Last year’s books and next year’s plans

Well, it’s a new year, and although I usually make kind of half-assed, unspoken resolutions (except for the time I resolved to floss every day, which is also the only resolution I’ve ever kept for a full year), this year I’m going to lay out some specific goals for the blog—because I’m just sick of writing blog posts a year after reading the book (or, ok, two years at this point, which is just objectively ridiculous)—and I’m letting you know about it because if I manage to follow through, there will be a serious uptick in e-mail notifications and I don’t want anyone to be annoyed (at least not without being forewarned).

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Florante at Laura: Two guys crying in a forest, essentially

The History of Florante and Laura in the Kingdom of Albania: Adapted from some “historical pictures” or paintings of what happened in early times in the Greek Empire, and were set to rhyme by one delighting in Tagalog verse, Francisco Balagtas, 1861

  • Philippines, #4
  • Read online
  • Read: August 2017
  • Rating: 4/5
  • Recommended for: imprecise Romanticists and their kick-ass girlfriends

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Darangen: too epic for me

Darangen: in original Maranao verse with English translation, vol. I, Anon. (oral epic), transcribed by Hadji Lawa Cali et al., translated by Ma. Delia Coronel, 1986 (original composition sometime before the 14th century)

  • Philippines, #1
  • Borrowed from San Francisco Public Library (via interlibrary loan)
  • Read October 2017
  • Rating 3/5
  • Recommended for: scholars, princesses in towers, and other people with lots of time on their hands

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