2011 in a nutshell

A tradition I started last year, this is my roundup of book reads for the year 2011. Compared to last year, it's unfortunate that I got a worst read this time. It's part of an anthology I'm looking forward to finish before 2012 crashes in. My reading this year is also less in quantity compared to 2010 due to my current work in GPS navigation for the first half of the year. We surveyed Visayas-Mindanao area via road trip and RORO island hopping from Batangas-Mindoro-Panay-Negros-Cebu-Bohol-Mindanao-Leyte-Samar-Bicol-Manila (homebase). Still, I like the balanced outcome of my reading adventures this year.


January
Pacman / Manny Pacquiao & Timothy James

February
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo / Stieg Larsson

April
The Element / Dr Ken Robinson

July
This is a Crazy Planets / Lourd De Veyra

August
The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth / Carl Joe Javier
Nightwatch / Sergei Lukyanenko
Pugad Baboy 23 / Pol Medina Jr

September
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold / John Le Carre
Darna Lives / Gery Alanguilan & Arnold Arre

October
From The Profound to The Profane / Jaime Licauco
Design Faults in the Volvo 760 Turbo / Will Self
Trese 4 / Budjette Tan & KaJo Baldisimo
Dumot / Alan Navarra
Productive Pinoy / Yeng Remulla
Armageddon in Restrospect / Kurt Vonnegut

November
Tabi Po / Mervin Alonzo
Lone Wolf & Cub Volume 1 / Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima
"Repent, Harlequin!" Said The Ticktockman / Harlan Ellison

December
I Lie For A Living / National Geographic Society
Songs of Love and Death / GRR Martin & Gardner Dozois

BRAIN TOAST

Digital Art by mu6 @ deviantart.com

BEST FICTION:
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John Le Carre

BEST NON FICTION:
The Element by Dr Ken Robinson

BEST PINOY READ:
Tabi Po by Mervin Malonzo (also BEST E-BOOK/WEB COMICS)

BEST SHORT FICTION:
"Repent, Harlequin!" Said The Ticktockman by Harlan Ellison

BEST UNDERRATED:
I Lie For A Living by Antony Shugaar and NGS

BEST GRAPHIC FICTION:
Lone Wolf and Cub Vol. 1 by Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima

BEST ACQUISITIONS(TBR):
Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung (E-Book)
Into The Wild by John Krakauer
Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

BOOK HERO of THE YEAR:
Anton Gorodetsky from NIGHT WATCH by Sergei Lukyanenko

BOOK HEROINE of THE YEAR:
Svetlana from NIGHT WATCH by Sergei Lukyanenko

AUTHORS of the YEAR:
Dr. Ken Robinson for The Element
Kurt Vonnegut for Armageddon in Retrospect

QUICKIE/FLASH READ:
Productive Pinoy by Yeng Remulla

WORST READ:
The Marrying Maid by Jo Beverly (Short Story from Songs of Love and Death Anthology--watch out for my upcoming review for the whole anthology)

BEST BOOK COVERS:
The Best of This Is A Crazy Planets by Lourd De Veyra
From the Profound to the Profane by Jaime Licauco

QUOTE of the YEAR:
"Masyadong busy ang tunay na lalake sa pakikipagdigma sa larangan ng buhay para mag-abdominal exercises. Ang tunay na lalake kadalasa'y walang panahon sa gym dahil okupado ang katawan at isip nila sa paglikha ng mga siyentipikong teorya, mga obrang makasining, mga prinsipyong pang-rebolusyon para mabago ang lipunan. Wala silang oras para sa pang-araw-araw na 100 sets ng crunches, 45 minutes cardio, at dalawang oras ng pagtitig sa kanilang katawan sa salamin."

---Lourd De Veyra in "Ang Tunay na Lalake, Walang Abs" from The Best of This is A Crazy Planets collection.