The year is ending, and we hope the last long lit you’ve read isn’t Ariana Grande’s Tumblr feminist essay. (Just kidding, you at least finished J-Law’s piece in Lenny. No? Okay, none.)
But reading more isn’t always a topic of taste—sometimes, you just can’t read after all your 9-to-5 hustling, 5-to-7 gym trips, 7-to-8 dinner alone, and 8 p.m. till morning snooze fest.
Now that you’ve probably officially hibernated for the last two weeks of 2015—thank you sweet Jesus for the leaves!—you now have time to sit back and ease your pent-up emotions with a book in hand. Find fine, fresh lit that speaks to you and your year’s up-and-downs here.
#1 For the love-stricken souls: Carlomar Arcangel Daoana’s Loose Tongue
Drop the Lang Leav because your romantic self deserves more than clichéd lines lifted off dramatic “good night” texts. Filipino poet Carlomar Arcangel Daoana serves up a platter of feelings in his fourth poetry collection Loose Tongue, a pool of poems gathered from years 2001 to 2013.
Let his lyricism take you back to unrequited relationships, fragile attractions, and the deep limbos of sorrow—all without sounding like beaten quotes you wish you’d never remembered.
Loose Tongue is available in the University of Sto. Tomas Bookstore. Beato Angelico Building, UST, Manila. For more information, visit their website.
#2 For the struggling adults: Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life
Suckers for dark novels with a moving, haunting plot should grab Hanya Yanigahara’s A Little Life. Don’t let its 720 pages daunt you: This thick piece of fiction takes more turns for the worse after initially setting itself up as the happier, more successful male version of Girls.
In here you’ll know Jude St. Francis, a lawyer and mathematician, who, despite finding success, is plagued with an unspeakable past you’d only find out by reading it.
A Little Life (P1,260) is available in all leading Fully Booked branches. For more information, visit their website.
#3 For the nostalgic, old-world character: Patti Smith’s M Train
Following the success of Just Kids, female rock icon Patti Smith dabbles further with the written word with M Train. This gifted poet guides us to vivid recalls of her past encounters with graves, hotels, and secret societies, and raw feelings, all of which she notes down via her own “mind train” (hence, the title).
It’s an inviting trip to memory lane and the music legend’s psyche sans the sugarcoated and praising tones of most autobiographies. What you read from Patti here, is what you get in real life as well.
M Train (P860) is available in Fully Booked, Katipunan Ave., Quezon City. For more information, visit their website.
#4 For the history buffs: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me
If reality bites you harder than something Hanya’s fiction offers, The Atlantic journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates penned a non-fiction piece that portrays the fair share of politics of being black in the US.
Between the World and Me is a long letter addressed to Ta-Nehisi’s 14-year-old son, like a bedtime story but one that disturbs more than relaxes. The author traverses many topics, all of which revolve around the harrowing realities associated with their colored ethnicity.
Between the World and Me (P772.19) is available in leading National Book Store branches nationwide. For more information, visit their website.
#5 For the light, pop culture reader: Noel Ferrer’s Sisikat Din Ako!: Your Guide to Making Your Mark in Show Business
You don’t have to actually want to be in the ‘biz to pick this up. Noel Ferrer’s self-help celebrity guide is an analytical easy-read about the successful formulas of most celebrities.
The seasoned manager of Ryan Agoncillo and Iza Calzado spills the successes and failures of names you both recognize and hardly remember. It’s worth the purchase, since it covers show biz not as a land of glam, but a ruthless jungle with milk and honey only for those who survive.
Sisikat Din Ako!: Your Guide to Making Your Mark in Show Business (P675) is available in all leading National Book Store branches nationwide. For more information, visit their website.
#6 For the passionate, LGBT supporter: Lisa Williamson’s The Art of Being Normal
This year’s been great for the LGBT community. Now it pays to understand their ongoing struggles. Take Lisa Williamson’s The Art of Being Normal, a tale about a transgender teen’s struggle with identity, to see what we mean.
The novel doesn’t ask for the sympathy toward this minority. Rather, it begs to understand the humanity of one of society’s most ridiculed individuals as a charming, young adult narrative.
The Art of Being Normal (P611.09) is available in leading National Book Store branches nationwide. For more information, visit their website.
#7 For the visual reader: Roberto Chabet, ed. by Ringo Bunoan
This celebrated Filipino conceptual artist finally gets the book he deserves. Ringo Bunoan edits an account of the modernist master Roberto Chabet, from his life and work to his mind’s inner workings and his student’s observations.
While it asks for a hefty amount to be spent on one artist’s book, you won’t regret keeping the many fragments of Roberto’s art, glimpses of his exhibitions and workspaces, and own drawings compiled here.
Roberto Chabet (P6,000) is available in Art Books PH. 123 Pioneer Street, Mandaluyong City. 632-7683. For more information, visit their website.