books galore

A couple of months ago, in a city far far away like Tagaytay, there was a garage sale. I went in with my bike and I find myself digging in a box full of books. It was a bit of a contrast to what I mentioned before about important things. I was (and still am) in the middle of reading two books (see sidebar) and there I was rummaging through that wonderful box full of books. I asked the owner (now ex-owner) and who is a very good acquaintance how much the books cost. And to my surprise (yes, I was), it was 30 bucks a piece! Immediately searched my pocket of the jersey money (as I was biking) and found two crispy 100 peso bills. Quickly did a mental calculation as to how many I can grab with my limited wealth (which was roughly 6 or 7 depending on my haggling capabilities). I quickly dove to the said box and found 10 good books. It was a bit hard to trim the size to 7 (remember that I still have to haggle). But after dripping countless beads of sweat (I was going uphill beforehand), I bought the following. Mind you, I was able to haggle the price of the last piece. Hurrah!



High Fidelity Nick Hornby, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept Paulo Coelho, Digital Fortress Dan Brown, The God of Small Things Andruhati Roy, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason Helen Fielding, Omerta Mario Puzo, Bonesetters Daughter Amy Tan

To justify my selection, here are the points:
High Fidelity - was mockingly entranced by the film wondered how it is in writing
By The River ... - this is my 3rd Coelho book. wala lang
Digital Fortress - read two d.browns before, wala lang din
The God of ... - interesting title. may award ung book e. might as well see how it got its award
Bridget Jones - never read the first, never saw the film, never was interested with british women (right), but then I really wanted to see film what the huha was all about before about the singletons and the smug marrieds. Even asked the ex-owner if it is a good book. I got a "if you'd like to get a womans perspective on things, read that". So I got it. golly just 30 bucks, what the heck. (and this is a relatively long explanation to something which i really am not interested in)
Omerta - was really planning to buy a set of puzo novels, just that i still have a lot of pending books to read and there was so much control as to buying more books ergo wasnt able to get hand on one till this sale.
Bonesetter's ... - ditto

Anyway, I've read most of them (really so much for important things) and here's what I found.

High Fidelity - the book had a different setting. kept playing the scenes in the film while reading the book. most british men (as how it is portrayed in the book) are really shallow as they measure their 'selves with their sex life. Rob particularly boxed his life with the music that he has (kept relating life with songs).
By The River ... - i guess i found the formula that coelho is using to write his books. ergo might not buy his books any further
Digital Fortress - ditto. it is just really interesting how he makes the twists in his story.
The God of ... - had a hard time reading this one. maybe because of lack of indian cultural background. turned out good in the end
Bridget Jones - read in two days. gosh. ditto to high fidelity. pathetic british women. good thing spent only 30 bucks for this piece.
Omerta - still reading... so far... so good.
Bonesetter's ... - next in line

And still I have to get back to the two books on the side bar. Gosh.

Then you may ask, how the hell did I continue cycling through the hills of Tagaytay with a 7-book stash (quite heavy and bulky) and with no money to hydrate myself...

That's another story.