beer).

Visuals, I loved how the characters are addressed appropriately for the season. The bulk of the movie is set on the 90s and for that decade, almost every year have different fashion and hairstyles. It was reflected on the movie and since I grew up in the 90s, I really loved it. Music was also used to emphasize the time setting, including songs from Tears For Fears, Robbie Williams, and Ronan Keating.

Although I watched this alone (seems to be a recent trend to me), this is a good date movie. Might as well check out the original novel and the soundtrack album.

Quick Rating: 3.5 (of 5) stars.

Arthur Charles Clarke tribute

It is vital to remember that information — in the sense of raw data — is not knowledge, that knowledge is not wisdom, and that wisdom is not foresight. But information is the first essential step to all of these.

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke
(16 December 1917 - 19 March 2008)

Heroes: Saving Charlie: A Novel

Heroes: Saving Charlie: A Novel
Written by Aury Wallington; Story by Jeph Loeb; based on the series Heroes created by Tim Kring

I waited this book to be released in the Philippines for a long time. I am always checking out the bookstores since January and when I saw this last February, I immediately bought it, set aside all other books that I am reading and started reading this.

The book is based on the hit television series, Heroes, with a central story revolving around the characters Hiro Nakamura, a time traveler, and Charlie Andrews, a waitress whom our main character is infatuated but destined to be killed by the "Brain Man". In the Heroes - Season One episode "Seven Minutes to Midnight", Hiro told his best friend, that he wants to prevent Charlie's death by travelling to the past -- one day before the incident -- but he missed by six months! After the episode "Six Months Ago", we saw that Hiro failed on his mission with the look of desperation.

The story of Hiro and Charlie in those six months is chronicled on this book. We see how the romance between them blossomed and the relationship of Hiro and his father Kaito via Hiro's flashbacks. This is definitely not your ordinary science fiction book, it is a romance novel.

After reading the novel, it is below what I am expected from a science fiction novel or even a romance novel. As a science fiction novel, I was hoping that effect of time travel is explored at least on the Heroes universe. The explanations through examples from manga, American comics, and movies fell flat for me. As a romance novel with the male as a point-of-view character, the novel fell flat too. (Sorry, my exposure on romance novels is from Nicholas Sparks novels and I am spoiled by his male characters.) The deep emotions felt by Hiro (claiming that he is in-love with Charlie) did not came across the page although I felt his excitement and over-all infatuation. As a media tie-in book, my only problem is the last part. All the Hiro-Charlie scenes in the episode "Six Months Ago" was reworked to fit the novel but those reworking made sense and I would like to thank the author for that although I am not recommending this book for the continuity buffs. The ending fell flat, as some events was just mentioned and it should have been told.

Overall, this book is recommended for Hiro/Charlie shippers like me. But for the serious Heroes fans, read the Heroes, Volume One graphic novel instead.

Rating: 2 1/2 stars out of 5

New Worlds Alliance launches the country's first online science fiction and fantasy lending library

QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES (newworlds.ph) -- Have you ever tried following one of those long-running fantasy book series like Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time" or the Dragonlance series? Or have you ever tried reading all the "Star Trek" novels in order but couldn't find the next volume? Tried to keep up with the Star Wars Expanded universe novels?

You've probably tried. But as the venerable Master Yoda would say, "Do or do not, there is no try."

"But Master Yoda," you protest. "I can only try because it's too difficult to find all the books in these series. It's rare to find all 10 Wheel of Time books available in a store, or to find someone with a great number of Star Trek books I can borrow!"

Master Yoda looks at you with a knowing smile and whispers, "Ah, but the New Worlds Library, there is. Know about it, do you not?"

I can see you're quite bewildered. And before Master Yoda decides you have to do a single handstand while he's standing on your foot and you try to levitate some rocks using the Force because you don't know what the New Worlds Library is, let me elucidate.

The New Worlds Library (NWL) is a project of the New Worlds Alliance (NWA), a network of local fan organizations of science fiction, fantasy, and horror enthusiasts. Located at Fandom Café, the Alliance headquarters in Quezon City, it is the first online lending library of its kind and scope in the country. The aim of the NWL is to provide a wide selection of science fiction, fantasy, and horror books and references, and various magazines and similar publications that its members can either read on-site or borrow.

To date, the NWL has more than 1600 books in its collection, most of which were donated by NWA member groups and other individuals. There are substantial collections of Star Trek, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Star Wars, and various classic science fiction and fantasy books, some of which, you won't find available in local stores, or are already out of print. So if you've ever wanted to finish that long book series but couldn't find the other volumes, try searching the NWL database, and you just might find what you're looking for. We can't count how many times visitors to the library have said "I've been looking for this book for the longest time!" while browsing the NWL collection.

The NWL catalogue is available online to provide members easy access to information they need before going to Fandom Café. Members may browse the catalogue at their leisure using their workstations, check if the book is available for loan, reserve it online, and go to Fandom Café to pick up the book. If the book they want was checked-out by another member, members can reserve the book and they will be notified by e-mail if the book is already available. Right now, library volunteers are still busy migrating book information into our new database system, but a more comprehensive list of books may be found in the NWL Librarything account.

Applying for membership to the NWL is easy. Secure a Membership Form from Fandom Café or request for one through the NWL website, fill it up, present the required documents, and pay the membership fee. After validation of the information in your application, you can start browsing for books you can borrow.

So now that you know what the New Worlds Library is, hurry and apply for membership now! Master Yoda is watching you, and so am I... especially if you do not take care of those books.

The New Worlds Library is open for business and is located at:
Fandom Café
Unit G-09 Regalia Park Towers,
150 P. Tuazon St., Cubao, Quezon City

For more information, visit our websites:
http://www.fandomcafe.com
http://www.newworlds.ph
or the NWL catalog database at:
http://www.newworlds.ph/elib/login.php
our Librarything account is at:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/nwa_library
You can also call: (02)4396586
or e-mail: library@fandomcafe.com