MABUHAY! Book Recs + Giveaway

Alexa and I are hosting this event to celebrate Filipino culture, both as it ties into
 our lives and into literature. Make sure to check out the posts on both our blogs this week!

It's the last day of our series and we're ending it with our book recommendations! All week long we've been sharing personal experiences, authors' thoughts and our discussions with fellow bloggers about what we'd like to see. So now we want to tell you about the books we know are out there and deserve a lot of love.



Angel de la Luna and the 5th Glorious Mysteryby M. Evelina Galang

This book is about Angel de la Luna and how her life changes in major ways (twice!). First when her father unexpectedly passes away and in her mother's grief, hits rock bottom and moves to the States leaving Angel behind to care for herself, her sister and grandmother. In her mother's absence, Angel learns a lot about herself, her heritage and history of the Philippines. Then she's uprooted again when her mother sends for her to live in Chicago against her will. It's a heartbreaking, well-told coming of age story. (Read my review.)
 There Will Come a Time
by Carrie Arcos

Mark has just lost his twin Grace in a car accident. A car accident he survived. And not only is he not dealing with his grief well, but he feels like no one can understand what he's going through. We learn a lot about him, their relationship and family. Also their friends and there's a bit of romance too. It's a really moving book and I loved how Filipino culture was integrated into the story without overwhelming it.  (My full review coming soon!)

Love Walked In
by Marisa de los Santos

It's been a couple of years since I've read this one, but I remember having profoundly positive feels about it. Stories about family will do that to me! To quote from my review, Love Walked in is  "A beautiful tale interspersed with Filipino and American elements and centering around the simple story of family lost, family found and love gained." (Obviously, I think you should read this.)




Interim Goddess of Love
by Mina V. Esguerra

I had heard a lot about Mina (who was also in our opening post!) from my friend Chachic, so I downloaded her novels immediately when they became available as e-books. I've only read the first of this particular series, but it was super enjoyable! I really liked that Mina tells a story set and inspired by Filipino culture. I have to reread before I do a proper review (happening soon, I promise), but I definitely suggest you check these out!





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Giveaway!
Thank you for sticking with us all week long as we celebrated Filipino Culture in Lit! And to show our appreciation, we've giving away 2 books! The giveaway will run from today until Friday, June 20th. If you're our winner, you can choose 2 of the 4 books we've recommended. And it's open internationally!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

8 comments

  1. Hey guys! I've really enjoyed this week's spotlight - I hope you do more of them. I'm really interested in reading There Will Come a Time and Love Walked In. Thanks for a really informative week - I especially enjoyed the "tour" of the Phillippines!

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  2. I'm excited about Interim Goddess of Love and There Will Come a Time

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  3. Filipiniana addict hurr hahaha. I haven't heard about Angel de la Luna and the 5th Glorious Mystery so thank you very much! :D

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  4. Hi there! I haven't read any of these books but i'd love to try There Will Come a Time and Interim Goddess of Love.Thank you for the giveaway! :D

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  5. I've read TWCAT and IGOL and they're awesooooome! Would love Angel de la Luna and Love Walked In. I recommend that you girls read "Cover (Story) Girl" by Chris Mariano--it's so amazing <3

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  6. There Will Come a Time and Love Walked In...they seem to be great! I hope they are.♥
    I'd recommend another book by Ms. Mina V. Esguerra--Fairy Tale Fail. I liked that! :D

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  7. There Will Come A Time looks like such an interesting read! I'm excited you wrote about Filipino authors, and growing up, I didn't have close filipino friends my age (well, besides my cousins), so it was hard to really connect with someone who didn't understand my upbringing. No sleepovers, attending Mass every Sunday, quality time with my ENTIRE FAMILY, and just the respect you're expected to have amongst your elders.

    I'm excited to get my hands on these books! These books will definitely be moved up in my TBR list!

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  8. Whee! This event was SO MUCH FUN, from planning to actually putting up the posts. I'm glad we decided to do this, and so thrilled at the response we've received. There's definitely a lot of potential for Filipino culture in literature, and I'm even more inspired to write something :)

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with love,

Rachel