Reading List for January 2010

1. Day Watch (Watch, Book 2) by Sergei Lukyanenko. Day Watch is Book 2 of the Watch series by Lukyanenko. While one of his books, the Last Watch, was hailed as the “Russian Harry Potter,” I beg to disagree. I’ve read Nightwatch and it rocks!! I’m reserving Day Watch for January. Let’s see if Day Watch lives up to my expectations based on the first book.

2. Bituen ti Rosales by Juan S.P. Hidalgo Jr. Mr. Hidalgo, or Manong Johnny as we fondly call him, is one of the most influential persons in the Ilokano literary scene. This book of his, Bituen ti Rosales, is considered a classic by so many llokano writers and readers. I’ve already read a few stories. And I say that Manong Johnny is really a master of Ilokano literature.

3. Three Little Words on Life, on Love, on Laughs by Francis J. Kong. This book is full of anecdotes and stories that could encourage workers, bosses and business men and women to strive for excellence without sacrificing ethics and the quality of products or services. I’ve browsed a few essays. I’m looking forward to read more.

4. Road Trip by Ru dela Torre. Kitchie Nadal wrote the introduction for this book. Ru says that our lives are just like a journey with a lot of stumbling along the way. But we don’t need to travel without a guide and the light. This is a very “Christian” book. No holds barred Christian language and symbolism. He isn’t too heavy on the jargon though, if my browsing it is indicative of the whole book.

5. Sustainable Youth Ministry by Mark DeVries. I need to read this book for my work. Too often, youth ministry is so program- and event-oriented that the long term spiritual growth of the youth and young adults are sacrificed.

6. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. I’m working on a new blog on leadership and social entrepreneurship. I gotta brush up on the lessons I’ve learned from Covey so I can write better articles on how to achieve these seven essential habits.

This list might expand further. Depends on my mood, my finances and the books I accumulate in January. But I’m not planning to buy any new books. Maybe one new book a month isn’t so bad. But the idea is that I would read all the books in my collection. I probably have around 10-15 boxes full of books. I’ve read about half of them.

image credit: jvoves

Tags: 7 habits of highly effective people, bituen ti rosales, day watch, francis kong, ilokano literature, juan sp hidalgo jr, kitchie nadal, lukyanenko, mark devries, night watch, road trip, ru dela torre, sergei lukyanenko, stephen covey, three little words on life on love on laughs