Gerilya


Norman Wilwayco - 2008
    The third book of the "hardcore" and multiple Palanca winning novelist and short story writer Norman Wilwayco.This book could be downloaded for free in the author's official blog, http://absurdrepublic.blogspot.com

State of War


Ninotchka Rosca - 1988
    Adrian is rich, innocent, handsome—the son of a leading family; Anna has been widowed in the rebel struggle and was herself detained and tortured by the military; Eliza, the beautiful daughter of a courtesan, is now the object of the perverted desires of the depraved Colonel Amor, Anna's tormentor.As the heat of the carnival brio rises, so do intimations of revolution, for somewhere in the jungle the rebel leader Guevara is plotting a terrorist act: a bomb will be placed at the speakers' stand timed to explode when the governor appears. Anna makes contact with the rebels, while Eliza plots to kill Amor for what he has done to her friend. And Adrian is captured and drugged by the colonel.As the tension builds, the novel moves back in time, in the Book of Numbers, on a headlong, magical, sometimes hallucinatory reprise of Filipino history and the history of the families of the three young people. We learn of the Japanese atrocities, Filipino greed and treachery, American coldness and venality. We learn how Adrian's fortune was made, how Anna became the strange and silent thinker she is, how Eliza is distantly related by European blood to Anna. And we meet characters whose literally fabulous—a woman who forces icons to respond prayers, a distillery owner who is also master of forty-two ways of self-indulgence, a self-contained maid who determines her master's fat, a boy who falls in love with saxophone, a teenage Chinese girl with bound feet who dreams of the return of the Manchu Dynasty, a German chemist unable to brew beer...Finally, in the Book of Revelations, we reawaken to the present: once again we are at the festival on K_____, about to witness the novel's shattering conclusion, its terrifying finale.Like Isabel Allende's The House of The Spirits, Ninotchka Rosca's novel is both a work of art and a powerful illumination of an entire culture and a country in conflict. Her achievement is timeless as well as masterful.

Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not)


José Rizal - 1887
    A passionate love story set against the ugly political backdrop of repression, torture, and murder, "The Noli," as it is called in the Philippines, was the first major artistic manifestation of Asian resistance to European colonialism, and Rizal became a guiding conscience—and martyr—for the revolution that would subsequently rise up in the Spanish province.

How to Traverse Terra Incognita


Dean Francis Alfar - 2012
    An advocate of the literature of the imagination, he is the publisher of the Philippine Speculative Fiction anthologies, an annual showcasing Filipino fictionists that he began in 2005.

Daylight Dialogues


Charissa Ong Ty - 2018
    Pushing her boundaries with more challenging technical poetry writing, she hopes her readership would appreciate Daylight Dialogues as much as they did Midnight Monologues.Paperback is already available in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines and has reached the Best seller's list.

The Mats


Francisco Arcellana - 1938
    Marcelina's father comes home from a trip to Manila with beautiful hand-made sleeping mats for each member of his large family, including the three daughters who died when they were very young.

Trip to Tagaytay


Arnold Arre - 2000
    In this vision of the future, popular actor Aga Muhlach is the aging President, the Eraserheads are on a Reunion Tour that spans the stars, and Philippine Spacelines is offering a 50% discount on Moon Travel. We follow the musings of a young man as he journeys through the city, headed for the Grand Liwayway Station, where he plans to take the cheapest train out, since they just opened the Tagaytay Ocean Tunnel connecting to Cebu. All the while, he is composing a missive addressed to his love, who is living on a faraway Orbital Space Station.(from wikipedia.org)

Table for Two


Marla Miniano - 2010
    The table is the setting for pivotal moments in the lives of the main characters—who, as it seems, are quite the lovelorn bunch. First, there’s the long-time couple on the verge of calling it quits after college graduation. Then there’s the serial dater who accepts her younger brother’s challenge to go dateless for two months. There’s also a photographer who attempts to dissuade his best friend from getting married (and we’re curious to find out why). And finally, there are the two hopefuls: a young man who meets with the girl he never stopped loving, and a young lady who pores over romance novels, waiting for her turn to fall in love.

The Best of Lola Basyang: Timeless Tales for the Filipino Family


Severino Reyes - 1975
    Out of her rich imagination she drew forth tales of bold princesses and cowardly kings, spurned suitors and ardent lovers, fearless young men and heartless queens. Every conceivable place of enchantment was Lola Basyang’s domain.The First “Kuwento ni Lola Basyang “ appeared in the Tagalog magazine Liwayway in 1925. Its author, Severino Reyes, was the founder and editor of Liwayway as well as a pioneering figure in Tagalog theater. Mr. Reyes wrote more that 400 stories under the pen name Lola Basyang.Tahanan Books has gathered together a literary dream team to produce this landmark collection of twelve tales. Poet and literary critic Bienvenido Lumbera sifted through hundreds of manuscripts to select the best of Reyes’ tales. Acclaimed author and publisher Gilda Cordero-Fernando delivered the original English translation and renowned children’s book illustrator Albert Gamos rendered over 30 unforgettable illustrations.Tahanan’s anthology introduces Lola Basyang to a new generation of readers in English. Open this book, sit at her feet, and let the magic begin.

In the Country


Mia Alvar - 2015
    Here are exiles, emigrants, and wanderers uprooting their families from the Philippines to begin new lives in the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere—and, sometimes, turning back again. A pharmacist living in New York smuggles drugs to his ailing father in Manila, only to discover alarming truths about his family and his past. In Bahrain, a Filipina teacher drawn to a special pupil finds, to her surprise, that she is questioning her own marriage. A college student leans on her brother, a laborer in Saudi Arabia, to support her writing ambitions, without realizing that his is the life truly made for fiction. And in the title story, a journalist and a nurse face an unspeakable trauma amidst the political turmoil of the Philippines in the 1970s and ’80s.In the Country speaks to the heart of everyone who has ever searched for a place to call home. From teachers to housemaids, from mothers to sons, Alvar’s powerful debut collection explores the universal experiences of loss, displacement, and the longing to connect across borders both real and imagined. Deeply compassionate and richly felt, In the Country marks the emergence of a formidable new writer.

Stupid Is Forever


Miriam Defensor Santiago - 2014
    People are puzzled how she can spontaneously make them laugh in the midst of national policy crises, and of real danger to her life as a corruption fighter.This book is a collection of jokes, one-liners, pick-up lines, conebacks and speeches delivered and/or curated by the beloved Senator. Also, inside are illustrations by Cj de Silva-Ong, Manix Abrera, Elbert Or, Rob Cham and more of the Philippines' best young illustrators.

The Best of Youngblood


Jorge Aruta - 1998
    Amid all the expectations and anticipation, they live their lives and now, through the groundbreaking Philippine Daily Inquirer column, speak in resounding tones. Listen to their joys, pains and most of all, their dreams.

Gun Dealers' Daughter


Gina Apostol - 2010
    But is her allegiance to the principles of Mao or to Jed, the comrade she’s in love with? Can she really be a part of the movement or is she just a “useful fool,” a spoiled brat playing at revolution? Far from the Philippines, in a mansion overlooking the Hudson River, Sol confesses her youthful indiscretions, unable to get past the fatal act of communist fervor that locked her memory in an endless loop. Rich with wordplay and unforgettable imagery, Gun Dealers’ Daughter combines the momentum of an amnesiac thriller with the intellectual delights of a Borgesian puzzle. In her American debut, award-winning author Gina Apostol delivers a riveting novel that illuminates the conflicted and little-known history of the Philippines, a country deeply entwined with our own.

12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do to Help Our Country


Alexander L. Lacson - 2005
    At that time, new York was already the finance capital of the world. But during that period, around 650,000 serious crimes and murders were committed yearly in that city. No one could solve the problem.Then 2 police consultants experimented on making improvement in new York City's subway train system, used by almost 7% of New Yorkers, but where conditions then were horrible. The waiting platforms were poorly lit and damp, while the walls were covered with all kinds of graffiti. The trains themselves were filthy, the floors littered with trash, and were often late.First, they removed all the graffiti, and painted clean the platforms and the trains/ Then they posted plain-clothes policeman in all stations to arrest those who did not pay train tokens. In a few years, criminality in New York City declined sharply by 65%. Two little things-removal of graffiti and presence of policemen. By they changed the culture and the face of New York.Gladwell says "do not underestimate the power of little things." they can spur a revolution.If "little things"can change a city, they can change a country."Life is made up of little things. Greatness follows if we learn to be great in little things," says Charles Simmons.Because of his book, Gladwell has been cited as one of the World's 100 Influential people by TIME Magazine this year. And his book is changing the mindsets of people around the world.

Skyworld: Volume One


Mervin Ignacio - 2012
    Every legend hides a lieA murdered Skygodre-emerges in modern-day Manila.A Tikbalang prince plots vengeancefor the death of his father.And the Queen of the Asuangunleashes the mythical Bakunawaupon the streets of the city.Caught in their age-old struggle is Andoy.a crippled orphan that discovershe is the fulfillment of a prophecydating back to Lapu-Lapu himself