Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones by Ann Head - I grabbed the photo above from Amazon Books website. My copy is the 1972 edition which Fr. Albert and I found in a Book Sale store in SM way back in 1989. My copy is now dilapidated because almost every seminarian in our college seminary borrowed it. It is about teenage marriage and how the families of Bo Jo and Julie coped with it ( why were seminarians so engrossed with that plot? just asking...). Bo Jo was the high school football star while Julie was a carefree, popular 16-year old. But this one's for all ages.
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder - Why do good things happen to bad people and bad things to good people? Or is it really as simple and as predictable as that? Five different people fell from a footbridge over a deep gorge somewhere in Lima, Peru. A monk begins a "scientific investigation" (complete with a table on their usefulness, goodness and piety when they were still alive) into the lives of those five to find out if it was divine intervention which ended their lives or capricious fate.
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth - One of the first novels I have read written by an Indian that made me interested in Indian/Hindu culture. The book is the longest I have read with 1,474 pages. Perhaps longer than any Harry Potter book because the font size is small. It is basically a love story. The tale of Lata and her mother's attempts in finding a suitable boy for her. In the process we are given a course on Indian Culture 101. The thickness of the book is intimidating yet challenging (You won't bring it to school nor to the office with you unless you enjoy being branded a nerd, besides it is quite bulky and heavy). Anyone up to the challenge?
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy - Another winner from another Indian writer. This was Roy's first novel and it was very well written it bagged the 1997 Booker Prize. " A gripping tale of love and loss ... with compelling wit, and consummate tenderness." "...to discuss the plot would be to violate it."
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis - This is more for spiritual reading. Screwtape is an elderly devil who was exchanging letters with his nephew Wormwood, an apprentice devil, advising him on how to tempt and corrupt human beings. In the end, it is not about the dynamics of the devil but ours.
Tell me if you want more. Most of these books are still in print and maybe you can find them in leading bookstores. The Amazon website says Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones has been re-printed with that cover above. By the way I only grabbed the photos above from Amazon. All of them are different from my copies except for the The God of Small Things.
Do I love reading books? Obviously I do. It brings me to different worlds and cultures and opens up different horizons. People say that with the advent of the computer age, the cellphone age, the playstation age and the internet age, young people have lost interest in sitting down to read a good book (with the exception perhaps of the Harry Potter mania). I hope by posting this, we can prove that reading good books is not a lost cause.
4 comments:
pakibilang na rin po ko sa mga taong mahilig magbasa ng libro. madalas ay pinagpupuyatan ko ang libro, matapos ko lamang. sang-ayon po ko sa sinabi nyo na "reading books takes you to different worlds, cultures, and opens up horizons." hindi lang yan, sa pagsasabi ko ng libro ay na-eexpose ako sa iba't ibang perkspektibo, naiiwasan kong makahon ang isang konsepto, parang nagkakaroon ako ng "relativism", lumalawak ang aking pang-unawa at bokabularyo, at nahahasa ang aking kasanayan sa pagsulat ng mga sanaysay. naniniwala pa rin talaga ako na marami pa ring mga tao na pinapahalagahan ang pagbabasa ng mga libro. mukhang napaka-interesting ng screwtape letters. narinig ko na sya dati. marahil dahil popular ang author. pero base sa synopsis ay mukhang maganda talaga sya. meron ba kayong libro ni paolo coehlo bukod sa "the alchemist" tulad ng "by the river piedra, i sat down and wept"?
fr! i was asking a few friends for recommended books to read. ang galing naman ng timing! thanks! hehe :)
hi kuya! alam mo you really influenced me into reading... imagine tsinaga ko yung a suitable boy! hehehe.
and there was a point in my life when I thought that you bought bo jo jones just for me. kasi since daddy is gone and mommy was away, i thought that this was your way of teaching me to scare away from teenage marriage. iyun pala maski seminarians binasa yun. teehee.
pero thanks talaga for your reading influence!
wala lang. . . C.S Lewis is a great author. He wrote some of the books I read which are The Chronicles of Narnia 2&3. The stories are interesting. Book 2 The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe is somehow related to Jesus.
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