The Best [and the Worst] Reads of 2011 (Subtitle: The Book I Will Push You to Read on 2012 )

[Astrid]

Best reads:
"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
"The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" by Haruki Murakami
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde

Worst reads:
"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
I can't believe how overrated this book was!!!

[Joyzi]

Astrid I'm planning to read Kite Runner because of the movie. Is it that bad? I'm just wondering what makes you not like it.

[K.D.]

Astrid: I like your books!
Yes, looking back, I agree with "The Kite Runner" being overrated. It so happened that I read it right after it came out so di pa masyadong pinaguusapan.

BTW, I felt the same for "The Road." It was too emotionally draining. At this point, movie and all, don't you think (looking back) that it was also overrated? I mean I read the "After This" by Alice McDemott and it was a lot better in terms of the thickness of its plot and characterization. It so happened that McCarthy's has a "different" story.

[K.D.]

Monique: Thanks. I finally said to my wife. No more e-reader yet for me. I explained (again, actually) that I might like or enjoy it. So, paano na ang 1,000 actual books ko sa kuwarto namin? ha ha Tsaka binibili rin ang books dyan pag bago so gagastos ako sa mga librong meron na ako. At sa dali ng pagbili dyan, baka matukso akong mag-load ng mag load tapos di naman nababasa. At least sa kuwarto namin, pagmulat ng mata ko, nakikita ko ang mga books sa itaas ng aparador, sa side table, sa cabinet, sa head board, sa ilalim ng kama, at minsan sa sahig pa. Pag masama ang pakiramdam ko, sasabihin ko sa sarili ko na di pa ako mamamatay kasi marami pa akong babasahin ha ha.

[Monique]

K.D. wrote: "Monique: Thanks. I finally said to my wife. No more e-reader yet for me. I explained (again, actually) that I might like or enjoy it. So, paano na ang 1,000 actual books ko sa kuwarto namin? ha ha ..."

Aldrin is asking me to bring my husband's Kindle Touch sa Christmas party, para makita nya yung features. If you want, you can take a look, too. It's way better than Fire (I think), it has the e-ink technology, and very light and handy. :D And yes, sobrang nakaka-tempt bumili nang bumili ng books! Haha. ;)

[Angus]

KD: One of Astrid's best reads nga ang The Road eh, tapos "I felt the same"? LOL.

[K.D.]

Onga. Sorry po. Di malinaw. I felt the same "na overrated" ang THE ROAD. The same sa feeling nya na overrated ang THE KITE RUNNER. ha ha

[K.D.]

Monique: No more Kindle Fire for me.

I got this link just this morning from my brother. Binabalik raw sa US ng mga bumili ang kanilang mga units.

Ahh there goes my Kindle Fire! haha

[Angus]

Regarding Kindle or Nook or any e-reader, I think mas makakamura in the long run. Tapos di ba, yung mga free e-books, I think you can get those books published a hundred years ago for free? At saka it is very convenient, modern, space-saving, etc. Pero mamimiss ko yata yung amoy ng papel. At saka ang papercuts. Well, hindi naman ako prone sa papercuts pero wish ko lang ay puro papercuts na ang mga daliri ko, hahaha.

[Monique]

K.D. wrote: "Monique: No more Kindle Fire for me.

I got this link just this morning from my brother. Binabalik raw sa US ng mga bumili ang kanilang mga units.

Ahh there goes my Kindle Fire! haha"

Yup, sinosoli na nga raw po units. But not the Kindle Touch. ;)

[K.D.]

Yup, but I do not have my personal laptop. I want to write Goodreads reviews say I am in a mall and my wife and daughter are shopping. I thought Fire Kindle would be perfect for both reading e-books and typing GR reviews. I have to wait for its technology to improve.

[Tina]

Kuya Doni: yep, wait for it na lang muna. I'm not sure how it is with the new Kindle browser, pero so far in my Kindle 2 ang pangit ng browser. Haha. Plus, Amazon owns Shelfari so they favor that site more. :) Mura lang kasi Kindle Fire compared to other tablets, especially compared to iPad. Although if you don't mind back light, a Galaxy Tab may work fine? Mas mura compared to iPad. You can always download a Kindle app there. :)

Oh, but a Kindle will really give you access to more books. MORE. Especially the free classics. Haha I don't buy print classics na kasi meron naman free sa Amazon. :D

[Tina]

Ayan haha gagawa na ako ng tentative list of bests/worst ko. Tentative, kasi the year isn't over and I still have some books lined up kaya ayaw ko pa magfinalize. :D

Best:
A Monster Calls
On the Jellicoe Road
The Curse of the Wendigo
Deadline
Unearthly
The King of Attolia
Never Let Me Go
The Last Dragonslayer

Worst:
Miss Match
Dark Blue: Color Me Lonely
Playing Hurt
Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later
BoneMan's Daughters

[K.D.]

Thank you for making me feel that my decision is right, Tina my friend. Then I also read in an article that traditional book store outlet owners in the US (like B&N) are worried that their sales will go down again after Christmas because many people will be opening their gifts (Kindle) this Christmas.

In that same article, these outlet owners say that their sales this year are better than in 2010. They attributed this to people still flocking to stores as books are "safe" and "classy" and even "cheaper than e-book reader" to give as gifts. Also, Borders (its many outlets over the whole of US) closed shop so B&N is now very happy. But that happiness will be temporary after Christmas.

So, mukhang worried pa rin ang mga traditional booksellers how e-book readers will affect their business.

[K.D.]

Yes, I did. Di lang ako nakasagot agad. Bukas na lang. Andoon ako sa CG. May meeting ako ng 6-8. Magkikita rin kami ni Em before 6 p.m.

O di kaya sa Friday afternoon. Hanggang 8 p.m. ako sa office because of our department's Christmas party. Kita na lang tayo sa Starbucks sa ibaba or sa Jollibee Emerald.

[Joyzi]

Eto lang po ang feeling ko mga advantages ng e-reader (specifically Barnes & Noble Nook)

-libre ang pagdownload ng books especially Classics (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Don Quixote, Wuthering Heights, etc.)

-pwede din mag save ng mga manga at books na libre lang madodownload sa mangaepub.com at 4shared.com

-nakakapagsave ng up to 1,000 books, ang tagline nga ng Nook ay Read Forever e, sa dami ng books, read forever nga talaga ang drama mo.

-maliit lang siya, magaan at simple lang - di nakakangalay hawakan kasi di siya mabigat, pwedeng magbasa habang nagtratravel (bus, jeep, etc.)

- Nook Social - dito pwede ka mag-add ng Nook friends pagkatapos ay pwede ka na makahiram ng mga books niya through Lend Me (wi-fi ito kaya very convenient). Marami ka makikitang pwedeng maging Nook Friends sa Goodreads Barnes & Noble Nook Club at kung san san pa.

-it reads like paper, di masakit sa mata ang e-ink, kahit maaraw sa labas pwede ka magbasa, no glare whatsoever

-may built-in dictionary din, iclick mo lang yung word tapos may option na look-up kung san pwede mo tingnan yung meaning sa dictionary

Disadvantages

-black and white siya so pati book cover black and white din

-mahirap maghighlight ng mga quotes, kahit may ganitong feature di ko magamit ng ayos

-di ka makapagbasa kapag turn-off na ang ilaw sa kuwarto kasi wala siyang backlight

-kapag nasa Pilipinas ka di mo magamit ang mga free app subscriptions ng mga Magazine at Newspaper

yan na lang muna

[K.D.]

Thank you, Joyzi.

Kanina, we went to Mega. Kino-convince ako ng officemate ko na iPad na lang. May Kindle Apps na rin daw. May alam ka rin ba sa iPad? compared to Kindle Touch?

[Joyzi]

maganda din po yung iPad kaso mas mahal 40k po compared sa e-reader na mga 99$ lang more or less 6k

nung nagtry din po ako sa iPad medyo mabigat siya nakakangalay, kung magbabasa ka ng matagal nakapatong dapat yung iPad hindi katulad ng Nook na magaan at komportable hawakan

may backlight po yung iPad so kapag nagbabasa ka parang sa laptop ka nagbabasa, medyo masakit sa mata katagalan, tapos medyo malaki yung screen so medyo para ka talagang nagbabasa sa small laptop na hindi ko masyado prefer

dahil din sa backlight nagrereflect yung light kapag nakatapat ka sa ilaw o kaya sa araw, ok siya magbasa indoors at kahit wala ng ilaw

advantages po ng iPad pwede ka din mag check ng mail, mag-internet, etc. maglaro ng angry birds at tap tap, pwede ka din manood ng movie at youtube, pwede ka din mag type, medyo ok na din mag-type kapag naka landscape na yung monitor, sanayan lang

wala pa kong alam sa Kindle Touch pero parang nabasa ko po ang ayaw lang nung mga readers dun ay may ads po ata kapag nagbabasa ka at laging nagrerefresh yung ilaw na black every turn ng page

[K.D.]

Thank you, Joyzi. Maybe I'll check iPad again later. Parang iPad na lang nga siguro.

[Joselito Honestly]

why not test drive my kindle para makapagdecide ka ng maayos? It's just gathering dust sa tokador ko dahil sa kapal nung binabasa kong book. Walang problema sa ads o ilaw. Isang drawback: di mo alam kung gaano kakapal yung libro. Pero you'll get an idea as you read it. It mentions the percentage of the pages you've read. So for example you've read 40 pages already and it's still at 1% then baka War and Peace ang kapal nyan.

[Joyzi]

@ Kuya Joselito I agree. Minsan nga po akala ko nasa ending na ako ng binabasa ko kasi di mo mapapansin ang progress mo unless you tap a button.

[Vim]

Hi K.D just overheard the ebook discussion here and magcocomment Lang ako since i read books in both kindle and iPad.

Comments on Kindle (I'm using the kindle 3 keyboard wifi and free 3G)

Advantages:

-halos lahat ng location puede ka mag free 3G and you can access the amazon store and get books agad.
-e-ink, Hindi masakit sa mata, you'll just stop pag mapangit yung book, you're sleeping, you need to do something.
-No Ads
-with regards to what joselito mentioned regarding sa percentage ng reading to determine how far along you're in the book. Amazon has updated the kindle software sa kindle devices nila so you can see the page and percentage of the book you're reading.
-Ang lakas ng speaker, puede ka magsoundtrip without earphones. Puede rin pala siyang MP3 (wala nga Lang screen)
-super gaang
-no glare pag nagbabasa ka under the sun.
-there are software free online like calibre for Mac/windows that organizes your kindle books and converts and transfers them easily to your kindle.
-epic battery life, I only charge every two-three weeks and i I read everyday for hours.
-easy to highlight phrases. Then if you got the book in amazon, you can see the frequently highlighted lines by other users and nakakaaliw siya pag kapareho mo.
-instant dictionary
-you can connect your kindle to sites like Facebook, goodreads, twitter, netgalley
-cheap
-you can synchronize the page read in all your kindle devices and app. I once started reading in my kindle. Then it synchronized the last page I read when I used my iPad and itouch. It's as if you're book is traveling with you.
-there are a lot of book lights you can buy in fully booked.


Disadvantages:
-you can't see the Book cover when browsing sa kindle device. Maybe sa touch iba na??
-black and white pictures
-kinda complicated when you need to go back a
Certain page. So pagaaralan mo pa yung other navigation tools sa kindle. But Madali naman siya and when you figured it out its so easy to navigate through books.
-experimental palang and web browser niya
-synchronize book can be used only to amazon bought books (don't worry Maraming free books sa amazon)
-please don't get the ads version ng kindle. May ads eh. Haha



Comments on Ebook reading in ipad 2

Advantages
-you can read a lot of file types here. There's an app for almost everything. Graphic novels, manga, magazines, fanfiction, audiobooks
-Maraming puedeng gawin. So many apps to fit me.
-iBooks =]
-you can see the book covers in your reading app
-you can adjust the screen brightness and color ng pages to sepia para Hindi masyado masakit sa eyes.
-you can read in the dark.
-instant dictionary on kindle app.



Disadvantages
-poor battery life for reading. I had to charge almost everyday.
-nakakangawit for reading books. Medyo mabigat siya eh
-the glare hurts my eyes and nakakahilo siya if you're reading for long
-you won't be able to see the page number when you're reading sa kindle app.



OVER-ALL Comments

-If you want a trusty device for purely reading ebooks I suggest you get a kindle or a nook with e-ink. Their battery lives are the longest and it won't hurt your eyes.
-if you want to read graphic novels, manga, magazines get an iPad
-if you want to get an all in one gadget, get an iPad

Both have pros and cons but it depends on the user and to what extent you're gonna use your device for reading.

Hope this helps kuya! =]

Vim

[Joselito Honestly]

if you have difficulty deciding, ask your wife to buy you a kindle, then you buy an ipad. so no need to decide which.

[Joyzi]

additional pala 10 hours ang battery life ng iPad yung sa Nook ay 2 months

[Vim]

Joselito wrote: "if you have difficulty deciding, ask your wife to buy you a kindle, then you buy an ipad. so no need to decide which."

Correct! Hahaha =] win win

[Veneficus]

High 5!













Thumbs down book

[Ace]

ipad parin para sa akin kasi yan ang meron ako! hehehe! seriously, mas gusto ko parin yung totoong book... iba parin!

[Vim]

Best Reads

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Worst Reads

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

[Bennard]

My Best:
1. American Gods
2. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
3. Y: The Last Man
4. The Walking Dead
5. Living To Tell The Tale

My Worst:
1. Hunger Games
2. Artemis Fowl