current reading

anne fadiman's ex libris: confessions of a common reader. it's a collection of essays that every book lover (be they courtly or carnal lovers) must read. i'm having so much fun reading it, i want to lick the book. i guess i'm a carnal book lover as fadiman puts it.

current reading

i am currently reading bill bryson's a short history of nearly everything. i'm still in the early chapters, but i'm already very pleased. this is the kind of writing i want to be doing. right now i'm appreciating bryson's overwhelming ability to explain such complex things in an entertaining manner. amazing how he can give you the basics of quantum mechanics without taxing your brain.

current reading

i'm teaching creative writing 140 this coming semester, and i'm in the middle of preparing my syllabus. i want my students to learn how to incorporate research material in their creative writing. i also want to develop in them an appreciation for highly informative, technically accurate essays that are engaging if not entertaining. the essays they will be made to write for the course will contain more scientific, cultural/artistic information than personal opinion.

As there is a dearth of nature writing in the philippines, i'm considering making my students try their hand at it. of course i know that most of them will not have the necessary knowledge and inclination to be much good at it, but i'd like them to experience how it's done. so now i'm rereading some of my favorite books of nature writing. i am currently enjoying dianne ackerman's the moon by whale light and other adventures among bats, penguins, crocodilians, and whales. if you haven't read this book, you're missing out. ackerman has this amazing ability to blend scientific information and personal observation into engaging essays that read almost like poetry.

the state of constraint: new work by oulipo

today i started reading a lovely little volume titled the state of constraint: new work by oulipo. i got my copy from a secondhand bookstore at a nearby mall. now i find out that this book is second of a set of three called mcsweeney's #22. this is what i get for buying secondhand. i want all three! argh. i guess i have to order it. if it's still available. argh! if you're curious about the whole book, find more information here.